37. Despair
thirty-seven
Despair
*ALANA*
I thought the bear might have smacked Ita away like he did with the warriors, but to my shock I see Ita clinging to the bear’s arm instead, stabbing it over and over again with her knife, until a pained roar fills the surroundings. Ita drops down into the snow, having successfully separated a part of the paw from the creature’s body.
“Ita, Alana!” Tynan yells, suddenly appearing too.
I’m so relieved to see him. So relieved!
Behind him, there are more warriors and a woman I haven’t seen yet. Probably the witch. I’m so tired, I drop down to my knees, crawling towards Ita. She is lying in the snow, blood oozing from the wound the bear’s claws left. There is still one piece of the claw stuck in her.
“Ita,” I whisper, grabbing her hand and trying to tug her away from the battlefield. Some of the warriors try to save the men that fought with me, the others are fighting the creature. Out of the corner of my eyes I can see that Francis has collapsed onto the ground too.
“This bear,” the witch pants. “I haven’t seen anything like it before!”
“Can you lift the spell?” Tynan yells.
“I can try.”
“THEN TRY!” Tynan commands.
“Ita, talk to me,” I beg.
“I… I am fine,” she gurgles.
She doesn’t look fine though, she doesn’t look fine at all. I press my hand against her wound, turning around to look for help. My heart sinks at the picture in front of me. The creature is still going strong, and even with so much backup, we don’t seem to be able to fend it off.
It easily breaks through a group of soldiers, turning towards the witch. She reacts fast though and dashes to the other side before the creature can attack. An angry roar fills the surroundings again before it lunges once more into my direction.
“Get away from there, Alana!” Tynan yells.
Not without Ita. I grab her arm, trying to pull her away with me. She saved me, and I’m not just going to leave her here for this thing to rip her apart.
“Alana!” Tynan screams.
He keeps yelling something towards me, but it mixes with the roar of the bear. Then however, the ground starts to shake, making it stop in its track. A screech echoes through the sky. I can see the shadow of wings on the ground. It’s only then that I notice that the sun is rising. The wings come closer, and with it a beautiful blue dragon. Large and majestic.
“This can’t be real,” someone whispers.
I glance upwards again. It is real, just like it was real many years ago when I was a child.
The dragon lets itself drop downward directly towards the massive bear creature, screeching again. The bear winces and tosses its body from one side to another.
“It’s the noise,” I breathe out. “He hates the noise,” I yell towards the witch.
She nods grimly at me, starting to chant something towards the creature. I don’t know what she is doing, but it clasps its ears, and the next time the dragon screeches, it roars and growls in pain. Tynan throws himself into the fight again, attacking it now that it’s weakened. The dragon comes down again, clawing at the bear, before sitting right in front of me and Ita, spreading its wings as if he wants to protect us. The creature roars again, tossing its body against a tree to shake the warriors off and then takes off into the direction of the mountains.
It's leaving… it’s… gone.
The warriors who accompanied Tynan are still dazed, but Tynan recovers fast and sends them to retrieve the wounded and fallen soldiers. Meanwhile, Tynan and the witch hurry towards me.
“How hurt is she?” Tynan asks, panicked.
“I don’t know,” I sob, feeling how the gravity of the situation finally catches up with me. “I… a lot…”
“Let me check,” the witch softly moves my hand away to check on Ita’s wound. One of the claws is still stuck in her chest. “It’s pierced her lungs,” the witch whispers. “And the artery leading to the heart.” She pauses. “I don’t think…”
Her voice trails off, and something about it enrages me. “You don’t think what?” I yell.
“I, I am sorry,” she says sadly.
She exchanges a gaze with Tynan before carefully moving back. Tynan and I try to pull the piece of the claw out, stopping when Ita coughs up more blood. “There is no use…” she says, her voice hoarse and barely audible.
“No,” I whisper.
To my surprise, Tynan gets up and takes a few steps back. He looks devastated.
“Don’t just stand there,” I yell at him. “Go and get help.”
Ita grabs my hand. “My Warrior Princess,” she whispers. “I love you, so much. I don’t regret what happened between us yesterday. I’ve loved you all along, and I would have been proud to become your chosen mate. I… I am so sorry, I hurt you.”
“No,” I whisper, tears filling my eyes. I lean my head against her chest. “Please don’t leave me.”
Her fingers keep brushing through my hair until they stop moving. Everything goes still around me, silence engulfing me. There is no noise reaching my ears, just Ita’s shallow breathing, and then complete silence.
Eventually, I feel Tynan’s hands on my shoulders, his arms pulling me into a hug.
“I’m so sorry,” I sob. “So sorry. I love you, Ita.”
“She knows it,” Tynan mutters into my hair. “She has always known it. She loved you, too.”
I can feel a blanket being wrapped around me. “You need to stay warm, Warrior Princess.” I don’t know this voice… there is a slightly foreign accent to it, but I don’t know where it’s from.
Warrior Princess.
Ita used to call me that. Warrior Princess. I feel my heart break even further. She will never smile at me again, never will her laugh echo through a room, never will I see the glint in her eyes again, and the strength. She had this unique way of turning around while walking and smiling at me. She was my escape, my safety blanket. I would sneak out sometimes as a teen when I felt overwhelmed with the burdens of my rank and the expectations of my father, and I would meet her.
She always gave me peace. She did so much for me, and I couldn’t even repay her. I wanted to be someone she could rely on, but in the end, she died to save me.
She gave her life for me.
I will never see her smile again.
She was the true Warrior Princess.
I feel a searing pain going through my body when she takes her last breath, and the Gamma bond to me and everyone else breaks. There is emptiness in place of it now. And silence.
*ROYAN*
Rona stirs in my arm, blinking her eyes open when the first rays of sunlight peek through the curtains. The sun hasn’t risen completely, it’s very early in the morning.
“It’s too early,” I complain.
She giggles, crawling on top of me to tickle me. “Are you really a scary mercenary? You sound like a boy who doesn’t want to go to school.”
I laugh, grabbing her hands. “Careful what you are starting here.”
She bends down to kiss my cheek. “You too,” she whispers. “And now I wish we didn't need to get up, either.”
She is so sweet and beautiful. I know it’s not good that she is stuck here with Penelope, indebted to help her, but I swear to the goddess I will free her. Rona told me how she grew up with nothing, and with no stability in her life. Penelope was the only one who hired her.
“What are you thinking about?” she asks quietly.
“How to get you to safety,” I admit.
“Oh, Roy,” she leans her head forward, her eyes looking sad. “I’m starting to believe that no one will ever be able to save me. I owe the Madame my life… unfortunately.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I say. “She might have saved you, but it doesn’t mean she can take advantage of you. It doesn’t mean she owns you. You are worth more than that.”
“Do you really think that?” she whispers.
“I think you are your own person, and despite what Madame Penelope told you, you are you… no one owns you.”
“You don’t know me,” she replies. “I’m weak.”
“I do know you,” I smile. “We share a bond, remember?”
“You deserve more from the bond,” she says. “I… I did horrible things for the Madame, Roy. I deserve no forgiveness.”
“You were used,” I emphasize. “And abused. She forced you into joining her cult. You might not be innocent, but there is redemption for you.”
“The fact she beat me whenever I tried to oppose her doesn’t excuse what I did,” she contends.
“That might be true,” I take her hand, brushing over it. “But, there is still a chance to make things right.”
“Do you really think that?” she asks.
“I strongly believe so.”
“Roy,” she whispers, kissing me softly. “I… I don’t know how I deserve you. You are beautiful inside and outside.”
I smile, wrapping her in my arms and pressing her against my body. She is delicate and a lot smaller than I am, and soon she giggles and wiggles in my arms. “You are not playing fair, big bad wolf.”
I laugh. “Alright, let’s continue this later.” “That’s a promise,” she says.
She kisses my hand, before crawling off me and hurrying to the small bathroom to freshen up. Neither of us needs a long time and soon we find ourselves heading to breakfast. To my surprise breakfast here is similarly organized to the castle, just not as distinctive. Rona showed me around last evening and made sure I know how everything works here.
It’s so hard to wipe the shit-eating grin from my face whenever I am with her. The mate bond is strong, and draws me to her with such intensity, it’s hard not to go all mushy on her. It makes me feel new respect for Tynan. Everyone watching him knew that Shayan is his mate, but the patience that the usually reckless and headstrong Ty displays is amazing.
I take Rona’s hand in mine while we walk into the dining hall. I know I have a role to play, but everyone here knows she is my mate, so there is no need to hide it. And I prefer having her close. It’s when I sit down at my table that I feel it. Like a blizzard, a shot of pain runs through my body, startling me. Fuck, what was that? My heart almost stops beating for a second. It feels like someone in my ranks died, a soul left this world. It’s not strong enough to be someone from my family, but certainly has to be a higher-ranking member of the royals or the royal guards.
“What is wrong?” Rona whispers in worry. “Is everything alright, Roy?”
I clasp my chest. Who fell? Who of my friends died? Or was it someone from the royal family?