Chapter 16

The King is throwing a dinner party for us Talent Hall contestants. For the past three days, every female in the mansion have been obsessing over what dress should go with what pair of heels, what color, makeup, jewels, and whatever else. I’ve tried to ignore it, but it’s hard when Kamron, Angelia, and Emily Daniels won’t shut up about it. Speaking of shutting up, it’s been a week since the execution of Winston or Knife Man happened, the night of the trial, and the world is talking about it. Whether it was justified or not. People all have their own opinions and the majority of the country believe it was justified, that the king and queen had to do what’s best for the innocent and precious lives that are in their hands.

I can do without the talk about the execution. I already feel guilty. I know I shouldn’t. He attacked me first. I had to protect the kids in the mansion and the city, but I’m starting to question if I really did the right thing. I’m sure The Elimination are angry. There’s no doubt about it. Winston has made it perfectly clears that they see me as a threat. As someone who’s causing kids to rebel. I haven’t received any more threats from them, but I know they aren’t happy with me. But in my defense, I didn’t realize I was doing that. I’m just going about my business, and then poof. Kids are starting riots and fighting police officers. Yep. That’s my doing, isn’t it?

Not getting any more threats worries me though. I don’t have an idea of what other tactics that could try to use. What would they do now that their messenger is dead? Would they send an assassin with actual orders to kill me? Well, I suppose as long as they don’t touch anyone else, I’ll be okay.

Evie claps her hands and shouts for us all to sit somewhere, whether it’s on the couch, couch arm, or even the floor. I sit on the floor and cross my legs next to Emily. Two girls Taya and Marybeth both turn off the TV and sit in front of the table, waiting for Evie to speak.

“I need to clear something up because there’s a lot of confusion on this topic.You will not find out who wins the crown or trophies the night of the contest.”The living room nearly starts a riot, but mainly out of shock. “I don’t know where these rumors came from, but it isn’t true. You will all find out within forty-eight hours at His Majesty’s palace. He will throw another party and at the end, you will find out who received the trophies and the crown of Talent Hall Awards.”

“Why do we have to wait that long?” Emily asks.

“We’re required to give the judges forty eight hours to decide who wins along with certain members from the audience,” Evie explains. “Speaking of audience, have you guys seen your scores so far?”

No one answers. She sits down at her computer hooked up to the TV screen, does some typing and clicking. I turn around and cross my arms while Evie loads them on the flat screen. Emily shakes me and tells me I’m facing the wrong way. Like I don’t know that.

“Can’t bear to see mine,” I mumble.

The class murmurs about their scores and then go quiet. That’s the only reason I turn around. Everyone is facing me. Even Evie. Sighing, I glimpse at the screen and see my name is bold red. I’m in first place out out of hip hop and ballet. The note under says my score is so high because of my respect, kindness, and dancing abilities. If you’re kind and whatnot, your score increases, especially when you do charity work or play with the unfortunate. I guess word got out about me hanging out at the palace with Riley. I had intended to keep that secret, but I have a feeling Princess Sydney told some outsiders to help me.

I look down and play my fingers. Much to my surprise, everyone applauds and Emily pats me on my back. Wait, I’m beating of them… Shouldn’t these people hate me or something?

“You’re doing great for your first year,” Marybeth says. “How does it feel?”

“It’s different,” I sigh.

“You’ll get used to crazy the longer you stay in touch with Talent Hall,” she laughs. “Word got out about you hitting the guy in your room, and that you just might have saved a nation from even more chaos.”

“I hardly hit him.”

“Totally. You just beat his brains out with a bible you found in your room, but you barely touched him,” she says with a giggle.

“Wouldn’t I have gone to prison or something? That’s assault.”

“Not if you have the respect of the king. He decides what happens. He decided he would be hanged and he decided to reward you for helping his adoptive daughter,” Evie says.

After dinner, Liam asks Evie if we can have a bonfire in the backyard. Just the eleven of us to hang out and get to know each other before he desperately try to beat each other by dancing our hearts out in front of the world. She gives us her approval, but asks that Zayden helps with the fire and dangerous stuff because he’s a country boy.

Before he moved here fromGeorgia, he handled bonfires, dangerous work,and managed beer for the adults at cookouts- It was his life, but his parents wanted something better for him then managing beer all the time. They decided it wasn’t fit for their son and moved him and their daughter up north a few states to Iowa and enrolled him at Talent Hall. He’s taking a dance class, and that’s how he got here.

The majority of us here in the contest are from New Jersey, New York, California and Florida. The other percentage of us contestants are from down south, like Zayden, Samantha and Austin. Samantha and Austin are best friends and come from Texas. There’s only one Talent Hall school in Texas, so you best believe it’s packed. Talent Hall in Texas actually has a rule stating a child can’t be held back because of overpopulation in their school and almost no money to go elsewhere.

I’m fortunate enough to come from a family that has a little bit of money and sometimes I need to keep myself in check and realize that not everyone has what I have, mainly when I’m yelling at my phone and feel like throwing it out the window because of Kindle app not loading fast enough.

Zayden handles setting up the fire and stuff while the rest of us fetch chairs, cold drinks, ice, and marshmallows for s’mores. Emily finds a radio. I place everything on a white, round table and ice the drinks in a red cooler on the ground next to the table, but a few feet away from the radio on the other side. Evie thanks Zayden for his help and moves so the chairs can be put around the fire. Ten chairs.

When Zayden notices and asks about the eleventh, Evie insists she has work to do inside, but she’ll come out periodically to check on us and make sure we’re playing nice and not beating each other up. Then she walks inside and closes the back door halfway. The fire is starting to catch. The ladies get marshmallows first and squeal about how they are on fire and darkening. Zayden shakes his head, turns to us guys on the other side, and says he thinks we should share some facts about each other.

“Good idea,” Liam says. “I’ll go first. My name is Liam, I was born in Detroit, moved to Los Angeles when I was eleven, have two sisters who torment me daily, and my favorite color is green.”

We go around in a circle like that for a few minutes until they reach me. So far, we’ve heard from Madison, Kendall, Taya, Jared and Marybeth. Now it’s my turn. It feels as if my brain has gone completely blank.

“My name is Danny, I was born in Montana, moved to Washington when I was six, and then moved here a few months ago. I’ve been dancing professionally as a little boy for a few years before I quit, and grew up to depend on coffee to get me through the day.”

“How old were you when you started dancing?” Kendall asks, her green eyes full of curiosity.

“I was five. I danced until I was ten, but some stuff happened and I couldn’t focus on it,” I answer honestly. It’s not totally lying. I mean, being raped, my depression and eating disorder had a huge impact on me, and sometimes it still does. I have days where I just don’t want to get out of bed.

“Was it because of your dad?”

“What are you talking about?’

She giggles. “Let’s get one thing straight. It’s not a huge secret that your dad involved with The Elimination.”

“Really?”

“Well, if you weren’t his son, then you wouldn’t be in any more danger than the kids rioting, right? That man never would have showed up, threatened you, mentioned your dad, like you told the press in court and told you about your neck, which is really creepy, but he’s not totally wrong.” I look around and then back at her. “No, not your neck. I’m not a creep I swear!” she panics. “I mean about you making a difference. I know it’s true. He knows it’s true, and Winston knew it was true. And they can’t stand it.”

Crap.I did tell the press that he mentioned my father and that I need to back down or get hurt. Or killed. The press were all in my face. I was panicky and wanted them to leave, so I answered three questions, one of them was about what he mentioned: My father and The Elimination. That’s it. There’s no lying my way out of this now. And they definitely see me as a threat. Kurt Winston said so the day before his death. Obviously my father knows where I am. He knew exactly where to send Winston to “deliver a message”.

I straighten up.

“Then yes,” I say, going back to the original question before a reminder of what happened a week ago. “He was the reason I stopped. I’m not going to go into detail, but he made me see hell when I six. He was arrested. That’s when I moved to Seattle, and then he broke out. Haven’t seen him since.” I reach for a marshmallow, poke a skewer and roast it over the flaming fire.

“I find it admirable you’re not following in his footsteps. We need more people like you in our world. Lately, everyone’s been thinking about how things could possibly improve if they just gave in to The Elimination’s demands,” the brown eyed Austin says.

“It would just make it easier for The Elimination to carry out their evil plans.”

For the next hour, we all talk about everything and nothing: From why the sun is yellow to our favorites movies, books, and goals we wish to achieve in lives. I’m an hour into a conversation that could lead to another weird conversation, and I realize how funny, silly, and quirky these contestants are.

My phone vibrates with a text. I look down at the phone on my thigh, slide my finger across to unlock it, and pick it up, supporting the bottom of the phone with my pinkie. Caleb sent me a text asking about how I’m doing after last week and I.

I’m fine, Caleb. Just hanging out at a bonfire.

That’s different.

How so?

I imagined you locking yourself in your room and Lisa would have to drag you out to get some sun.

I guess I see his point. If Lisa or my friends would allow it and if I had a coffee machine in my room, I’d probably spend the rest of my life in my bedroom. When I was with Caleb and Mom, it was a rare occasion that I ever left my room aside from school and morning coffee. Otherwise, every minute of the day was spent behind a closed door.

Right… To be honest, I have been spending more time out of my room.

I guess I feel like I don’t need to isolate myself as much anymore.

That’s amazing! It means Blake and Lisa must be doing something your mother and I weren’t doing.

I’m glad you’re having a blast, Danny. You deserve it. Have fun.

Eat a s’more for me. Love ya, kid!

Love you! And thanks for all of your support.

I’ll always support you, Danny.

First thing in the morning is breakfast and coffee, and Evie’s strict about it, so there’s no sneaking about it. Then we all retreat to our bedrooms, shower, get dressed, and meet each other back in the kitchen. We have an hour of schooling. Evie teaches us whatever her heart desires for an hour. Then she has us practice for at least thirty minutes and she’ll talk to us for five more. That leaves the rest of the day to do whatever until the king’s dinner party tonight at the palace. Knowing the girls I live with and love dearly, they’ll be busy debating and screaming over shoes, dresses, makeup, and whatnot. That includes Emily, Angelia, and Marybeth. She’s so particular about how her clothes match.

I sit in the middle and make eye contact with Evie as she flips open her books and smiles as she places some papers on the table and tells us to take one.

“Alright, guys. Today, we’re going to go over the history of Talent Hall. Every Talent Hall school demands you know the historical roots of Talent. First off, let’s go around and see what you guys know about Talent Hall.”

Everyone goes silent. It’s not often we cover the history of Talent Hall. The only reason I know anything about it is because I did research on it’s history and roots before I was enrolled. And Emily knows that too because she points at me and grins. One day in the hallway, she was passing Kamron and I, waving as she passed, and I was talking to Kamron about some things I found out about Talent Hall. I guess it excited me for a moment. Now that I look back at it, it was really nothing, but I still want to see the hospital it was originally founded as.

I clear my throat. “It was founded by London in 1978 as a hospital that taught children other talents, and occasionally, they hosted talent shows. In 1999, it became a school for the talented instead of a hospital, but the Awards Month wasn’t initiated until late 2002, the year the authorities decided they wanted to allow other children to be able to use their talents and show them off to the world. The first every year of Talent Hall Awards was 2004. It’s been up and running for ninety-one years,” I explain.

“That’s… correct,” she eyes me, but elaborates more on the information I just gave and goes on about how hard they had to work to make this a reality, and says sometimes, as humans, we tend to take things like this for granted.

We have an assignment to work on. An essay about the history of Talent Hall, using her books or the internet. She says we have an hour a half to work on it before she collects what we have and we’re not allowed to work together, so everyone is to go to their room, and that she’ll know if we try to work together anyways.

I decide to work outside in the backyard while listening to music. That forces everyone else to work on the front steps or inside. Evie comes outside periodically to check on me and make sure I know what to do and she goes back inside to check on the other kids.

Two hours before the party starts, the female contestants are already running around the house with gowns and makeup brands screaming and yelling, and Liam and Zayden are hiding behind the bar table in the living room. Liam’s talking about the girls being possessed whereas Zayden is looking up tactics guaranteed to keep us from being killed by teenage girls. So far, all he’s gotten was throw chocolate and take cover, which they’re already doing.

Marybeth screams before Austin flips himself over the couch and lands on Liam, shivering about how he almost died. Emily runs down the stairs in her street clothes, her hair curled, and makeup done. The guys stiffen, but remain silent in hopes that she’ll leave and go elsewhere. Instead, she whistles to get my attention.

“Hey, have you seen Liam? Marybeth’s looking for him?”

“Is she wanting to kill him?”

She laughs. “I take it the girls were acting psychotic.” I nod my head slowly. “Well, she wants him to see how she looks. She’s the type to feed off of what guys think of her, which I think is bull because she’s beautiful and doesn’t need a guys attention to feel amazing about herself, but she doesn’t see it. Anyways, she really wants to see Liam so he can tell. Obviously me telling her isn’t doing anything.”

“Um, when I last saw Liam, he was running around and hiding because he thought she was chasing her. Said girls who shout at clothes and run in heels are to be feared. If I happen to see him, I’ll deliver the message.”

“Thank you,” she says as she skips out of the room.

Once she’s gone out of sight, I clear my throat. It grabs Liam’s attention, and he heads up the stairs with a hardcover textbook as a shield in case she goes crazy again. Zayden comes out of hiding as well and just plops on the couch next to me and plays on his phone, mumbling about how he doesn’t want to go to the party.

“Did you enter to prove your dad wrong?” he whispers.

I shake my head. “I entered to get my aunt off my back. I wasn’t thinking of my dad when I made the decision, but I’m glad I did.” I sigh. “I know I’m not like him. That doesn’t even bother me. What bothers me is that he thinks what he’s doing is okay, and it isn’t. It’s straight up wrong. He can put it any way he likes.”

“At least you didn’t enter to prove a point. We had a kid do that last year and he crumbled under the pressure and his true colors came out. He couldn’t handle trying to act angelic and perfect all the time. He wasn’t Elimination, but he wasn’t much better either.”

“I can’t fake anything to save my life,” I scoff.

“That’s what makes you so down to earth. You’re sweet, awesome, not fake. You’re just you, and that’s the best thing you can ever be. People notice that and they love it. Don’t ever let anyone tell you different.”

“They don’t like different. At least they didn’t at my old school.”

He chuckles and embraces me. My heart skips a beat. I’m not scared exactly, but it’s weird. Not like that though. I’m not used to be hugged by people I just met. Blake still hesitates to hug me and I’ve known him for three and a half months.

“Danny, poor, untrusting Danny. People do love different. They are just scared to admit it. I can’t tell you how many times people tease me about being different and then come to me later and tell me they adore that I’m not afraid to be different. The thing is I am afraid, but I don’t let them know that because they use that to an advantage.” It’s kind of sad that I can totally relate to that. “Never show fear.

Riley’s eyes gleam with hope and happiness as she screams and attacks me, causing us both to fall on the ground. “Danny!”I wrap my arms around her and pick her up, forcing myself to stand. Her outburst causes everyone else to gasp and bow to the young princess, realizing she’s the king’s young adopted daughter and all. “Guess what? I gained another pound. Queen Alice said I’ve been eating well.”

The others stand and walk to different parts of the ballroom, not taking their eyes off of us. I kiss her forehead and put her back on her feet, high fiving her. “That’s awesome. I’m really proud of you. How did you do it so fast?”

“Sydney said I could help by getting better. Takes stress off of King Henry. Is that true?”

“I’m sure it is. I know they want the very best for you. And so do I,” I say and start to look around the ballroom.

Many couples are dancing, including King Henry and Queen. Their eyes show love and compassion. Like they are still as in love as they were when they first married twenty four years ago. Exactly two years before their oldest was born.

Princess Sydney stands next to me and nudges me, all dressed up. Her dress is more like a Gothic Victorian dress than a traditional royalty dress. I always thought princesses always wore pink or blue. Light colors. It shocks me to see PrincessSydney wearing a black dress, just because it’s rare. Rare is different and different is good.

“When might I meet your prince, Your Highness?”

She laughs and slaps her thigh, but tries to maintain her composure. “You’re hilarious. No wonder little girls adore you. Riley, isn’t he funny?”

Rileyshakes her head, mumbling her sister is a dork. The servants standing close to us and the doors stare at us, but respect that she is the princess, daughter of the man and woman who can torment them and their future ruler, and turn away, minding their own business. Not that King Henry ever would make their lives terrible, but it’s always better to be cautious.

“She’s very independent,” Riley says.

“I noticed.”

The King and Queen approach us, Queen Alice hugs me, kisses my cheek before she picks up Riley bridal style and plants motherly kisses on her forehead and cheeks. King Henry pats my shoulder.

“How are you enjoying the party, my boy?”

“I’m having a great time admiring your love for Her Majesty.”

“I’m havingmore fun just loving her myself.” Queen Alice blushes and puts Riley on her feet. “How are you really holding up, Danny? After the incident in your bedroom?”

“I’m better. Like I said, I just wanted everyone else to be safe, and i really owe it to Jared Bucksley for pressing the button. I didn’t and still don’t care what happens to me.”

Queen Alice’s cheeks go back to their original pale white color. “I’m sure he realized his life was at risk and didn’t mind,” Queen Alice says. “Have you eaten? I had this food prepared especially for you and your fellow contestants. We also have pasta.” I glance at the table filled with more food than I’ve ever seen in my life. It looks beautiful, but at the same time, diabetic. “I wasn’t sure what pasta you’d prefer, but I made two of them vegetarian to fit your eating habits or needs.”

“You didn’t have to do that, Your Majesty.”

“I did it for everyone else. We were told favorite foods or every contestant and prepared two dishes per contestant. Plus a dessert table for all. Who doesn’t love chocolate?” she replies and tosses a turtle in her mouth.

“Everyone should,” Riley says as she reaches for a Kit Kat bar and moans. I try not to snicker as I observe the pasta and vegetables. A servant girl hands me a plate and asks the king and queen if she can give them anything. I start to load my plate up with vegetables and fruit, and thank her.

“As your queen, I command you to have something to eat yourself. This is not up for debate.”

She bows. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Princess Sydney holds her plate and makes it for her before she pushes her towards a table to sit before she has to go back to work. I look at Queen Alice. “She’s our best servant. She handles the food and guests and I don’t thank her as much as I should. I’ll admit that, but she’s so busy that she barely has time to eat and she’s already underweight as well, so we try to make her eat as much as possible.”

“Busy?” I ask.

“That’s what I said,” King Henry says. “Well, Riley, you need to eat some actual food. Not just chocolate.”

She nods. “Yes, father.” He kisses her forehead and makes her plate. The other servants try to help, but he tells them he can handle it. They respect his decision and tend to the otherguests.

I get through half of my food and stop eating. That’s when Kayiah pops out from under the table, nearly sending me into cardiac arrest. I place a hand over my chest and breath heavily, praying my heart willslow down. She sits next to me and picks at the food I didn’t eat and then apologizes. I take another deep breath and advise her to eat the rest so it doesn’t go to waste, like the queen will really care about six veggies and two bites of pasta going to waste when she has three tables of food and a chocolate fountain. Kayiah doesn’t finish it, but she does ask me to dance, and I accept, taking her hand as we approach the dance floor. Her black dress brings out her brown eyes, her grace and kindness, and goes great with her skin tone.

If Kayiah’s here, maybe Angelia is here. We haven’t done a lot talking since we first got here, but that’s only because of our insanely busy schedules.

Kayiah holds some of her dress on the left and puts her gentle hand inside mine, allowing me to lead the dance. My feet move along with the soft music. I catch Princess Sydney’s eyes and a thumbs up from King Henry. Queen Alice nudges him and giggles. Kayiah looks down and smiles as he circle around the ballroom. Not like we’re trying to bring attention to ourselves, but we’re not dancing in one spot of the room either.

While roaming around the room, we do bump into Marybeth and Liam. They both send me smirks and ask if I’m with Kayiah. When I roll my eyes, they pretty get the hint. Not that I’m opposed, but we’re just not together. Not to mention if we were to be together, they would do everything in their power to embarrass me. I’m not ready for that yet.

“Follow me,” Kayiah whispers as she pulls her body away from mine.

After following her for a few minutes without questioning why she wants to stop dancing, the two of us reach a beautiful garden outside a stone door with a steel table, chairs, and a small stream. I cover my mouth at the large flowers that are still growing. Most of them are taller than Kayiah and I combined. Kayiah could stand on my head, using her tippy toes and the flowers would still be taller, and they aren’t done growing.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

“It is. It reminds me of the neighbor I had in Montana before I moved to Seattle. She would always have tall flowers, beautiful plants, and stone statues. It’s amazing.”

“What was her name?”

“Paloma. She was one of the only people in the neighborhood beside my mom who played with me when mom couldn’t. When both of my parents were working, she was actually the one who babysat me and made me feel special. She was my best friend. Obviously, she didn’t have a lot of competition because almost everyone else hated me. The kids harassed me daily. Once they egged me when I was leaving school. My mom was at work at the time. She saw me, gave me a bath, took me to the candy store and let me get three chocolate bars and bug juice. She understood me. No one really did.”

“I imagined you were picked on a lot. Just because of how distant you were with everyone at first, but you’re doing better and I’m proud of you. Really, it isn’t an easy thing to do and I’m really sorry you had to go through that.” I shrug. “Do you still feel like no one understands you?”

“Sometimes I do feel that way and it’s not really a bad thing. It’s pretty much impossible-”Kayiah pulls me closer and kisses me. Electricity fills my body. My eyes close and my lips go in sync with hers until she pulls herself away with an ashamed look on her face. “To have a perfect life,” I finish.

“I-I’m sorry. That was unc-”

I press my lips against hers this time, showing her I’m not offended or appalled that she kissed me. It works because when I’m done kissing her, she hugs me tightly. I wrap an arm around her and kiss her forehead, a smile spreading across my face and blush filling my cheeks. The birds chirp as they fly across the orange sky. A cool breeze blows through the garden. The sound of a branch breaking forces Kayiah and I to search the area for anyone else by the entrance.

“Over here,” says a voice all too familiar.

With a pounding heart, I turn to the location of the voice by the bush of black roses next to the lake. There stands… Him. His eyes as green and evil as ever. I push Kayiah behind me and draw out my knife. He laughs.

“Well, someone’s feisty today. Did you have your coffee, son?” How did he know I drink coffee…?

“That’s none of your business,” I sneer. “Why are you here? Wasn’t your assassin coming after me enough?”

“You took him out, meaning you didn’t get the message. Tragic. I really liked him. One of my best assistants for over fifteen years. He saw you when you were a baby. That might be why it was easy. He may have been distracted by what I told him about you.”

“You mean my throat?”

“Precisely.” He smiles wider, showing his yellow teeth. “Who is this young lady?”

I pull out my dagger and point it towards him. “Stay back. I’ll use this.”

He laughs and slaps his thigh. I stare at him, anger raging through my blood, and my grip on my dagger tightens.

Eventually, he attempts to compose himself and starts to approach Kayiah and I. I push Kayiah back and repeat my threat of stabbing him. He laughs once again, but not nearly as hard as he did before.

“Danny, I think we both know you’re not capable of harming anyone.”

“I’m not the same kid you hurt and left nine years ago! I’ve grown, matured and got over what you think I’m mad about.”

“Is that so?” he asks. “Because I heard you still cry about it.”

Ignoring the fact that he’s right, I glare. “Letting that woman rape me was not the worst part. The worst out of all of that is that you left me with nothing else but shame. You let someone take something I value from me and made me and left me to believe it was all my fault!” I yell and then take a deep breath, changing my tone of voice from angry to that of an innocent child. “Of course, Killing you would be far too easy, Jack. You fail to realize I’m not the boy who played with birds and cries when someone bullies me. That Daniel is gone and you’ll never see him again.”

“Jack?” he asks. “I’m not your father anymore.”

“You never were,” I whisper. “It might have taken me awhile to realize it, but that is the truth.”

“Well, I just hope you know that Blake isn’t your father either and he never will be. You only get one father, Daniel, no matter how much you try to sugarcoat things.”

“In case you haven’t notice, I’m not sugar or frosting nor is my life a piece of cake. I don’t sugarcoat things. I tell it like it is. He might as well be! Blake has been more of a father to me in three months than you’ve been to me in fifteen years!”

Kayiah softly gasps, but stays behind me. He continues to walk closer. “I think my dear sister has given you a little too much pride in those three months. I’m sure your mother would be so proud. Sucks she can’t see it now.”

I approach him with the dagger. “You need to learn your place. You no longer have a place in my life or heart. So if i were you, I’d leave before you get stabbed, and trust me when I say it wouldn’t be quick or merciful.”

“Well, last time I offer you a birthday gift.” Kayiah stares at me, but I try to ignore her and the fact she didn’t know. I don’t like making a huge deal about my birthday, but I probably should have told her or told Angelia to, but it’s evident, she didn’t.

“I don’t want anything from you.”

“Oh, but you want this very much, child.My gift to you is a choice.You can stay here and spend every minute of your life worrying or fearing for your lives and those you love or they can be safe and you can come with me to my best friend’s kingdom.”

I scoff. “You have so much hatred in your heart that you’re willing to kidnap me, force me to a savage kingdom or kill off my family, your own sister?”

“I’m not forcing you to do anything. I’ll allow you to make your own choice. I just hope it’s the right one.”

When I don’t respond, he clears his throat. “Think about it. You want them to be safe, I’m sure.” He takes something, a small rounded figured from his pocket and raises his hand, but thenhesitates. “I advise you choose wisely.” Then he throws something to the ground and when it’s cleared, he’s gone.