Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize
A/N: Thanks a lot to all of those who reviewed and to Ally Serenity for betaing this chapter
Chapter Eleven
It took several minutes for Lily and Bella to calm down. Then, they stormed out of their quarters to find Sir Albus and Sir Exer. They found them quickly. When they approached them, they saw their faces darken.
"I suppose you want to talk about Sir Cornelius's decision?" sighed Sir Albus. He knew it wouldn't be easy.
"Exactly Sirs." answered Lily, "The worst part is not the fact we have been dismissed of our function, no. I could have accepted it if we had been allowed to continue to fight. But you will not guess what he has charged us to do…"
The two men looked at each other…
"Work as messengers?" suggested Sir Exer.
"Worse." said Bella.
"Stay in the castle to guard it?" tried Sir Albus.
"Much worse."
As they looked helpless, Lily decided to tell them.
"We are charged of the important duty which cannot be done by anyone but us," her tone was highly sarcastic, "Needlework and embroidery!" She finished.
The men choked. It took them a few minutes to calm down.
"You mean that he has asked you to do needlework?"
"Yes! Apparently, it is the only thing we are able to do, I mean we are females!" said Bella, ironic and sarcastic too.
"That man is stupid," stated Sir Exer. "You are two of the best riders. I shall go and talk to him."
"I should think that it would be useless. That man is persuaded that we are worthless." Said Bella.
"Yes, and he is more stubborn than me. Come Bella, I need to learn by which end I have to take a needle." Replied Lily. "Good day Sirs; if you see Sir Cornelius, can you give him a piece of my mind and advise him to stay out of my way for a few days?"
With that she left them, and headed towards the place where her dragon slept. Bella followed her.
The day passed quickly. When the Lions heard of Cornelius's decision, they were astonished. They had learnt to respect the two silvers, and now treated them like equals. Even James and Sirius seemed to be on their side. Lily was puzzled by James's change of behavior. He had not said anything mean to her for quite a few days. She thought he would be delighted to see them leave the wings. Moreover he had been chosen to take care of training. But he had come to see them and had asked Lily to continue to train them. "Cornelius is an idiot, I will not do as good job as you," he had said. She had accepted.
Unfortunately, while coming back from the training field, they had a run in with Sir Cornelius. When he saw them, he asked them what they were doing there, and kept saying it was not a proper place for ladies. Then he started to announce to them that their equipment would be taken from them and gave to other riders, as they would not need it. He also said that he had asked house elves to take care of their wardrobes, as their clothes were not appropriate for ladies.
This was the thing that allowed him to go away unharmed. The two girls, fearing what might have happened to their clothes, hurried to their quarters to find that all their tunics, trousers, leather jackets, to sum it up, all their training clothes had disappeared and been replaced by dresses, slippers, skirts, and bodices. They stared at each other in horror.
"There is no way I am going to stop training and wear these things." Said Bella.
"Me too." said Lily. With a flick of her hand, she transformed all the clothes in her former ones. "It is much better this way"
"Lily, what are we going to do tomorrow?"
"I don't know Bella, I really do not know."
The next morning, Lily woke up and found another a letter on her bedside table. Sighing, she decided to open it before waking Bella.
Lady Lilyaris.
As you are no longer part of the wings, your dragon is now unemployed. That is why yours will work in the kitchen in order to help the cooks. The same goes for Lady Bella's.
Sir Cornelius
Lily nearly suffocate while reading it. Her dragon, Amaris used to provide fire for the kitchen!
Bella chose this moment to woke up.
"What happened?" asked she after seeing her friend's face.
Unable to speak, Lily handed her the letter. Bella took it and read it quickly. Her eyes widened and she read the letter again. She dropped it.
"Lily, there is no way I allow him to use Darais as a flame-thrower."
"I agree, let us go have a talk with our dear friend."
They quickly got up and headed to the headquarters. As they were about to enter, they heard people talking. They recognized Sir Exer, Sir Albus, and Sir Exer.
"Cornelius, this is stupid, there are two of our best fighters!" said Sir Exer. The girls could tell he was rather angry by the sound of his voice.
"Exer, you must be mistaken. I am sure they shall be burdens for the wings." Bella and Lily were able to think of his pompous and scornful face.
"How do you explain the fact that Lily won the tournament and went away from the Dark Lord if she is weak as you say?"
"She must have cheated or she is extremely lucky…"
"Nonsense Cornelius. Face the reality!"
"I AM realistic! These useless silver fighters have been assigned some duties corresponding to their situations and their abilities, even if, in Lilyaris's case, I have given her a Lady's duty whereas she is not noble. But I do not expect her to do well. How could a part-elf and part-peasant be as skilled as a real lady? I am wondering if she is worth it… I mean, her father was a horse breeder, maybe a good one, but there are countless breeders, and her mother was a commoner, not important people, their deaths were not a real loss for the kingdom."
There was a long silence.
Tears were sliding down Lily's cheeks, and her hands were shaking. She turned on her heels and ran away. Bella stood there not knowing what to do. She grew mad at Sir Cornelius for having said that. She stomped into the room.
Sir Albus and Sir Exer were sitting and seemed rather angry. Sir Cornelius was pacing in the room. Sir Exer was about to say something, when Bella erupted in the room.
The two men could tell she was rather angry, but they grew worried when they saw she was alone.
"Well, we thought that we could discuss our situation with you Sir Cornelius; but from what we have heard, it is useless, as your mind is quite set in the wrong direction."
"We?" Sir Cornelius asked, puzzled.
"Lily and I. May I add, she did not take your comments on her parents' death very well. Did you know that it is not very polite to say such things?"
The men paled. Sir Albus was extremely worried, he knew that Lily had not completely recovered from the disappearance of her father and her mother.
"Bella, do you know where she is now?"
"No, I think it will be better to leave her alone a bit." Realization hit her. "Oh no! I must go!"
With that she left them as fast as she could, scared of what Lily might have done. She hurried to their quarters. James and his friends saw her running and, worried, decided to follow her. As Bella arrived, she saw Lily who was about to fly away with Amaris.
"LILY STOP!"
Startled, Lily froze, but seeing it was Bella, she hurried, trying to escape. She wasn't able to get far away, when she was stunned. Desperate, she saw Amaris land and Bella, James, Sirius and Remus approach her.
Bella waved her wand.
"Enervate."
Lily stood up and glared at the boys and at Bella.
"Why did you stop me?"
"You are not going anywhere until you have calmed down." Replied Bella.
"What happened?" asked a puzzled James.
As Lily stayed mute, Bella started to explain everything…
"I cannot believe it! That man is so stupid!"
"James, what are you saying? He is not stupid, he is completely, and totally insane!" added Sirius.
"Where were you going, Lily?" asked Remus suddenly.
Lily muttered something that the others did not clearly hear.
"IwasgoingtotrytorescuetheKingoratleastexchangemyselfagainsthim."
"What?" asked James.
"I was going to try to rescue the King or at least exchange myself against him." She repeated.
They stared at her. Seeing that they were stunned by what she had just said, she took advantage of it and jumped on Amaris and flew away. Unfortunately for her, James and his friends were not helpless. Immediately, they called their dragons.
"Bella, Sirius, Remus, go get our equipment. I will get her. Meet us at the shack!" said James.
His friends nodded in agreement and ran to their quarters while James chased Lily.
Luckily for him, she was slowed by Amaris who did not agree with her rider, so he managed to caught up with her.
"Lily wait!"
She turned and saw him. She was not sure what to do. Ignore him or stop and convince him. Finally she decided that trying to convince him would be better, otherwise he would follow her all the way there.
"Where do you want to go?"
"Near the shack!"
"Alright!" With that she disappeared.
She reappeared near the shack, followed two seconds after by James. They landed and climbed off their dragons.
"Why are you following me?" said Lily a bit angry.
"To prevent you from doing something stupid!"
"You have no right!"
"It's suicide!" yelled James.
"So what? It's not like someone cares! Except for Bella and maybe Remus. Face the reality! You should be happy, you will get rid of the useless, worthless rider I am, the part-elf part-commoner. The one who dared to be as good as a noble; the freak!"
"Do not speak like that! You know that people care for you, Sir Albus, Sir Exer, Praïn, the Queen, Bella, and Remus. Even Sirius and I care!"
"Don't lie! You don't care! You would prefer to be with Sir Severus than with me!"
"That is not true! I care for you; I do not want you to be harmed or for you to die! Why do you not understand that?"
"Oh! Maybe because for months, since you have known of my parentage, you have kept laughing at me, despising me, my family, my abilities, and now suddenly you care? Honestly! Have you given me any reason to believe and trust you?"
James remained silent for a moment.
"I will not say you have to trust me. But just believe me, I care. You may not be noble, but you have shown more courage and strength than a lot of nobles I know. You are a wonderful person, Lilyaris."
Lily seemed a bit taken aback by this.
"No, you can't care, you just can't."
James smiled a bit, seeing the confused young woman in front of him. He approached her and grabbed her arm. She tried to escape from him, but the training she had imposed on the riders had given him strong muscles.
"I care Lilyaris," he said, looking at her, straight in her eyes.
She looked down.
"You do not," she whispered.
The prince let her go. At this moment, three dragons came and landed.
"Why are you here? "Lily asked to Bella, Sirius, Remus.
"Did you really think that we were going to let you go alone?" replied Remus.
"You cannot come, it is too dangerous!"
"If you go, we go!" said Sirius stubbornly.
"You cannot! You may be killed!"
"And? You could be killed too," said Bella.
"I am not important, you are noble!"
"One more reason to go help our king." stated Remus.
"But…" Lily was speechless.
"Lily, you cannot stop us; we are going to go with you, whether you like it or not." Cut James.
"Alright!" sighed helplessly Lily.
They mounted their dragons and rose into the air.
Go Maris, to Voldemort's camp!
Alright Lil.
They disappeared.
They reappeared a few meters far away from the Dark Lord's army.
"Here we are," said simply Lily. "If you want to go back, go; now is your last chance."
Nobody moved. Lily sighed.
"Alright, come."
They flew in, and landed in front of the headquarters. Immediately, Death Eaters surrendered them, pointing their wands at them.
"How sweet to come visiting me!" said someone.
Everybody turned and saw Voldemort standing in the door of his quarters.
"It is a pleasure to see you again my dear Lilyaris." He said sweetly to Lily.
She winced at this.
"I am not your dear Lilyaris."
"Quite a temper you have my dear. Quite a good escort you have, Lady Arabella, as beautiful as she is said to be; Sir Sirius, Sir Remus, the prince's confidants, and the Prince James himself! I am impressed."
"Could we focus on the deal?" said coldly Lily.
"Indeed, indeed, but enter!" he said.
They entered his quarters. As soon as they passed the doors, they saw the King tied up to a chair.
"So?"
"You know perfectly that your conditions were unacceptable," started Lily.
"True." cut Voldemort.
"But I do not think you are interested in the first two."
"True."
"So you will not be sorry to hear that Erkanswald's army will not stop the fight?"
"The kingdom is not my main target anymore."
"As for Sir Albus's books, you know perfectly he will not give them up."
"You are quite a witty person, you know that?" said The Dark Lord, laughing at her.
"So here is the deal. You release the King and let them go away, and I will stay here."
"I am not sure this is in my favor."
"You have the choice, you accept or you refuse. If you refuse, you will be obliged to kill the King, and you will not have something to exchange."
"I can also catch you, you know."
"I doubt it. Not if you want to have an army." Lily showed her wand, which was glowing red. "One word and the only thing that will remain in one piece will be this room."
"The Annhiliaro charm!" said Voldemort shocked. "How have you placed the vials?"
"Just learn that a dragon can do a lot of things."
"I believe you have the upper hand. But I could kill you right now."
"You can, but you will not." replied Lily.
During this, the others had stayed silent, amazed by Lily's behavior.
The Dark Lord seemed deep in thought.
"All right, I accept your proposition. Enter into this." He said, pointing to a large cage.
"Not before you release the King."
"But if I release him, how can I be sure you will not get away?"
"I promise."
"Coming from you, with your stupid sense of honor, that will be enough."
With a flick of his wand, the rope that tied the King up fell on the floor. Remus and Sirius rushed to his side. They lifted him up and started to head towards the door.
"I warn you Voldemort, if any of your little toys try to stop them…" Lily said in a threatening tone.
The Dark lord pointed his point to his throat and said "Sonorous"
"Let the King, the Prince, Lady Bella, and Sirs Sirius and Remus fly away. If one of you try to stop them, I will personally take care of you." Then he said "Quietus".
Remus and Sirius passed the doors and flew away. But Bella and James had not moved.
"James, Bella, go" said sternly Lily.
"We are not going to leave you here!" said James.
"I have promised to stay. I cannot break it."
"But…"
"No but, go, people need you." Lily looked at Bella and made a sign. Bella's eyes were full of sadness and sorrow, but also of understanding. She nodded slightly. Relieved. Lily turned to the prince.
"I am sorry." She said apologetically, raising her wand. "Stupefy". The prince fell on the ground.
"Take him Bella, and made sure he will not come back."
"Alright Lily." Bella hugged her friend tightly. "Be careful." She felt that her friend had dropped a piece of paper into her pocket.
They pulled away and lifting James, Bella went out, leaving Lily. She quickly mounted Darais and flew away. Bella noticed that Amaris had followed her.
Lily told me not to stay here. She heard her friend's dragon saying.
How can you speak to me? asked Bella shocked.
I can.
Oh Alright.
Look at the paper she gave you as soon as you can.
While they were flying away, Voldemort approached Lily and grabbed her chin.
"Now my dear, back to business."
"You know that I will not side with you even if the world depends on it."
"That, my dear, is a minor obstacle; I am sure you will be sensible. Crucio!"
Lily fell on the ground, her whole body twitching in pain. She didn't scream or cry however, for she did not want to give Voldemort the pleasure of seeing her cry.
Meanwhile, Bella had arrived at the castle. She pointed her wand to James and said, "Enervate". As soon as he stood up, he started to hurry to his dragon, but Bella caught him before he did.
"You are not going back there."
"But, I have to…"
"She said that I have to stop you, and I will. Your father is waiting for you." She replied.
The prince nodded glumly and started to walk towards the throne room where he knew he would find his father. Bella stayed a bit behind, reading Lily's note.
Bella
Read carefully, for this is very important. First, the Annihiliaro charm was a bluff. I could not place the vials in his camp, it was impossible, but I faked it. Second, I do not plan to stay with Voldemort more than necessary. I have planned an escape for me but it will be dangerous. I have succeeded in creating a portkey, which will bring someone to Lord's Voldemort quarters. It is the little ring with the paper. To activate it say only "Actmar". I think you, along with Sirs Albus and Exer will be able to make a plan to get me out of here.
I trust you. If you can't, well, do not try to save me. Just know that you have been the best friend I could have ever had and that I will never forget you. You will find all my books and inventions in my rooms. Use them wisely. Thank Sirs Albus, Exer, and Remus for all they have done for me. Tell all the riders that I really enjoyed flying with them and to James and Sirius that I forgive them what they said.
Love
Lilyaris
A tear fell on the paper. Bella folded the paper and took the ring. She hurried
to the throne room. Everybody was there. The Queen was crying in the arms of
her husband. Without a word, Bella handed the letter to Sir Albus, who read it
aloud.
After he was finished, Bella saw that almost everyone had tears in their eyes.
"We must save her." stated the King.
"Your Majesty," cut Sir Cornelius, "Why risk riders' lives for her?"
"Cornelius," said the King coolly, "She exchanged herself for me; the least I can do to repay her is try to save her."
"But…"
Sir Cornelius was quickly silenced by the King's look.
"The only problem, is how?" said Sir Albus.
