Chapter 31
1978 Words
The moment Damian’s lips touched hers, Ashta’s eyes flew open, and she immediately pulled her head back. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him angrily. Damian looked at her with confusion and concern.
“Did I do it wrong?” he asked, and Ashta stared at him in disbelief, as she shook her head.
At that moment, Ashta saw Chantelle out of the corner of her eye, and she turned her gaze onto the woman. Noticeably, Chantelle’s face was full of worry, and Ashta turned back to Damian.
“We will talk about this later. Right now, I need to go take care of something,” she said coolly, and then she ran over to Chantelle.
“Where is he?” she asked, as she approached Roman’s mother, and she looked at Ashta sadly.
“He saw that man kiss you, and I watched his heart break into a million pieces,” she said, as her eyes began to tear up.
“But he kissed me. No, I have feelings for your son,” Ashta stated in panic, and Chantelle nodded, as she looked at the ground.
“I know, and he has feelings for you too, dear.”
Ashta looked at her in shock. She couldn’t believe that Roman really did have feelings for her.
“Really?” Ashta asked, and Chantelle nodded with a sad smile.
“We have to find him!” cried Ashta, and she and Chantelle ran toward her cottage.
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“Roman?” called Ashta, as they entered the dark house.
Immediately, Chantelle ran to his bedroom and then Ashta heard her gasp. At that moment, Ashta ran to her side, in fear of what she might see.
“He’s gone. He has gone back,” Chantelle said, sadly, as she put her hands to her face.
“No!” Ashta cried, sadly.
“All of his stuff is gone,” Chantelle cried, and Ashta hugged her shoulders.
“I am sorry.”
She couldn’t believe that he was just gone, just like that. Tomorrow was going to be their day, and he would have completed the elemental training.
“I think you had better head back. I am going to Taitum to talk to him,” Chantelle said, as she looked up at Ashta. Ashta looked at her for a moment and then she nodded.
“Okay. I will come by and see you tomorrow,” Ashta said, as she wiped the tears from her face.
Chantelle only nodded, as she walked her to the door. Without another word, Chantelle waved Ashta off, and then closed the door. Heavily, she sighed and let out a sob.
“Mom?”
Suddenly, Chantelle gasped and spun around. She couldn’t believe her son was standing before her with his backpack slung over his shoulder.
“Oh, Roman. I thought you were gone,” Chantelle cried, as she threw her arms around him, and he hugged her back.
“I am leaving,” he said, sadly.
Suddenly, Chantelle pulled back and she searched his eyes with a worried expression on her face.
“I can’t do this anymore. You are more than welcome to come back with me,” he encouraged, and Chantelle looked at him firmly.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to go with her son, but she was a Slayer and she wouldn’t be welcomed in Taitum.
“My place is here, son. Besides, I am a Slayer and we are not welcome in the kingdom of Taitum,” she said, and he looked at her with care.
“As my mother, no one would have a choice,” he said, as he searched her eyes.
“Son, please don’t leave. This can be worked out.”
Sadly, Roman shook his head and then looked at the floor.
“I don’t belong here.”
She looked at him thoughtfully.
“May I come visit? Anytime?” she asked him hopefully, and Roman smiled at her.
“Of course, you can,” he said happily.
Chantelle looked at her son, and then she stifled a sob. She didn’t want him to leave.
“Okay, I will come visit real soon,” she finally said, after she realized that he was not going to change his mind.
Roman nodded, hugged his mother one last time, and then he was gone.
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Sadly, Ashta walked back to the ceremony, and she let her tears fall.
Why did he leave? He never gave me a chance to explain, she thought, as she found Lashanna.
Immediately, and without a word, Lashanna wrapped her arms around Ashta’s shoulders when she saw her face.
“He’s gone,” Ashta sobbed quietly, and Lashanna hugged her tightly.
“Come on. Let’s go home,” whispered Lashanna, and Ashta nodded as Lashanna let go of her.
At that moment, Damian and Xavier walked up to them with a worried expression across their faces.
“What happened?” Xavier asked, as they reached them, and Lashanna looked at him softly.
“Could you let Gale and Liam know that we are headed back to the castle?”
Before anyone could react, Ashta abruptly pulled herself away from Lashanna. Suddenly, she felt Roman, and she knew exactly where he was. She ran toward the feeling and she found Roman right before he was about to slip through the fence.
“Roman!” she cried, as she grabbed his arm.
Angrily, he turned toward her and glared at her.
“What do you want?” he snarled, and Ashta let go of his arm, as she took a step back in fear.
He really didn’t want to leave her, but he had no choice. After he saw Damian kiss her, he felt like he didn’t belong in her world. It had to be this way, legend or not.
“Why are you leaving? Is it because Damian kissed me?” she asked timidly, and he glared at her.
“I can’t do this anymore. I am going home!” he growled at her, and she stared at him in awe.
“So, you are just going to give everything up, just like that, over a stupid kiss?” she asked in disbelief.
He had enough, and he wanted to just get out there, so he glared at her angrily.
“Well, I wouldn’t have worked this hard if I would have known that the girl I had shown my intentions to would let another guy kiss her if she had felt the same way. Goodbye, princess!” he sneered, and then he slipped through the fence.
In shock, Ashta stared after him as she felt her break. He had never given her a chance, he had never changed, it was all an act! she thought, angrily.
At that moment, bitterness and anger began to fill the empty spots of her broken heart as she made her way back to Lashanna.
“Ashta?” Lashanna asked, as she walked up to her.
Ashta just shook her head and Damian looked at her with concern.
“Come on. Let’s get out of here,” Lashanna said, as she wrapped her arm around her friend’s shoulders.
Silently, Ashta let her thoughts roll around in her head as they made their way back to the castle.
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Roman sighed heavily, as he walked through Taitum, keeping his hood over his head, so no one would see him or recognize him. He just wanted to get back home without any means of a fuss. He was a fool for falling for Ashta. His father was right, true love did not exist. Evidently, Roman made his way to the front of the castle, and there were two guards standing in front of the door.
“Who goes there?” asked one of the guards, as Roman stopped in front of them.
Roman smirked a sly smile, and then he pulled his hood back.
“Only me,” he stated, as one of the guards dropped the staff he was holding, and pulled off his helmet.
“Roman?” he asked, and Roman looked at him, and then he smiled.
“Ray?”
The guard grinned at him happily.
“Oh, my brother has come home!” he exclaimed, and Roman smiled.
Ray was Roman’s cousin from his father’s side. He was tall and came up to Roman’s shoulder, and he had the same tan skin and muscular build. It ran in the family. Ray’s hair was dark, cut short, but a little longer on the top. Happily, Roman hugged his cousin and Ray hugged him back gratefully.
“Welcome home,” Ray said, and the other guard smiled and nodded.
At that moment, Roman gave his cousin a questioning look.
“Why are you a front door guard?”
“Your dad put me here,” said Ray, and Roman only nodded.
He knew that he could convince his father to give his cousin a better job than being a front door guard. Evidently, Ray and Roman were very close. After his brother died in battle, Ray had become like a brother to Roman.
“Well, maybe I can convince dear old dad to give you a better job. No offense to your partner over there,” Roman said, and the other guard just waved off his comment.
Ray nodded and then grinned.
“It is good to have you home, cous.”
Roman nodded again.
“It’s good to be home,” Roman said, and then he walked into the castle.
“Yo, dad, Maya, I am home!” he called, as he made it to the throne room.
At that moment, Maya turned to him and gasped.
“My son!” Rocco exclaimed, as he walked over to his son and hugged him, and Roman clapped him on the back.
“It is so good to see you home,” said Rocco, as he pulled back and looked at his son.
Cautiously, Maya approached Roman with an apologetic look on her face.
“Roman, I am sorry for the way I have treated you. From now on, you, my boy, are the one true prince and the only heir to my throne. Anything you wish for, it’s yours,” she said, sincerely, and Roman searched her eyes, as he raised an eyebrow.
“Anything?” he asked in surprise.
Maya nodded and Roman lifted his hand to his chin, as he thought for a moment.
“Okay, first things first. I told my mother that she can come visit anytime that she wants, and I would also like to start the fight show back up, but only on my terms,” he stated, and Maya and Rocco looked at each other for a moment, and then they turned back to Roman.
“Done. Anything else that you can think of, name it and it is yours,” she said, and then Roman eyed her suspiciously.
“What is the catch?” he asked, as he shifted his weight.
“No catch. You taught us a lesson that we needed to learn, son,” stated Rocco, and Roman looked at him in question.
“How so?” he asked, intrigued.
“We have realized the error of our ways.”
Evidently, Roman thought his father’s answers were a little vague, so he decided to keep his guard up with them. He didn’t trust them at all. Also, with this new power that he had been taught, he couldn’t wait to use it in the ring, and reign as champion once again, and if the gods had anything to say about it, he would deal with them when the time came. The queen arranged for a celebration in honor of Roman returning home, and she was going to crown him the official prince of their people.
- Writer
