There was no point in Saxa pretending not to be there. Roman knew. He had called her out. She stepped out of the homemade wolf skin shoes in case she needed to be fast on her feet. She raised the crossbow and moved inside the throne room. Roman sat on his throne with Xavier on his knees in front of the throne, working as some sort of human shield. Roman had a firm grip on Xavier's neck.
"I hear you're looking for that," Roman said.
Roman pointed at the egg standing next to his throne. It sure was beautiful like Xavier had said.
"I am," Saxa said. "So if you'll hand it over, I'll be on my way and never bother you again."
Roman let out a loud laugh that hurt her ears the same way his yelling had. His voice carried a lot of weight, and that alone was enough to scare her shitless.
"How did you catch him?" Saxa pointed at Xavier.
"Don't you think I got eyes everywhere?" Roman asked.
"Did Kofi sell him out?" Saxa asked.
"No," Xavier whispered. "Kofi... Kofi is..."
"He's being taken care of somewhere else," Roman smirked.
Roman stood up and yanked Xavier up as well. Roman continued using Xavier as a human shield.
"Put down your weapon," Roman said.
"I'd rather not," Saxa said.
"You'll hit him before you hit me," Roman said.
"I got more than one arrow," Saxa said.
"Please!" Xavier pleaded. "I don't wanna die, Saxa. I just wanna go home."
"He's not letting any of us leave," Saxa said.
"That's true but I'll keep him alive and let him go back to his cottage," Roman said.
"And me?" Saxa asked.
"I'll keep you here," Roman smirked. "You will be my slave. You will be on your knees. You will be worshipping me. You will do whatever I say when I say it. You will cater to all my needs and fulfill all my fantasies."
"Yeah, I'm so not into BDSM," Saxa snorted. "Thanks, but no thanks."
"Then he dies!" Roman growled.
Roman wrapped a hand around Xavier's throat.
"Saxa!" Xavier screamed.
"Okay, okay!" Saxa said. "Don't hurt him."
Saxa placed the crossbow down on the ground and stood back up.
"Good girl," Roman said. "Now come here and take his place."
"At least let me say goodbye to him first," Saxa said. "That's all I'm asking. If I'm gonna spend the rest of my days in misery here with you, at least let me say goodbye to my old friend. Let me get a friendly hug one last time."
"That's fine with me. Come here," Roman said.
Saxa stepped closer. The crossbow remained on the floor and out of reach. Roman smirked and pushed Xavier towards her. Before Xavier could say anything, Saxa grabbed his arm, spun him around to face Roman again, pulled a hidden knife out of the fur, and placed it against Xavier's throat.
"Saxa?" Xavier asked nervously.
"This was a trap all along," Saxa said. "You messed up from the beginning. It was the little things you said, and the things you shouldn't know about. Like how the egg looked. How you arranged something with Kofi but never spoke to him. Whatever you arranged was arranged before I got here. Your fear of the dead wolves being brought to Roman's knowledge. I was not supposed to kill them, was I?"
"Seth and Dean are dead?" Roman yelled. "I'm gonna punish you so hard for that!"
Once again Roman's voice tore into Saxa's ears. She was afraid he might pop her eardrums.
"Do you ever shut up?" Saxa yelled back. "Xavier, Seth said it before he died. After all they've done for you. What have they done for you? What was my part in this game of yours?"
"Roman wants a human woman. I watched for one to give in the mirror. I waited many years for you," Xavier said.
"Why me?" Saxa asked.
"Because I know you," Xavier answered. "You would be more willing to help me."
"I like this one. I can't wait to play with her," Roman said.
"You ain't fucking touching me!" Saxa snarled. "Ever!"
"Feisty, I see," Roman smirked. "Do fight, little girl. I'll pull that fight out of you in no time. You'll learn your place soon enough."
Saxa bared her teeth and pressed the knife deeper into Xavier's throat. He felt his skin break and he started getting really scared.
"Please," Xavier whispered.
"What was in it for you?" Saxa asked.
"I'm gonna be a king. Roman's gonna give me my own land to rule over. I like it here. I don't wanna go back to my old world. I wanna be king. King Woods," Xavier said.
"That was before you killed my wolves," Roman said.
"She killed them!" Xavier wailed. "Punish her!"
"Oh, I will," Roman said.
Saxa was done arguing. She used all her strength to push Xavier into Roman. The two men tumbled back against the throne. She ran to the egg and grabbed it. A hand closed around her ankle and made her fall. She turned her head and saw Xavier hold on to her. She slammed the knife down into his arm and he let out a scream of pain.
"Once I go through the portal, I'll destroy this thing on the other side so the portal will never open again," Saxa said.
"Don't you fucking dare!" Xavier yelled. "Roman!"
"Move!" Roman barked.
Saxa gritted her teeth at the voice ripping into her ears. She jumped to her feet and saw Roman pick up Xavier and hurl him through the room. Xavier landed on the hard floor and whimpered in pain. Roman ignored Xavier and kept his eyes on Saxa.
"You're mine!" Roman growled. "Get down on your knees and fucking worship me, little girl!"
Saxa spun around and started running. She was yanked back by Roman who got a hold on the long fur. She dropped the egg and it rolled towards the door. She yanked her arms free and he stumbled backwards with the fur in his hands. She ran to the egg, picked it up again, and bolted out of the room. She stopped outside when she saw guards were moving towards her.
"Fuck!" She yelled.
"Saxa!" Roman's voice thundered again. "There's no escape for you, little girl!"
"Stop calling me that!" She screamed.
She turned around and ran in the opposite direction. Unfortunately this took her to the stairs leading upwards. She knew it was a bad idea to go up but she had no other choice. She sprinted up the stairs and through the castle while being chased by Roman and his guards. She ran to the last door and tore it open. There was a stone bridge outside leading from one side of the castle to the other. She made it to the middle when the door on the other side opened and revealed a bunch of guards. She turned to go back but there was Roman with a bunch of guards as well.
"Fuck!" She yelled.
"There's no escape," he smirked. "I'll tell you what. I'll go easy on you today seeing you had a pretty shitty day. I'll throw you around a little and brand my name into your skin so the whole world knows you belong to me but I'll let you sleep with a pillow and blanket tonight. Just be good and behave and we'll figure it out."
"I'd rather die!" She hissed.
She climbed up on the railing of the bridge and looked down. It was a long fall but not long enough to kill her. If she was lucky, she might be able to escape by jumping.
"Really?" Roman chuckled. "You'll break both your legs, and the guards down there will snatch you up right away. But go ahead, little girl. Jump. You'll be easier to control if your legs are broken."
"Please," she looked at him. "I just wanna go home."
"This is your home now," he said.
He started walking towards her. He looked confident. He knew he had won. Whether she jumped or not, he had won. A neigh was heard from above and they both looked towards the sky.
"Pegasus!" Saxa cried.
Pegasus flew down in front of her. She wasted no time but jumped on its back. It took off right away.
"Stop them!" Roman screamed. "Shoot down that stupid beast!"
Arrows came flying towards them. Pegasus dodged them all.
"I need to go home, Pegasus," Saxa said. "Please, help me. Take me to where the portal opens. I don't have much time. He knows I'm going there. I don't know how he travels and how fast it goes, but he'll come for me."
Pegasus flew above the forest for a while and then started descending. Saxa recognized Xavier's cottage as they flew over it. Pegasus landed and nodded its head.
"Thank you," she said.
Pegasus took off again and left her there alone. She held up the egg and placed her fingers on all four blue diamonds. The portal opened and she let out a loud laugh. A growl was suddenly heard behind her. She turned around and saw a human sized bulldog come charging towards her.
"No, we are not doing this," she said.
She stepped backwards through the portal and let go of the diamonds. She found herself staring at her closet wall.
"I'm home?" She spun around and looked at her bedroom. "I'm home!"
It was still dark outside. She had no idea if time worked the same way in the two worlds. It didn't matter right now. Only one thing mattered. She ran through the house and out into her garage. She turned on the light and picked up a hammer. She placed the egg on the floor and destroyed it with the hammer while tears streamed down her face. It felt cathartic sitting like that, crying and destroying the egg. She finally stopped and looked at all the pieces.
"You better keep quiet about this, Saxa. No one's ever gonna believe you. You can't even write a book about it because people will think you're ripping off Narnia. This one you have to take to the grave," she said.
She picked up the diamonds and looked at them. She was going to split them up and sell them in different stores. Anything to keep them apart. Hopefully they would all be placed in different types of jewelry and never get near each other again. The remains of the gold egg would be buried deep in her garden so that no one would find it again.
"Xavier," she sighed. "Roman's gonna kill him. He's probably already dead. This mystery will forever be unsolved in the eyes of the world."
