My Turn

I scrambled off Alton and stood over him, my heart beat rapidly increasing its rate. Alton did not get up from where he lay on the ground, but instead closed his eyes and stayed as still as a statue. Meredith did not move from her spot either, not sure exactly what to do.

Without thinking I started to walk toward Nanami. I don't know when Alton and Meredith started to follow me, but they were a ways behind. I did not slow my pace for them, only took one step at a time as I inched closer to home. I didn't really know what I should be doing, how I should be feeling. What was I supposed to say to that? It was making me confused trying to think about it.

I had hope before and I was not going to lose that hope. What did Llyr know anyway? How was he supposed to know what was going to happen? He couldn't tell the future…I didn't think he could. And you know what? If he could, so what! I don't care what he says! I am going to do this and survive. I will show him…I will show him!

I didn't realize that I was already at the castle steps, but I wasn't moving anymore. Standing on the bottom step, my hands were shaking. From anger or fright, I didn't know.

Meredith was standing next to me, her hand a centimeter away from my clenched fist as if she wanted to grab it. Alton was standing behind me, out of my line of vision.

Pushing through my cloudy mind, I sprinted up the stairs and went through the main doors. Pelagius, Asherah, and Kendall were seated in the throne room in front of me. Kendall face went from shock to pure hatred as I bolted through the room, Meredith and Alton trailing behind.

When I met Pelagius' gaze as I passed him, I knew that coming through this way was a stupid move. What was I thinking coming in this way?

"Maya?" Asherah and Pelagius said sternly at the same time.

My sprint turned into a jog, then a walk, then a complete stop just before I went through the door. Meredith ran into me, and Alton wasn't even running as he walked swiftly through the room towards us.

I did not turn to face them, but stayed with my face three inches in front of the door, my hand twitching over the doorknob.

"What are you doing Maya?" Asherah asked, annoyance filling the room.

I swallowed hard, my throat beginning to swell.

"Maya?" Meredith hissed.

"Maya?" Kendall asked. Her voice was not the concerned tone Pelagius used, or the annoyance that had come from Asherah, but a sort or gloating tone. "Why are you in here Maya?"

My head turned in slow motion against my will to look at Kendall. Her crown was propped on the top of her head, slightly gleaming in the morning sun. Her dress was even more exquisite even though I hated to think so. The light blue color was usually reserved for me, but she was wearing it now, and I noticed her crown wasn't really her crown. It was mine.

No words came to me, but I was sure my face said it all. Meredith took a few steps away from me, backing up into the door and turning the knob so she could walk through. Alton walked passed me, his chest brushing against my arm as he tried to squeeze through the small space I had made for him to go through.

"I thought you were in your room." Asherah said, her brow furrowed.

Pelagius waved his hand in the air to dismiss it. "It does not matter. Maya, we wanted to talk to you."

Kendall sat up a little bit straighter, making her back curve in a nice arch underneath her dress.

"Haven't you already?" I asked.

"We have more." Asherah said before Pelagius could say something about the tone I was using with them. She cleared her throat in a warning way.

I turned my head to the side, Alton now in my view. He was watching me, that same apathetic mask on his face from before. “What is it?”

Pelagius held his hand up for calm. “Now, now, no need to hurl yourself at each other once we’re done here, alright? But we did want to talk about the throne…and the way this kingdom is headed.”

I nodded one stiff nod, letting him continue as I bit down on my tongue.

My father continued, letting his gave leave my face as he spoke to me. “We think that you aren’t…very good with the other nations. Don’t go and yell at me now because you know its true. You get to emotional and let your emotions get ahead of you. Kendall on the other hand is very poised and is very willing to work with the other Royals when need be.”

I was biting down on my tongue so hard my eyes were watering, blood filling my mouth with a metallic taste.

Kendal sneered at me, seeing my watery tears and misinterpreting them. I did not correct her for Pelagius continued with his lecture.

“Your sister Kendall knows what is at stack right now for our nation and she had volunteered to go and speak with all of the Royals and try to persuade them that we are here to make peace, not to make a war.”

He paused to look at me, and noticed my tears. Asherah had her eyes closed, her head bowed in defeat.

“Oh Maya, look—“ he began, but I cut him off.

I’ll show him going to each individual territory and meeting with the Royals. I would show him that I would be able to do more with my pan than with what he is planning to do with Kendall. No matter how much I hated her, I would not let her know anything. No one could know. They had to think I was kidnapped by escaped prisoners.

Between my teeth I managed to say, “I’m glad that you have done what you think is best.”

Everyone noticeably moved away from me an inch, taken a back.

I turned on my heel and stormed out the room, passing right by Alton and Meredith. Alton, who had been holding the door open, let it slam shut and followed after me. Meredith was already next to me, her arm looped through mine.

I led them through the various hallways, silently fuming. The blood from my tongue was still flowing in my mouth, making me want to gag. I kept my suffering to myself, however, knowing that Meredith and Alton were suffering in their own way.

Back in my bedroom, I let both of them in and closed the door behind me. I stayed by the door, letting my forehead rest on the door, my eyes closing to block out all of the mental pictures that were forming. A kingdom on fire, masses of people screaming for their lives.

That is what the kingdom is going to look like if Kendall becomes Queen. Everyone would eventually…fade away.
A small tug of my sleeve had me wheeling before I even knew who it was. It had been Meredith, but she wasn’t looking at me. Her face was turned to the chair by the table on the other side of my room. There sat Conway, her knees pulled up to his chest.

“I want in.” he said, a grin reaching his ears.

“Get out.” Meredith said, stamping her foot on the ground.

“I want in.” he said again.

Meredith grabbed Conway by the collar, lifted him from the chair, her face turning red from the weight, and dragged him toward me and the door.

Gears began turning in my mind, thinking my plan through again. I grabbed Meredith’s hand, stopping her before she threw Conway out of my room. “Wait…”

She seemed puzzled, but let his shirt dropped from her grasp.

Conway beamed at me, all of his teeth showing. “I’m in?”

“That dungeon you were talking about…” I began, a smile of my own appearing on my lips.

Jumping up and down, Conway screamed, “I’m in!”

The sky didn’t get dark fast enough for me as I paced with Meredith. We were the only ones that seemed a little nervous about this. Conway was practically bouncing in his seat. Alton was silent. I hadn’t heard a word from him since he had excused himself to use the bathroom four hours ago.

As we paced in my room for the next guard to walk by, my heart raced and slowed as I went over the possibilities, then calmed myself down, only to think of them once again. Maybe my plan was filled with flaws and I would get caught, but at least I had tried everything I could possibly think of.

Conway was standing by the door, peeking through the small crack in the wood. His hand rose in the air for a signal, and he rushed out. A small clank was heard from inside my bedroom then it was silent.

Conway rushed back in with something small and dull silver in his hand. “Got it!” he whispered.

This is it. I told myself. I grabbed my bag I had packed earlier, and placed it on my back, following Alton out of the door, and having Meredith follow me.

Conway led us all down a maze of hallways until we came to a steal door. He opened it easily, waving us inside. The doorway was pitch black, and I couldn’t see a thing.

Alton now in the lead, started into the blackness, his echoing footfalls growing fainter.

“They’re just stairs.” Conway said, pushing me through.

I swayed on the edge of the first step catching my balance on the edge of the door. This is it…

The farther down I went, the colder it got. Conway shut the door behind us when he was inside, so there was no light to guide us. I started to count the stairs so there would be something to do. I had to keep busy or I was going to turn back around and escape from this stupid plan to save everyone’s life.

A light began to appear a head of me, a very faint light. Since the sitars were spiral and steep, I couldn’t see where the light was coming from. Alton didn’t make a sound in front of me. It was so quiet that I was beginning to get creeped out by it. When a cold and shaking hand reached out and grabbed my arm, a small scream escaped my mouth.

Alton’s face was suddenly very close to mine, his mouth parted in awe. The light source was now known, I could see a door just in front of us, metal bars in the middle instead of a glass window. Conway squeezed past Alton and I to open the door for us.

Before he did, I saw why Alton was shocked. I screamed, but his hand shot up and covered my mouth. Conway ignored my scream, letting himself into the dungeons.

Then everything erupted.

If I could describe the place I was in with one word, it wouldn’t be loud, or disgusting, not even scary. Depressing is the word I would choose. The jails were nothing more than large cages for what looked like animals, but people were inside. Most of the people were looking at us with sad hungry eyes, their screams for food or blankets was deafening.

I covered my nose from the stench of it. It was almost like a rotting corpse smell. Burnt flesh, human waste, more than likely animal waste, rotting food, and just plain dirty smells were all mixed together, burning the inside of my nose.

All together, five cages filled the room, but we only needed one, the fire nation. Those were the people we are mostly butting heads with, so those were the people I was going to set free.

Two of the cages were empty, and I could guess that one was for water prisoners. The other I wasn’t quite sure of. That one looked as though it had been untouched and never been used.

We all walked down the wide aisle between the cages, going to the very back corner. I was surprised that there were no guards in the room to make sure the prisoners stayed in line. They seemed rowdy enough to be permitted at least one.

Conway swung the key he held on his finger, smiling at Meredith and I, both covering our noses. Alton looked disgusted with the place, but stayed quiet.

“None of them can manipulate their elements in here. These bars here,” he patted the nearest cage making a ring pulse through the room. The screams had quieted and I noticed that they all were smiling at Conway who was holding their way out in the palm of his hand.

“they are made of a specific metal, mixed in with a chemical that connects to our sixth sense. Our sixth sense is the one that leads us through our control over the elements. Once the chemical connects to you, you lose your connection to it.”

I uncovered my mouth to speak. “And you know this how?”

He shrugged. “Conway has his ways.”

“Stop talking in third person.” Meredith said, her eyes rolling.

Conway went to the cage closest to him, and leaned close, the key stretched the opposite way. “Here’s the deal.” He told the five people that were all inside. “I’m going to unlock this cage, and we are going to lead you all out of here. Once we have done that, one of you needs to do us a favor, Then you are all free to go.”

All but one of the prisoners went right up to the door, eager to be gone from this place. To my surprise all of these fire benders were nicely dressed, very clean, and didn’t seem to be starving. These must have been the people that had been raiding the village last night.

Had it only been twenty four hours?

Alton turned to me, nodded, and headed out another door on the opposite wall from where we had come, going back up some stairs to get to ground level. His job was to go out that way and get Windsor for me. When he reached the door at the top of the stairs, he would be outside.

The fire nation warrior that had not gone straight to the door to get let free was a girl, no older than me. Her hair was the same color as mine, and just as long. The difference between us was she looked hard, edgy in a way. It might have been the hard line her lips were pressed into, or the death stare she was giving me, but it was definitely frightening. When she stood up, she stood with authority and grace even though she looked about five and a half feet tall, wearing her warrior’s uniform with pride. Small glasses were in her hand, but she didn’t slide them onto her nose.

She went right up to the other five men by the gate, and spoke inaudibly to them. At once, they all stepped away from the gate, even though it was open and waiting for them.

“What is it you wish for us to do for you in return of our freedom…Princess Maya?” the girl asked me, her voice hard and hateful. I wouldn’t have been totally intimidated if I didn’t know that you were only aloud in the fire warriors unit when you were a minor, unless you were better than the rest. And this girl a was definitely a minor.

I swallowed hard, trying to get enough courage to speak. “A fire,”

“A fire?” she repeated, one of her eyebrows rising mockingly.

“A distraction. We need you to set a fire on the tree line in the south. We’ll be near the northeast so it should be far enough away for us to do what needs be.”

None of them moved to escape just yet. The girl must have been in command of them all. “Why do you need a distraction?”

Her attitude was getting on my nerves. “Do I need to tell you that?”

“If you want me to help you out? Hell yes.” Her anger was rising faster than I thought was possible. I knew that she couldn’t control the elements in here, but just the thought of that short angry girl throwing fire balls at my face was terrifying.

“Fine.” I said with a huff. “I’m leaving the Water Nation and head toward the Earth Territory so I can fix my mistakes. With you catching a fire in the woods away from me, the guards will head toward it, and not toward me.”

The girl did not stop to even think about her next question. “So we will get caught after we help you out, get punished for escaping, and executed for endangering others?”

I shook my head, stepping closer to the cage. “Not if your smart about it. I’m sure you know how to set fires from farther away. You could get away and across the border before they could even set a finger on you.”

The blond girl stepped forward to, her hair tied up on the back of her head swinging violently as she moved swiftly. Her light weight, but durable armor made no noise when she inched toward me. “Where you want us to be will plant us right in the middle of the air and water territories. How are we suppose to get away when we are in the middle of two territories that are not our own?”

I was in the cage now, my face so close to the other girls that I could feel her breathing. Neither one of us was going to back down. “Not if you go into the Charricat beach which is right on the edge of the water territory.”

“Where is Charricat beach? I’ve never heard of that so that wouldn’t be a good idea. On the other hand, why don’t you just let them kill us now since that is what you are obviously planning.”

I grunted in response, getting fed up with this girl. “If you did your geography you would know that Charricat beach isn’t on any water, but is where our territory meets with all of the others. The very center of the no mans land. When you cross that border, no one can touch you…by law.”

She glowered at me for a moment, then her expression softened by a fraction of an inch. Maybe she did want to do this after all.

A warrior from the group behind her stepped forward, his hands shaking as he held them in front of him. “Shani Ma’ am—“

“Shut up!” she yelled finally releasing me from her gaze to glower at the young man behind her. “Let me think this through!”

She looked back at me, and her lips twitched as if she wanted to smile, but her lips wouldn’t let her. “How big of a fire?”

“As big as you can get it.” I said, meaning every word.

She nodded.

Meredith pulled on my arm from behind, rushing me up the stairs Alton had gone through minutes before. “He should be at the edge of the woods with Windsor by now. And he attached a large sack of food for your trip. Please just take care of yourself.

The stairway lite up with a n orange glow, fire suddenly blinding me from everything else. I had an impulse to scream for help, but Shani’s sudden appearance next to me stifled it. In her palm she held a medium size ball of fire, lighting up the whole staircase.

“Let’s go!” she yelled to the other warriors.

I looked back to see that Conway was on the bottom of the steps. “When you get back, I want every detail!” Then he was off up the other stairs, and back into the royal life where I may never be entering again.

Meredith tugged me along, helping me up the stairs.

I could feel the warriors’ eyes on my back as I sprinted up the stairs, but I ignored them and continued up the hundreds of stairs. Shani’s fire suddenly went out, and she didn’t explain why.

In truth, she didn’t have to. Everyone slowed their pace, and turned their running feet into silent jogging. Then Meredith’s back was in my face, or my face was in her back, which one it didn’t matter, because we were suddenly at the top of the stairs, a large door the only thing in our way to get outside.

Meredith opened it with out hesitation, dragging me through. The others followed, but didn’t run like I thought they would have. Meredith kissed my cheek twice, her face slick with tears. “Stay safe.”

Then she was gone too, racing away from us and disappeared around a corner of the castle.

Shani came close to me, her words soft at my ear. “We will do this for you princess. Just this one time though. If I see you again…I may not be as nice as I was today.”

Nice? She was being nice? “Maybe I was the one being nice”

Fire started behind me, and I turned around, ready to grab water out of the air if I had too.

Shani did not attack me though; she only turned around and headed in the direction that I had told her to go. I watched her and her fellow warriors run faster than I have seen anyone run, toward the cover of the trees.

I ran the opposite way then, trying to find Alton. He was the one that found me, grabbing my arm and pulling along with him as he ran through the same coverage the warriors had been looking for.

He spoke to me then, surprising me. “Windsor is just inside the trees by the bridge near the cliff. I’m sure Meredith told you everything you need to know.”

My hands were shaking. This was it, this was it. It was time to leave. I was actually going through with the plan I had come up with in five minutes. “Alton…” I wanted to cry on his shoulder, have him tell he that everything was going to be okay.

“I’ll be here when you get back.” He said firmly, almost like it was a demand.

I nodded, then gave him a hug, burying my face in the crook of his neck. He hugged me back, almost cracking my ribs with the force. He was the first to let go, and had to pry my fingers from his neck.

“You have to go now. The guards already know that you have gone, and they are looking now. It won’t be long before they realize prisoners have escaped as well.”

Before I could respond, a huge light came from behind me. I looked and almost wanted to laugh. Shani had almost over done the huge fire. It could have been forty feet tall if someone could get close enough to measure it. It towered over the trees, threatening to devour everything in its path.

I gave Alton a peck on the cheek right before he left too, running back toward the castle. I watched him go, covered by the shadow of the old trees behind me. Miletus were running and riding horses through the yard now, all yelling and screaming at each other to find the prisoners that have escaped.

They all past me in a blur, leaving behind the faint smell of horses and liquor.

I heard it right before I felt its power. It came from behind me, but I turned just in time to catch it before it barreled right into me. My hands gripped the powerful water ball that had been thrown at my head, now pulsing through my fingers.

I looked at the ball for a moment, trying to understand.

Llyr stood just a few yards in the forest, his hand clasped in front of him as if he was relaxed. His head leaned toward me in a nod, then he stalked away from me, not missing a step in his perfect stride as he disappeared into the darkness of the forest.