Weight of the Crown { A Leonardo fanfic}

Fortune Favours The Brave

AN: The pic above is Axelia

The crew sits in the living space in their quarters. No one says a word. They just sit there, silent and their minds on the same topic. Grayson's duel and the betrayal of Drace Thornhill. Leo sighs, and looks to the ground. "This is rough, dudes," Mikey says, breaking the silence. 

The red-masked turtle shakes his head. "Leo, I'm so sorry bro. This must be so hard to deal with." Ralph pats his brother's shoulder. Leo blinks silently. "In the Lycadian culture," Professor Honeycutt says. "When an Alpha is challenged, they fight the challenger in an arena watched by the entire village. The last one standing becomes alpha."

The group is quiet as they take in the new information. "So, Grayson has to fight Drace to the death?" Raph asks, his voice lower than usual. "I'm afraid so," Honeycutt says. "But she's like a soft, fluffy puppy!" Mikey whines. "How could she ever kill Drace?" 

April shakes her head. "I'm not sure she could. She seems like she's too nice to take a life." Leo looks at the floor, his arms folded. "Grayson has been through some crazy stuff. She's lives through war, her father's death, her mother's death, her kingdom hating her, and yet she's still remained strong. I'm sure she'll make the right decision.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Bright sunlight blinds Grayson through her eyelids and wakes her up. the pounding in her head is not as bad as last night, but her head still feels like hell. With a groan, she throws an arm over her eyes, wincing as the muscles in her arm and stomach strain. 

"Good, you're awake." A silvery voice says. Grayson blinks and removes her arm from her face. Standing in the doorway is a tall, red-haired girl with black soot smudged on her clothes and tanned skin. Her bright green eyes study the young queen curiously and sympathetically. 

"How do you feel?" The girl asks, leaning her shoulder in the doorway. Grayson tries to sit up, but the throbbing pain in her head causes her to give up that endeavour. "Like my skull is being split open with a pickaxe and a hammer." 

The taller girl chuckles a little. "Very specific." She pushes herself off of the doorway and makes her way over to the bedside. "I'm Asterin." The girl introduces, helping Grayson sit up. The young Alpha nods, tensing a bit. "Grayson." She replies. 

Grayson pulls up her shirt and notices that her ribcage has been treated with some sort of herb and ointment which had now dried up. Asterin must have noticed the confused look on Grayson's face because she offered an explanation. 

"My mom was a healer. She showed me how to treat wounds. Some wounds can't be healed by our healing factor only. They need extra help." Grayson nods a bit. "Thank you." She runs her fingers along her ribs, feeling the re-set bones. 

"You really took a beating last night," Asterin says, sitting on the side of the bed. She takes a hold of the hem of Grayson's shirt. "May I?" The girl nods and allows Asterin to remove her shirt. 

"I'm guessing you were one of the jeerers in the crowd?" Grayson questions. Asterin shakes her head. "No, I was one of the few who pitied you." Grayson's eyebrow raised. "You looked super pissed when the captain guy challenged you." 

"Could you blame me?" Gray asks, leaning her arm up on the bed head while Asterin scrapes the dried up paste off of her skin with a dull blade. "Well, not really." The red-head answers honestly. "It must be hard being royal and be treated like dirt. I can't imagine the burden you have to carry." 

Grayson shivers at the tingling touch of Asterin's fingers on her skin. This was the first time anyone really sympathized with her. Besides Leo of course. "No one's ever seen it that way." Grayson admits. "I assumed everyone in the kingdom hated me."