37. THIRTY-SIX

THIRTY-SIX

I saiah's pleas and commands to be freed echoed throughout the halls of the fortress as several Aurisan soldiers dragged him deeper into the dungeons of Castellum. Davina and the Island Protectors followed them into the foyer of the castle, their footsteps had been close behind Davina.

The golden doors of the entrance of the castle made a swoosh as Caleb closed and locked it.

"Did you have to be so brutal?" Leilani asked.

Davina refused to face Leilani, she stared at Isaiah's convulsing figure, and the Soldiers holding him became smaller as they disappeared into the corridors. "Yes, I had to."

Lani pulled Davina's arm; Davina's anger immediately cracked as she realized the terrified look on her friend's face.

Davina glanced at Valerie and Beacon who were holding onto each other, Valerie held a hand to her lips as Beacon had a clenched jaw. Caleb and Cara wore the same look as Leilani. Even Snow seemed distraught. Ron had a blank expression. It was one she couldn't read. Was he disappointed in her too?

Davina's lips parted as she watched them all watch her. Could they finally see right through to her? Could they see everything that she saw in herself?

She made a speech about how she wasn't the people's enemy but that's exactly how she felt. The anger that bubbled inside of her made her feel like she was on the brink of being similar to Raven, she felt like the villain, she felt like the bad guy. She looked down at her hands, smeared with Isaiah's blood.

Her eyes flicked back to Ron.

"Ron."

Where do you think he got his training back?

She turned to him while he seemed to be patiently waiting for her to speak. Such an innocent look on his face, one that she intended to ruin if he so much as confirmed Isaiah's words.

"Where did you get all your training?" she asked.

Ron felt like his heart had stopped for a moment. His face paled as he looked into her beautiful brown eyes which were colder than ever before. Her eyes were usually filled with fire, they always remained warm and bright. But now they were somber and dark. Her voice was intense along with her stare.

She'd never looked at him like that. This look. It was the look she gave Raven whenever they fought in their battles. The same look when she looked at Isaiah not too long ago. With the same eyes, she gazed upon the Main Predators who attacked the islands.

"I asked you a question." Davina paced slowly toward him. "Answer it."

"Davina," Beacon warned. Beacon freed himself from Valerie's embrace and walked closer to stand beside him and Davina. Ron held up a hand to stop him from getting any closer. The others took a few steps away from Vivi.

"Where did you train all those months that you were not around?"

He didn't know how to reply.

"It's not what you think," Ron began as he held up his hands. Her eyes flicked to his raised hands. There was an amused look in her gaze as if she was questioning whether he would ever do anything against her.

Of course he wouldn't.

She ran to him and shoved him against the marble wall of the foyer.

"Did you think I wouldn't find out?" she raged. He grunted at the impact of his back colliding with the hard panel of the castle while her reddened face neared his. He could feel the gravel of the wall piercing his skin.

Ron had believed that the next time her face was so close to his would be under other circumstances. Her red fists were firmly gripped around his collar.

"What did she offer you? Why did you do it?"

"Davina!" Leilani yelled.

"Davina, stop!" Cara shouted.

"Davina, what the hell?" Caleb claimed.

"How could you? I trusted you. I trusted you ." She slammed her fists into his chest.

He was grateful she hadn't conjured her fire, the burns would hurt much more than a few of her sloppy punches.

But nothing would compare to the pain he felt because she believed that he would betray her. All he could do was wait.

Ron refused to react for fear of hurting her. May Magnar forbid him from ever laying a hand on her, even if she kept raging at him because of a misunderstanding.

He knew that after the distress of everything she'd been through, her first reaction was to defend herself. He understood that all the deception she'd been through caused her to feel like she needed to protect herself from the world. Ron grabbed onto her bloodied wrists, looking deep into her rageful eyes.

"I did not do what you are accusing me of."

"Then how? How did you do it?"

She pushed against him. Beacon and Caleb grabbed hold of her as she thrashed against them.

"Davina, calm down!" Caleb yelled.

She ignored him and continued convulsing between them. Beacon scrunched his nose while Davina kicked and punched them both in hopes of being liberated from their grasp. Caleb only grunted whenever her fists collided with his chest. Snow remained impassive as Cara, Valerie, and Leilani stood close to one another with widened eyes.

"Let me go! Let me go! He's a traitor!" she yelled as she pointed at Ron.

Ron took a deep breath before yelling, "I was kidnapped!"

Davina's thrashing stilled as Beacon and Caleb held onto her. He watched as her gaze turned from anger to heartbreak.

"What?" Beacon asked softly before letting go of Davina.

The girls flanked Beacon and Caleb.

All the attention was on him now. He felt repulsed by the horror in their expressions as he confessed the truth. A truth he kept hidden deep inside of him, not because he had betrayed the King and everything he had ever known, but because no one realized he was gone.

He recalled having been drunk that evening, but not drunk enough to forget his sorrows. The misery of not being able to bring Davina into his embrace as she completed eighteen years of life.

It was a milestone. Especially for someone who went through hell like her. She had survived eighteen years with the parents that she had, with the rumors, with the rejection, and she remained sane.

He didn't think himself capable of suffering such unfortunate circumstances and found himself okay in the end. But she survived, and he admired that about her.

"The night of your birthday, Vivi, Raven came and took me."

"Why didn't you tell us anything?" Valerie asked.

"Because…" Ron trailed off.

He didn't know how to explain how much it hurt that no one realized that he was held captive for three days.

Three days as a prisoner.

With hardly enough food to keep him alive, with a pounding headache from the alcohol. The anxiety that ate away at his peace from the chains that were fastened around his wrists.

"I was locked up for three days with only one loaf of bread and barely enough water to keep me alive. I was completely alone in the dark. I remember the floors were dirty, there were no windows. For three days I didn't know what was happening. I didn't know if it was day or night. I was hoping that perhaps one of you would realize I was gone, and I'd hear the Predators rushing out of the dungeon worried because you guys had at last found me."

"But we didn't come…" Beacon said, lost in thought.

"When I was locked up in that cell, all I could think about was you, Vivi. And how you needed to be protected. On the third night, before Raven herself came to me, I begged the King to listen to me for once. I had already manifested lightning abilities the moment I got my armor. But they still wouldn't come forth at my will. I threatened the King and said I would become a Predator if he didn't reply, that it would be my last prayer for help. That I would turn and never look back."

Everyone remained silent.

"And he answered me. He listened to me." Ron couldn't help but smile at the thought of the exhilarating rush of his lightning appearing.

But he could see how Davina was still shaking.

"She thought that I truly hated you, Davina. She wanted to use it for her own advantage, trying to manipulate me into accepting bounty in return for your life. I accepted. I kept the act up. I promised her several times that I would keep her updated in case there were ever any chances for her to isolate you from the group. And thank Magnar, she believed me. She let me go but while I was on my way out, I heard some of the Main Predators laughing at the fact that a Chief Leader was planning something against the Captain during the wedding. That's when I thought about stealing you away from him and I asked you to meet me by the lake. That's why, when we were at the lake, I told you to be careful.

"I would never do that to you. I would never do anything that would make you lose your trust in me because that trust means everything to me. I will do whatever it takes to protect you. Even if it costs me my own life for lying to an ancient shadow witch. As long as I protect you, then I will die a happy man for having fulfilled my duty as a Protector."

Fear spiked into his blood as he watched her remain still. He was waiting for her to reply. He didn't know what to expect, but the reaction he got from her wasn't one he wished to see.

Ron watched as the realization of her actions washed through her. There was a deep panic in her eyes as she looked at the red blood staining her fingers and knuckles.

"I…" she began. "I'm sorry you all had to see that. I don't know what came over me."

"D, it's okay," Val asserted softly, taking a few steps toward Davina. But she only shook her head and stepped away from Valerie.

Davina's voice lingered in the back of his mind as he watched her rush into the castle hallways.