Stay (17 page)

I froze as flash backs of my ordeal with Sty
and Sully entered my mind. I could feel my heart racing fast and I
found myself reaching for my sword.

“Where do you think you’re going?” A deep
voice said.

I whipped my head around and the strangers
approached.

Relief filled me as I realized that it was
only Tuck and Jenna. Then dread started to set in as I thought that
they were here to try and stop me.

“You didn’t think that we would let you do
this alone did you?” Jenna asked in her sweet pixie voice.

“I can’t ask you guys to come with me. It’s
too dangerous. I need to do this on my own.” I shook my head and
started to walk past them, but Tuck stood in my way.

“There is no way that you are going to leave
me out of all of that action.” Tuck laughed.

“Give it up Callie, we’re going.” Jenna said
firmly.

What else could I say? They had obviously
already made up their mind.

“Okay, then let’s go. We need get out of here
before anyone notices that we are gone.” I started walking
again.

Jenna and Tuck slung their packs onto their
back and we all headed up to the tunnel.

I made a silent wish that my friends would
both be okay once the fighting started. I didn’t think that I could
stand to lose anyone else in my life.

Chapter 17

We made our way down the slick corridor as
quickly as we could without making too much noise. I could hear the
sound the sloshy sound of our footsteps reverberating off of the
walls.

I let Tuck lead the way. I figured that he
had spent the most time down there so he would know the way better
than me.

“What is your plan once we reach Petrona?”
Jenna said to me as we careened around a corner.

“I really don’t have a plan. I figured that I
would have time to come up with one on the way there.” I smiled but
she looked worried.

“Gee, you have really thought this thing
through.” She said sarcastically with huff.

“Well, obviously I can’t take out an entire
Army plus the Royal Guard by myself. I was thinking that maybe I
would just try to go directly for Lilith.” That was the best that I
could come up with.

“You would never be able to get to her.”
Jenna was shaking her head. “They are all on high alert as it is.
She knows that you are out here, and I am sure that she knows that
you would come back eventually.”

“I just don’t see any other way.” We trudged
on in silence, each of us deep in thought about the upcoming
fight.

After a few more minutes of walking through
the tunnel, I thought that I heard something up ahead.

“Wait!” I whispered coming to a stop. Tuck
and Jenna stopped too. “Did you hear that?”

We listened intently for a few moments.

“Sounds like voices up ahead.” Tuck cupped
his hand to his ear.

We help our ground as we waited to see who
would approach. Two dark figures appeared before us. They stopped
talking as soon as they saw us standing there.

“Well, well. It’s our old friend.” One of
them said in a gruff voice.

They drew closer and my stomach twisted into
a knot as I realized who was coming at us.

Sty and his big friend Sully walked up to us
grinning.

“Well if it isn’t our favorite little
princes.” How did they know who I was? They must have known that it
was me the day that they tried to kidnap me by the waterfall.

“And look she brought along her boyfriend.”
Sty said as he eyed Tuck from head to toe. Tuck stiffened but he
didn’t make a move.

“And who this pretty little thing?” Big and
ugly asked as he lifted a lock of Jenna’s hair.

“Don’t touch her!” I whirled on them and
yelled.

They started laughing their obnoxious
laugh.

“We should have never let your mother take
you away from us.” Sty snickered.

What was he talking about? What did this have
to do with my mother?

“We almost had her Sty.” Sully elbowed his
friend in the ribs.

“To bad she hid you away like that, or we
could have met a lot sooner.” Sly was speaking right into my face.
I could smell his rotten breath and I wanted to retch.

These were the rogue Fae that tried to kidnap
me when I was younger? These two were the reason that my parents
fled their home? Why they thought they needed to protect me? Why
they were now both dead and why Lilith was in control?

My anger started boiling within me as I
realized how many lives had been ruined or lost because of the
actions of these two men.

I felt my fingers twitch.

“Now, princess. Won’t you come with me and
save your friends from a lot of pain and suffering.” It was Sty who
spoke but his big and ugly friend Sully snickered.

It was the last straw. I could not stand to
see them roaming around free when the people of Drake had to hide.
I looked at Jenna and Tuck. Both of them lost their family to the
war that started because my parents ran away from these two men and
Lilith took over. Enough was enough.

More quickly than anyone could have thought,
I reached up and grabbed my sword by the handle. I pulled it from
its sheath still strapped to my back and swung it with deadly
force.

The next thing I knew, bright red blood was
spreading across the cold dark floor. Sty and his buddy lay on the
ground. Their chests revealed a large gaping hole. I had nearly cut
them in half.

I dropped to the floor on my knees and the
sword fell from my hand and clanked loudly against the hard stone.
I buried my face in my hands and wept.

I sat like that for a long time. Jenna and
Tuck left me alone while they moved the bodies from sight. When
they were through Jenna gently held me by my arm and pulled me to
my feet.

“We have to get moving Callie.” She said
quietly in my ear. I just nodded and began to walk.

I could not believe that I had just killed
two people. It was an odd feeling. One that I hoped that I would
never have to feel again, but I wasn’t sure about that. I was
entering into dangerous territory.

What bothered me the most is that I wasn’t
crying for the two men that I had just killed. I was crying for all
of the people who had been made to suffer from their actions. They
needed to be punished. I didn’t know if this was the best way, but
now it was done.

“Are you okay?” Jenna gave me a quick
squeeze.

“I am going to be alright.” I whispered and I
knew that it had to be true. I had to focus on the battle that was
quickly approaching.

A few hours later Tuck found a small alcove
off of the main corridor. It was just big enough for the three of
us to lie down.

“We should stop here and get some rest.” He
said. “You’ve had a long night Callie. You would feel a lot better
if you could get some sleep.”

We spread out our blankets and laid down.
Jenna wrapped her arms around me as I lay curled into a ball. I
looked back at her and noticed Tuck had his arms around Jenna. They
smiled at me and I couldn’t help but laugh.

It wasn’t long before I could feel Jenna’s
arms around me go limp and I could tell by the steady sound of
their breathing that they had both fallen asleep.

I couldn’t help but think back to the night
that I spent with Kailen’s arms wrapped around me as I slept. It
seemed so long ago now. I still could not believe that he turned
out to be so different than I was sure that he was that night. I
thought that we had really shared something special. He helped me
to remember a tiny little part of my life that I had long since
forgotten.

I reached up and pulled the little gold coin
from beneath my shirt. I stroked it gently between my thumb and
forefinger. I had not taken it off in over ten years. I will always
be with you in your heart. Those words seemed to lose their meaning
now.

A single tear made a trail down my cheek. I
wasn’t sure if I had loved him. I really had not known him long
enough to say that I did, but I kind of hoped that what we shared
would turn into something. I just wished that I knew what went
wrong.

I know that he said that we belonged in two
separate worlds, but I really did not think that was true. His
family had been the ones to help my parents when they took me away.
They must have been close to my family at some point.

Thinking of my family brought my thoughts
back to Brokk. He was definitely another love gone wrong. I reached
down and slid the heavy gold ring from my pocket. Maybe I was just
a little too eager to fall in love, I thought as I stared at it in
the dim cavern light. The way things stand right now, I have a
necklace and a ring, but no guy. It’s kind of funny in a pathetic
sort of way if you think about it.

After some time while lost in my thoughts, I
finally managed to fall asleep. I woke several hours later to find
that my friends were already awake. They were whispering quietly to
each other a few feet away from me. I kept very still while I
listened to them talk.

“Do you think that we are doing the right
thing?” I heard Tuck ask.

“Yes, she knows what she needs to do. I just
don’t think she needs to try to take on a whole city alone.” Jenna
whispered in reply.

“I don’t either. I’m glad that we came. I
just hope that the three of us can pull this off.”

“Me too.” Jenna turned to sit up.

They were right about one thing, there was no
way that I could take on the whole city and the guards. The one
thing that she was wrong about was that I had no idea what I needed
to do. I still wasn’t sure that I even wanted to be queen. I just
wanted to help all of the outcasts. I waited for a few minutes and
when they no longer spoke, I started getting up too. We quickly
dressed packed away our things and headed out.

“We should make it to Drake in a few hours.”
Tuck advised us as he looked at our surroundings.

I‘m not really sure how he could tell.
Everything looked the same to me. Dark, rocky, and slick.

“I hope that no one sees us.” I whispered.
The last thing that I needed was to run into Kailen. Not because I
didn’t want to see him, but because I knew that he would try to
stop me.

“We will have to be especially careful. There
may be a lot of people coming and going at this time of the day.
Especially if they have already begun to gear up for a battle. They
may be on high alert.” Tuck warned.

“Petrona is not far from Drake. We should try
to come up with what we are going to do once we get there.” Jenna
looked at me as she said that. “We can’t just walk into town
swinging a blade.”

“No, you are right. We have to be careful. If
the guards see me, they will know something is going on. I can’t
just go walking down the middle of the street. I wouldn’t make it
ten feet.”

“Maybe we should go in at night?” Tuck
suggested.

“That’s a good idea, but there will still be
guards posted everywhere.” I just didn’t see any other way to do
it. At least at night there may not be as many guards.

We walked on, each deep in thought as
different strategies played out in our heads. We thought of
everything from wearing disguises to going in while hanging to the
bottom of one of the merchant’s carts.

None of these ideas were enough to eliminate
the guard all together. Jenna wished that we had more manpower, but
I didn’t want any more people to get hurt for this cause. This was
something that I needed to do without causing an all out war if at
all possible.

I would definitely have to come up with
something good and I would have to do it soon. It wouldn’t be long
until we made it to Drake and I needed a plan before then. The last
time that anyone had run into the guards they were in Drake.
Apparently, they were becoming regulars there. The thought of them
stealing from the villagers and destroying their homes stirred my
anger once again.

Lilith would definitely have to be dealt with
but the Guard needed to be stopped as well. I just might have to
start thinking more seriously about becoming the queen once Lilith
was out of the picture.

The thought of it scared me to death, but the
fate of the people in and around Petrona worried me more. There was
no longer any question of whether I wanted to be queen or not, I
needed to be.

My new found purpose is all the inspiration
that I needed to propel me the rest of the way through the tunnel.
I could feel my adrenaline kicked in and I was prepared to do
whatever it took to finish this once and for all.

Chapter 18

I spent the next couple of hours going over
all of the things that would be expected of me as the queen with
Tuck and Jenna. There was a lot to think about. I would have to
command the Guard, make sure that the streets and the rest of the
city was maintained. I would have to impose punishment on those
that broke the laws, maintain a good relationship with other fairy
kingdoms. The more responsibilities that they thought of the more
my stomach started to churn.

“Don’t worry, Callie.” Tuck must have noticed
my sudden tension. “You will have plenty of help. You won’t have to
do everything on your own.”

That was a relief. I was having trouble
understanding how one person could do so much.

As we approached Drake, we could hear the
sound of music being played. I could hear a lot of chatter and
laughter emptying out into the tunnels. The three of us moved very
slowly with our backs plastered against the tunnel wall. I could
feel the sharp edges tugging on my pack as we moved.

We tried to stay hidden deep within the
shadows. I knew that getting past this point would be tricky, but I
never expected so much commotion. It sounded as if there was a
party going on inside.

“I’ll be right back. I need to get some air
and cool off.” We heard somebody call out as footsteps began to
draw near.