The Battle for Castle Vellum
POV: Alexandra
Jheelis took the bow from my hands and placed it around my body and took the quiver and loaded it with arrows which weren’t nearly as fancy. He also helped me to equip them. He stepped back and nodded approvingly, “You look like a proper warrior.” He saw the dagger strapped to my thigh and he looked over at Jess, “Wolf’s blessing?” She nodded but I didn’t quite understand what that meant and I was about to ask when another knock came on my door. Jynx opened the door to Talon who widened his eyes when he saw me, “You look like you belong in the Citadel. You got a few little gifts, I see. I hope you have room for one more. It is Esperanza family tradition to give a new warrior something to bring them luck on the battlefield. The castle is a whole different place to do battle, of course, but still going to be tough nonetheless.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box and opened it. Inside was a small seemingly non-ornate silver ring upon closer look, a small flame was carved in the band. He pulled it out and grabbed my right hand and slipped it on my index finger. He smiled at me, “This was something my father gave me my first time going to battle. He told me that if I find another young warrior in our family to give it to, I should pass it down. This is an old heirloom so keep it safe and bring it back home.” I nodded at him, “I will be sure to bring it home.” He nodded, “What I like to hear. I also came up here to tell you that we are ready to head out now. We’re gathering in the ballroom since we don’t want to arouse any suspicion in case we are being watched.
I inhaled deeply just now understanding what I was about to go do and I started to get nervous. Jess looked at everyone else, “Hey guys, go on ahead. I need to talk to Xan really quick.” Talon nodded at her, “Thank you for that. Let’s go Jynx and Jheelis. We should give them some space.” The three left the room and Jess grabbed my hands. I hadn’t realized until now that my hands were clammy while hers were warm. She looked me in my eyes and said, “It’s okay to feel nervous, you can even express it. You have never had to fight before and you certainly never had to kill. Pyrios really aren’t meant to be fighters but sometimes the greatest fighters come from the most unexpected places. Think of your uncle. Just remember that we are all there with you and supporting you. If you feel at any moment you cannot do it, just let someone know and we will surround you to keep you safe. And…” She looked over at Sebastian, who had climbed up onto my bed to pass out, and smiled at him. She continued, “He will be there with you as well. He’s your strongest and most loyal protector. I have no doubt we will see him again tonight. Fear is natural. Just breathe.” I nodded at her and inhaled deeply again and pushed out a calming exhale, “I’m better. We can’t stand here all night. I have no doubts, Vellum is the home that embraced me and I will defend it in any way I can.”
We stepped out of the room and made our way down the stairs into the ballroom. We were surprised to see Rayla standing in a similar type of outfit. Garrett was outfitting her with a few weapons and kept asking if she was sure she wanted to put herself in danger. She looked over at me, “If our future Queen is putting herself at risk, I feel like I should be one to volunteer too. This is our home and I will be damned if The Order takes over on false pretenses. I might be giving myself up for being on the other side but I don’t really care anymore. If we’re taking them down tonight, it doesn’t really matter anyhow.” She walked over to us and made a huge bow at me, “Your Grace, you have my support. Just don’t tarnish your pretty face tonight. We don’t want you to be injured at the Fall Masquerade that’s happening in a couple of days.” She winked at me and rejoined Garrett who was equipping her with some small plates of armor. Noticeably, no one else was really wearing armor which meant he was being very protective of her. I heard Toby sigh behind me, “My sister always has to be so theatric. She can’t just greet you and say that she is worried for your safety which, by the way, she is. We all are Xan. You really should stay home and let us who are experienced. My sister isn’t wrong to predict you’re going to be Queen. You should stay protected as should the King.” I shook my head, “I was welcomed warmly here and I consider this place my home more than the place I grew up in. I will not let my home be threatened.” He sighed again, “What I was afraid of. Like the King, it seems you refuse to be safe and protected.” He looked around, “It appears the Prince might have a level head though.” I nervously giggled and whispered just in case Jheelis was in earshot, “Oh no, Panshad was kidnapped. He is going to take out The Order headquarters to get her back. I think he’ll burn it all down to get her home. She is very much considered his sister. Blake is many things and fiercely loyal has always been both his strength and his likely downfall.” Toby nodded, “Hard to argue there.”
We were interrupted from continuing our conversation by Mordred calling attention to the head of the room. He explained how the witches would open several portals. Some were going to smaller rooms in the castle while the majority of us will go to the ballroom. He asked us all to meet with our units before they get started. Jess and I found our group. Lucien was changed into some armor as well it seemed. He shrugged at me, “The Elders insisted that I wear this in order for them to agree to let me go. They weren’t thrilled at hearing my two remaining Queen candidates were going as well. One Elder remarked that the Heavenly realm forbid that we should have a King Blake and Queen Melody union.” The entire group shuddered at the thought. Derek remarked, “Can you imagine any more chaos? I think, perhaps we should rethink letting you two go with us.” We both shouted in unison, “No!” Many that were in the room turned to us and chuckled. Derek was amongst those to chuckle, “I kid, I didn’t believe you two would ever agree to that suggestion. I just hope you’re okay with all this, Lex. This isn’t exactly your picnic. You good?” I nodded and smiled, “I got your six, sergeant.” He looked at me funny and cocked an eyebrow, “Is that a humanism? By the way, I’m a captain. Jess is a sergeant.” I laughed heartily, “Yes, it is a human saying. It means I have your back. I was not aware you were a captain.” I heard Talon remark, “Quite impressive that he would make that rank two years in. Everyone says he’s the new me.” Derek shook his head vigorously, “Oh no, no one could be the new you.” I shrugged, “Often imitated, never duplicated.” Derek hadn’t understood it was a clever and rather dry joke that I had just made but he nodded in agreement.
Modred called out again to let us all know that we were ready to open the portals and walk in. Derek placed two hands on my shoulders, “Listen, I know Jess probably told you but just breathe and let us know if you can’t handle it. It is okay to admit you are scared.” I nodded, “She did. I’ll keep it in mind.” The portals opened up and we all stepped forward in our units. Lucien and I were surrounded on all sides by our various protectors. We all stepped through the portal into the castle’s ballroom. It was quiet and dark but not so dark we couldn’t see in the room. I whispered, “Should we be concerned there’s no noise?” Lucien shook his head, “No, the reason we chose places like the ballroom and the study is that most noises on either side of the door are well muffled. The only time I ever heard anything was because Melody was shrieking on the other side. That would carry through a 6-foot thick vault door.” Derek was muffling a chuckle but speaking through, “True story, Your Majesty. As someone who dated her, I can tell you her tantrums were epic. One of the reasons I dropped her.” Jess sighed, “The main reason you dropped her. You really love the looks more than anything, damn devil dog.” With that remark, I understood that she hadn’t completely forgiven Derek. Jess threw out jabs when she was pissed at someone to let them know they weren’t off the hook. Derek would not be the exception, he’d be the rule. Derek hated to be called puppy or dog. Mordred looked over his shoulder, “If you children are done, let us get on with this bloody battle.”
We all walked toward the doors, each unit taking different turns. You could hear a short distance away muffled sounds of Order guards being taken out. The confirmation came with the smell of iron in the air. The smell made my mouth water and I looked at Talon and whispered, “Is this supposed to make our other side hungry?” He nodded, “You might feel your teeth and have the urge to kill the way our ancestors did. Try to suppress it the best you can. The more blood you drink, the worse it will be to come back to your evolved self.” He went back to focusing on the walk toward the throne room. He slowly pulled out the long sword that was strapped to his back. I took this as a queue to do the same. I looked over at Jheelis for confirmation and nodded at me. I pulled an arrow from my quiver and placed it on the string of the bow to be ready for when we burst into the room. We stopped in the shadows just before the throne room. Talon and Derek silently approached the two guards and took them out. Talon nodded at Mordred and we all stepped forward. We burst through the room, there we found a bunch of The Order gathered there. I was able to let my arrow go into one of the mages who was getting ready to shoot a fireball at Mordred’s back. I looked up at the dais to find a stunned Marquis Maigny sitting in Lucien’s seat. He shouted, “Make sure you kill that Batiste woman but take His Majesty alive! He needs to marry Melody.” I could hear Lucien dry-heaving next to me. All around me, I could hear the others fighting even Lucien was crossing swords with one of the soldiers. I snapped out of my short daze to pull out another arrow. It was just in time to get a shot at another person who was about to stab Jheelis in the back. The arrow soared through the wrist of the man who groaned. Jheelis pulled his dagger from his holster and stabbed behind him to the man in his guts. He looked over his shoulder, “Much obliged, Your Highest Highness.” I heard someone yell out, “Which one is the Batiste bitch. I don’t see anyone with purple eyes. Do you?” I remembered Jheelis saying something about golden eyes and understood that the bow I held had likely changed my eye color. I imagine that right now I looked a bit more fae than pyrio.
I went to reach behind me for another bow but found nothing but air. I knew that Jheelis had packed enough arrows in my quiver to last me a while yet here I was with only two shots off. I heard a menacing cackle behind me and I started to panic a little. I was going to turn around but I felt something cold at my throat and a firm grip on my hip. The Marquis had me in his grips with a cold blade at my throat. He shouted, “Listen here! I have the Batiste bitch everyone!” All of the fighting ceased and everyone turned to look at us. The color drained from Lucien’s face, Mordred looked panicked, and Jheelis’ jaw was clenched. He cackled again, “You lot that came here to fight us best drop your weapons or I will slit her throat. Don’t try me. Nothing would give me more pleasure than to kill a Batiste. It’s been on both my bucket list and list of things to do.” All of the men in the room that had escorted me here started to lower their weapons. I looked over at Jynx who was smiling widely and gripping her weapon. She winked at me and I knew exactly what I should do. This was not going to end well for the Marquis.
