“Well I see the seats beside you are full” Lizz mused as she approached the table after Marcia called out to her. “It seems everyone wants to sit beside me all of a sudden, it must be the new scent Kealy arranged for me” Rex joked, causing Ley and Markus to chuckle, Marcia rolled her eyes and mumbled something as she took a seat beside Markus. “Speaking of Kealy, I have not seen her in a while, does anyone know where she is?” Lacey said, jolting as the topic reminded her of that fact. “Your sister is assisting with another matter” Markus said, his mouth half full as he spoke. “Please say it, without spraying shit everywhere, men are so gross” Marcia groaned, screwing her nose up towards Markus. “Well now Lizz is here, I’m quite sure you said something about waiting to ask them something” Minet chimed. “Well no doubt he doesn’t want everyone to hear it” Lacey said, trying her best to behave, Rex hid a smile, he could see the veins in the side of her head pulsing in frustration, he
Once the gate to Marcia’s house could be seen, Rex could no longer hold in his curiosity, “So you haven’t answered my question, what do you want me for?” “Please my lord, trust me, I will explain everything once inside” Marcia replied, looking over her shoulders while walking and talking as if worried someone was watching. Once they arrived at the gate, the guards leapt into action once they spied Rex, “Halt, you may not..oh my, deepest apologies my lord, we did not recognise you, we thought it was someone who was trying to court the general” the guards said, quickly changing their demeanour seeing Rex. “That’s fine” Rex said, letting his heart rate lower a little, not surprisingly, Marcia’s guards were female and wore leather armour with the symbol of a blue bird on their chests, Marcia’s sky army emblem. “If you could not tell, the only men who have ever set foot in my house are royal family, and Deacon once, not by choice, I do not allow any other men here” Marcia announced prou
After a few seconds, the entire nest had been swallowed by the golden light Rex’s talisman was emitting, and soon after Ulna was not visible anymore. It was not long before he started to feel the chain around his neck begin to heat up and out of pure surprise, he let out a little cry of pain. “Ow.” ‘What’s wrong? Is Ulna ok?” Marcia exclaimed, turning to face Rex once he jerked and out of instinct, she reached out her hand and placed it on Rex’s arm. “Yeah, I’m ok, just stings a little, it's weird” Rex said, grabbing the necklace to remove it, realising a few seconds later it wouldn’t budge, “The f**k? It won’t come off!” “Don’t be silly, just pull it over your head” Marcia said, grabbing the necklace when she saw Rex struggling, the moment she did, she recoiled her hand, “Ow! It stung me!” The longer the light kept flooding Ulna’s nest, the more heat the talisman created, and a few moments later, Rex started to feel drained, like he was running a marathon, his legs became weary
“Wake up!” came a loud voice from beside Rex, and as he jolted awake, it took a few moments for his vision and brain to adjust from being asleep to awake so quickly. “What is it!?” he called out instinctively, reaching out to the table for the sword that was there beside his bed. “That won’t be needed” replied a soft voice, reaching out and grabbing a hold of his hand. As he became fully aware of his surroundings, he saw Marcia was sitting on the edge of his bed with a smile from ear to ear, also holding onto his hand, preventing him from grabbing his sword. “Marcia! What’s wrong? Is Ulna ok?” he stammered, sitting up, a little unsettled when he saw how Marcia was smiling, he had never seen it before, not even last night when agreed to help her. “Ulna will be in top fighting shape by tomorrow, I had the best beastmasters in the land fly in last night to check her over after what you and Fafnir did, after seeing her close to death not a day earlier, they are flabbergasted by her re
“Of course you bloody did” Lacey said, shaking her head with a smile, “In style too, you ok?” “Yeah I’m ok, was weird though” Rex replied, shaking his head to try to get rid of the dizzy feeling he had. “OK, so give us a quick rundown, what did you do to it and what happened?” Lizz said, pulling a chair out for Rex to sit on, all three girls now listening intently. “Well first I..” Rex began to say. “Congratulations my prince!” a voice interjected loudly, cutting him off mid-sentence. All four heads snapped to who had stopped Rex talking. “Uh Markus? Can I help you?” Rex asked, curious as to why he was prevented from speaking. “Nope, but I can help you, please come with me, you have received the clue and must now separate from everyone or be disqualified” Markus said, his voice serious and deep. “What!?” Lacey protested. “Rules my dear” Markus said, raising his hand to silence her, waving his other hand to motion Rex to stand and once he did, “Please say no more, it would be a
Once Rex’s vision cleared up, he was standing in an empty circular room, much like the one from his vision, just without the doors, and standing in the center was the old woman, leaning on her staff, wearing a wicked-looking grin. “How do you know who I am?” Rex asked, a little confused and worried at the same time. “I know many things young prince, that is what I do” the woman said, glaring at Rex eerily, he noticed she did not blink, her bright green eyes staying open and focused on him. “So I guess I should ask who you are” Rex asked, trying his best to ease the building tension. “I am called Figulamian, but you may call me Fig for short, your tongues go so many silly ways when you attempt to pronounce it and I find the sounds you make irritating when trying” the woman called Fig said, scowling slightly. “Ok, Figulamian, or Fig” Rex winked, he was rolling the name over and over in his head a few times practicing mimicking how she said it before trying, “I am wondering why I am
His mind was racing staring at both of the visions playing before the doors, on one hand, he could save the women he held dear, but he would lose two thousand troops who may have the fix for his curse, all he had to do was save them and be rid of his curse, but he would lose the women. “Has anyone ever told you this place is f**ked, and so are your decisions?” Rex exclaimed, rubbing his temples in frustration. “Yes, many have said that” Fig replied, smiling wickedly, “I must admit I find you a curious one, leaders save the masses and yet you seem hell-bent on trying to save everyone, I will add a minute onto your decision time to let some wise words sink in.” “Yeah, what’re your wise words?” “You will NEVER be able to save everyone, no matter how much you try” Fig replied, her facial tone softening a little while speaking. Taking a deep breath in and exhaling, Rex admitted her words did seem right, but he was never one to accept defeat, he wanted both boons from both fights, stari
As the soldiers began to funnel back into the camp as Rex instructed, for some reason, the Fae soldiers did not continue their charge as he had previously predicted they would. “What the..?” Rex questioned out loud, not seeing them charge into the trap he had set. “It seems they are regrouping for an assault my lord, orders?” the commander said once he had finished receiving his report. “How did they..hang on a minute” Rex stuttered, looking up and scowling. With a heavy sigh, it dawned on him what had happened, it seemed Fig had not taken kindly to his way to turning the game to his favour. Once all of the troops were inside, Rex walked over to the balcony to see what state his troops were in, he was a little worried seeing how beaten and worn out they were, the main force of foot soldiers that had been holding the line, it seemed only half were in good enough condition to really hold their own, the other half were barely standing, most did not even have their weapons anymore. “