The whip cracks into my back for the fifth time, my teeth sinking into my lip, drawing blood. I hear a scream not my own, but Wyatt’s. He was crying at my pain. Then I realized that this was his witchy, old, mothers plan the whole time. Use me to get to him, I’m the only thing he cares about now, I’m her new weapon. I had never been so close to giving up, and yet still managed to keep on fighting.

“Stop! Stop now!” Wy shouts, his voice the strongest I’ve ever heard it. “I’ll do it! I’ll do whatever you want, just please. Stop.” No, no, no.

“What are you doing Wy? It doesn’t even matter just stop! Y’know I can handle it, I have before I can do it again!”

“Marlee, I can’t. I won’t let you go through that again.” He cries.

“Wyatt, I need you too leave, ok?”

“No, I can’t leave you. I can’t leave you with her!”

“We both know very well I could kill everyone in this room the second I got the chance.”

“Marlee-”

“Wyatt all I would really need is a Distraction I promise I can do it. So honestly I don’t need you! I only ever needed was to use you to get to your mother. Y’know the queen is worth quiet some money where I’m taking her.” I grin.

“No- Mother give me it!” He whips to his mother. “If she’s gonna die I want to be the one to put this pitiful little witch out of her misery!”

“How do I know to trust you? Less than a minute ago you were protecting her!” She spits.

“I’ll prove it!” He snatches the whip out of her hand and stalks towards me, for a split second I thought he was serious, then he mouthed that he was sorry, and swung the whip towards me. I close my eyes , it was just an act. But it hurt more than any crack Elizabeth swung. Almost as soon as it touched my skin he dropped it at my feet and lunged towards his mother. I drop the knots I had untied a few minutes ago, grab the whip, force myself to stand, and crack it towards the man behind me’s neck, the impacted killing him on touch, then his colleague beside me.

“You got your mother dearest?”

“Of course!” He swings his knocked out mother over his shoulder, and throws her down into my old cell. What a match we are. “I love you!”

“Right back at you!” I wrap up the whip and attach it to my belt, then stand on my tip toes and kiss him.

“Quick question, 1 outa ten, how bad an idea do you think It’d be if we got married?”

“Thirty, let’s do it!” I smile. A real smile, the first I’ve had in ages.