Chapter Twenty-Eight

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Tabitha

Everything happens so quickly after that. I can't be sure who moves first. Maybe later on, when I look back at this moment, I'll be able to recall the events exactly how they took place. For now, I'm jerked out of my frozen state when someone grabs me around the waist and brings me to the floor so I'm lying flat on my stomach, their body hovering over mine.

Bright lights.

Sparks of magic.

A hot searing pain.

Pain I'm only just now feeling on my left arm.

I blink a few times, knowing it's Theodas that's on top of me, shielding me from the fighting going on over us. I feel the magic in the air. The crackling sizzle of it. There is shouting. Grunting. Yelling. Booming Voices. Faraway ones. Heavy footsteps. Banging. I can't make out where it is all coming from, only that it is there.

"Get off me," I say, with no amount of emotion. They're just words spoken. So quietly, I'm not sure Theodas heard them.

Did I say them at all?

I repeat myself, this time louder. "Get off me!"

"Absolutely not," Theodas hisses in my ear.

"I must kill him!" I scream, wriggling my body to push his away. But who am I kidding? If I had a million years, I'd never move this giant man off me. "Theodas, get off!" I strain until my muscles ache. Sweat beads on my forehead and I realize how hot it is in here suddenly.

"We must move!" I'm lifted from the ground, getting a spinning view of the room. Flashes of orange and red. And it's hot. So damn hot. I'm tossed over Theodas's shoulder, and I lift my head to get a glimpse of what is going on. I did not come all the way here to run away. I did not come all the way here to fail.

I must kill my father.

As Theodas steps over the threshold, I see why we are moving, though. The room is ablaze. The drapes are on fire, the wallpaper peeling from the walls, along with lines of fire across the wooden floor that seem to have come up from hell itself.

Kozzanth and Raisi stand battling with my father, that staff held firmly in his hand.

Do Dravens have enough magic to cause such fire? I don't believe they do, so how did this happen? And where is Theodas taking me?

"Where are you going?" I shout, kicking my feet in hopes he will drop me. It doesn't work. And he doesn't answer me. He just keeps running, the throne room doorway getting smaller and smaller as we move down the hallway. Theodas doesn't even know his way around this castle. He's just running away. "This isn't why I came here! Put me down!"

"I must get you to safety, my queen."

"No! I am demanding you put me down. I must fight!"

He ignores me and continues running further away. He turns down corridors and into hallways.

"Theodas, I swear if you don't put me down, I will return you!"

He comes to a stop then, putting me down on my feet.

"What did you say?" he asks with a frown, taking a step away from me.

I grit my teeth, staring up at him, fuming. Until I realize there is pain in his eyes.

"You will return me?" he says, letting me know he did, in fact, hear what I said. And it upset him. "As if I am just an item to you? Like a piece of furniture?" He shakes his head, looking away from me.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that," I say quickly. "But I gave you an order, and you didn't listen."

I watch him for a moment, hoping he will accept my apology. Now isn't the time for us to fight over something so… emotional. They are supposed to listen to me when I give them an order, and he didn't listen to me. He didn't listen!

Theodas clears his throat, closing his eyes.

"It is I who should apologize." He turns his gaze to me, and it's blank. "I forgot myself for a moment. I am a Draven. I am here to do a duty—was purchased for a duty. Nothing more."

His words are ice cold. Cold enough to snuff out the fire blazing at the other end of the castle. It has me sucking in a sharp breath. I shake my head and step forward, reaching for him, but he pulls his arm away.

"You told us it was our duty to protect you, my queen. That is what I am doing. Do you wish for me to take different orders?"

I step back now, shaking my head. This isn't how I want things to be. There is suddenly a wall between us. One I hadn't realized had been there before, but now I see it clear as day. When I first got them, this is how it was. Then it changed. We became something more.

"Theodas—"

"Do you have different orders for me?" he demands, face blank.

I look beyond him, down the long hallway, trying to recall where in the castle I am. From this point alone, I can't tell, but if I go back the way we came, I will certainly figure it out.

I came to this castle for one thing. To take my throne. As much as I do not want to upset Theodas, this can't be the conversation we have now. I must kill my father. That is why I am here. My people need to come first. Whatever is going on with Theodas and I must wait. He will understand that. He has to.

I hold my chin up, meeting his eyes.

"Yes. Let me go back to my father so I can kill him."

His nostrils flare, but he nods.

"Do you want to be carried?"

I shake my head, muttering under my breath as I walk past him. Each step has my chest heavier than the last, because I'm not sure he's following me. I wouldn't if I were him. But everything in my brain tells me he's right there, only a few steps behind me. He has to be. It's his duty.

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