Once Upon a Child of the Stars

Twenty Four- Escape

We let the excitement from dinner settle and everyone in the castle turn in to their relaxation spots for the evening. We knew night would be too quiet, and this would be our only time we could get away. 

My heart beat like a drum waiting for the moment for our plan to begin. I packed all of the things I had brought with me and was completely prepared to escape the hell I had been in for the past month. 

Suddenly, as expected, my bedroom door swung open and in came Kaedian. He wore all black clothing and a smirk was on his lips.

"You ready, Princess?" he asks. 

"Don't call me that, but yes. I don't think I have ever been more ready for anything in my life. I'm ready to get out of this hell hole," I say, a smile crossing my face without my consent, not that I would have stopped it. 

"Let's go. Raegar should be waiting in private ship number twelve. It's small and not the fastest but it will go unnoticed for the most part and if we get out without any one knowing it will get us to Dyspheria," he says before slowly opening my bedroom door.

He peeks out before signalling for me to stay while he makes his way down the hall to the left. Once he reaches the corner, he waves his hand for me to follow. I pull my bag tighter over my shoulder and make my way over to him. I feel like we are on a top secret spy mission and honestly, it kind of is. Sneaking a princess home against the law is literally a covert mission. 

"We just have to get back to the back of the castle where the least traveled halls are," Kaedian whispers. I give him a simple nod and then he begins to move down the darkened hallway. 

It does not take long before we are in the back of the black stone castle. We creep around, keeping our footsteps slow and hushed. Kaedian looks back at me every once in a while to make sure I am still with him.

Voices quickly come to ear and Kaedian holds his hand out, stopping my movement. He holds a finger to his lips and I give him a scared expression. If we get caught, we are done for. We can not afford to be seen by anyone, or else I am positive I would be locked in the dungeon for the rest of my existence. 

The voices are staying in place and are now recognizable. It is clearly Xavian and his father, his deep voice causing my skin to chill. 

"I do not know what your problem with your mate is, but it is not healthy. You're going to kill her without even touching her," former king Ozias says. It was nice to know Ozias has a heart and acknowledged the wrongs his son was doing, but alas it did not change the fact that he was doing them. 

"It is not your concern, Father. She is my mate and I will handle her as I see fit," Xavian's voice snaps back. My chest pains at his disgust towards me. 

I suddenly feel my arm being pulled and my body lurches forward as we begin to rush past the halls once more. We break into a sprint and soon we make it to the furthest back corner door of the castle. 

"Almost there," Kaedian says and I simply nod before he opens the door. As soon as the door swings open, a loud blaring alarm goes off. Our eyes go wide. 

"Run!" I yell and we both take off in a sprint. 

"Fuck running!" Kaedian yells as his wings rip his back open.

In one swift movement, Kaedian flies up, sweeping me up bridal style as we fly towards the ships. It does not take long before we land by the ships, but as we do I look back to see Xavian furiously watching me. Kaedian's wings fold back into him and we continue to run towards the ships. It was like everything happened within the blink of an eye when really it was minutes and seconds. 

We finally arrive to ship number twelve and standing next to it is Raegar. 

"Hurry! Get in!" he yells at us. "He's coming!" he yells again as we run into the ship. 

"Raegar! Luminara!" Xavian roars so loud it shakes the ship. The door on the ship begins to close as we stumble inside it. Kaedian and I flop onto the floor as Raegar rushes to the front of the ship. 

"Hold on!" he yells as the ship rumbles to life. A thunderous roar shakes the ship once again as we begin to take off. My heart is like thunder inside of me, pounding against my chest. 

"He's coming! Go go go!" Kaedian yells and I look out the back window and my eyes widen. 

"He's right behind us! Raegar!" I scream as I see Xavian in his beast like form. 

He is massive and his skin is completely black with sharp spikes lining his wings. I can not quite see his facial features, but I am assured I do not want to find out what angry expression he has on his beast right now. 

"I'm going as fast as I can! Hold on I'm turning the hyper drive on!" Raegar yells back. 

The ship suddenly jerks forward, sending Kaedian and I flying back. I look out the window to see the angry black eyes of Xavian staring back at me as if to promise he would eventually find me. Somewhere in those eyes I saw pain, hurt, but I would never be able to forget the pain and misery he caused me. 

As someone who is supposed to be a mate, he caused me more hurt than anything else. Inside, I felt the mating bond, the connection. I had felt it from the first time I had even seen him but until he acknowledged it, I had no idea what the strange pull was and because I am hybrid, I felt it less than a normal Dyspherian or Hellian would. 

The ship jerks again and we are soon zooming away from the dark planet. Relief washes over me, but I feel a strange burning pain inside my chest which quickly vanishes the farther we get from the planet. 

I hear some buttons being pushed before Raegar stands and comes back to me and Kaedian. He puts his arms around me, pulling me close as I do the same to him. 

"We did it," he says.