Chapter 5
1392 Words
-Laelia-
“You still sure you want this?” Rathilion asked.
“I wouldn’t have asked you if I wasn’t, would I?”
He smiled a small smile, as he swung the sword around in his hand.
“You will die.”
“Maybe I won’t.”
“It is a trap, Laelia,” he warned me.
“What else can I do? Wait?”
He shook his head, his eyes turning more serious.
“No, you can be smart. Their king has been captured but their queen is still standing. You can be an inspiration,” he said.
“I told you!” I snarled, as I went for him, lifting my sword into the air. He easily blocked my attack. “I don’t want a war!”
He pushed back and I stumbled backwards, until I finally found my balance again. Then I went for him again, only to cut the air where he had been standing. I was already panting and feeling exhausted, as I turned around to see him, and he just stood there, calmly. The sword so easily balanced in his hand. He smiled almost cruelly at me, as he saw the state I was in.
“You use too much fire,” he said.
“What does that even mean?” I asked.
“It means you don’t use it properly.”
“Am I not supposed to use the fire?” I asked.
“You are, but you cannot let it burn you. You need to make sure to keep it under control.”
“How do I do that?”
“Think. Be smart. Watch your opponent. Figure them out. Know where they will go before you charge.”
“How can I know what they are going to do?”
He smiled and shook his head slightly.
“I thought a princess would be good at reading people. Isn’t that what you learned to do your whole life, with those parties you had to attend?”
He had a point. I had been taught how to read people, but that was how to decipher their lies and fake smiles, not what they would to in a fight.
“Again,” he said.
I took a deep breath, before I went for him again and again. I failed, every time. Rathilion might tell me to try and read him, but every time I thought I had figured him out, he did something else, constantly confusing me and distracting me.
“You are impossible to read!” I said.
It made him laugh, and for some reason it made me smile.
“You are too easy to read,” he said. “Concentrate.”
“It is easy for you to say!”
“Want to stop?”
I looked at him for a few seconds before I started to shake my head.
“Never. I’m saving my husband and brothers!”
“There is that fire,” he whispered.
I went for him again, only for him to knock the sword out of my hands and hold his blade towards my throat. I looked him dead in the eye, not even afraid to have the sharp blade pressed against my skin. He had that cruel smile again, and then he slowly lowered the sword.
“I still think you should give it up. You have more power than you can imagine. Use it wisely.”
“I just want Ashes and my brothers back,” I said and picked up the sword.
He clearly didn’t agree with me, but I didn’t need him to. I knew what I wanted to do, and he would not stop me. I was going to save them all.
“Again,” I said.
He stood ready for my attack, and as I went for him, I saw it. He took a step back, as if he was ready to turn away from me. I quickly changed my attack, so my sword went to the other side. He wasn’t prepared, but he was faster than me, and quickly blocked me, only to throw me off my balance and I landed on the ground. I groaned loudly, as my back hit the hard marble surface. We were just outside the palace, just overseeing the beautiful river and forest.
“Ouch!” I said.
“Laelia!”
Just then, I heard a powerful voice boom over the ground. I sat up seeing Liam come this way looking furious. Strange. Liam was never angry.
“I’m fine,” I said.
“What are you doing?!” he asked.
I looked at Rathilion and then back at my brother.
“Training.”
“Training for what?”
I slowly got up from the ground and took the sword as well, before I finally turned to Liam again.
“I’m going to save them.”
“Who? What are you talking about?”
“Ashes … Tylon … Mayla and Sivanna … Ladon … Our brothers. I’m going to save them all.”
He shook his head, clearly not happy about what I was saying, but he could not change my mind either. I would get them out of that damn palace, and I would make sure they were all safe again.
“You must have hit your head on the ground or something,” he said.
I shook my head this time.
“No. I’m serious. Rathilion is teaching me to use a sword.”
Liam glared at the prince, but he did not seem affected. He just stood there calmly, as my brother gave him a deadly look.
“You are teaching her to use a sword?!” he yelled.
“She asked me to,” he calmly answered my brother.
Liam turned back to me, his eyes flaming.
“Laelia, it takes more than a day to be skilled with the sword,” he growled.
“I know. Why I will be out here every day training until I am finally ready."
“Ready to die?”
“Ready to save them all,” I said and crossed my arms.
“You can’t just charge in there, sword in hand and believe you will save them all!”
“I know. I will take the same way we left, and then go down to the dungeons and get them out.”
My brother groaned, throwing his arms in the air and cursing as he started to pace. He clearly hated everything I had just said.
“Laelia,” he sighed. “You can’t do this.”
“Will you try and stop me?” I asked.
“If I have to.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, silently warning him not to, but I knew he would. He and the rest of my brothers had always been overprotective. Of course, that hadn’t changed. Liam had only become more protective, and I understood, but I wasn’t the little princess I had once been. Even if I couldn’t call myself queen, it did not mean I was weaker. I would get back my family, no matter what.
“You can’t stop me,” I said in a dark voice.
“Laelia, this is not a joke. This is your life we are talking about.”
“You don’t think I know that? But our brothers are still in their hands. I refuse to let them die, just because you are scared.”
“I am not scared. I just want you to be safe!”
“When have I ever been safe, ever since the dragons took over?! My life has always been in danger. And when I thought you were all dead, I was the only one protecting me! I am not your weak little sister. I have already survived so much. I will survive this as well!” I yelled.
Liam slowly shook his head.
“This is different.”
“No. It is not. I am different.”
My brother kept shaking his head but didn’t say anything else. Then he slowly turned away, leaving me and the elf prince alone.
“And you say you aren’t queen anymore. Tell me Laelia, was that a queen speaking or a normal girl?” Rathilion asked.
I sighed. Now was not the time for riddles. Now was the time for training.
- Writer
