Chapter 96: From the Eyes of a Guardian
Once the conversation was over, Sabiri, Kurt, and Saramin moved out from the from and noticed Trevor approaching from the hallway dragging an angry-looking Nala by the elbow.
"So you found her..." the empress commented.
She stared at the girl's expression as she refused to aim her gaze at the woman in front of her.
"You seem upset. Did what my son said bother you that much?"
"Why do you care...?" Nala mumbled.
"Pardon?"
"Why do you care if we are upset or not?" Nala repeated while finally looking directly at the empress, "All we have to do is fulfill our duties, right? Why does it matter if we are sad, happy, or even dying? We are just tools to be used by you after all..."
Sabiri glanced at Kurt and Saramin but the two simply shrugged admitting they had no idea what she was on about.
"I can't read minds, child... If you have something to say, just go ahead and say it?"
Nala began to suddenly grit her teeth and pulled her arm away from Trevor's grip.
"Why the hell are we still even here!!??" she shouted while pointing her finger at the empress, "I know you are planning to dispose of us! We placed your stupid son in danger and nearly got him killed! Why haven't you executed us yet!!?"
Sabiri's face began to show immense confusion, "Execute...?? Just what kind of dragon do you think I am?"
"Don't play dumb with me!! You royal dragons are all the same!! You just play with others' lives as if they don't matter!! I know you are angry about what happened today and I know you plan on punishing us for it!! So just do it already!! I'm sick and tired of- Bleergh!!"
Nala suddenly found herself kissing the ground after receiving a karate chop in the head from Sabiri's hand.
The other kids simply watched unsure of what to do, except for Trevor who just hurried to help her out.
"Calm down, girl... If I wanted you dead, I would have done so a long time ago..." Sabiri commented.
"Ugh!!" Nala groaned while rubbing her head. Kurt tried to approach in order to apply healing flames but she simply slapped his palm away.
"And trust me... Considering your temper, there were plenty of times I wished to do so..." the empress added.
"Then I guess you just really like keeping us as pets then..."
Sabiri began to rub her forehead while releasing a long sigh, "You do know I saved your brother's life from that abomination of nature, right?"
"Yeah! All so you could make us your son's personal toys!! Otherwise, you would have freed us already!! How much longer must we remain following him around like this?"
Kurt began to look at the two of them and started to feel guilty about how this situation was taking place just because of him.
"Or what? You want us to thank you for not getting us killed? Killed from a ceremony that your husband organized? Should we thank you every day for letting us live then? Is that how it works? We should be grateful that you are letting us keep our own lives?" Nala continued to complain.
Sabiri simply listened to her frustration with a calm expression as if she knew this reaction would come sooner or later, "Yes... Yes, you should. If it wasn't for me, you would be Anomalia's victims right now."
"Maybe in the past! But the ceremony is already over!! Why can't you just free us already?? Why must I spend every day worrying myself to sleep wondering if tomorrow will be the last day I will see my brother? Or my parents? Why can't we just be free??"
"The ceremony...?" Sabiri repeated confused, "Child, I'm not talking about the ceremony, I'm talking about every single day."
Nala and Trevor both flinched unsure of what that meant.
Kurt also got curious, "Mother? What do you mean?"
The lady stared at her son and began to dread the things he would have to hear, "The boy was originally meant to be Anomalia's prey... And that girl... She absolutely hates losing her prey...
So even now, she waits patiently for the day these two no longer work for me, the day they no longer have my protection, to come and reclaim her prey."
"Wha- What does that mean...?" the young prince asked while starting to sweat.
"It means... If I free these two from their contract as your bodyguards... Anomalia will have no reason to hold herself back...
And she will hunt them down and turn them into minced meat... Probably along with the rest of your family, out of pure anger from how long you kept her waiting..."
Trevor began to tremble and dropped on his knees while picturing their encounter a few hours ago. Nala also began to look much paler.
"So... All this time... If you had freed us..." she mumbled.
"I'm afraid there is no such thing as freedom for you two anymore... You either place your fate in Kurt's hands... Or in her hands..."
Nala was speechless. Deep inside she always had a faint glimmer of hope that one day she would be able to escape from these shackles and live her own life with the rest of her family. But now she understood, her life truly ended long before it even began. She was to live as a bodyguard or she and her brother would not live at all.
"Why..." she cried while holding her face, "Why us? Why my brother? What did we ever do to deserve this??"
Kurt and Saramin tried to comfort Trevor and Nala, but neither had any idea what to say in this situation.
The prince simply stared at his mother, hoping that she would have an answer.
"Oh, dear..." the empress sighed again, "I know this is not the ideal life you wanted for yourself... But if it didn't happen to you, it would just happen to someone else... It's not a matter of being fair or unfair. We all have to deal with struggles in our own journeys, and this one just happened to be yours."
Nala started to sob all over herself, "So what? I'm just supposed to accept it!?"
"What you do with your problems is up to you. I'm not living your life. I can't decide what's best for you, only what's best for myself. And for me, I need to keep you safe, because you can keep the one I care about the most safe as well" she explained while glancing at Kurt.
"You- You will keep us safe?" the girl asked while gazing at the blond-haired lady as her tears continued to fall.
"You are not the only one who forces yourself to sleep despite being worried about those you love. I might be from royalty, and you might be a commoner... But I probably understand you better than anyone else.
We both are guardians. We both look at the ones who might be in danger and do our very best to make sure they stay far away from harm.
Your struggle is also mine, so trust me when I say that I am on your side, as long as you are also on mine!"
Sabiri extended her hand towards the girl and helped her stand up on her own two feet, for she still had a long journey ahead of her.
"And that's why you must be strong! Even if it hurts, and believe me, it's going to hurt a lot... You must always be strong no matter what!" she added.
"I..." Nala cried while staring at Trevor, who was still sobbing while looking at her, "I don't want to see my brother die!"
Sabiri simply smiled while helping her wipe her tears, "And I don't want to see my son die. So why don't we work together?"
Nala then cleaned up her face and tried to hold in her sorrow, "Wi- Will you really keep us safe?"
Sabiri nodded, "To the best of my abilities. I can't make promises that I can't keep, but I will do everything I can to keep those who I need safe and sound."
The short-haired lass finally glared at Kurt with determination, "Alright! I'll make sure nothing ever happens to your son!"
"And I'll make sure no one ever touches your brother. Seems like we finally can properly work together!"
Nala then helped Trevor stand up as well and hugged him as if the boy was the most precious thing in the world for her.
The boy began to smile with gratitude at Sabiri for finally allowing her sister to deal with her long-time grudge, "Thank you, your majesty."
"No need to thank me. Nothing is changed. Just make sure Kurt always returns home in one piece."
"Understood!"
"And as for you, Kurt..." the empress commented while staring at her boy, "I'm ready to hear your complaints about keeping the truth about Trevor and Nala from you. You have the right to be upset if you want to."
The prince simply gazed at the brother and sister hugging each other as they used one another to rid themselves of their fears.
"I'm not upset..." he replied, "I know why you did what you did. You were not the one who started the ceremony, nor did you ever have me take part in it. I only wish you would have introduced me to Trevor and Nala much sooner. I wish we could have been friends from the start instead of pretending they were just regular students."
"I considered that..." Sabiri admitted, "But I became worried that if Anomalia saw them getting close to you, she might want to mess with them even more. To the point where she might have done it even despite my protection."
"What...? Why? Who exactly is Anomalia? Why would she want to mess up someone close to me?"
"Because..." Sabiri paused while wondering how she was going to explain this, "As I said, she never lets go of her prey... And at one moment in time, she decided you also belonged to her."
"What!!?? What do you mean?? Just who is she??"
"She is a guest... Just like you and me..." Saramin finally spoke, causing all of them to focus on her, "She is a human who turned into a dragon."
"Not only that..." Sabiri added, "There is something about that child that makes her unlike any other dragon I've ever seen. Her lust for blood rivals that of any creature I've seen before, much like her own power."
"Christ..." Kurt chocked, "And someone like that has her eyes on me??"
"Sadly, yes..." Sabiri admitted, "Which is why we must make sure she is always as far away from you three as possible... Or..."
"Or...?"
"Or make sure that when she finally comes... You will be ready!"
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