Thirty-eight

As I walked towards the castle, I took in our surroundings. There was nothing around us that we could use for cover. It really was a horrible idea to try and siege this castle. Eventually, Selene and I made it to what I felt was the middle of the two parties. I went to let Selene down, but she casually stated, "No thanks. I am happy here; I think I will stay."

I let out an annoyed grunt as a response, but stayed quiet and turned my attention to the four approaching.

The man, on the other hand, was older than me. He had a look on his face like he was annoyed just to be here, and Selene and I were a waste of his time. While the two looked normal, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to them.

I was snapped from my thoughts by the sound of footsteps approaching from behind us. I didn't have to turn around to know that the Prince had arrived. There was a brief pause, then the idiot opened his mouth and demanded, "Why is the King not here? I demand to see him at once! I don't have time to deal with low-lives like yourselves."

I studied the four before me. The soldiers looked to the man as if they were nervous about how he would retaliate. I looked at the woman and noticed that she was staring at her feet, either not caring what was happening, or afraid to speak out of turn.

The man let out a long sigh and replied, "I am sorry, but the King doesn't have time to deal with spoiled children."

Selene let out a loud snort from her position on my back, causing everyone to look at her. With a laugh, she replied, "What? It's funny, not to mention true." I was surprised to see the woman with a slight smile, but it quickly vanished from her face when the man turned to her.

The Prince let out a loud gasp as if he had been physically injured and said to me, "You need to put your wife in her place before I do. Now I will offer you one chance to earn my forgiveness. If you kill these four for their insolence, I will ignore your wife's little outburst."

As soon as he had finished talking, I could feel Selene's anger. I turned my head and asked, "Would you mind hopping off my back for a second? I believe that I can answer him for both of us."

Selene paused for a moment, obviously confused, but slowly climbed off my back. As soon as I heard her feet hit the ground, I was in the Prince's face. With venom heavy in my voice, I hissed out, "Let me make one thing clear. You don't own me, and you sure as hell don't own my wife. So you had better watch what you say. I don't give a damn about your cause or even this war. I am only on your side because it was convenient for the two of us. Now, why don't you stop making empty threats and fight your own battle."

The Prince's face was flushed with anger. I assumed that in his mind, he couldn't comprehend that someone had said no to him. He opened his mouth to speak, but I grabbed him by his tunic and effortlessly hoisted him into the air. Ignoring his yelp of surprise, I snarled out, "Think of your next words carefully. If they are not, "I'm sorry" to my wife, you are not going to make it out of here alive." The Prince stared at me with a mix of anger and fear but eventually croaked out, "I'm sorry."

Happy with what I heard, I released my grip, causing him to fall to the ground unceremoniously. With a smile, I turned back to the other party and said, "I apologize for that. Where were we?"

Everyone was quiet, taking in what they had just seen. The two soldiers stared at me, obviously scared, while the man looked as if he was trying to figure me out. I turned my gaze to the woman and was surprised to see that her gaze was shifting between Selene and I. It looked as if she was refusing to believe something.

When she noticed that she held my attention though, she quickly shifted her gaze to the ground.

The man cleared his throat and stated, "I don't think there is anything else for us to say. You are going to run through this open area, and your men are going to die. The only thing that is left is war." He turned around and began to walk away with the two soldiers on his heels as he said this. I was about to turn around when I noticed the woman hadn't moved. It was evident that she wanted to say something but continued to stare at her feet.

After a moment, she looked up and, to my surprise, had tears in her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something but suddenly fell to her knees in obvious pain. As soon as it started, it was over, and she shakily got to her feet. With her head hung in defeat, she slowly walked towards the man, who had a furious expression on his face. I didn't know what I had just witnessed, but I knew that the man had somehow caused her pain. I took an instinctive step towards him, but surprisingly, Selene grabbed my arm, stopping me.

With a sad expression, she said, "There is nothing we can do for her now. It will be better if we wait." I gave the girl one last glance, then followed Selene.

I was suddenly in a foul mood, and that man was going to pay.

I expected Selene to head back towards the army, but instead, she began to walk away from both groups, staying parallel to the castle. Once she decided that we were far enough away, she sat on the ground and let out a sigh. After a brief pause, she stated, "This should give us a view of the fight. I am curious to see what is going to happen."

I could only stare into the field, thinking about what the woman had been trying to say.