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“That isn’t the best idea right now.”
“But Zalith!” I exclaim. “Your life is in danger.”
“As is yours, but if I stay here then it keeps all of the focus on me.”
“But The Hunt!”
“Rory,” he says calmly. “I know this is all a lot right now, but I think I should still go ahead with The Hunt. I know what I’m going to do about the assassins, but what I need you to do is head back to the manor and stay there. You’re in good hands with Slyth.”
I say nothing, worry anchoring my voice of concern deep in the pits of my body.
“Do you trust me?” he asks, standing and pulling me closer.
“Yes, I’m just worried…”
“I know, me too, but this is for the best. I’ll promise you that somehow I’ll make it out of The Hunt.”
“Oh, Zalith… I just want all of this to be over.”
He throws a finger to my lips and brings them to meet his own in a passionate kiss.
“Soon, you and I both will be free of her terror. Go now and be with Slyth. I’ll catch you tomorrow night.”
Leaving proves difficult. As I disappear back into the passages, I pray that by the end of The Hunt, Zalith will still be in one piece.
19
ZALITH
I’ve gotten barely a wink of sleep in the full day that’s come and gone. It’s early the morning after I was dragged and tossed into my bedroom. My mind is boggled and my stomach is twisted with a knot of anxiety.
My parents betrayed me…
No matter how many times I repeat those words in my head, the pill doesn’t get any easier to swallow. Their accusations of insanity have now begun to make me question if I’m really going insane because there’s no right world that exists where this would be happening.
Even now I pace back and forth in the same spot like a madman, running my hands over each other.
“Where did it all go wrong? My plan wasn’t perfect, but it shouldn’t have to be. I’m their damned son!”
From the corner of my eye, I spot an envelope sliding in underneath my door.
What the hell is this?I think to myself as I grab the letter opener from my desk. I fish out the parchment and toss the empty envelope aside. Upon reading it, I see it’s no letter but rather an invitation.
“You are hereby invited to the royal wedding of Prince Zalith of Lodra and Princess Vippera of Jalma… What is this? It's tomorrow!”
I rip the invitation in two and burn it in my hands with magic. I wish it was some sort of sick joke but it was official. I watch as the royal insignia stamps of both regions burn away.
“Vippera getting her way again, why am I not surprised? I bet she had it dropped off here just to tease me.”
I’m still mystified by the fact my own parents were manipulated by her. In their eyes, I’ve managed to become a warped version of myself, a shell of a broken man who speaks only words of madness.
The fact they no longer believe anything I say, their own son, breaks me more than anything else. Vippera is too damn crafty. I question why she doesn’t just go north and marry some barbarian, for the north is where the humans are treated the worst.
She probably wants this human hate to spread nationwide.
In a fit of anger, I swipe everything off of my desk. Utensils, a vase, and a clock fall to the floor with a loud clatter. Just then, a clicking sound of a twisted lock comes from the door. It then swings open, inwards stepping the King and Queen.
I knew they would eventually show up, but this display won’t exactly help my case of not looking mad. They peer down wide-eyed at the mess on the floor.
