Chapter 11
1157 Words
Robin plants a soft kiss on my cheek, then turns and rushes out of the room to leave me alone with my racing thoughts and pounding heart.
I flop back on the bed and stare at the ceiling, still trying to catch my breath after our heated encounter.
What am I doing? Can I go through with this? What if it ends badly and risk losing my closest friend?
I throw my arms over my eyes and try to block the frantic thoughts from my mind.
It doesn’t work.
Knock... knock... knock...
I sit back up.
Great. It’s probably that high fairy coming to check on Robin again.
I swing my legs over the side of the bed and adjust my disheveled hair and dress a bit before opening the door.
My heart sinks a little when I see who is waiting for me on the other side.
“Hello, little beast,” says Aurora through a smirk as she looks down her nose at me.
“Can I help you?” I ask with salt on my tongue. “Robin isn’t here.”
“I know,” she answers with a sly smile. “I arranged that little distraction. I needed a chance to speak with you... in private.”
She runs her hand along her glossy onyx-colored hair, and rests elegantly against the doorframe.
I feel the animal within me beginning to stir, the primal rage bubbling close to the surface. It’s all I can do to contain my anger.
“What do you want?” I growl through clenched teeth.
“This isn’t about what I want,” she answers coyly, “I’m here to discuss what’s best for Robin.”
“What are you talking about? How do you know what’s best for him?” I snap.
“Because I’ve lived with him my entire life,” she says, “Right here in the fairy woods, by his side every day.”
I can’t think of a smart retort. I just narrow my eyes at her and restrain the growl bubbling in my chest.
“Little girl,” she says, “Robin is a king. He needs and deserves a queen who knows this land and these people. Don’t you agree?”
I still can’t collect my thoughts. I just stare at her with ire in my veins.
“You see,” she continues, “I was promised to Robin the day we were born. Betrothed.”
My heart hits the floor.
He’s engaged? And he never told me?
“Ah,” she smiles, “He didn’t tell you?”
I shake my head slightly, trying to hide my embarrassment.
“I didn’t think so,” she says. “He isn’t as traditional as my family... or his father for that matter.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” I mutter.
“No.” She says flatly. “The old ways have kept us safe for centuries. They have never failed us. So you see, Robin and I were born to two royal families on the same day... a solstice no less. Our parents realized the significance of that event, and they knew that we were destined to be together. To rule the way they have done for centuries before us.”
“The world is changing,” I growl. “The fairies should be able to change along with it.”
“The world is only changing because of you!” She snaps. “You killed Lucifer and sent the everything into chaos!”
“I stopped the apocalypse!” I shout.
“Perhaps,” she shrugs. “Or maybe you just started it.”
I freeze in place. My heart has completely stopped beating and my blood has run cold.
What if she’s right?
I stand dumbfounded in the doorway as the beautiful fairy looks down on me with distain. “Regardless, you need to fix this mess. Now. Don’t bring us into it. Don’t bring Robin into it. Let us live in peace, the way we always have. Without the interference of creatures like you.”
She doesn’t wait for me to answer before turning around, flipping her silken hair over her shoulder and stalking away.
Shit.
My mind is racing.
What have I done? Could she be right? Did I prevent the apocalypse or start it?
Regardless, it has become abundantly clear to me that I don’t fit in here. I will never be accepted.
I look around the room, soaking up all of its verdant beauty. The fairies are elegant, peaceful, earthly beauties. I’m nothing like them.
Where am I supposed to fit in? There has never been anyone like me before. I don’t belong anywhere. As if being a teenager wasn’t hard enough.
I choke back the tears that are beginning to well up in my eyes, and realize what I have to do. I have to leave. Aurora was right. I need to fix this mess I’ve created, and I don’t have time to focus on my youthful desires.
I pull my hair back and set my jaw. It’s time to block out my thoughts of love and a happy ending. I have a different kind of Destiny.
I pull out my sword and draw a transportation sigil on the floor, slowly breathing through my nose to prepare myself for the waves of dizziness that will follow once I use the portal.
At that moment, Robin walks through the door. His smile vanishes the second he sees the sigil on the floor. He looks back up at me with an expression of pain that looks as if he’s been stabbed in the gut a thousand times.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, holding back the tears that are forming at the corners of my eyes. I can’t let him know how hard this is for me, or he will come after me. I have to make him think this is over. It’s what’s best for him.
“No...” he says, his voice cracking.
“I have to go,” I say stoically. I rip my eyes away from him and bend down, placing my hand in the center of the symbol.
I look up as the blue and black flames begin to swirl around me. The last thing I see before I’m engulfed by fire is Robin’s face.
He looks as if something inside him has broken and will never be whole again.
That face will haunt me for the rest of my life.
- Writer
