I hope the formatting is better on this chapter! ---------------------------- Chapter Seventeen “Caleb, don’t make me do this.” “Since you’re unable to wield a sword, I’ve crafted a staff specifically for you,” Caleb said, displaying the staff for me to see. “Caleb, I’m begging you. Do not make me do this.” “See? On each of the sides it ends in a small blade so you can do some damage.” I winced. I didn’t want to do any damage. “Caleb—” “I’m thinking that you could—” “Caleb!” I shouted, finally having enough of him ignoring me. Caleb looked at the ground. Now that I had his attention, I struggled to find the words to convince him. Finally, I managed to say, “Please.” Even to me my voice sounded small. Strangled. Caleb met my eyes. “Jade, I’m sorry. There’s just not another way.” My anger overwhelmed my fear and initial numbness. “You could do it! You could fight for the kingdom fairly—and win fairly. Don’t make me do this.” Caleb sighed. Not a sad sigh or a regretful one. It was a sigh of impatience. “Jade, I can’t. Do you realize that if I were up there, I could die?” I was taken aback for a moment. “What? You value your own life more than… I can’t believe you!” “Yes, I do Jade. If you win, the victory will be attributed to me. If you die, I can always hide and try again later.” Finding that Caleb was a lost cause, I turned to Tyler. “Tyler, please!” Tyler met my gaze helplessly, but didn’t speak. I whirled back around and faced Caleb. “When?” “Tomorrow. First light. I’ve already sent a letter to the king. If I don’t get his response, we’ll attack then.” “Will I still be taking your place?” “No matter the battle, there is still a chance I could die. Tyler will be by your side always to ensure that I have full control over your movements.” That was exactly what I wanted; Tyler at my side. How dreadful that the universe should deliver that to me in such an appalling way. I grit my teeth so that I wouldn’t cry in front of him. I wouldn’t let Caleb see me broken. “Where will you be?” “Safe. Far away.” I nodded. It figures. Suddenly, unable to hold my disgust in any longer, I hissed, “Coward.” “A coward I may be, but a fool I am not. Tyler, take her back to her room.” Tyler stood up, and when I did not join him at the door, he gently took my wrist and led me out of there. I was in shock as he took me back to the room with the cots in it. I noticed now that it was lit only by a tiny lantern. I didn’t sit down immediately, so Tyler softly pushed me into a sitting position on one of the cots and kneeled next to me, our faces at the same level. “Jade, I am so sorry.” He paused to let me respond. I didn’t. “Jade, I know that it’s not much of an excuse, but he’s my brother, and he truly believes that the kingdom needs a change of leadership. I don’t approve of what he’s doing, but if I thought there was a possibility that you’d get hurt, I wouldn’t have let him take you here. I promise that you’ll be safe.” Tyler searched my eyes for any reaction before gently, hesitantly leaning in and touching his lips to mine. “I promise,” he repeated. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.” After saying this, Tyler got up and stretched out on his cot. Slowly, I did the same. And then, the tears came. Fat drops rolled down my face, not making a sound. If one were to walk in right then, they would be unable to tell what a fragile state I was in courtesy of the dim lighting. Some time later, I finally got to the point where I could speak. “Tyler?” I cried out desperately. “Tyler, are you awake?” There was no response. I quieted my voice to a hushed, but equally as frantic, tone. “Tyler, do you love me?” I asked the sleeping body to my left. “Because I think I’ve fallen in love with you.” <^> Despite the stress I was under, I managed to get a full night’s sleep. Tyler woke me up before the break of dawn to get me ready, the sadness in his eyes replaced with concentration. He took me to the room where the armor was kept. Before he could help me into it, he supplied me with clothing to change into—I was still in my dress. I did so slowly, trying to postpone my inevitable fate for as long as possible. Once fully dressed, Tyler rushed about me, helping me into the extensive black metal. Fully suited, I could tell no difference between when I wasn’t wearing the armor and when I was. Caleb must have used a powerful spell. I tried walking in it and found it incredible easy. I smiled at Tyler only to find that he had disappeared somewhere. I stuck my head out into the hall. “I don’t care about the repercussions,” Tyler was saying. “Do we have a deal or not.” Caleb looked away to Tyler and faced me. He stared unblinking for a few seconds, seeming very far away, before saying, “Of course we have a deal. You’re my brother; I want you to be happy. Come here, Jade, let’s see that helmet on you.” I handed him the helmet and he fitted it on over my head. “Magnificent.” “Won’t height be a problem?” I realized. “Not at all. Remember my personal power? People will perceive you as exactly my height.” I bit my lip, suddenly terrified. “How much longer?” “Not long now,” Caleb said. “I received a reply from the king yesterday. He has accepted my challenge, but his army will be waiting just beyond the chosen battleground as will mine in case there is any foul play.” “When are we—” Before I could complete the question I felt the whooshing of air past my face and suddenly I was outside, Tyler at my side and Caleb nowhere to be found. I turned my head and saw the king in a silver suit of armor pulling down his helmet. And then my body was no longer under my control.
Chapter Eighteen Caleb turned my body to face the King. He was much larger than I was in his armor, but then I remembered he would perceive me to be Caleb’s height. That didn’t make me feel any better. Tyler handed me the staff that Caleb had made for me and whispered, “Good luck.” I don’t know if he was talking to me or Caleb. If he was talking to me, that would be really stupid because I had no control over this fight at all. As Caleb made me walk forward to the King, I felt something strange. I could feel Caleb in my mind. He didn’t just have access to the control of my body, he had access to everything. He could remember everything that I could, and he could hear my thoughts as I was thinking them. So that was the thing with the bathtub. I wondered… Caleb thought. Oh, lord. Then there was no more time to think. The King bowed to me. I bowed back. The battle began. His sword and my staff slammed together again and again. It was happening so fast that I was glad for Caleb’s overwhelming presence in my head pushing me forward and keeping the battle evenly matched. The King was an exceptional swordsman for his age. I realized the problem before Caleb did when I started losing ground. I may appear to be Caleb’s size to everyone else, but I was not. I didn’t have his strength, nor did I have his stamina. I could compete with the king on a level of skill, but not strength. And I was losing my strength fast. As soon as I came to the realization, so did Caleb because of his access to my thoughts. Suddenly, there were arrows everywhere. The king had gone back on his promise! His archers were firing on us. Why would he do that? He was winning… Then I realized that it wasn’t the king who was firing. Caleb had given the order because we were losing. The king charged at me in outrage. Acting on instinct alone, I brought my staff up to meet his sprinting form. The sound of the sharp end entering his body was sickening, but what was worse was the fact that his momentum carried him forward until his face was inches away from mine. I stared at him, scrambling to find Caleb in my mind. He was there but distant. Hardly paying me any attention. No, he had not done this. In the end, it was all me. I killed the king. Releasing the spear, I ran away from the body. The battle raged on around me, but I paid it no attention. I had to run. I had to get out of here. I ran through clashing swords and angry men fighting for their country, my armor protecting me from the danger. By the time I found myself on the outskirts of the brawl, I had just enough time to pull my helmet off before I vomited. I knelt there heaving for a good while. I could not tell how long had passed as the battle never ceased its noise. Finally, I found the strength to stand on legs that shook only a little. I was recognized almost instantly. A man fighting for the king ran at me. I fell back to the ground, terrified and without a weapon. The man drew nearer, but then he saw my face. The illusion that I was Caleb was still there, but it didn’t extend to my face. His hesitation lasted long enough for him to be struck down. I stood up once more. Tyler. I spun around every which way, but I did not see him. No! Caleb had said that he would stay by my side. Tyler! Disoriented as I was, I struggled through the battle desperate to find him. A blur of brown hair and tan skin to my right caused me to spin. I jerked my head from side to side, and then finally, with a sinking feeling, down. He was on the ground, face in the mud. Before the horror could take hold or a sob could rise in my throat, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I screamed, the noise lost in the battle. “Dang it, Jade! Don’t run away like that!” It was Tyler. He was okay. I pulled him into a hug, letting a few overwhelmed tears fall into his shirt. “It’s okay, he murmured. You’ll be fine, trust me. We’ll both be fine.” “How can we possibly be fine?” I murmured, finding peace with Tyler even with a battle taking place all around us. “Because,” he said, his voice sounding hoarse. I silently begged Tyler not to cry. If he cried, there was no way I could keep my composure. “Because we have to be fine. Because we’re going to win this battle. Because Caleb’s going to be the best king this kingdom has ever seen. Because he promised that we could have a wonderful life away from him forever.” I looked up, startled, and met his even gaze. “What?” “I made him promise.” Tyler grinned, and for a moment, I forgot everything. I forgot that he was Caleb’s brother and had pulled me into this as much as Caleb had. All I remembered was how in love with him I was. “I know that you can’t forgive him. I don’t even think I can after what he did to you. We’re going to live far away—in the country. We’re going to have wonderful lives.” “Can we get married?” I felt no embarrassment asking this question. Deep down I knew that he loved me as much as I loved him. “Of course!” Tyler said. “And we can have children and never tell them anything about life before we ran away from responsibility.” I giggled—an actual giggle. “I’d like that.” I felt a sword slam into the enchanted armor and remembered that we were in the middle of a war. Tyler remembered too. “We need to get out of here. You’ve done your part, so Caleb should let you go.” I checked my mind and found that Caleb was still there. Lingering. Listening. He sent me one final message before I ran away with Tyler. The war is all but won. Enjoy your new life… With all my heart, I believe that he meant it.
Chapter Nineteen (Epilogue) I set the quill down after writing everything of Jade’s life that I had gotten from her memories from the time I occupied her head. From the time I controlled her in battle. I resisted the urge to add one final line: She was wrong. This was Jade’s story, and I wanted it unblemished by my commentary. I sighed and leaned back in the chair. This was the King’s study, I mused. Mine now. The responsibility of ruling a kingdom had settled well on my shoulders, which didn’t surprise me. I had been planning this for many years. The kingdom was already beginning to prosper under my rule. I had only a few more loose ends to clean up before I could completely relax into my new role as king. A few unpleasant loose ends. A knock on my door interrupted my thoughts. “Enter,” I said. Gage, a trusted ally, entered. “Caleb,” he said as a greeting. “I mean, your majesty!” He punctuated his hurried remark with a sloppy bow. It didn’t matter. I hadn’t called him up for his company or politeness. “I need you to take care of some people for me, Gage,” I said, handing him an envelope. “Why else would you have called?” he joked. That was one thing I liked about Gage. Unlike my other assassins, he could take a joke. “You will find them in a small cottage far into the country,” I instructed. “All details should be provided.” Gage nodded, opening it. He scanned the information and looked back up with uneasy eyes. “Are you sure about this? They… they haven’t really done anything.” I stood up and faced a window that looked out at the kingdom. My kingdom. “They know too much, and the knowledge that they possess is incredibly dangerous. It could lead to my downfall.” “Yes, your majesty.” “Do you know what you must do?” I asked, turning around and meeting his gaze. They were no longer uneasy. They were determined. “Yes. Yes, your majesty.” “Then go.” Once Gage had left, I took the stack of papers with Jade’s life, the important part, anyways, and held them in his hands. I felt the weight of it, the weight of a human life. I closed my eyes and murmured a final goodbye. “Enjoy your new life while it lasts, Jade. May you find happiness in your final days.” Then I tossed the papers into the fire, and sat back down at my desk. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In case you're wondering, yes, that is the end. No, there will not be a sequel.