Acotar and Tog [Discontinued, Will be deleted]

The Princess of Flight

He knew that she was going to run and he knew she would only run the way she came in towards Varese. He stood directly in her path. Reminding himself that she was 18 and just a girl.

“Is this what you do? Run away when things get hard?”

With determination set on her face, she brushed past him. A part of him wanted to chuckle, this little girl.

“You’re free of your obligation to train me, so I have nothing more to say to you, and you have nothing more to say to me. Do us both a favor and go to hell.”

He could not help but growl at her curse. He was already in hell, surrounded by darkness. “Have you ever had to fight for anything in your life?”

Her response was a low bitter laugh. He goaded her for a reaction, a response, anything to get her to stop running.

“You’re proving me right with every step you take.”

“I don’t care.”

That was not exactly true. She may not care about him, but she cared deeply for whatever cause had sent her here. He couldn’t remember what she wanted from Maeve, he had zoned out of the conversation between the two women.

“I don’t know what you want from Maeve -- what answers you are looking for, but you --”

“You don’t know what I want from her? How about saving the world from the King of Adarlan?”

He doubted that Maeve had the answers for her, even if she did, they were not easy answers. Honestly what was the point, for every evil thing he had eradicated from their world, another stepped in it’s place. He didn’t want to save a world where innocence died, while the monsters roamed. “Why bother? maybe the world’s not worth saving.”

“Because I made a promise. A promise to my friend that I would see her kingdom freed.”

The girl had made a vow, not entirely ignorant of their ways. And not just any vow, but a blood oath.

“I made an unbreakable vow. And you and Maeve -- all you gods-damned bastards -- are getting in the way of that.”

She continued walking. He followed. The girl in her could not see that it was not him, but her that was getting in her own way. He had not withheld training her, not matter how frustrating it had been. The girl was confusing at best, she had power to defeat most enemies, but was afraid of that power. She preferred to be an assassin over a princess. Even her reactions were like wildfire, he never knew the intensity or where it would flow.

“And what of your own people? What of your own kingdom?”

“They are better off without me, just as you said.”

An annoyed snarl ran through him. “So you’d save another land, but not yours. Why can’t your friend save her own kingdom?”

“Because she is dead! Because she is dead, and I am left with my worthless life!”

He could not move. The words she spoke echoed through his soul. Memories crept forward. Memories of that day, flying as fast as the winds and his wings would carry him. The call in his blood to protect driving him forward. Because she is dead, and I am left with my worthless life. Bile rose in his throat as he remembered picking up the charred remains of his mate. He remembered roaring to the heavens, to the gods that never listened. His roar silenced when he realized that she was carrying his child. Dead, his mate was dead, his child with her and he was left a worthless shell. He had nothing left. He had failed them in the name of glory, a worthless ambition for a worthless boy. He was left with nothing, not even his honor.