The four of them were locked up in one of Grumor's deepest, darkest prisons. The cell was barred in and made out of stone. It reeked of blood and vomit. Jesika rested against the wall, her head in her hands.
"How the heck are we going to get out of here? Much less alive?!" Rowan shouted, banging his fists against the walls.
Jesika shook her head. "I wish I knew."
He grunted and knelt before Jesika. He gripped her chin, hurting her slightly as he jerked her head up to look at him. "Why don't you ever just listen to me?! You never, not ONCE, trust my judgement!!"
She glared at him, slapping his hand away forcefully. "You're really going to go into this now?!! How was I even supposed to know she would rat us out!?? Much less that she knew I was the queen!??"
"If we hadn't been impulsive and taken help from the first person to offer it, we wouldn't be in this situation!!! You never take time to decide things!!! You just do them!!!"
"What else was I supposed to do, Rowan?!" she yelled back, leaning even closer, spitting in his face. She had never hated him more than she had right now. Never hated herself more than she did right now.
"Listen to me!!! You should've listened to me!!! We could've explored our options more!!! For heavensakes, we only spent one day looking!"
Darryn and Aquila sat behind them, watching the two of them yell at each other. They didn't even bother interrupting, too disheartened to try reasoning with them.
"I'm sorry, okay!!! Maybe you should just be the ruler of Querencia since apparently, I'm SO bad at it," she said bitterly, crossing her arms and leaning back against the wall.
Something flashed through his eyes, making his jaw clench. "Why did you even want me to come? Hm?! It certainly wasn't for my intelligent input since you never seem to care about that anyways. So why?! I could've been at home, safe with the family I just got back from a freaking deadly battle!!"
She stared at him, his eyes brazen with frustration and pain and fear. His hair was mussed, and his muscles were tight. She was equally frustrated with herself. A myriad of emotions was kicking and stabbing at her heart and her mind and she couldn't take it anymore. So, she clenched her eyes shut and shouted:
"Because I like being around you, you jerk!!!! Because I have feelings for you!!!" Tears came rushing from Jesika's eyes at finally admitting that and her disappointment in herself. She sank back against the prison wall as deadly quiet settled over them.
It was finally broken by Rowan, his voice strained and disturbingly monotone:
"That is the most selfish, stupid reason to ask me to come."
Jesika looked up at him, his words like a kick to her gut. His face held no emotion as he glared back at her. He slowly stood, going to sit by himself.
After a tense few minutes, the sound of footsteps approaching echoed through the halls. Jesika looked up to see a face she was beginning to think she'd never see again. Audric.
He stood outside their prison, looking at all of them, a steely glare on his face. Feeling fire shoot through her veins, Jesika stood, running over to the bars and shaking them as she screamed at him:
"How could you do this to me, you monster!??"
He didn't laugh or grin, not like he had before. He only stared at her, before simply shaking his head. An almost sad, pitying expression was on his face. "Why are you four even here?" He said quietly, his voice holding none of the mirth she was expecting.
She let out a surprised breath, stepping away a little. She raked her hand through her hair, replying:
"You freaking escaped from prison, that's why."
He did chuckle now, dryly, as he rolled his eyes. "Yes, but you won the war. You have a dragon that can breathe fire and ice. My kingdom is great, but we don't have the manpower to take down an army and a dragon. You could've let me go free and I probably would never try and mess with your nuisance kingdom ever again. Instead you came running after me. Why? And spare me the justice talk. Please. You came all this way, went through all this trouble. There must've been more to get out of it."
Jesika crossed her arms, eyeing him. "I need to know why you did this to me. Why you hate me and my kingdom so much. I..." Jesika's voice trailed off, her gaze lowering to the floor. "I loved you like family, Audric. And I thought you loved me. How could you destroy someone you loved so much?"
"Because someone you loved destroyed someone I loved," he said simply.
Jesika's head shot up at his words, her heart skipping a beat. "What do you mean?"
His jaw twitched as he cleared his throat. "I was a very young man when your parents called for a war between our two kingdoms. They were wanting to expand their forces, and they wanted to do this by conquering Grumor. In said war, your parents single-handedly murdered my parents. From that day on, I hated them with a burning passion. My kingdom was left to recover, and I became king of Grumor. I made a plan to get my revenge, one that would be very long and secretive. I left Grumor to become a citizen of Querencia and gain the trust of your parents. Upon doing this, I killed them with my now deceased dragon. All was going to plan... Except for beginning to love their daughter..."
Tears came to Jesika's eyes at the earnestness in his tone. She fell to her knees, looking up at him helplessly. "You... you did love me? How? Why then?!"
"I had to keep up the act, of being the family friend grieving over the king and queen. But as I did that, and I watched you grew up... I saw more and more of me in you. Ironically enough, helping you heal over the death of your parents only started as an act, before not long I was actually wanting to help you. Instead of feeling delight over making you feel my pain, I only felt sadness and sympathy. I didn't want to kill you anymore. But long before I ever loved you, I loved my kingdom. I loved my parents." He paused, kneeling down so he was eye level with her, his voice becoming dark and full of hatred as he said: "And I hated your parents and your filthy, greedy kingdom."
Jesika's head fell, as her body was wracked with sobs. He stood, starting to leave them. He called back at them:
"Goodbye. It's been awfully nice knowing you four. Tomorrow is your day of reckoning. I hate that it has to end this way."
Author's Note
So the truth is out and Audric's motive is revealed! Thoughts?
