Chapter Forty-Three

                                    

                                          
Kilorn 
                          
I sit with Cameron outside, away from everybody else. She doesn't try to talk to me about feelings, about the war, or about Mare. She doesn't tiptoe around me like the others. Cameron isn't afraid to say what's on her mind, though. She's brutally honest. She kind of scares me. 
                          
I'm breaking grass strands into little pieces when she speaks up.
                          
"What are you going to do after this?" She asks, staring at the top of the trees.
                          
I shrug, not paying much attention. "Depends on how this ends up. If we win or not, I mean." 
                          
I hear her laugh but I don't look up. "Not so confident, Kilorn?" 
                          
Now I do look up, almost rolling my eyes at her. "Well, look where we're at. Shade is trying to figure out what Jon is doing. Tramy is gone. Cal is moping around because Mare is gone again." I pause and sarcastically laugh. "Mare is gone again." I repeat. 
                          
Cameron groans. "Oh, please. Not you too. She is not that special." 
                          
I finally look at her. "She's my best friend."
                          
Cameron shifts toward me. "Listen, Kilorn. It's never going to happen. I mean, she's having Cal's baby. She's in love with a prince. What can you give her that she doesn't already have?" 
                          
I nod. "I already know, Cameron. I don't want to talk about this." 
                          
She waits a moment. "Well you never did answer my question. If we win, I think I'll travel. I want to explore the world. Sounds like it would be entertaining." 
                          
I smile, glad she's so good at changing subjects. 
                          
"Yeah, I think I would do that too." 
                          
Then, before she can respond, Shade and Tramy pop up in front of us. Tramy falls to the ground and grabs his stomach.
                          
"Uggh. Shade, do we have to jump the entire way? How do you handle that?" Tramy growls.
                          
My eyes grow wide and Cameron and I both jump to our feet. 
                          
"Shade?" I question. 
                          
He doesn't look too good. "We have some bad news." 
                          
♥
                          
Maven 
                          
I glare at Jon. "You said we could set the bomb off right now." I spit out. "You didn't say we had to wait two days for it to get ready." I nearly yell at him. That gives me too much time to change my mind, to forget about the whole thing. 
                          
Jon remains calm, like he always does. "I'm sorry, sir, if that's what you had expected. But, it is all set now. There's no going back. We have won. The Scarlet Guard cannot regroup after this blow." 
                          
I drag my fingers through my hair. "Yes, thank you, Jon." I say, then swiftly walk away. I need to find Mare. I need to forget all about this and contain myself. I won't let her stand in my way of keeping this kingdom. 
                          
♥
                          
Kyra 
                          
Almost 2 weeks after my first conversation with Luka, he comes back. In the dead of the night, I am woken up by a hand covering my mouth. For a moment, I believe I'm still in my nightmare. I almost scream. But then I see Luke's eyes shine through the darkness and he calms me. He's done it multiple times over the years after an actual nightmare. 
                          
"It's time, Kyra. Let's go." Luka whispers softly. 
                          
The moonlight shines through my window. I sit up, still gasping for breath, but quickly quiet myself and stand up. Blindly, I grab the bag I packed full of clothes and some apples I swiped from the kitchen. They won't do much good if we don't have any other food, but I thought I would be a little prepared. 
                          
While slipping my jeans on and throwing on a fitted t-shirt, I have Luka find my shoes. He silently hands me a pair of lace up boots. I give him a weird look. 
                          
"You'll need them to walk distances." He tells me and I quickly put them on. I stand up and look at him. "Ready?" He asks. I nod. 
                          
Following him out to the hallway, Luka whispers to me the plan. "Blake and Soren are meeting us with Ella and Grace outside. We have a boat for emergencies that Jon leaves us that we are taking. I already checked it for trackers or bugs, it's clean. Then we make our way to the Scarlet Guard camp." He smiles at me. "Super easy. I promise." 
                          
I smile, excited to finally be leaving this prison. I've spent my entire life here, basically. 16 years of living in this tower. And now I'm finally on my way out. 
                          
"Let's go." I say. 
                          
We walk down the stairs, Luka holds his gun out, just in case. He looks around every corner before letting me round it. I haven't seen this side of Luka, this serious side. 
                          
 "So Blake is with the Guard too?" I whisper as we make our way outside. "And Ella and Grace?" I try to remember any instances where the two sweet maids have made any comments, if they have tried to tell me, but I can't. 
                          
Luka glances back at me. "Ella and Grace arent, but they wanted out of here. Jon made some... threats against them, so we're taking them with us. Blake and I have been with Guard for a while, but we have been unable to make contact with the Scarlet Guard since we've been placed at this post."
                          
 "Then how do you know where their camp is?" I ask, confused. 
                          
Luka laughs. "They have been there for a while." 
                          
 "Oh, okay." I guess that makes sense. 
                          
 Luka freezes and holds a finger up. I stop in my tracks. Slowly, he makes his way around the corner. I shut my eyes when I hear a crack and a thump. When a gunshot rings out into the silence, I jump. I turn the corner and freeze, staring at the body on the ground.
                          
 "Let's go, Kyra!" I hear Luka yell, and I find myself running with him down the hall. I can't get the sight of Ronnie lying dead, bleeding on the floor, out of my mind. 
                          
 The next few minutes pass in a blur. We are chased outside where Blake and the rest wait for us. They made it out okay, but we dragged the other guards after us. All I hear are gunshots and screaming. All the guards are going against each other and I watch my childhood protectors die. I watch my friends kill each other. But then the screaming stops and I'm pressing on Ella's chest wound, praying that she survives, but she doesnt. She lies next to Grace, who had no chance since she was shot through the head. I look up and everything seems to be moving in slow motion. 
                          
Blake shooting Kai. Leslie shooting Blake. Blake falling down, into the water. Luka shooting Leslie and shouting at Soren. Soren grabbing me around the waist and dragging me into the boat. Soren telling me to stay here and cover my head.
                          
 I don't listen, I watch. I watch as Kastle and Liam and Castor knock out Jacob and Esmun and Silas. They yell at Luka and Soren, but I don't hear what they say. I just see them running back inside the tower. Then I watch as Luka and Soren walk towards me and climb inside the boat. 
                          
Then all I see is the boat moving across the water and I sit as still as stone, to shocked to move; to feel. 

                          
Hey! I hope you guys like this chapter more than the last one. Let me know what you think!! :) 💜💙💚💛 😏😊