~ 25 ~

No Offence... but Fuck Your Warning

"W-Wait! You can't just walk off on me like that?"

Zinnine continued on his horse as the other horsemen flanked to his side. They went slowly, and the king looked back at us from his shoulder. "Why not? Surely we're allowed to repeat your previous offence."

Fuck the old man was hard on his daughter. Or former daughter. Former daughter AND former princess. Astria really is losing it all. I shook my head before looking at the walls. Many of the guards whispered to each other.

I couldn't make out much from the conversation, but harsh and little too much and such became the standout words. It seemed like the king didn't play favourites. His time remaining seemed frail, and he had not the seconds to spend on wasteful shit.

Then I glanced at the princess and wondered if that's how she felt. If that's how she always felt. If such a great man were to treat her this way, how would Astria come to think about herself? My perception of her was different from the king's. If most of her social interactions as a princess were like this, she would start to see herself as a lesser human.

It was strange, in seeing someone who meant a great deal to me, become so worthless in the presence of another. Is that how it goes? Humans reduce other humans? That you could be a fine person on your own or around others like yourself, but the moment you're in the shadow of a man such as this, the quality of your worth, and your potential as a person, are suddenly reduced to nothing?

It's not even like how it was with As'gar. He saw me as a weakling. Beat the ever-living shit out of me. However, as twisted as the dragon was, he still wanted me to develop into something more. He also knew that I had a monster inside. His belief led to my progression. But what can the princess do here? She has nothing to do, and nothing she can evolve into.

It made greater sense for her to escape if life was like this, but despite that, the way she did it ended whatever ties the old man had with her. It was then that Astria glanced at me for help. Looking deeply into her eyes, I nodded for her to go on. She swallowed and nodded in return.

"The Ancasters are staging an attack on our kingdom," Astria began and, even with her words, the men rode slowly on. "The wedding was nothing more than a way to steal me to their kingdom. There's something magically different about me. They wanted to take that power first, then finally crush this place before returning to the Mainland!"

The old man stopped on his horse, and his guard paused behind him. "Did you think that I didn't know this? That foe would become family because of a single good kiss? Is that the best we can expect of one who was once a princess?"

Astria stood there with her mouth open.

Her father turned to her from atop his steed. "You are nothing special, girl. Your marriage, and them melting you for your magic, was to afford our kind time to strike at them. Out of all of my daughters to have lived, luck favoured you, but fate does not have you in its furnishings. Our family has done nothing but toil our people, those who live, work, and serve our common kind."

Astria froze. "Y-You knew? Y-You were going to marry me off and... y-you knew?"

"I would have rather only for your dragon to have returned." Zinnine looked at me. "My scouts witnessed the kidnapping of the former princess by the Golden Dragon. I presume that he is no more?"

"Because I—"Astria attempted to speak.

"Because you were the one to defeat him?"

Her mouth closed without another world.

Zinnine groaned, cracking his neck. "No. All you did was get yourself kidnapped twice. It was this dragon who primarily handled the slaying of the Golden Dragon, wasn't it."

Astria was forced to nod. "Yes, but I absor—"

"Silence! Useless woman, the world becomes a better place in your silence!" Steam rolled off his breath. It took a few calming ones before his calmness focused on me. "You defeated a great foe for us. Returned us with weapons and wealth to sustain the upcoming conflict. Your return has done us a lot of good. However, without offence, I would suggest leaving this island."

I winced an eye, nodding. "I figured that's the way everything was going to play out."

"I would also suggest taking this woman with you." The old man turned away from us, leading his men back to the gates. "But that would be more for our sakes than it would be of yours. "He waved his hand as though swatting flies. "Now, the two of you shall be off. Never approach these walls again."

My heart broke when I looked at Astria.

She stood with an expression of anger, pain, confusion, and yearning. Her hand reached out for her father like a child. She murmured something. D-Daddy. Just as she had exposed herself, however, Astria turned away, huffing, storming away from the castle like a proper person once more.

Someone strong, unaffected by what had happened, destined to begin their own course in life. I struggled in place, looking between the daughter and the father. I rose to words. I couldn't let this end here.

But, before I could speak, another had done so in my head.

Guide her.

I looked at the old man as he pulled his hood back over. He glanced at me for a second, his eyes burning blue. Magic. The tiniest amount, but it glowed from his eyes. And though his voice was commanding, what he said next in my head was a plea,

The north-western port. Bring her there safely. Wait until Nightfall before entering the Village of Nukar from the East.

Those eyes. They were the same I'd seen on the beach. The guards are out looking for the princess. Even now, I looked to the walls of the vanishing guards. How they saw and heard what happened. They'd report how tough he'd been on his former daughter—if, maybe, he'd been too harsh.

They might even come to dislike the king for his willing sacrifice of his daughter.

Just what the hell are you planning, you crazy old fool?

You have a princess to catch first, dragon.

His voice faded from my head, and his presence left my eyes, as troops flooded across the sand, picking at the weapons and treasures, only a few observing the dragon. None of this mattered, anymore. I turned and, lowering to all fours, started to sprint after Astria.

She hadn't gone too far by the time I caught up next to her. She walked quickly, arms crossed. Tears poured while sniffles blew. Astria wiped the corner of her eyes, acting like it wasn't anything significant. She pretended not to hear the hulking dragon that ran like a dog on a leash.

"H-Hey..." I began, "...t-think you can slow down? Or start running really fast? Because I'm kinda running in place to keep pace with you."

Astria's black hair flew as her head swung. "Go away. Shoo. Leave me alone."

"How come?"

"The 'How come' doesn't concern you!" Her hand flicked in the air. "So return to your cave! Or take that bigger one from that dragon you killed. I don't care what you do, just—bugger off."

"Alright." Without giving much of a fuck, I stopped in place, scooping the princess into my claw. Astria called out as I sat on my rump. Holding her standing form in the center of my palm, I kept it before my face. "We're going to have ourselves a quick chat right now."

Astria turned away immediately, hiding her face behind her shoulder. "We're going to talk about nothing. You're going to put me back on the ground, and then we're never going to see each other again."

"Hey," I replied. "If I kidnapped you once, I sure as hell can do it again. You're not going to be rid of me so easily. I'll become your number-one stalker if you're not careful." I joined my other palm to the platform, allowing her the choice of more space. "And I won't pretend to know you, or whatever the hell you're feeling after all that bullshit."

I narrowed my eyes and lowered my face to her.

"But that was bullshit. All of it. Everything that your father did—if I was a worse dragon, I would have flattened him beneath my fist." It was true. Had I known the inclination that something else was at play, I still would have risked something against him despite the old man's essence. "None should have to go through something like that. I would have felt ripped apart if that were me."

I nodded. "But you are not defined by how he spoke and treated you. It's tough when someone with his kind of power does that kind of shit. I don't know why he was nice to me. But had it been the reverse, even I would have been crushed by his weight."

I pulled back a little. "But I've seen you as so much during our time together. Fighting that bastard off my back. The refreshing conversations between us. You reminded me that I was someone, again. Your sincerity toward me has allowed me to be a more talkative being. You become so much when allowed the freedom to be yourself. Don't let yourself be reduced by what your father establishes."

Then came something I wasn't expecting.

I waited to the yell, the stomp of the foot, the words that told me I was wrong, or it wasn't like that—or whatever the fuck. I spoke more to let her know what I thought and felt, to serve as an external opinion to whatever the fuck might be going on within.

But the princess cried.

She faced me fully, breaking into sniffles and tears, holding out her arms.

...and expecting a hug.