Chapter Twenty-Nine
All the bravado I had during the confrontation with my brother has left me, and I don't want to accept what's happened. I try to keep my mind off of it by focusing my attention on other things: music, painting, cooking, anything besides thinking.
I'm laying against Axel's chest, panting. His fingers are running through my hair, and he has that smile on his face he always gets after an orgasm. I haven't exactly forgiven him yet, but it turns out sex is a good distraction from my thoughts. I'm pretty sure Axel thinks I've moved on from the entire situation, and part of me feels bad for letting him think that, but another part of me just thinks it's easier to let him believe what he wants.
"I'm glad to see you're handling everything so well," he says affectionately. I tighten my hold around his torso and guilt surges through me.
"Yeah," I mumble.
"Now that that's all over, we can move on and just let everything go back to normal," he continues, sounding so sure of himself.
"Mhm." I wish he'd stop talking.
"Love you," he says while planting a kiss on the top of my head.
"You too," I murmur. Thankfully, he's done talking.
"Me-Me, you have to stop letting Larxene push you around," I say while pressing a cloth to Demyx's bleeding nose.
"It was an accident. She didn't mean to knock me down," he mumbles while wiping the blood off his skinned knee. I scoff.
"She's fifteen, Demyx. I'm pretty sure she knew better than to push you while you were standing at the top of the stairs."
"I don't want to be a tattle-tale and get her in trouble, though," he whimpers. I sigh.
"Larxene, stop it," I say evenly when I walk in to see her slam Demyx up against the wall. She glares over at me.
"He deserves it this time," she hisses. I roll my eyes.
"I'm sure. What'd he do?"
"He called me stupid," she answers. I sigh.
"You are eighteen-years-old, Lars; he's thirteen. You're supposed to be the mature one here."
"Oh, that's rich coming from you, the twelve-year-old diplomat. The future ruler of the kingdom," she spats. She lets go of Demyx and starts stalking towards me. She leans down to glare into my face. "God, I want to hit you," she says lowly, directing her anger at me.
"We both know you're not going to, Larxene," I say matter-of-factly. It's true, too. She knows if she hits me, I'll go straight to mom and dad, unlike Demyx. She glares at me for a minute longer before turning on her heel and walking from the room.
"Demyx, you are nineteen-years-old! Stop letting her bully you!" I shout as I hand him a bag of frozen peas to put against his black eye. It's September, one month before everything happens. He winces, but smiles.
"Aw, it's not a big deal, Iris. If you fight fire with fire, you only get a bigger fire," he says. I sigh.
"You'd make such a better future ruler than I would if you kept that attitude and grew a spine," I mumble. He grins.
"Nah, you're the perfect choice. Perfect amount of bitchiness and logical thinking," he teases. I slap his arm lightly.
"Shut up. At least it's not Larxene getting the throne," I say. His grin widens.
"Thank goodness for that."
I glance down the hall to our sister's closed door.
"Where's Lars?" I ask. He looks to her door as well before shrugging.
"Where's Lars, Demyx? Demyx, where's Larxene?" I yell. He bites his bottom lip, but doesn't answer me.
Axel shakes me awake. There's a thin layer of cold sweat on my skin, and my heart is beating rapidly.
"Hey, you're moaning in your sleep; not the sexy moaning, though," Axel says softly with a grin. I groan and sit up, gently pushing him aside. I put my head in my hands. He wraps an arm around me. "It's alright. It was just a dream." I groan again, loudly this time.
"No, it wasn't. It wasn't just a dream," I whisper, and I want to cry.
"What do you mean," he asks.
"Demyx didn't hire those guys. Larxene did, and that's why she wasn't around that night. She must've turned the alarm off to let them get in," I mumble.
"I'm not following," Axel says, and I growl, frustrated.
"Larxene is ruling the kingdom by controlling Demyx," I say loudly.
"Why would she do that? Why wouldn't she just get rid of Demyx as well and rule it herself?" he asks, and I rub my temples. I hadn't thought of that.
"Keep a good face, I guess. She always preferred to keep her sadistic side hidden and present a nice face to everyone.
"So why wouldn't your brother just take her down? He looks like he could hold his own."
"He's a pacifist. I wouldn't doubt Larxene hired her own guards. Bribed them into siding with her, probably," I say while pinching the bridge of my nose. This is giving me a headache.
"I don't know, babe. It kinda sounds like you're reaching to me. Let's just go back to sleep," Axel says while laying back down. I don't, though.
"I have to do something," I whisper to myself.
"Yeah, you have to sleep," Axel says playfully, sitting back up to wrap his arms around me in an attempt to pull me down. I shrug him off violently.
"Axel! Stop!" I growl, growing irritated.
"Can't you just let it go, Iris? It's not like it really matters," Axel whines.
"Doesn't matter? Axel, my sister is controlling my brother to ruin the kingdom, and it doesn't matter?" I'm getting angry.
"You don't know if that's what's really going on," he growls, obviously getting angry along with me.
"I'm pretty sure it is, but even if it's not, I need to do something to get the throne back and fix all the crappy things that have happened!"
"There's nothing you can do!" Axel snaps. I swivel around to glare at him.
"So you expect me to just sit back and watch what should be my kingdom crumble apart?"
"Yes! It's not like it's doing anything to you directly. You're here. You have a home and food and clothes-"
"-Yeah, because I was bought as a slave!" I hiss. He throws his hands up.
"So what? It's not like I've ever treated you like one!"
"That's not the point, Axel! I could very well fix everything that's happened, and you're telling me not to?" I shout incredulously.
"I'm telling you there is nothing you can do!" He shouts back. I glower at him and get out of his bed. A growl rumbles in his chest. "Where are you going?"
"My bed. I don't want to share a bed with someone so pessimistic," I say lowly as I walk across the room to the door.
"I'm not being pessimistic! I'm telling you the truth!"
"Well, I'm not willing to accept it as the truth until I actually try to do something." I walk out of the room, still able to feel Axel's hot glare burning into the back of my head.