Chapter 6 Rorin
Rorin
“You can’t kill her, Rorin.”
I toss Will a withering look, and he matches it with one of incredulity. “You cannot kill her.” He reiterates. “She is royalty.”
“She is the spawn of scum.” I snap.
He tosses his hands in the air, his frustration at me radiating through the room.
“Fine. Do it then, murder her. What will that get you? You think it’s going to win any favors to your side?
Making a martyr of the innocent princess?
Didn’t your beloved wife have some sort of moral complex about killing innocents? ” He sneers.
My fists clench at his mention of her, the two of us staring each other down like beasts preparing for a fight.
“Do you two ever stop fighting?” The sound of Max’s voice jars us both.
“Oh, like you’ve never fought with your brother before…” Will’s words die down, but it’s too late – Max’s face falls as if they physically struck him. “Max I–” He tries, but when a scorch lands near his feet, he quickly shuts up.
Millie looks down at the burn mark and then back up at Will, who can’t meet her eyes.
“What happened?” She growls, and when he doesn’t answer her, she turns to me and repeats the question. This time more firmly.
“Nothing important,” I grumble, and he looks over at me, surprised. His mouths a reluctant ‘thank you’ before seeing himself outside. Millie glares my way and gives a final glance at the charred ground, storming off after Max.
She makes it two steps when I call out, “Mill–” Slowly, she turns to look back at me. “How is he?” I ask carefully.
“He’s… well, he’s handling this about as well as you are. But instead of killing other people, he’s slowly killing himself.” The words land hard in my chest. “I think the only reason he’s hung on as long as he has is the obligation he feels towards Eveera.”
I pull my lip in between my teeth, the edge of them running along the freshly healed skin. “Not for you?”
Millie’s eyebrows shoot up to her hairline, “why would he stick around for me?”
I shrug my shoulders. “I’m only asking.”
“Well, don’t.”
“Okay.”
Her face softens for a moment before she whispers, “okay.” I watch her retreating back, the tension lining through her shoulders as she makes her way back to Max. She’s exhausted – we all are.
And none of us will get any rest until Eveera is back in our grasp.
“We’re not leaving until we agree on what to do with her.”
The five of us have to come up with some sort of agreement when it comes to Pruella being in our possession.
“Why don’t we just leave her somewhere in the city once we get there?” Will asks.
“Because she’ll know where we are,” Bennett supplies. “We’re in danger enough already once we step foot into any kind of town or city. We don’t know where Eiser and Baelor have stashed spies.”
I nod my head in agreement. “Not to mention they’re most likely already looking for her.”
“Nobody is looking for me.” The high-pitched voice echoes against the walls of the rocky overhang, our heads all snapping to look at where the princess is secured.
Sparks crackle to my right, and from the corner of my eye, I see Millie’s hand sliding over Max’s. “And we’re supposed to trust your word on that?” He grits out, energy charging through his voice as his Wield desperately tries to find a way out.
Pruella smooths down the pleats of her dress as best she can with her bound wrists.
“No, you don’t have to trust my word. But you did kill every individual who could have backed it up.
However, for whatever it’s worth to the five of you, there really is no looking for me. There’s no one even aware I’m missing.”
I scoff loudly, “you are Baelor’s prized possession. His heir–”
“Power is my father’s most prized possession. Which is something he currently has plenty to keep him well occupied. Besides, when has being someone’s heir ever meant that they valued them?” Her lips purse with the bitterness of her words, her red brow lifting awkwardly in my direction.
“I vote you just kill her. What’s one more fucking target on our backs right?” Max spits before turning away from the group.
“Rorin,” Will warns. “We can send for Armond when we get to the city. He can Void her back with him.”
Certainly, the diplomatic route. The voice inside my head chides.
Although Eveera would likely be furious if I allowed Pruella anywhere near Obsidian without her explicit consent.
I start to shake my head in disagreement with that suggestion when he adds, “you are king now. Do you want to be as bad as your father and hers? Or do you want to better – someone worthy of the title?”
With no decision made on the princess yet, we opted to camp here for another night. Max was furious – each time he glanced in Pruella’s direction, sparks danced out of his palms, each time scorching dangerously close to the princess’s feet.
After the fourth time, Millie made the wise decision and removed Max from our shared space.
I drop my head against the cool sandstone and wait for my eyelids to fall heavy. When they do, instead of seeing stars or utter blackness, I find myself squirming underneath the hold of two very angry golden irises.
–
“Because you distracted me! And look here you are, distracting me. AGAIN! Poking your nose into something that isn’t your business, AGAIN!”
“I was just trying to help.”
She leans her head back against a tree. “It was a nightmare, Rorin. I would’ve woken up eventually. You don’t need to try to help me with my dark and twisty head. Okay, princeling?”
Okay, Nightmare…
–
The memory bounces around the walls of my mind, bringing me both comfort and anguish. Nightly, I am badgered with thoughts of her. Her smell, her voice, gods… those fucking eyes. Even the way her breath hitched every time we got close haunts me.
But no matter how much my chest aches at the mere thought of her, my memories are all I have right now. I took my eyes off of her for one damn second, and he took her.
Should have made sure he was dead. My conscience jabs. Yes, I should have. At least I know the moment I get my hands on him, he won’t live long enough to give me an explanation for his actions.
I won’t make that mistake again.
“You look like you slept terribly.” I look up to find Ben’s far too sunny face on the opposite side of my horse.
“Well, sleep with one eye open when the enemy is around, right?”
His eyebrows shoot up to his hairline, “is that what you did with Eveera? Sleep with one eye open?” I level a weighted glare on him, and he backs up with both arms high, laughter bursting past his poorly sealed lips.
I shake my head, tugging on the girth of the saddle another time to make sure it’s secured. “Hey, Ben?” I call out.
“Yeah?” He shouts, making his way back over to me, the playful smile still on his face.
“One, you also look like shit. Two? I slept with both eyes open with Eveera. That woman scares the fucking hell out of me.”
Bennett barks out another laugh, combing a few fingers through his thick black hair, “you and me both.” Rocking back on his heels, he takes a step back towards me, “for what it’s worth, Ror, I don’t like that the princess is here any more than you do.
But Will’s made a point. Do you want to be a better king than your father or not? ”
A reluctant sigh leaves me, the words rolling around in my head, “she would kill me if I let Pruella go anywhere near Obsidian.”
His head bobs up and down. “Okay… well then, we keep Princess Pruella with us.”
“And do what with her?” I snap.
My guard shrugs his shoulders up and down. “Keep her as leverage. When we find Eveera and bring her back to Obsidian, it will certainly have been a noticeably long enough time for the princess to be missing. Baelor will be looking for her if he isn’t already. We use her as a bargaining chip.”
A bargaining chip…
“That’s… not the worst idea.”
Bennett rolls his eyes, “it’s the only idea we’ve got that could actually be useful. At least then we can get close to Baelor and Eiser again. Close enough to deal with them.”
Mmmm. “Close enough to kill them.”