Chapter 40

~Calea~

"Please, Sire! He's just a boy!" The Man Calea knew as the woodworker clings to his boy, he had grown a bit more since the last time Calea saw him, but that made this all the more sorrowful. Browen just entered and lost his mind when he noticed the boy's multiple wooden sculptures of who she believed to be Nye. 

She sees Browen grab a torch from the corner of her eye, her heart jolting into her throat, "No!" She snatches the torch out of his hand, "No!" She screams as guards hold her back, "He's just a boy Browen!" Calea's body shakes; she turns to Javall, who stares at him with a blanched face, "Do something, Javall!" She commanded. But he just stood there. He looks to ground his fists clenched, "I can't…"

Calea hears the father fight with the guards, "No! You can't do this, you monster! He's my son! He won't do it again! Please!"

"Dad!" The tawny-haired boy reaches for his father, "I'm sorry!" 

"No! Thomas!" The guards drag the boy as he fights to get away; Calea struggles in their grip, "Can't you see he's gone mad!" Calea screams at the guards. "Let him go!" Calea had never felt so sick in her life. All she could do was watch the boy be tied to a pole for something so minor. He created something that made him happy. Thomas fights against the guards who pour oil on him.

His father's cries make her fall to her knees. "No," Browen looks at her with a crazed look in his eyes, "Please, stop," she pleads. Browen's nose twitches, "Let this be a lesson to anyone who thinks Dragons of any form will live in my Kingdom!" He shouts, and the kingdom curls away in fear of this man. But her heart was filled with sorrow and rage; she wasn't strong enough to stop this. Browen looks at her as if she is the last thing he needs to break. He lets the torch fall, burning the boy in flames. 

His father screams from the depths of his soul, and Calea's tears fall, and she pukes as she hears the boy's agonizing shrieks of being burned alive. Calea's body shook so badly she would have thought she would have a seizure. And when everyone left, she remained curled on the ground, numb; the boy had passed, but still, the smell remained. His father was taken to a cell. She didn't want to get up anymore. This dreaded hell was not home as Calea lay on the ground, thinking it would be better not to try. Something caught her attention beside the woodworker's door, and she crawled onto the floor. Her heart aches even more as she realizes it's Nye's wooden toy. Calea's shaking hand grabs it. She holds it close to her chest, hating it was all the boy left behind when his life was taken far too soon for something so mundane. Something tickled her fingers, a tag, and it read: I didn't forget your horns! -Thomas

Calea stands up with a heavy body and tired soul.

 "Calea." She freezes, knowing that voice far too well; as she turns, she sees his white hair as he walks up the main road, "Ryuu…" Wait, No. He can't be here! Calea marches up to him, "I swear to Kadea I will drag you back to–Mm!" Ryuu seals Calea's lips. She wanted to fight him off, but she was so tired. And she parted from him; she thought of losing him too if he stayed, "Please leave," she begged, but Ryuu took what was in her hand, lifted it, and smiled, "Nye." He looks at her with delight, "Did you make it?"

Calea's bottom lip trembles, and she starts to sob, and drops to her knees, "No, it was the boy, that darling boy! They killed him for making Nye a wooden toy. I can't do this anymore." Calea pours her heart out. She sees Ryuu sidestep her; she follows him with her eyes, heading to prye of the boy. Ryuu gazes down at it for a moment, "This man, he kills the innocent humans?" 

"Yes. He took the throne from your mother. Your throne." As Calea says this, she sees some people peek out of their windows, and she realizes she can do something; it might get her killed, but others do the simplest things, and she does nothing. Calea clenches her fists, and she stands. "If you can hear me, listen! You have all been lied to! Browen stole the throne from Kamari! He hired someone to kill her! They tried to kill your hope of a Dragonborn, but he lives," Calea hears doors and windows open, even footsteps of people coming out of their homes. Calea gazes at Ryuu, who looks back at her; he seems taller than last time, more muscular, and not a teenager anymore. It fascinated her, but she hoped her method would work, "He stands in front of you; this is your future; it is not gone."

A crowd starts to form around them, but Ryuu doesn't seem phased; if anything, he takes an interest in them. The people begin to reach out to him. A little girl snatches his attention, and he kneels before her; she touches his hair, and as she looks down at Nye's toy, she notices Ryuu's demeanor shift. He stands and looks back to Thomas's pyre. "Browen," he says through his teeth. Then, he marches forward, making people move out of his way; he walks fast-paced out of the Kingdom gates.

"Wait, don't leave us!" A woman shouts, followed by like-minded replies and pleas, "He'll come back," Calea tries to calm them, feeling she did the right thing, even if it might cost her her life. She prayed it would work. Calea didn't understand this imprint between them, but she knew it couldn't happen. Ryuu belonged with his kind; she'd have to find a way to break it. And even though she understands this, she blushes at the thought of his kiss. Ryuu did it as if it was second nature as if she was already his. He had said it before, but Calea didn't take him seriously. No, it was best she didn't get mixed in with all of this; all she wanted was for Kamari to take her throne back so Ryuu could stay and rule when he came of age, but now that he saw him, she wondered how that would work. Ryuu was a man, at least in human form. She didn't know how Dragon's aged; it was all too confusing. 

"Calea!" She turns to Javall, who strides towards her, his face twisted in anger; he grabs her wrist, "What do you think you're doing?! Who the hell was that?" Calea winces, but she locks eyes with him, "The rightful heir to the throne." Javall's brows pinch in, and he searches Calea's eyes.

"I told you I'd protect too," she shakes his head, "Why are you still fighting this? Browen is King now–" 

"Fuck him!" Calea screams and snatches her hand away, "You did nothing while the boy died, and he didn't have to. You could have released me of the wretched blood-bind, but you're too selfish to let me go! Browen has brought nothing but misery to this kingdom and its people, and you want me to sit and obey. Screw you." 

Javall's face contorts in hurt and anger. He swallows hard, then says, "I think a day or two in the dungeon will serve you well."

Calea chuckles in disbelief, "You would lock me away?"

 Javall's jaw clenches, "I have no choice. You refuse to do as I say, so maybe you need to be somewhere you don't want to be to appreciate what you have now." The foul word that came out of Javall's mouth sickened her. She shakes her head, giving him a once over, "I'll do the pleasure of locking myself away to be rid of you." She says through her teeth and marches towards the castle. Tears well in her eyes as she hears the people behind her cause a fuss at Javall's request.

They were good people; they didn't deserve this.