Gold Blood

Chapter 25

Chapter 25 - Acelynn

Acelynn leapt out of bed ignoring the slight pain in her leg. It had been a week since she had moved back to her room and she was finally allowed to train again. Acelynn was sick of sitting in bed. She needed to do something before she lost her mind. Walking into her closet she looked down at her leg. The wound was still healing but it looked a lot better than it did at first. The skin was finally starting to knit together and the stitches were healing as well. It was going to leave a nice scar. Acelynn grabbed a pair of loose grey pants and a soft pink long sleeve. She slipped the clothing on and started braiding her hair back as she walked out of the closet. There was a knock on the door and she hollered for whoever it was to come in.

"Good morning," Phoenix yawned walking into the room. She smiled at him and continued to braid her hair. "You excited?"

"I just want to do something, I need to move again," Acelynn replied nodding her head. He waited for her by the door. She picked up the pace and tied a string at the bottom of her hair to keep the braid in pace.

"You finally learned how to do your own hair?" Phoenix joked motioning to the french braid in her hair.

"Jana taught me while I was stuck in that stupid bed," Acelynn replied shrugging her shoulders. "Let's go!" Acelynn ushered him out the door and slammed it closed behind her. Together they rushed down the stairs towards the training center. She swung the door open and took a deep breath of the training center. The smell of sweat and steel hit her nose and she smiled. She missed this.

"I need to talk to you two," General Scott shouted across the training center. Groaning Acelynn and Phoenix walked over to the man. He smirked as Acelynn limped slightly.

"What would you like?" Acelynn snorted at him. The smirk vanished from his face and he glared at her.

"We're leaving for battle in the morning. Acelynn you only need to be able to hold a dozen soldiers at a time. You both should go start packing. Be ready to leave at sunrise," General Scott ordered. Turning on his heel he left the training center and walked through the door. Acelynn anxiously looked over at Phoenix who was frozen in shock.

"What are we going to do?" She gasped grabbing his arm. Phoenix came back to reality and turned to face her.

"I really don't know," he responded sounding defeated. Slowly he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door. "We should probably go pack, we will figure something out," Phoenix sounded numb. Acelynn nodded her head and squeezed his hand tightly. Quietly they walked out of the training center together and back to their rooms.

"Phoenix, I don't want to be responsible for all of those deaths," Acelynn whimpered tears filling her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly.

"We'll figure something out," he whispered back. "When you finish packing you can come to my room," he told her opening her door and ushering her inside. Acelynn nodded her head and closed the door behind herself. She found the bag that she brought things to the palace in. She pulled clothing off of the hangers and shoved it in the bag roughly. Tears started pouring down her cheeks as she thought about what she might have to do. Hearing a knock on the door she tried to wipe her tears and she marched to the door. When she opened it, she came face to face with King Orion. Hastily she dropped into a low bow and avoided the king's gaze.

"Please rise," King Orion grunted. Acelynn stood up her back straight as a board. "I know that you have learned that we tricked you. You know that the Islean's aren't actually bad people. I want you to keep this in mind as you try and get out of what you have been assigned to do. If you refuse to fight, I will kill Phoenix. It's that simple," he snarled at her. Acelynn tried to keep her face straight as the king stared down at her. She nodded her head slowly and looked down at the ground again. How could he kill his own son?

"I understand," Acelynn whispered. Nodding his head King Orion walked away from her room. Acelynn shut the door softly and slid down it. Tears poured down her face. Phoenix must have heard something because moments later there was a soft knock on the door.

"Acelynn, open the door please. I can hear you crying," Phoenix's soft voice came through the door. Acelynn slid away from the door and slowly reached up to open it. Phoenix stepped inside the room and bent down beside her.

"He- he said he was going to kill you," Acelynn stammered.

"Who said that?" Phoenix questioned softly. Acelynn wiped her face with the back of her hand.

"The king said he would kill you if I refused to fight," Acelynn grimaced as the words came out of her mouth.

"We'll figure it out. Acelynn it's going to be okay. Everything is going to work out," Phoenix comforted her. She nodded her head numbly at him. "Let's get you into bed," Phoenix told her helping her off of the floor.

"Phoenix it's 2:00 in the afternoon, I can't sleep now," Acelynn muttered climbing into the bed.

"I know, I'll get you a book or something. Just relax, I'm going to talk to Brianna, we'll figure something out," Phoenix answered her. He walked out of the room and moments later came back with a thick blue book. She took it from him and gently brushed her hand over the cover.

"Thank you," Acelynn said calmly her tears drying up. Phoenix nodded his head and gave her a soft smile as he walked out of the door. Acelynn cracked the book open and started reading. Slowly she drifted off into a dreamland where she didn't have to deal with her problems.