How Journeys End Chapter Twenty-Four: Snapdragon

How Journeys End by Pineapple | Content Warnings

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Before Siana could step forward to fight, General Narsi was pulling her back and rushing forward himself.

Camellia slid into his way, catching his sword with her own. The blades clanged together, loud in the otherwise quiet room. When Camellia pushed Narsi away, he tried to maneuver around her. She matched him toe-to-toe, keeping him away from Lady Via.

Siana saw her opening and took it, running around the fighting soldiers towards Lady Via. Lady Via had a calculating look—no sweat, no worry as she turned to see the princess charging her.

General Narsi’s voice rang out. “Your Highness!”

Siana didn’t take her eyes off her target.

A familiar blade, inches in front of her like a barrier, stopped Siana in her tracks. She followed the tip of the blade to the hand that held it, to the face of her lover.

Camellia was staring at her, eyes wide, flickering with recognition. Her dominant arm was shaking, making the blade waver in the air in front of Siana. It felt like the whole world was stopped in the moment, like it was just the two of them in the princess’ quarters, like they were before Lady Via returned. “I…” Camellia started out, reaching up with her other hand to grab at her sword arm.

It was just a moment—just a split second—that Camellia had broken through the spell. And then it was gone.

General Narsi had hesitated when he saw Camellia’s reaction to Siana. As soon as Camellia moved to attack, he shouldered Siana out of harm’s way, sending her stumbling to the side.

“Wait!” she shouted, tripping and falling from the force of General Narsi’s push.

It was too late. General Narsi attacked—not to kill, but enough to knock Camellia’s sword out of her grip. Enough to send a spray of blood from her forearm. Enough to knock sense out of her and let the spell of rage and pain overtake her brain completely again.

Camellia spun to Narsi and grabbed the blade with her hands, wrestling to push him back as he fought not to hurt her too badly. The gem in his sword was starting to give off its own faint blue light.

Siana started to scramble—for balance, for Camellia, for anything that made sense.

She saw General Narsi plant his feet and take a deep breath. The gem exploded with color and a whirlwind erupted from the general’s sword. Camellia flew backwards, away from General Narsi—away from danger.

Siana covered her face, making herself small in the winds. She saw Camellia’s sword get caught in the tornado.

Across the room, there was a short look of panic on Lady Via’s face. She raised her hand quickly, bringing it down in front of her with a sparkle. A barrier appeared in front of her, splitting the whirlwind into two around her. It dissipated as it crashed into the wall behind her.

Lady Via then ran a few steps forward, sliding to catch Camellia and cradle her in her arms. She held out a hand again, and Camellia’s sword flew into Lady Via’s hand with a simple gesture.

The wind in the room died down, leaving it quiet as the dust settled. The tiles had been smashed in the path of the tornado, leaving the already messy throne room destroyed.

General Narsi made his way to Siana, leaning to the side to hold his hand out to her without taking his eyes off Camellia and Lady Via. When she took his hand, General Narsi hoisted the princess up like her weight was nothing.

“I’d thought she’d use Camellia until her body could do nothing else,” General Narsi said to Siana, “but it seems there’s some affection there.”

“I don’t like either of those options.”

Across the room, Camellia and Lady Via were standing, straightening themselves out.

“Camellia recognized you,” General Narsi noted.

Siana glanced at him.

“Are you thinking of trying a kiss of true love?” Lady Via taunted across the room. Her hands were on Camellia’s shoulders, trailing down her breastplate, landing on her waist. She smirked at Siana. “Why don’t you? See if your love can save your kingdom, Your Majesty.”

The title was sobering. Her father was dead and… apparently, she had a disowned brother, dying in the next room. She would be next in line for the crown. She was ill prepared, her country in shambles.

She didn’t want this—all she wanted was to hold Camellia in her arms again. She wanted to make small changes with gardens and farms. She wanted to wipe all the blood from her name that she’d accrued because of her status. She wanted to kill Lady Via for what she’d done to the woman she loved and use the body to fertilize the land of her people.

But between her and all of that was Camellia.

She took a step forward, raising her sword.

“Your Highness—” General Narsi started.

“I don’t need to prove my love for Camellia to you,” Siana said, her voice loud enough to nearly echo in the room. “Nor do I need to fight her to end this.”

Lady Via tilted her head.

“All I need to do is kill you,” she clarified. “And that is a small price to pay for my beloved to live a peaceful life, once and for all.”

Lady Via smiled. She scoffed out a laugh. “Is it so simple? You’d have to kill her to get to me.”

“Perhaps not.” Siana let the sword fall from her fingers, let it clatter onto the destroyed ground between them. She saw Camellia’s eyes track the movement with a concealed panic. “I’m closer to my people than I’ve ever been thanks to Camellia,” she said. “If dying aids Nastur more than living ever did, then let me be useful.”

“Your Highness!” General Narsi moved to stop her. He hesitated—caught between wanting to obey her wishes and wanting to save her. Exhaustion was clouding his judgement, and Siana slid easily from his reach.

Camellia raised her sword, reluctant, half-hearted. She was shaking her head, watching everything happen and helpless to stop it.

Siana ran straight into the sword, wrapping her arms around Camellia. “I love you,” she said.

“My Lady—”

Siana reached for the knife strapped to her thigh—Camellia had given it to her what felt like years ago.

Lady Via was just a few feet out of reach. She was too shocked to move, staring at Siana and Camellia, combined by the steel cutting through the princess’ stomach.

Siana spun the knife around in her hand, gaining momentum. A pillar of flame accrued along the blade, pulsing like it was alive, and then she stabbed it into Lady Via’s stomach. Lady Via quickly used her own magic to cut the flames, toppling forward and grasping her stomach. The tension in Camellia’s body left her all at once.

“My Lady—” she cried. Camellia wrapped her hands delicately around the princess, like she was afraid to touch her.

Siana pushed Camellia aside and ripped the blade from her stomach.

General Narsi ran to aid them, catching Camellia as her legs gave out. “Your Highness—” he began, grabbing ahold of Camellia’s sword.

When Lady Via started to push herself up, magic was radiating from her whole body, coming off her like steam. Her eyes were unfocused when she looked up. “You reckless bitch—” she began. Blood sputtered from her mouth.

The temperature started to drop in the room, the air becoming thinner. Lady Via was sucking the air from the room, determined to kill them all, if not just Siana. She moved her hand, sending debris from the tiles flying at the princess.

General Narsi barely caught the flooring with his arm when trying to block it with his sword failed. When he tried to swing at her, Lady Via pulsed with another wave of sharp-edged magic, sending everything flying away from her.

“You think you can do what your mother couldn’t?” Lady Via grit out. “The other kingdoms will destroy us.”

Siana blocked the magic with her own, unmoving from her space near the magician. “I can do anything if I have Camellia by my side.”

Lady Via laughed, her voice wheezy. She started to stand on shaky legs. She was drained from the night before, from the powerful spell she’d cast on Camellia and everything before and after that.

“Survive first,” she said.

Lady Via grabbed Siana by the face, her palm over the princess’ mouth. A gem-shaped prism folded upwards from beneath the magician out of nothing, meeting itself at the top, encasing the two women. It was purple, becoming more opaque as seconds ticked by.

“Princess!” Camellia shouted. She surged forward.

General Narsi caught her by the back of her armor, throwing her back as he tried to break through the spell. A final shockwave of magic knocked both swords from his hands.

Beneath the crystal prison it started to glow green. Grass started to grow and quickly turn yellow, and flowers started to bloom only to wilt and brown into hollow-looking skulls on stems. The crystal prison started to splinter and crack.

“We can’t stay here,” Narsi said. Camellia looked between the purple spell in the middle of the room and her general.

“I can’t leave her—” Camellia started, grabbing her sword. She pushed herself up, her legs wobbling, covered in a mix of her own blood and others.

“You’ll die if you stay here for sure,” Narsi said. He wasn’t sure what was wrong or right anymore or even who he could trust. He didn’t know how many men he’d lost tonight or what would happen in the morning. All he knew was that he could save one life in front of him. So, he picked up Camellia and forced her into the royal safe room.

The king was still lying dead. Yarrow was muddling herbs in a small dish while Viola tried to stunt the bleeding on Chrysan’s arm. The two of them barely cast a glance as General Narsi set Camellia down, forcing her into a seat.

“Sir?” Cera attempted. “Camellia? Where’s Her Highness?”

General Narsi just shook his head.

There was a loud shattering sound from the throne room, and Camellia couldn’t run fast enough.

General Narsi tore his eyes away from Chrysan. “Yarrow!” he shouted. “Follow—Her Royal Highness may need medical attention!”

Yarrow nodded, rising. He followed the general out of the room.

What greeted them was green. Grass and weeds covered the floor like a carpet. Vines climbed up the walls. Flowers were blooming, no longer wilting immediately, like they had been during the fight. There was purple residue on the walls, sharp and emanating a soft, pulsing glow.

It took a moment for General Narsi to come back to his senses. Life based magic was rare, usually restricted to people like royalty, sometimes the most studious magicians who spent their lives training to be able to do it. He’d never seen a spell like this cast to this extent. He’d never seen the princess so fierce, so sure of herself. To cast something like this—he was speechless. He was proud. But he knew he couldn’t hold his breath after what she’d been through.

“Sir,” Yarrow said softly, tugging on the general’s arm.

Narsi looked towards the center of the room, where he’d last seen the princess. In a puddle of the broken spell was a single skull. It looked like the ones from the snapdragon flowers that had died while the princess was fighting for her life.

Camellia was kneeling by the quickly melting purple shards, her knees cushioned by the greenery. There was no sign of Siana.