The King's Remorse

No, Let Me Stay

The snake pumps venom into my veins, and the pain skyrockets. I force my body to stand up and take a step back, but it reacts too slowly and Phoenix is in front of me before I'm ready. He rises onto his hind legs and lashes out with his forepaws. One tears into my shoulder and the other slams into my bottom jaw with a force I didn't think was possible. My jaw shifts to the right, and it explodes with pain. I can't move it to scream. Icicles form with frozen tears. My legs give out.

"Phoenix! What have you done?" Ky growls.

"Wh-what d-did you do t-t-to my dad?" Clap screeches. Darkness swirls in my mind. I willingly give into the darkness and I slip away into Dreamland.

xxxx

This time when I wake up again, I stay still; I don't want to face Dove, Clap, and the rest of the group. I focus on my breaths, keeping them slow and even.

My jaw aches. Phoenix dislocated it, but it no longer hurts that much. I run my tongue across my teeth, flinching at the foreign feeling.

"-asn't my fault!"

"It was, Phoenix." I hear Ky shoot back.

I try opening my mouth, feeling surprised when it opens without a problem. Except for the slight ache as my muscles begin to adjust to my crooked mouth, I don't feel anything. How is this possible? Phoenix dislocated my jaw, but it doesn't hurt. It shouldn't be like this; it doesn't make sense.

"Hey, Ice. You up?" Dove places his hand on my shoulder. I blink a few times, trying to ignore the bright lights for the third time today.

"Y-yeah." I test out my mouth, and the word gets slightly slurred.

"Ok. Third time's the charm. Get out before I send my Guard and Soldiers after you. You've got two minutes to be gone. The door is that way. The time starts now." I can almost see King Garonda XIV angrily pointing to the doors, which I'm assuming are still laying on the ground.

"Would you care to let Ice go?"

"I'm being nice by letting you go without trying to kill you. You're not getting Ice back until the Amethyst Throne is done with him. Take your chance and leave. Don't get greedy."

"I-I-I'm not leaving wi-without my dad! Let hi-him go!" Again, I forget what Clap says a moment later. I notice, but I just can't quite recall what she was talking about.

"Hmm, lemme think... No."

"I-I want him back!"

"Time's a tickiiiing," King Garonda XIV sings.

Exhaustion and pain blurs my vision. I see Brook looking between Clap and me, panicked. Clap begins to screech, snarling at King Garonda XIV with a fury I thought only Phoenix could possess. All of the voices sound distant and foggy, like I'm hearing through a thick blanket. Curse you, Amethyst Throne. Curse you and your venom, snake.

Guard and Soldiers stream in. I become detached from my body again as they unsheathe their weapons and nock arrows into bows. "Please count us down when you are ready, My Sovereign, Your Excellency, Your Honor, Your Highest of all Highnesses, King Garonda XIV." One Soldier bows down.

"To hell with this," Phoenix snarls. Flames race across the marble.

King Garonda XIV smiles. "Attack them!"

A Guard fires his bow at Wolf. It whistles through the air before sinking into her back, just to the side of her shoulder blade. The tip protrudes from her chest as the pendant around her neck begins to glow bright orange.