I awaken to the sensation of somebody shaking my shoulders. I turn my head and see Callista with a panicked look on her face. “My princess, your mother will be here shortly, You must awaken, now!” I can tell that she is terrified, but not for herself. She is scared for me.

“Callista, what is happening?” She looks at me with an urgent look in her eye, one I'd never seen before. “Your mother has spoken to you about the lies being spread around the nearby town, yes?” I nod my head quickly. “Another lie has been painted, and she is worried it might cause uprisings around the continent. She is angry, and she wants to take out that anger on you, so you must get up, now!” She immediately tugs me up and out of bed.

She gets me standing just before my mother bursts into the room. This is the most angry I’ve ever seen her. She immediately walks towards me and grabs my arm extremely harshly to pull me closer to her. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Callista flinch. Based on the expression on my mother’s face, she clearly notices too. She lets go of her grasp on my arm to walk over to Callista. Once she gets close enough, she slaps her so hard that Callista is knocked into my bed frame. Without thinking, I rush towards my mother and forcefully push her away from her. “Stay away from her!”

My mother clearly did not expect this, because her face fills with shock, only to be replaced by fury a moment later. “You think you have the right to lay hands on your mother? On the Queen of Revalia herself? I promise, you will regret that.” I don’t even have time to process her words before I am shoved to the ground. I can feel my head hit the floor and my ears begin to ring. Immediately, I can sense magic being used, and all at once, I realize that this will be worse than the others. I sit up on my elbows and almost instantly feel a sharp stinging feeling in my stomach, and the abdomen of my shirt begins to soak through with blood. Then, as suddenly as the first cut, I begin to feel that stinging pain everywhere. My face, my arms, my legs, my chest, my back, even my hands all begin to burn and bleed.

As the blood begins to drip into my eyes, I look over and see Callista frozen in shock, fear coating her features. I look down and see blood soaking the ground around me, and my elbows slip on it, causing me to fall back and hit my head again. As I blink, my vision begins to get spotty. I can hear my mom faintly speaking, and I focus all of my energy into hearing the words. “Oh, what I came in here to tell you is this. In order to build morale throughout the continent, you are to be wed. A prince from Lyonahia has generously accepted our offer in order to prevent an uprising. He will be here next week, and you two are to be wed in a month. We are announcing it to the public tomorrow, and I wanted to be so kind as to let you know before they do. You always know how to ruin things, don’t you, Elara? I only wanted to get you excited for your wedding.” I hear her heels clicking away against the floor, followed by the sound of the door opening and closing.

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Almost instantly, I feel a presence at my side that I recognize as Callista’s. She takes my hands in her own, and I can faintly hear her screaming for Coral. I feel myself being lifted, and I use the last of my strength to look at Callista and faintly whisper, “I will never let her hurt you.” After that, my mind fades to black.

. . . . .

When I wake up, I am immediately confused by where I am. I am laying in a bed, but it is not my own. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Callista rush to my side, so I turn my head to face her. I must move it too quickly, though, because my head begins to burn. I reach up to my face to find it covered in bandages. I can see Callista looking at me with both pity and anger. “How could you do that, Elara? I can defend myself!” Confusion floods my emotions. “I told you, Cal. I will never let her hurt you. She can take her anger out on me all she wants, but never you. You’re too important.” Her face fills with frustration. “And you’re not?! You almost died! She almost bled you dry!” I lift my hand up to her face and cradle her cheek. “It is always worth it to protect you, Cal.” Her face nuzzles into my hand. Her face softens. “You don’t have to do that, El.” I smile at her. “I know.” I scoot over on the bed and pat the space beside me. Her eyes widen for a moment before she hesitantly lays down beside me, just facing me.

For a while, we just stare into each other’s eyes. Her eyes have this sparkle in them, like the stars themselves hide in her eyes during the day. They have this gorgeous lavender hue to them, which is only accentuated by the bright red tint of her hair. Instinctually, my hand comes up to cradle her face. Immediately, her hand does the same, and her thumb begins to lightly rub the scar under my eye on my left cheek. She has this soft smile on her face, like she feels at peace with me. “So, where are we?” She smirks at me. “In my room. In my bed, more specifically.”

Suddenly, she pulls me into her chest. “Get some rest, El. You’re weak right now, and you’ve lost a lot of blood.” I wrap my arms around her torso, and let my eyes drift closed. My final thought is of her. I have never felt more safe and at home than in this moment in her arms.