THE ROGUE PRINCESS (Callie's Story)

THE TALE OF HOW IT ALL BEGUN

“Mummy, why isn’t anyone trying to save the girl from the fire?” Little Callie asked her mother curiously.

“What, baby? What are you talking about?” The Dark Queen, Lacy Winchester asked her adorable three-and-a-half-year-old, Callaghan.

“The fire, mummy. It says this girl is on fire, but no one is trying to save her.”

Oh.

Lacy almost facepalmed.

She had come to pick little Callie up from her human grandparents, and for once, she had decided to be… what was the word… normal… and use a car instead. All she got for her troubles was this long hour stuck in traffic.

Was this the thanks she got for unifying all five realms and ensuring peace and tolerance?

The radio was on, and Alicia Key’s ‘Girl on Fire’ was playing, the very song that had put her young, rather too-smart-for-her-age daughter in a state of confusion.

Ah, f**k.

So now how exactly did she explain this one?

“Callie, baby, the song doesn’t really mean that the girl is on fire,” Lacy started slowly, trying to take her time so the young one who was almost her husband’s spitting image would understand. She turned to the backseat, where her little girl sat in her infant car chair, looking adorable as she listened to her mother attentively, “It just means that she is strong, that she is powerful, and can defeat every evil, little, or big monster that comes her way.”

“Like you mummy?” The young girl asked, her beautiful green eyes wide in awe. Little Callie had seen her mummy in action quite a few times to know exactly what she was talking about when it came to defeating monsters. They had had quite their share of them, what with people hearing that she was a special child, and after careful deliberation with her husband, Reed Alderon Winchester, King of the entire werewolf and Lycan realm, Lacy had decided that she wasn’t going to beat about the bush when it came to her child knowing who she really was, and so the little girl had started her orientation quite early.

“Yes, my love… just like me.” Lacy finally snapped out of her thoughts to answer her daughter’s question.

The little girl was silent for a while processing it all. Suddenly, she said, “I want to be strong and powerful like you when I grow up, mummy.”

Lacy smiled a smile that did not quite touch her eyes.

If anything, she wanted her daughter to be as far from being like her as possible. You see, what Lacy had realized a little quite too late was that, with a power like hers came lots of enemies, and while she was fighting them each day and winning too while she was at it, this was certainly not the life that she wanted for her little Callie.

She was powerful, yes.

Certainly the most powerful being in all of her five realms.

But that didn’t mean she didn’t have those days where all she could think of were the what-ifs?

Those days haunted her terribly, and she had to admit, she’d been having thoughts about those a lot more now, and they always filled her with dread, for every time they came to mind, they brought the question of what would happen to her little girl.

Lacy knew without a doubt that she and the love of her life would fight to the death if need be, if it meant protecting their little girl, but why think of that now?

They had a lot more years ahead of them.

Their happy ever after had just set off in motion.

By the time Lacy snapped out of her thoughts for the second time, she had seriously had enough of the traffic situation.

“Callie” She turned to her daughter, a mischievous glint in her eyes, “What say you we ditch this car and get home in a flash?”

Callie clapped her hands excitedly, grinning in delight, “Will Daddy make ice cream with sprinkles?”

“Sure thing, baby.” Lacy grinned, branching out of the traffic to find a simple parking space for her car.

She turned everything off and locked them in, crawling to the back and helping Callie out of the seat and into her arms. “Close your eyes, Callie… this will be over in a jiff.” She whispered, and then everything went black.

Someone would come for the car later.

************

Lacy and Callie reappeared at their grand castle in a split second, and the little girl clapped her hands in delight, still giddy with excitement from their little adventure. But Lacy wasn’t really listening to her daughter.

The castle was eerily quiet, and Lacy could feel a weird prickle at the back of her neck.

It was a familiar feeling, one that always highlighted impending doom, and after years of protecting her kingdom, this feeling, her instincts, had never let her down before.

Something was very wrong.

Lacy quickly turned to Callie, a forced smile on her face as she bent to the little girl’s level, “Hey, sweetie, how about we play hide and seek, huh?” She suggested, “You go hide really well until I say 'ready,' and don't come out under any circumstances, okay?”

“Mummy, what if I hear you coming and I want to change where I’m hiding?” Callie asked curiously, c*****g her head to the side in slight confusion. She really didn’t understand why her mother suddenly seemed so serious about their little game.

“No, you can’t come out even then, Callie,” Lacy said, shaking her head slightly, “I’m going to find your father, and we’ll be back with that ice cream with sprinkles you wanted, okay?”

Callie, always up for a game, nodded enthusiastically, her eyes sparkling with excitement, and Lacy hid her concern behind a smile as she watched her little girl scamper off. “You hide really well, okay?” She called out softly.

She knew all of Callie’s hiding spots, and she also knew they were all safe.

The little girl will be fine.

And so, the Dark Queen began the search for her husband.

You know, even after so many years, people heard her title and went running off in the opposite direction, afraid, thinking that she was evil, but the title was only so because of the fact that she drew her magic from dark energy, those were circumstances beyond her control, but Lacy truly believed that it wasn’t where one’s power was obtained from, but rather the good they did with said powers that truly mattered, and so she tried not to let the few’s negativity get to her much. The majority liked her, and in Lacy’s experience, that was all that mattered, because, as the saying went, ‘you can’t please everyone.’

Lacy stopped in her tracks when she saw it—an unmoving body on the ground, with blood pooling all around them.

She knew the person, he was one of the Pack's warriors, a loyal protector of the realm, and now he lay at her feet, dead.

The dark queen’s sinking feeling deepened as she frantically charged through the castle corridors, only to come across a few more lifeless bodies of her people.

And so, you can imagine her anger, surprise, and irritation when her gaze landed on two men, two warriors wielding guns.

They were not from her pack.

The first thing they did when their gazes caught sight of her was try to run, but Lacy’s magic froze them right where they stood, dragging them towards her, “I am in no mood for dragging things out, so you better start talking, who are you, and what do you want with my pack?”

The two strange warriors struggled against the magical restraint, their faces twisted in fear. They exchanged uneasy glances, and yet, they gave nothing away. “Kill us, dark witch, because no matter how much you torture us, we’re not saying a single word.”

“Gladly,” She smiled tightly at him, snapping her fingers and walking off in search of her husband. She could hear their screams of pain and suffering as she burnt them up from the inside. It was going to take a long while, and if by the time she finished searching the entire castle, she had still not found anything, she’d return to them and, hopefully, they would be willing to talk by then.

Lacy closed her eyes and tapped into her magic, connecting with the energy of the Lycan realm, aching for quicker answers. Her heart broke when she realized that the attack had not been limited to the castle only. The entire Lycan realm had suffered as well. She could still hear the blood of her people, crying out to her to avenge them.

But how had she not sensed this even in the slightest bit?

She was tied to all five realms, and so she could sense if any was in danger, so why hadn’t she been able to sense this one?

Something told her that there were greater forces at play,

That they had had it all carefully planned out.

For no one even knew that Callie was not in the Clan, or that she had gone to pick her up from her grandparents’. Reed was the only one who knew this.

So how did they know?

Lacy heard a certain sudden, loud cry of pain, and even before she could register it, her body was already teleporting her to the scene.

What she saw, chilled her to the bone.

Her husband, the powerful Reed Alderon Winchester, feared by many for his cruelty and ruthlessness, was now reduced to his knees, clad only in Calvin Klein boxer briefs, the rest of his body bloody and battered and bruised almost beyond recognition as one man, huge and bulky and clad in the regalia of a king along, with three hundred men tortured him.

“REED!” She said the word tearfully, rage quickly icing her veins. It was dangerous for anyone to be near her when she was this angry, given that the dark energy within her only thrived in chaos. As it was now, she was not above causing one of her own.

She could sense who they were.

Humans.

Impossible!

It shouldn't be possible that they be the predators?

Because since time immemorial, humans were and would always be considered the weaker faction. Hell, it was precisely for this reason that she had unified the realms—to protect them.

This was the thanks she got?

Lacy stepped forward, smoky wisps of dark energy dancing in her hands. “Let him go.” She demanded angrily, “Who are you, and what do you want?”

The leader of the group stepped forward, his bulging stomach leading him, his arrogance palpable as he looked down at Lacy.

He was tall. Tall and imposing, and he looked way older than Lacy, about a good ten years or more. Add that to a bad diet and lots of smoking, and you will get the perfect age description for the man who stood before her.

“If it isn’t the Dark Queen,” He sneered proudly, “It’s unfortunate, but your reign is about to come to an end.” He turned to his men, who were cheering him on, and if you asked Lacy, she had no idea why she didn’t finish them off instantly and was just staring at them, “You ask who my name is, well, I’ll tell you, “They call me Berlon the Ruthless, and I’m the one coming to take your place.”

At this point, Lacy had had enough.

She let out a loud scream, sending a powerful burst of dark energy coursing out of her, sending all three hundred men flying across the room.

Her mouth fell open slightly as, one by one, they all began to rise up to their feet.

That… that should not have been possible.

A force that powerful should have incapacitated them for much longer… killed a few of them even, and yet there they were, all three hundred men, standing before her, poised for battle.

“B—but this is impossible. You're human," Lacy stammered in disbelief.

Something was terribly wrong.

“I may be human, but do not be deceived, Queen… I am certainly not ordinary. I have the backing of Ares, and I shall have your kingdom.” Berlon huffed tiredly, a little out of breath, “I was hoping you’d choose the violent path,” He bellowed, “That, is where I thrive.”

The man wielded a strange-looking staff, and with a malevolent grin, he struck it against the ground, sending Reed into a fit of agony as excruciating pain coursed through him.

“G…go, Lace,” He managed to get the words out even as he thrashed and shook and shivered. “Get yourself o—out of here, Lace... all of you, please," Reed pleaded through gritted teeth.

But Lacy stubbornly shook her head, her eyes filled with determination and tears. “Enough!” She begged Berlon, “Stop, please, it is me you want.” Fury flashed in her eyes as she tried another burst of dark energy, and then another in rapid succession, stunning him and his men for a while, “Let him go and face me, you bastard! Face me if you aren't such a coward!”

Berlon gladly accepted the challenge, turning his full attention to her while his men formed a protective barrier around him. Lacy stretched out her arms and released dark energy that sent Berlon's men flying again. This time they were down a bit longer before they rose to their feet.

They all charged at her, and Lacy fought back with all her Lycan skills and magic. She couldn't harm them fatally, but it certainly was an even fight, though one would argue that it was skewed in her favor given that she was only one and they were three hundred and one.

But Berlon hadn't lied; the power at his disposal was just as strong as the one that coursed through her veins, and while Reed, despite his highly weakened state, had managed to make it to his feet and join in the fight, he could only do so much.

As the battle for power raged on, the entire room suddenly became silent as they all heard it—

That small frantic cry.

“Mummy! Daddy!”

Oh Gods.

“CALLIE!”

Both mother and father's cries were instantaneous, loud gasps escaping their lips as their hearts twisted in fear. In that moment, their little girl was their top priority,

She was the only one who mattered.

Unfortunately, the little intrusion momentarily made Lacy lose her concentration. That was all Berlon needed to deliver that powerful, victorious, fatal blow.

He plunged his weird staff into her chest, pushing it deep into her heart.

It all happened fast and yet so slowly like it did in the movies.

Lacy fell to her knees, the world sluggishly fading around her. But even as she fell, she used her last burst of rapidly depleting power to teleport her daughter out of harm's way, leaving only her husband.

If she had the energy, she would have taken him too.

“NO!” Reed cried out as he used the last burst of energy he had in him to reach his wife, but he was already too late.

Lacy smiled through her tears, her eyes shining with so much love for the bloodied man hovering above her.

It wasn’t his time yet.

But hers was.

And if you ask her if she would want a do-over should the opportunity present itself, she would tell you that she didn’t want it any other way, not if she wouldn’t have Reed, not if she wouldn’t have Callaghan… her little Callie. “It’s okay, Reed… she is safe.” She assured him, but he shook his head,

“Lacy, no please, don’t leave me, Lace… I beg you, I can’t do this without you,” Reed whispered as he cried dark ugly tears. He didn’t even care if it made him weak… nothing and no one else mattered now that he knew his daughter was safe…

He wanted the same story to be said of his wife, but alas.

He had failed her.

All of those words he had said in his vows… he had failed to honor them all.

“It’s not your fault, Reed… don’t go blaming yourself,” She whispered softly, choking on her own blood. Reed tried to get her to stop talking, but she wouldn’t listen. She needed to get everything she needed to say off her chest.

But there was not much time for that.

For she suddenly started to disintegrate into dust and thorns right before his eyes. Her last words to him were, I love you, Reed, always and forever, and now that has come to an end. Please take care of our Callie, I will be watching over you.”

And then she was gone.

Reed scooped up the dust that had been his wife's as his body shook with more bitter sobs. She was gone, and as for their daughter, who knew? With her mother’s power declining that rapidly, she was probably gone too. What else was there to live for?

It was as though the murderer could read his thoughts.

“Oh, I won't kill you just yet, Alpha," Berlon taunted, looming over Reed. “I'm afraid I'm not quite done with you yet.”

*****

Meanwhile, little Callie had appeared suddenly in her Aunt Anaya's room in the werewolf realm, catching her and Uncle Xavier in a rather compromising position, one that even with her smartness, she still couldn’t comprehend just yet.

The good doctor and his mate quickly rushed to their niece’s side, both of them frantic as they tried to figure out how she had gotten there.

“Who brought you here, Cal?” Anaya adjusted her bathrobe and squatted to the little girl’s level, her concern evident “Was it mummy?”

The mention of her mother was all it took to open Callie’s floodgate of tears, “They killed her, Aunty Anaya…”

“They killed who, Cal?” Xavier asked, a cold chill descending on him as he hoped to the heavens that the girl should have no idea what she was talking about, but she repeated it again,

Callie’s tears intensified. “The monsters, Uncle Xavi... they killed my mummy.”