The Final Hope: Awakening

Chapter Eighteen

"Your Majesty," said Jake, kneeling down. "I take full responsibility for Alvan's actions. You had left him under my care, I should have paid better attention to him."

"No!" I yelled. "It's not his fault, I decided to bring them here on my own."

"That's enough!" said Mia, glaring at me.. "What you have done is unforgivable. You will remain silent until spoken too." I was going to argue but I bit my tongue. Ryan and Freya especially looked very scared.

Turning around to face Jake, Mia said, "Do not blame yourself. I know first hand that the boy can be a handful. Once he made his mind up, there's not much you could have done."

"That said," continued Blaire, no longer smiling. "You were supposed to look after him. Had you carried out your duty, we wouldn't be in this mess."

"I accept any punishment your Majesty," Jake responded.

"And I shall think of one later," she replied. "For now take the two to the dungeons. We shall decide what to do with them later."

"As you wish," he said before dragging Ryan and Freya away.

"Mia! Don't you remember me?" asked Freya, as she was dragged away. "Please, say something." But Mia ignored her and stared at me.

"Tell me everything," she demanded. So I explained, about how I received the letter, how I talked with the book and it took me to the draiths' castle. How I faced off against them and was about to die when the book appeared and teleported us all back here.

"Well, aren't you a nice boy," said Blaire. "Just what I'd expect from someone like you."

Ignoring her, Mia asked, "And what is it that you think should happen to them now that you've saved them?"

"I... don't know," I replied. I hadn't thought that far ahead. "I just knew that they didn't deserve to die like that, even after all the things they did, nobody deserved that. That's why I saved them."

"I see," she replied with a sigh. "You've disappointed me Alvan," she said, crossing her arms and shaking her head. "I thought you to be someone who would think things through before jumping into it."

"But I didn't have time!" I replied defensively.

"Perhaps so," she said. "But in doing that, you have compromised the safety of our mission. Those two worked for the draiths. For all we know, the draiths had planned this whole thing so that they could report back to them on our activities, just like they did before."

"I..." I stuttered. "I didn't think of that." I thought that the only trap would be them trying to take over my body again when I went there. Never did I imagine that me saving them would also be part of the draiths' plan. I acted too impulsively; I should have talked things through with them first. It was so stupid.

"I can see that," replied Mia. "That's why you're a disappointment." She began walking away.

"Come on now sweetie," said Blaire, giving me a hug. "You did what you thought was best, that's all that matters." I was surprised that Blaire wasn't mad at me too but then I remembered Jake telling me that water magic users rarely became angry.

"What's going to happen to them?" I asked. Nothing was happening the way I'd hoped.

"Well, it's annoying but I'll probably have to talk to them and then put them to death," she said casually. I couldn't understand how she could speak about killing someone so easily, as if it was just something so normal. I didn't understand this world any more. All this war and fighting and death, why couldn't everyone simply get along?