Araman

~ 29 ~

   "You lied to me!" Raliena yelled at Dergen as she trailed slowly along behind him. She had been ordered to follow him out to the bridge in the gardens where they now walked, the sun rising in the sky. He had not specified how quickly. She would fight his orders and turn them against him just as he did with her words and it may give her the extra time needed for the Lagania to catch up with him.

"You were the one that did not specify your demands." Dergen replied, not looking back at her.

"You twisted them, as you do everything."

Dergen turned on her, now angry at how long she was taking to walk to the bridge. He planned to escape into the forest by using the door Raliena always used to access her secret hideout, but had to cross the lake to reach it.

"All this simply to force me to make the bond?" Raliena asked, buying time.

"Not all of it." He replied. "Most things I do are for my own satisfaction." Dergen smiled cruelly. "I could not face the Lagania single handedly. Not yet while I would still have to teach you obedience. Lishini was necessary to at least distract them while we escaped. He is ruthless and ambitious and would have weakened them in the process."

"Coward." Raliena spat. Trying to provoke him and keep him distracted.

"Do not mock me!" He yelled from frustration. "You think I could not order you to kill everyone in that ball room, your precious Lagania." He spat on the floor. "And that melding General, he is no match for me. The only reason he is still alive now is because I can forgive your insolence. You have no idea the power you now possess, and I control."

He took a step towards her. "I control." He repeated.

Dergen pulled a lock of hair from behind her ear so it fell down her shoulder. Raliena almost shuddered at what exactly he could ask her to do and turned her head away.

"Keep up." He muttered and started walking again.

They reached the bridge much faster. Dergen made to continue walking and Raliena felt the order to follow him to the bridge fade.

She stopped in the centre and glanced over at the cascade of water falling beneath it. Usually the sun rising at this viewpoint would take her breath away, but now she just felt sick. The chilly wind on her fair skin made the heat of her chain ever more prominent.

"What are you doing?" Dergen demanded, realising she was no longer next to him.

"The only thing I can do." She replied quietly and placed her hands on the edge of the bridge. She steadied her nerves and carefully stood on the first wooden slat forming the bridge, then eased her leg over the top to stand on the opposite side of the railing.

"Stop." Dergen said, suddenly panicked. "I command you to climb back over!"

Raliena felt the slight pull on her will, but it quickly faded when she thought about what she planned to do. She had let the water take her once before, she hoped it would be easier the second time.

"You were right." Raliena said, looking up from the wood beneath her hands that temporarily held her to this life. "The Lagania did tell me everything, including how to break the bond."

"You wouldn't." Dergen had been slowly advancing towards her and was now only one step from where she stood.

"You cannot stop me." Raliena looked back over her shoulder at the water below and wondered briefly if it would hurt. "Not from this."

"You would throw away all that power?" The desperation in Dergen's voice was evident. "Do you know what I have had to do to claim you?"

"I promised I would not let you use me." She shook her head, enjoying tormenting him before she left the world behind.