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Xavier found Morgan’s room, but saw that it was locked from outside.
Was her brother keeping Morgan a prisoner in her room?
Xavier quickly slid the bar to open the door and held his breath as he stepped inside. Morgan was sitting on her bed, her back turned away from him. There was a tray laden with food beside her, untouched.
Her room was dimly lit by a single candlelight, and dark curtains were blocking the outside sun. The windows must be barred as well, Xavier thought.
It didn’t feel like a room, but more like a coffin.
“I told you... I have no desire to eat,” she said, still with her back against him. “Please, take the tray away.”
She looked so fragile and lost in that tomb of a room.
“Are you not going to see who entered?” Xavier asked in a low voice.
Morgan turned in surprise. Tears welled in her eyes as soon as she saw Xavier.
“Xavier!”
She rushed towards him, and Xavier took her in his embrace.
“It is you..” she said, choking back her tears. “I thought that my brother had done something terrible to you...”
“I am well, but it took a long journey to come back to you,” Xavier said.
Morgan took his hand and showed him to the bed, making him sit close to the candlelight. She touched his face with trembling hands, like she was making sure he was actually in front of her.
She finally noticed the scar slashed across Xavier’s face and gasped.
“Your face... “
“I am still the same person you loved, Morgan,” Xavier said. “But now I wear a hideous mark on my face.”
“How? Was it my brother? Did he do this to you?”
Xavier gave a grim smile. Morgan didn’t say a word and looked lost in thoughts.
“Will you still love me, Morgan, scarred as I am now?”
“I will always love you, Xavier.” she said, stifling a sob. She started to speak again, but paused.
“Is something troubling you, Morgan?”
“Yes."
"What is it?"
"I wonder.. I wonder will you still love me, Xavier, if I show you my scars?”
“What do you mean?”
Morgan slowly turned her back, reached out her hand, and started opening the fastenings of her nightdress. She hung the loosely fitted clothing over her shoulders and then slid it off completely; the dress forming a pool around her bare waist.
Xavier was speechless. He looked stunned at her bare body, which was luminous under the glow of candlelight. He then noticed the angry red marks on her back. The harshness of the scars on her supple skin shocked Xavier.
Xavier realized they were lash marks. There were bruises throughout her body.
“Who did this to you?” Xavier asked. He thought he would lose his mind that someone hurt Morgan this way.
“My brother.”
“Your brother... Why?”
“He did it when I refused to be auctioned off for marriage to the highest bidder. I told him I would rather die than marry anyone else but you,” Morgan said, tears falling down her cheeks. “So he hit me and then whipped me. He does it whenever I refuse. Mortimor is only sorry that it leaves a scar.”
Xavier was at a loss for words.
“Will you still love me, Xavier?” Morgan asked, weeping. “Will you love me with my scars, the ones that lie on the surface and those that are much deeper?”
Morgan wasn’t just baring her abused body to him, Xavier thought, she was showing him the deep scars inflicted on her soul.
Xavier looked at Morgan lovingly. He gently traced the scar on her shoulder with his fingertips.
Morgan gave a small sigh.
Xavier traced the same scar, this time with slow, gentle kisses, from one end of her shoulder all the way to her back. Morgan was trembling and a soft moan escaped her lips that nearly undid his restraint.
Xavier wanted to kiss every part of her, from the slope of her back, to the swell of her breasts, to the graceful lines of her neck. He wanted to kiss away every bruise, every painful moment she went through. He wanted to caress her body until all she felt was his love.
Not here, he thought. Not in the cage where she went through so much suffering and pain.
There will be a time when he could kiss, love and caress every inch of her body, but only when they were out of harm’s way.
They didn’t have time. The longer they stayed in the room, they were in danger.
He gently dressed Morgan again, biting down the ache and longing of his heart to touch her. He didn’t trust himself to speak until he had fastened her nightdress.
“There is nothing that will keep me from loving you, my love,” Xavier said. “Not even death.”
He embraced her in his arms. Morgan placed her head on his chest and gave a heavy sigh.
“I can easily arrange your death,” said a harsh voice behind them.
Morgan and Xavier turned to see Mortimor standing in the doorway. He had drawn out his sword and was pointing it at Xavier’s heart.
Mortimor was going to stab Xavier, unaware, but stopped. He wanted to see pain and suffering in Xavier’s eyes when he killed him.
“How could you hurt your own sister? You are her brother. You should protect her!” Xavier asked, his voice trembling. “How could you marry her against her wish?”
“I can do anything I want. I don’t need a sermon,” Mortimor said with a sneer. “Who will she marry then? Do I let her marry filth like you?”
“Brother, please..”
“Silence! Not a word from you,” Mortimor hissed. “You could have saved him, Morgan. You could have married like I told you to, then I wouldn’t have to do this. Now watch him die in front of you.”
“No, please. Don’t hurt him!”
“Do whatever you want to me, Mortimor, but don’t hurt your sister,” Xavier said passionately. “Let her go. Don’t force her to marry someone she doesn’t want to.”
“How noble of you to offer me a choice after you brainwashed her,” Mortimor sneered. “But I won’t kill you here, Xavier. No. I will kill you where everyone can see.. so no one would dare defy me again.”
Mortimor pointed the sword at Xavier and made a gesture for him to get out of the room. Morgan cried and clung on to her brother’s arm, but he shoved her aside.
“Stop!” Xavier said. He reached for the hilt of his sword.
“Drop that now or I will slice her throat,” Mortimor threatened. Xavier quickly dropped his sword and put his hands in the air.
Mortimor poked the sword at his back, pushing him forward.
“Now go where I tell you to.”
———
Xander’s heart was pounding, and he was short of breath. He ran all the way to Morgan’s room, but saw that it was empty. He noticed his brother’s sword on the floor and blood drops near the door.
Where is my brother? Xander panicked.
He heard shouts coming from outside. Xander ran out the room to the nearest window. He saw Xavier hanging off the parapet by his fingertips and Morgan crying out his name. Mortimor was standing over him.
“Xavier!”
“Shut up, you miserable girl!” Mortimor said with contempt.
“Please brother, don’t kill him!”
“Why wouldn’t I kill this bastard? Give me one good reason.”
“I love him!” Morgan cried, tears streaming down her face. “I can’t live without him!”
Xavier struggled to get back on the tower, but Mortimor crushed his fingers underneath his feet.
“You could have married a king... you could have been queen, but you chose him,” Mortimor hissed at his sister. He looked at Xavier with contempt, who was barely holding on.
“You are a pest that needs to be squashed!” Mortimor cried. “I will end this once and for all.”
Mortimor reached for the loose stone near him and wrenched it out. He held the stone over his head.
“Who will save you now, stable boy?”
Xavier struggled to get back up the tower. Mortimor smiled.
“Where is your precious prince?” he asked. “Where is Devon? He is another useless pest who keeps getting in my way! I could have killed the king, but it was his stupid arrow that stopped me.”
Xavier looked shocked. “What do you mean?”
“I was the one who shot the poisoned arrow,” Mortimor said, smiling. “But Devon’s arrow stopped me from striking the king’s heart. To think, all this time he thought he injured the king when it was his arrow that saved the old bastard.”
“It was you? You framed Devon?”
“I did it for his brother,” Mortimor said. “No, I lie... I did it for me. One less heir to the throne. One less obstacle in my way to becoming king.”
“How could you be king?”
“I had command over a king for years. Malorna’s spell already made David my puppet. I have been ruling from the shadows,” Mortimor said, maliciously. “Slowly, and one by one, I made David change the laws. So now, once he is dead, it will be his advisor who takes the throne. It is only a matter of time now. “
Morgan cried again for her brother to stop.
“Say goodbye to your lover,” Mortimor said with a wicked smile.
“No!”
Xander was looking desperately at his twin brother, who was at the edge of falling. He was on a floor below, too far away to reach the tower in time. Xander saw Mortimor reach for the loose stone.
He will kill Xavier for sure! he thought, desperately. I need to stop Mortimor.. but how?
Xavier was the marksman out of the two of them. His brother would have made the shot easily.
Xander didn’t have time to think now. He would have to make it for his brother's sake.
He readied his arrow and aimed it at Mortimor’s raised hand. It was the farthest shot Xander made in his life. Mortimor cried out in pain as the arrow grazed his arm, but luckily, he dropped the stone away from Xavier.
They watched in horror as Mortimor lost his balance. He stumbled and fell down the tower, screaming to his death. His body laid splayed on the solid ground. Morgan cried and looked away.
“Xavier!” Xander yelled, as his brother struggled to keep hold. “Hold on! I am coming!”
Morgan reached an arm to Xavier and pulled him, but his weight was too heavy for her.
Xander rushed to the tower and quickly came by her side. He reached out another arm to his brother, and together they pulled him up.
Xander hugged his brother and asked if he was alright. Xavier nodded in response. His eyes rested on Morgan’s tear-streaked face. She was looking at her brother’s body on the ground.
“I am sorry,” Xander said sadly. “I didn’t mean for him to fall.”
“He is dead. He nearly killed Xavier,” Morgan said, crying. “My brother is dead.”
Xavier rushed and pulled her in his embrace.
“I didn’t wish for his death, but he was trying to kill you,” Xander said.
“I know, brother,” Xavier replied. “Thank you for saving me.”
“We should leave this place, before anyone else sees us,” Xavier said to Morgan. She was still in shock, but slowly she nodded her head.
“We should go back to Cedric,” Xander said. “Maybe by now Aurora’s fairy godmothers would have healed the king.”
——-
“I call upon our ancestors to set forth the trial of kings,” Prince David said, his voice echoing loudly in the ancient arena. “Let the old kings of Lionshelm decide who is deemed worthy to rule our people.”
There was an eerie quietness in the arena as people waited for a response. Aurora sat with Anya and Castian, waiting for the trial to begin. The sun set quietly in the backdrop until David looked nothing but a shadow in the dim arena.
Everyone waited with bated breath. Aurora could feel her heart pounding in her chest. No one knew what the trial would demand, as there hadn’t been a trial for many generations. The stories and legends of the trial had been long lost to the people of Lionshelm. At first it was quiet, but then one by one, the unlit torches of the arena started burning, until the arena was glowing under their light.
There was a rumbling sound, and a stone throne rose from the ground below. Aurora saw that the back of the throne had the emblem of Lionshelm: two lions circling around a crown. There were letters floating above the throne that glowed in the dark and moved as if alive.
The audience gasped as words started forming with the letters. Aurora quickly read what they said:
Two princes; Two stakes to the crown.
One is true; One deceives.
Brothers will fight to prove their claim.
She looked worriedly at Devon, feeling anxious for what he must be going through. Anya and Castian both looked grim
Devon couldn’t believe his eyes or the words floating above the throne. He would have to fight his brother.
His mind was in chaos.
“No,” Devon said, numb with shock. “This can’t be the task.”
It was worse than he could have imagined. What the trial asked for was worse than his most terrible nightmares.
David laughed. “Younger brother, why do you look so shocked? You have your chance at the crown. All you have to do is get rid of me.”
“I never wanted the throne,” Devon pleaded.
“Why did you come back then?”
“I wanted father to be better.”
“You are lying.”
“No, I am not. I want you to believe me. I want my brother back,” Devon cried. “I want our family to be whole again.”
“You should have thought of that when you attacked father,” David said. “When you nearly killed him... now you can try to kill me in front of a crowd.”
“That wasn’t me! I would never hurt you or father!”
“Liar! How do I know you won’t stab me in my back one day?”
“I am your brother. I will never hurt you, David.”
“It is too late. You already have! Pick up your sword and fight.”
David didn’t wait as he struck the first blow, and Devon staggered back. His older brother struck once more, and their swords clashed again. Blow after blow, Devon blocked his brother’s attack with his shield, but never hit back. David got angrier and hit harder. Aurora gasped each time Devon dodged.
“Please, we don’t have to do this,” Devon pleaded.
“I waited. I waited for you to return,” David said, panting as he struck hard. “Mother waited too, but you never showed up. Not even to say goodbye to her.”
“I didn’t know. I didn’t know until it was too late.”
“Lies, again. It would have been better if she had only one son,” David yelled. “She had only one son, and that was me!”
Devon roared and hit David. He caught David off guard, and his sword went flying out of his hand.
“I loved mother! I didn’t know until it was too late,” Devon was pointing his sword at David’s chest.
“What are you going to do now, brother?”
Devon looked at the sword in his hand, and David kneeling on the ground. He dropped both his sword and his shield, and sank to the floor, horrified, his face covered by his hands.
“I could never hurt you, brother,” he said.
David picked up his younger brother’s sword, raised it over his head and said, “I will make sure you never do!”
“No!” Aurora screamed and closed her eyes. Both Anya and Castian were shouting at David to stop, but he couldn’t strike the sword. He screamed as the sword glowed bright red in his hand. David dropped it on the ground, clutching his arm in agony.
“Brother!”
Devon rushed to David’s side, but he pushed him away. He saw that his brother’s fingers were completely charred.
Aurora couldn't watch from the sidelines any longer.
"Where are you going, Aurora?" Anya asked her.
"I have to go to Devon!" Aurora said.
"We can't be in the arena. Devon needs to do this on his own," Castian said, but Aurora didn't listen.
“Devon!”
Aurora left her seat and ran towards the arena, towards Devon.
Devon looked surprised. “Aurora, what are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here.”
They heard gasps coming from the audience. Devon looked up and saw the letters had started shifting above the throne again.
The ancient kings have spoken,
The deceiver; marked and punished.
The one who is true; unblemished.
It was all the proof the people of Lionshelm needed. The trial of kings had given them a verdict: Prince David was guilty and Prince Devon was innocent. They started chanting the young prince's name and cheering. David looked at the crowd, devastated. He quietly got up and left the arena, heading back towards the castle, clutching his burned arm. No one followed him on his lone walk back.
“You have done well, my son,” a deep voice echoed in the arena.
Aurora didn’t recognize the voice, but Devon startled. He had tears in his eyes.
“Father!”
The king was smiling. Her fairy godmothers, Celestia and Luna, stood each at the king’s side, beaming. Cedric and Xander were there too, along with a pretty girl Aurora hadn't seen before, standing next to Xavier.
They have done it, Aurora thought with relief. They have cured Devon’s father.
“Long live, Prince Devon!” Castian and Anya shouted with joy.
“People of Lionshelm, meet your future king,” the king said with pride.
The crowd cheered at the announcement, but soon they were screaming. Aurora looked around, confused at what was happening. The skies darkened above with thick black clouds. It looked like a great storm was coming.
The people tried to flee the arena, but couldn't. Aurora saw something was rooting people to their spots. They were writhing in pain as dark, thorny vines twisted around their wrists and ankles. Their screams were getting louder as the thorns dug into their skins.
“Your trial isn’t over, Prince Devon,” said a sultry female voice. “You still have to deal with the wicked witch.”
She emerged from a cloud of smoke right in front of them.
It was Malorna.