lyliana had once told benjamin that she would be the safest princess in all the ten with him at her side and gods knew, she may have been the safest without him too. (though she doubts it.) she certainly had been the most guarded even if she often shed her guards in favor of adventure (at least most of them, save for ben) at least up until this night. but danger had been something the princess had rarely encountered herself aside from a few close calls which perhaps were somewhat of her own fault. oh she was not stupid, she understood the world they lived in was not without strife. she knew of wars and conflicts, she knew of her uncle eagon's plots. she had not been spared the story of how her parents came together as her father made a different choice than what he had been sent for, for lyliana had to be made to understand the dangers which lurked in the world. their family (eagon's side aside) was strong and faithful to each other but houses continued to play games of powers across the ten and the eight. her uncle eagon had sent her adoptive cousin to wed her under a guise of peace with the full intention of her death following an heir and it had only been due to prince ming's reckless and inebriated nature his plot had been uncovered and her saved from it from his threatening encounter with her. lyliana knew of war and conflicts too. she'd been educated in it.
educated her entire life to one day be a ruler.
yet another facet of such had been to learn compassion and love and protectiveness toward her people too. her uncle of the eight sought to rule over people and yet never be of them, but lyliana's parents had always encouraged the opposite. they sought to help others, had even brought many of the city's people into the safety of the palace when a fire had broken out and ravaged an entire section of the city before mages had been able to stop it from spreading. it was that nature which she had always believed would make her a good ruler when the time came. but it was that nature which had doomed them now. her parents had faced an eastern threat and found lady myra and some of her people playing captive and sought to save her. they had welcomed them into their home, into the heart of the kingdom because they had kindness in their heart and now myra was repaying it in blood.
lyliana had never wished death on anyone before. even when the decision of exile back to the eight or death had been brought forth in relation to prince ming she had advocated for his life even knowing he had desired to plot her own death down the line and the vile things he'd called her for having taken part in the spring rite previously because a part of her understood he had been twisted by her uncle and she felt saddened by it. would she ever trust him again or even want to see his face? no. she was no fool. but she had had a large heart and held compassion in her soul. now, however, lyliana wants myra dead. she wants her to suffer. how many lives had already been taken and still will be taken this night? would her and ben both still meet the twins in death yet?
"myra." she'd answered with venom before they moved into the chaos and it was the thought of the woman which had propelled lyliana's strength as she'd attacked the lord who now lay upon the floor next to her dropped sword. it's the thought of the evil woman which makes her reach up to her face and harshly drive away her tears because they don't have time for her to lose herself again. they don't have time for whatever horror was building within her. myra has to pay for this but they had to survive to make it so.
ben takes her hand and she lets him lead her until they are faced with a wall and two directions to go forth. thankfully they hadn't encountered another group of threats (despite still hearing the chaos echoing in the building) which either meant something had already transpired in this corridor where her parent's chambers were or had yet to reach it. she tries not to allow herself to go there. she tries to have faith that her father, that gods above, her father could still be alive but it's hard. it's so hard and she squeezes ben's hand tightly and takes a grounding breath. however his words give her pause as she starts to pull him to the right and stops, whirling back to look at him with wide eyes as multiple realizations hit her at once.
firstly, her dragon. it had to have been apophis rocking the castle that second time, only stopping when he realized she was.. well, alive.
secondly, her own emotional state had seemed to block her communicating vocally from her dragon until now, the princess taking another breath and opening her mind back up.
<where are y--?> lyliana projects before she's cut off by a series of flashes of the city and apo's own emotional state. she gets the sense she's doing the same to him, her dragon already knowing of her intended escape route.
<i can be there if you can get to the end of those tunnels. she's using old magick princess. she's enthralling dragons. the skies will not be easy but it is the only way out. some of the wild clutch is with me. with you. they will help cover us. hurry lyliana. hurry.> her dragon speaks in her mind before lyliana's gaze refocuses on ben and she fully understands his previous meaning.
the third thing lyliana realizes is that ben intends for her to leave him and ride away on her dragon and if their lives weren't already on the line she'd kill him herself for such a suggestion, at least metaphorically. the princess hadn't stayed awake for over three days attending to a feverish ben after he'd nearly drowned, nearly getting sick herself to leave him to the mercy of the woman who had taken everything else away from her in the span of a few hours.
"i will not leave without you. i'll die first, ben. she can't have you too. i can't lose you. so take leave of any of such thoughts. apo will be at the end of the tunnels. we just have to get there. and he'll take both of us. both of us. do you hear me?" her tone is suddenly commanding like a ruler, as if she needs to hear him say the words, as if the fear of losing him to this horror had overridden anything else that she was reeling from. she's not shaking anymore, no, her hold on him is fierce and gaze determined and stubborn. "ben, promise me we are going to survive this together." this moment, this escape, the war that's sure to follow.
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