Regius (33 page)

The Seer's teeth visibly
gritted but no words were spoken and Maya squeezed her eyes shut as
she braced herself for death at the hands of the Steward. Although
not afraid, the betrayal she felt towards Xania was so overwhelming
tears stung the contours of her eyes. Remembering how she'd once
had a purpose in life, she couldn't seem to figure out how things
had gone so awry and off course.

"Wait!" Maya’s eyes sprung
open as Mallow’s voice rung through the air, her golden eyes
pleading as she looked at Xania. “Don’t.” She whispered.

Maya could see the Seer
peek up, eyes fearful as she carefully watched the Steward’s
reaction. Gulping herself, her gaze never detached from Mallow,
even when Xania removed the knife from her neck and took a step
away from her.

"I-" Inhaling shakily, the
Seer reluctantly knelt down to the ground, pressing her forehead
onto the ballroom platform. "My loyalty and allegiance are to you
now, my lord. I pledge obedience."

Dumbfounded with the sudden
turn of events, Maya couldn't seem to reach the anger she felt
towards Xania, nor did she manage to gather her wits to ask the
Seer why. Instead, she focused on the golden liquid that streamed
out of Mallow's eyes, and she stepped forward and knelt down, her
hand resting on the Seer's shoulder in a sympathetic gesture.
Before anyone could stop her, Mallow looked into Maya's
eyes.

"Galax will never become
king now that he's lost his queen."

Maya smothered the gasp
that wanted to escape her, hoping the Steward hadn’t seen the
slight stiffness that had settled in her shoulders.

"You will stay within the
castle and from now on, you will keep me updated on whatever may
happen in the future." Xania pulled Maya away from Mallow. "Maya,
go now and take a moment to compose yourself. I shall join you in
my bedroom as soon as I am done here." Eyes never detaching from
the Seer, Maya nodded her head absently and started to walk towards
the ballroom's exit, feeling pained as she was forced to rip her
gaze from Mallow's.

After stepping back out
into the hallway, Maya took a moment to lean against ballroom door,
breathing in steadily, her eyes closed as she repeated Mallow's
words in her head. Of course the Seer would know who Maya was. With
the right thoughts and words, she could receive a vision on any
subject.

Feeling fright trying to
squirm its way into her system, Maya managed to block those
feelings out, remembering the look of determination on Mallow's
face. Latching onto the Seer's courage, she tried to seek out some
kind of bravery laying dormant within. If she found it, Maya wasn't
quite sure, but she was going to listen to what the Seer had told
her to do.

Instead of walking straight
forward into the hallway and back to the Harem's foyer, she made
her way down the stairs, to the dungeon. She was leaving this
castle, abandoning the harem and running away from
Xania.

Maya had believed her
purpose had died along with the Queen. Mallow had just told her it
hadn't.

As she opened the large
wooden door that led inside the dungeon, she realized that the
dungeon itself wasn’t what would be most terrifying.

* * * *

"Cali." I sent a dull stare
his way. Although I was not completely aware how long it had been
since I'd gotten out of the dungeon and back by Cali's side, we had
slept in this forest twice. Having been forced to run in fear from
getting caught by one of the Regius soldiers, trackers or
assassins, we hadn't really taken a moment to enjoy being back in
each other’s presence. In the end, I realized that we didn't need
it since we seemed to just click back into our regular old
ways.

He sighed dramatically.
"Yes, Solenum?"

Grinning, I poked his side
with a tree branch, leading him to flip over onto his stomach,
yellow eyes glaring into my own. "What?!" He barked, clearly
reminding me of the fact he was not a morning person.

"I'm
so
hungry." I rubbed my belly and
smacked my dry lips.

"Would you shut up and just
go hunt a bunny already?" I had missed him terribly.

"You do it."

"Why?"

"You're the
man."

"That is your thinnest
argument yet. Try something else."

Rolling my eyes, I decided
to just let that go for now and concentrate on something else. I
was glad I wasn't alone in this. When I'd jumped off the island to
enter the black pit, I hadn't really thought about having to go
home. I'd concentrated on getting out of the dungeon, not so much
of what would lay ahead. Now, being stuck in this forest and having
no idea what was the right way to go, having Calycanthus by my side
was certainly made things less hard.

Galax was always present in
my mind and although I'd tried for a moment to push him to the
back, it hadn't worked and I knew it never would. Cali had told me
he'd met him, that they'd talked. It was strange to get my best
friend's opinion on my boyfriend. As we'd been apart when I'd met
Galax, I never had thought about what it would be like when they’d
meet. I hadn't been too surprised to hear that Galax had lashed
out. Although I had stayed clear of the idea as much as I could,
when Cali talked of Galax's instability, I realized I'd been right
to worry. What made me feel better is that my best friend had once
again used his extreme kindness to help someone. I'm sure Galax was
grateful for it as well.

Then came the issue of
Datura Lovelace. After all I'd heard about him, I'd been able to
guess he and Cali had gotten in contact, possible become best
friends again. But lovers? I didn't frown at the idea, I was just
really,
really,
proud that Cali had managed to get to that point on his own
without me needing to nudge him. He had finally figured out how to
deal with his emotions all by himself.

A lot had happened and
although we'd both silently been upset about not being present when
the changes had occurred, it wasn't stronger than the happiness we
felt at being back by each other’s sides. Unfortunately, now we
were apart from our respective boyfriends and we were forced to
face the fact that we weren't enough for one another
anymore.

"We should keep
moving."

Nodding at Cali's
statement, I reluctantly got back up onto my feet, slowly following
him to...
wherever
. We had no destination and because neither of us had the
patience to just sit and wait for whoever was to come find us, we
decided to keep moving around. Mallow hadn’t given an exact
location, which, even if she had, we were in
Immortalis Silva
and we’d never have
found it.

While not completely
recovered from all the trials I'd had to go through in the dungeon,
I'd certainly managed to catch up on a good amount of sleep and my
body was starting to feel better and better. And Cali had reminded
me of the flower Mallow had given me. I'd used it to heal my hands
as they'd been the worst and would only continue to get damaged
since I had to always use them. The rest could heal at its own
speed. Except maybe the haunting atmosphere of that place. It would
never truly leave me. And the worry for Robinia was
huge.

"Had I listened to Jaja's
blabbering a bit more attentively, I could know what plants we
could eat." Cali muttered, kicking some forest dirt with his foot,
his
Extraxie
in
hand as he swung it back and forth.

The boy was never unarmed.
I understood; I was missing the presence of
Icendia
in my hand right now. I
wondered if it still lay in the same spot on the Pallium training
ground where I'd last left it before Digitalis had gotten his hands
on me. Had Galax moved it into our quarters? Maybe he'd brought it
with him when he'd gone to the Coliseum. I guess I wouldn't find
out for a long while.

"Jaja is the one named
Jatrop Jansen who's married to Dandelion, right? The
researcher?"

"Yeah."

I caught a glimpse of a
small grin playing on Cali's lips. Once I'd have been jealous if
he'd made other friends without me, but while he'd made friends in
the Coliseum, I had done the same thing during my stay in the
Pallium garage. The separation had sucked, but I could see the good
it had done. It had helped us both realize that it was okay to
become close to other people.

"Can you believe how
different things are?" Cali interrupted my thoughts, leading me to
raise an eyebrow. "Only a couple of months ago we were poking each
other with wooden swords and now we're your regular student Altor
soldiers, wielding sharp and dangerous tools."

Smiling a tad, I nodded. "I
had a hard time grasping it when I was in Cobalt City. I don't
think I realized the extent of our new futures and truths until I
stepped out of that hole only two days ago."

"You're so brave, Sol."
Cali suddenly murmured, his gaze soft and caring as it landed on
me. "You've been through so much and I can see it on you
physically, but also in your demeanor. It feels like it’s been
years. We were kids before our separation."

"We still are." I laughed
softly, reminding him of our tender eighteen years.

"Yeah." Grinning, he
shrugged. "But you know, I don't feel like a kid anymore." The
smile vanished from my face as I listened to his following words.
"I got dragged out of my home and had to come to terms that I'd
been lied to my entire life as quickly as possible as my newfound
enemy didn't exactly leave me time to grasp the whole thing. Not
only that, I'd lost my best friend and had to figure out who I am
far sooner than I'd expected. I am who I am, but it was hard to get
there.”

A soft chuckle escaped him.
“I put Datura through a lot of mood swings. Now, as I think back on
it, I wonder why I couldn't just be okay with it and say I'm gay."
Wrinkling his nose, obviously not at the statement but more the
situation he'd gone through, he sighed heavily. "I didn't even get
the chance to tell him I love him."

"Cali..."

"Eh, I lost my point
completely, didn't I?" He smiled weakly. "What I'm saying is; we're
part of a war now and being kids is no longer a privilege we
have."

"You're just as brave as
me, you know?" Wishing to lighten the mood, I stepped over to him,
wrapping an arm around his shoulders and grinning. "You've grown
taller, definitely still shorter than me, but you're staring at my
nose rather than my mouth now. Quite an achievement." I laughed as
he pushed me away, sending me a hurt look.

"It's not my fault!" He
protested. "I blame it on my genes."

"I still can't believe
we're cousins."

"Right?" Cali laughed. "And
the Seer side of things both clarified a bunch of stuff but also
made things a whole lot more complicated."

"I'm glad. Without it,
Vervaine wouldn't have been able to remove that barrier and give
you back your memories. Although I don't envy Mallow's
insanity."

Cali stopped in his
tracks, raising an eyebrow in my direction. "Right, because you're
so sane for dating the prince of all respective doom? Honestly,
Sol, I've met the guy. It's agreed that he's definitely not cruel
and I'll allow that he's the tamest Regius on Zinc, but he's the
heir. Of
all
people, and I'm sure there were plenty of hot Pallium boys
with potential in that garage, did you have to go for the one with
blue hair and the mark on the forehead that to all Altors and
Palliums screams danger? Not that I agree with them, but did you
have to go with the most complicated target?"

Pressing my lips tightly
together, I reached out and pulled the second blade off his back so
I could clash it against the one he was wielding.

"Sapphire. His hair is the
color of sapphire." I corrected. "And when it comes to whacked out
picks concerning boyfriends, are you sure you're one to talk?
Because-" Blocking a blow he sent my way, I sidestepped him and
grinned as he halted the slam of the sword I'd been about to throw
at his back. "Although I’ve never met Datura." I continued. "I've
heard a lot about the guy and I figure now is the moment I point
out that being able to communicate with ghosts and souls isn't one
of the most normal things a person can harbor as an ability." Cali
had gotten strong!

"You fight like a Pallium."
My glare had him add. "That wasn't an insult!"

"You fight like an Altor."
Wanting to wipe the proud grin off his face, I added, "That was an
insult."

"So you have the knowledge
to wire a car and make it bullet proof. Big whoop. Palliums are far
too arrogant."

Snorting, I launched myself
forward, rolling over the ground and blocking his blade once I lay
on my back, using my feet to knock him up and over my head.
Standing back up, I chuckled as he blinked in surprise to find
himself lying on the forest floor.

"I think both species
suffer from the same delusion, Cali." I offered him my hand,
wanting to help him up.

I barely had the time to
register the evil grin on his face before I found myself flying
backwards. I rolled across the forest ground when my flight ended.
Breathless and beyond confused, I finally halted.