Chapter 13
1892 Words
Gratefully, Roman walked into his room, and he took a shower. While he let the hot water run over her skin, he thought about what Ashta had told him, and he wondered why the queen wanted her dead. Ashta did nothing to deserve to be treated the way she was.
Just because she was born, that was a crime? he wondered, as he shut the water off.
Next, Roman thought about what happened to Kralom. The human girl had pain in her voice. He could hear it. The thought of what he did to that girl made him believe Kralom was a vile creature, and he deserved everything he was given.
To him, Ashta was not a killer, but she killed that horrible man for what he did to her friend, and he gave her props for that. He could admit that the princess, the way she moved like water when she danced, the way she smelled when she walked by, intrigued him.
For a moment, Roman stared off into space, and then he shook the thoughts from his head. As he grabbed a towel, Ashta's freckled dusted face appeared in his mind, as her blue eyes sparkled and her long hair was the color of fire. He thought she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Again, Roman shook his thoughts away as he pulled on a pair of gray sweatpants. Confused, he scolded himself for thinking about her like he was.
"Roman?" his father called to him from the other side of the bedroom door.
Roman sneered and rolled his eyes as he walked over to the door and opened it.
"Good, they let you out,” said Rocco, as he walked inside the bedroom.
"Of course, they let me out!" Roman said, as he smirked at his father.
Rocco nodded as Roman pulled his wet hair back into a bun.
"Hey, two guards are missing. Have you heard anything?" his father asked him, and Roman shook his head.
"What two guards are missing?"
"Oh, um, Kralom and Daven. The queen has summoned for her nephews hours ago, and they are nowhere to be found,” stated Rocco.
For a moment, Roman thought about what Ashta did, and then he shrugged his shoulders. He knew he could give the queen exactly what she wanted if he turned Ashta in for killing his cousins, but for some reason he didn't want her to die.
"No, I haven't," Roman lied, and his father nodded.
Roman slipped on a black t-shirt over his head and slipped his sneakers on.
"So, what does Maya plan to do with her niece?" Roman asked, nonchalantly, as he tied his shoes, and Rocco looked at him.
"She doesn't know yet. Some of the kingdom is happy that the princess has returned, but others, not so much,” explained Rocco, and Roman nodded.
Evidently, he was planning on going to visit Ashta. There was something about her that pulled him to her, and he wanted to know what it was.
"Well, I should get back to Maya and let her know that you are out."
Roman nodded to his father. Patiently, he waited until his father was gone and then Roman headed to the kitchen to get something to eat before he went down to talk to Ashta.
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Bored, Ashta sat on the floor of her cell with her back against the cool wall, and she rested her head back against the wall.
There has to be a way for me and Lashanna to get out of here! Ashta thought to herself, as she looked up at the ceiling.
The dungeon door startled Ashta, and she jumped.
"What now?" Lashanna asked, annoyed.
Horrified, Ashta watched as two guards passed her cell and they walked toward Lashanna's.
Oh, no! Ashta thought, as she waited to hear her friend scream, but the guards didn't touch Lashanna's cell.
They walked past it.
"Lashanna?"
"Yeah?"
Ashta sighed in relief.
"Just checking," Ashta said, thankfully.
Lashanna smiled. She was glad to have a friend like Ashta. The dungeon door banged again and Ashta jumped.
"What now?" Ashta heard Lashanna say quietly.
Suddenly, to Ashta's surprise, Roman walked up to her cell door.
"Hi,” he said with a smile, as she looked up at him.
"Hi?" Said Ashta, as she looked at him suspiciously.
Roman smirked at her. She was confused as to why he was down there. He was just held down here against his will for the night. Ashta pulled herself up by the bars as she looked at him.
"You are so tall,” she said, softly.
Immediately, she felt dumb about what she had just said, but oddly, he didn't seem to mind, because he just smiled at her.
"No, you are very short," Roman said, as he chuckled.
Ashta couldn't help but smile back, as she pulled her face close to the bars.
"So, what brings you back down to the dirty place?" Ashta asked him, and he looked at her thoughtfully.
"You,” he said.
"Me? Why me?" she asked, as she looked him over.
For a moment, Roman looked her over.
"Because you intrigue me,” he said.
Immediately, Ashta looked at him and her eyebrows shot down in anger, as she stepped back from the bars and crossed her arms over her chest.
"I swear!" she growled at him, and Roman put his hands up defensively.
"Not like that,” he said reassuringly.
Searching his eyes, Ashta saw that he was being truthful. Also, she really saw the beauty in his brown eyes.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" he asked, and Ashta blinked twice, as she shook her head.
"Sorry,” she said, as she shyly looked away.
A moment later, she walked back to the bars. She grabbed the bars with both hands and pressed her face against them.
"So, what is going to happen to us?" she asked, softly, and Roman rocked back on his heels as he held his arms out.
"I'm not sure. Maybe I can convince my step-mother to give you guys a better room,” he said, as he pulled three apples out of his pocket.
After that, he smiled at Ashta and walked over to Lashanna's cell.
"Would you like one?" he asked her gently.
Lashanna looked up at him and nodded. He could see the bruises on her face, arms, and ribs through the tears in her shirt, and he felt sorry for the human girl.
"Thank you,” she whispered, as he handed her an apple.
"You're welcome,” he said, and he walked back to Ashta and handed her an apple.
"Wait, the queen is your step-mother?" she asked, and Roman nodded, as he took a bite of his apple.
"Where is your mother?" Ashta asked, softly, and Roman shrugged his shoulders.
"My dad doesn't ever talk about her,” he said, nonchalantly.
"That's sad,” stated Lashanna.
Roman thought about the times that he brought his mother up to his father, but his father pushed the subject away, and told him that they couldn't talk about her, it would upset the queen.
He always wondered why his father catered to Maya the way he did. It was almost like he was afraid of her. Roman shrugged off his thoughts, and he looked at Ashta. Suddenly, they heard the dungeon door open and close, and three guards rushed to Roman.
"Sir, you must head to the throne room. Oligarchy Slayer guards have rushed the castle.”
At that moment, Ashta watched Roman's face twitch, and he sighed an angry sigh.
"Excuse me for a moment,” he growled, and then he left with the guards.
"Somebody went from happy to really angry rather quickly,” said Lashanna, and Ashta laughed.
"I know. Did you see his face?" Ashta laughed, and Lashanna laughed with her.
Suddenly, there was a loud explosion at the end of the hallway and Ashta jumped back and covered her ears. The sound of footsteps ran down the hallway.
"Are you princess Ashta?" a deep voice asked, and Ashta uncovered her ears, and looked up at the handsome man standing in front of her doorway.
Seemingly, he was as tall as Roman, with a few tattoos on his arms, and very muscular. Ashta nodded nervously, and the man looked to the side of him.
"We found her,” said the man, and he turned back to Ashta.
"We are going to get you out of here,” he said, assertively, and Ashta looked at the man.
"What is your name?"
"Damian, ma'am,” he said politely.
"Well, I hope you are here to free us both, because I am not leaving without her!" Ashta growled, as she pointed toward Lashanna's cell.
To her surprise, Damian nodded to his partner, and he nodded back. Then the other man and Damian walked in front of Lashanna's cell door.
"On three,” said Damian, and the other man nodded.
The two guards counted to three, and they lifted the cell doors off of their hinges. Damian and the other guard led Ashta and Lashanna out of their cells, down the hallway, and they slipped out into the forest.
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"Ma'am, prince Adam of Nemiph,” announced a guard in the throne room, and Maya nodded.
The doors opened and three guards dressed in armor walked into the room. They had golden armor chest plates, and two of the men had helmets with bluish green mo-hawks. Maya sat on her throne chair and crossed her legs seductively in front of the prince.
"Prince Adam. What an honor. What brings you to our side of the land?" she asked.
Rocco and Roman stood off to the side, and Roman was ready to tear anyone to shreds who tried to pull anything. Adam eyed Maya suspiciously.
"My father heard a rumor, and we have come to see if it is true,” said Adam, and Maya smiled at him.
"What rumor would that be?" she asked, as she smirked at him.
"King Gale has heard that his niece has returned."
Seemingly, Maya shook her head and smiled evilly.
"She will not be around much longer," Maya stated, and Roman's eyes flickered toward his step-mother.
What did she mean by that? he wondered, as he looked forward.
The sudden loud explosion made everyone jump and Maya hissed at her guards.
"They are after the little witch! Stop them!" she ordered, and the guards ran toward the dungeon.
Angrily, Roman snarled, and Rocco looked at his son and nodded. Swiftly, Roman ran after the guards and they ran down to the dungeon.
They couldn't take her just yet. He felt that she was his to protect, and he would stop at nothing to keep her safe. Roman shook his head and tried to shake that weird feeling off again. He had never felt that way about anybody before in his life, and now he wondered why he felt this way about Ashta.
Roman and the guards stopped in their tracks when they saw that the dungeon was destroyed and the two girls were gone. Sadly, Roman looked in Ashta's cell and sighed heavily. That was the moment that he thought that he would never see Ashta again, now that the Slayers had taken her.
- Writer
