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The Right Choice Chapter 33
Grayson I woke up in what could only be described as a hellscape. It looked almost exactly like the Black Keep, except the surrounding area was on fire, and everything smelled like smoke and sulfur. The others were nowhere to be seen. In fact, I couldn’t see anyone. “Abby? Aryk? Is anyone there?” I called out. No answer. I got up and decided to try to leave the now empty courtyard. All of the statues that were in the courtyard previously were gone, and the silence was unnerving. Just as I was about to step through the gate, I heard a voice. “Gray?” “Abby?” I saw my wife laying on the ground facing away from me. I walked over to her, wondering how she got here. “You weren’t supposed to leave me. You promised.” She whispered. “Oh Abby…” I reached out to her. “I didn’t want to leave you, my love.” “You failed her,” said the last voice I wanted to hear. Somehow, I wasn’t surprised. “Father,” I said, turning to face him. “What are you doing here?” “You failed her,” he said aga
The Right Choice Chapter 34
“The king on the sea was stung by the bee. He stole her sunlight and honey. She took back her prize, and returned to her hive, as the magic man sang while the king takes a dive.” ******* Eswen Castle King Hayden stormed through the castle, cursing his luck. His idiot son had been gone for months and now his spies are saying he’s married. Even worse, he married that little whore, Abigail. How dare he disobey me! Hayden had known Abigail would be a problem. She always had been. She’d been the one to encourage Grayson all through their childhood, pushing him to learn new things and become his own person. He had been right to separate them and stop their letters. They had kept writing each other, too, for years. They’d tell each other stupid little things – how much they missed each other, how sad they were without each other. I learned they had kissed from the earliest letters – little whore – and they had started to discuss marriage. Too bad for them, plans changed. Grayson was n
The Right Choice Chapter 35
Abigail I sat by the fire, just staring and holding my stomach. I couldn’t even think, I could only cry. I had found some of Grayson’s shirts and his notebook amongst our things and I clung to them as if they could save me or bring him back. The shirts still smelled like him, so they were of some comfort. They’ll be good to have when I grow too large for my own shirts. The notebook had been more of a diary for him, and it made me both happy and sad to read what he had written about his love for me, and his plans for our future. Gods, I missed him so much. I don’t know why I stopped speaking, it wasn’t a conscious decision. Nothing I said would bring Grayson back. Nothing would change the fact that the whole lifetime we had planned together was ruined in one second. One act of magic, and everything was gone. All our plans, our hopes for a family, our happiness. All gone. I didn’t want to tell the others about the baby until I had to. I wanted to be certain, because the last thin
The Right Choice Chapter 36
Rose We weren't supposed to return with the same number of people we left with. We were supposed to come back with at least one more. Losing Grayson changed everything – for all of us. “Abby?” I tried to get my sister’s attention. “Abby please eat.” She shook her head. “Abby, please. For me.” She took a bite of the fish I had for her. “Thank you,” I said, relieved. It was a start. That bite was the most she’d eaten in three days. Abby was little more than a ghost. She hadn’t spoken since we left the Keep, and she’d barely eaten. It frightened me how small and scarred she had become. “How is she?” Thomas asked one night. “The same,” I answered. “Still not talking, but I have gotten her to eat a few times.” “Well, that’s an improvement, at least,” he replied. “I miss my sister,” I said softly. “We all do, Rose,” he replied sadly. “We all do.” The trip back across the Sea felt much shorter than expected. Every so often, we would see signs of the various stone creatures tha
The Right Choice Chapter 37
Grayson The landscape looked familiar, at least, even if it was on fire. I figured if I headed back to Alderei in this realm, I would find a way back to Abigail. I didn’t know what else to do. All I knew was I wasn’t dead. Abigail was alive. I kept seeing traces of her everywhere, images of her almost guiding my way. One morning I saw her sitting by a fire, just staring. Another day, when the cliff where we married came into view, I saw her sitting cross-legged on the ground, wearing one of my shirts and crying. She always looked so sad. So alone. I wanted to comfort her and tell her she didn’t need to grieve me – I’m alive. I never approached her after she disappeared the first time I tried. I knew it wasn’t really her anyway – she may be gorgeous, but she didn’t actually glow in reality. These images did, not to mention I could see right through her. It was almost as if she were a beacon, lighting my way back. Every time I saw her image, I felt the light inside me grow. I worr
The Right Choice Chapter 38
Catherine “What is he saying, Papa?” I asked, reaching out for my father’s hand. A bad feeling washed over me. “What prophecy?”“I don’t know, Cat,” he answered.“I know the prophecy,” Thomas looked at my father and sighed. “Sit down, and I’ll tell it to you… you too, Princess.” He looked past the rest of us.We all looked to see Abby standing there. She looked… numb. She nodded and sat down next to Rose. None of us had realized she was awake. How much had she heard?I reached over and took Rose’s hand. She smiled at me gratefully, but I could tell she was worried. I kissed her forehead and whispered, “It will all be alright, my love.”“I only know it as a short poem,” Thomas began. “If memory and my hearing serves, the prince knew at least the first part of it as a nursery rhyme – I’m fairly certain I heard him singing it to Abigail a few times while we were all falling asleep. Though I don’t think he remembered it correctly.”I looked at Abby, but she just sat there, eyes dry. R
The Right Choice Chapter 39
RoseWe moved slowly as we made our way back home. The king was not the strong man he was ten years ago, and Abigail’s stomach was becoming more cumbersome. The way back seemed far more treacherous, as well, with dangers real and imagined around every corner. Every day, we fought off something: a bear, wolves, a pack of kobolds. It seemed as though something had awoken in the forest and whatever it was wanted us dead, in the worst possible way. We were constantly on edge and none of us had had a proper sleep since we left the Sea.I watched as my sister grew somehow both bigger and smaller. As the babies grew within her, she herself seemed to become less. She still hadn’t spoken a word since we left the Black Keep, though she had become more communicative through other means, and would allow others to touch her again. Despite these improvements, her sadness was killing us both.“Stupid question, I know,” Cat said one evening as she sat down next to me, “but are you okay?” I had walk
The Right Choice Chapter 40
CatherineI stood up quickly, sword drawn, and stood in front of Abigail and Rose. Let the others figure out who that man was, Abigail was my responsibility, as was Rose, and I would protect them at all costs. What Rose had just told me ran through my head as I watched my father address this strange man by name. “Duke Stefan?” Father said, “What are you doing here? How did you find us?”The duke appeared shocked and embraced my father tightly, “Your Highness, to see you again, alive and well, is a blessing greater than I would have ever wished for.”Aryk bowed to the duke, appearing very confused. “My lord, to what do we owe the pleasure? You are far from home.”“I have been searching for you for many weeks, Lord Aryk,” he looked at the rest of us for the first time, but didn’t appear to find who, or what, he was looking for. “Where is my nephew? Where is Grayson?” He sounded panicked. “Dead,” said a voice I hadn’t heard in weeks. Abby stood up and walked over to the man I now knew
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