August Sarkins awoke on the hard floor of the great hall of the palace feeling like absolute shit. Her body felt as if she had been kicked in the chest by a horse and promptly run over by a carriage moment after. Every breath felt like there were a million pounds sitting on her chest, but she was breathing. And with each one they became slowly lighter and lighter. The events of the past day slowly came back to her, the bridge, the fight. But all of it was muffled by the feeling of a body next to her and a soft hand holding hers.
Holding was a bit of a understatement considering it was nearly cutting off all circulation she was trying to regain, but when she mustered up enough strength to squeeze back, she heard a gasp.
August managed to turn her head slightly to find the princess of Aldham staring up at her wide eyed. She couldn't help but break into a grin when she saw the princess's hand which was glowing a fire red.
"That's new," her lungs managed, laughing a bit.
What little air was in her lungs was quickly knocked out of them as the princess quickly wrapped her arms around her, squeezing tightly.
"Oh my gods!" Izzy gasped, slowly transitioning into more crying as August reached around to hug her. As much as her body ached, none of that mattered anymore. She had made it back to her princess, and she was still alive. The two lay in their own silence, holding each other as they let the world around them melt away.
August couldn't help but let her own tears out. After every moment of her life, hiding and fighting her way to try to survive, she finally found the reason.
The girl worth fighting for.
Izzy gave August a moment to sit up, watching the obvious pain on her face as she did. She took her hands off of her in fear she would make the pain worse.
"Are you going to be okay," she whispered.
August looked down at the puddle of blood she had been sitting in and then at the still glowing hands of the girl in front of her. She nodded, "I think I'm going to be just fine."
The princess couldn't help herself, she let her fingers reach out and feel the girls face in front of her for a moment, wiping some blood from her brow, before leaning in and kissing her. August felt the warm spark of their lips together. Something about this girl, in the middle of all of the chaos, made everything feel right.
They broke apart and August motioned towards the limp body of the king behind them on the ground. "Is he?"
"Just unconscious. Long enough that I'll be able to have the guards escort him down to the dungeons. He will be tried just as any other criminal." Izzy let her gaze linger on the body of her father. So much evil inside of one man, it was hard to imagine if things would've gone differently.
August nodded before making a realization, "What about the queen?"
Izzy grew silent. She knew where her mother was, but also that her mother was no longer. "She's gone. She risked it all to save my life." She paused, before turning to the girl, "Did you know that she was like you?"
"Don't you mean like you?"
The princess let the rest of the energy out, dimming her light until it was out entirely. She sat feeling just as she normally did, powerless. Her sadness caught up with her quickly and August noticed, bringing her back into her arms.
"Yes, I knew. I suppose you have a lot to learn, but in general you can feel when people have power beyond the normal. I knew the moment I saw her and called her out on it. Iz she never wanted to hurt you in fact that's why it was a secret. Power meant danger."
