Bryant

I watch from the woods in admiration as Tes sprints down the track and leaps into the air, smashing down the target Seelina just threw. Her black hair spreads out behind her like a cape while she is up there and there is a slight smile on her face.

I underestimated Tes before, when I thought she was human. She's more perfect for this world than I am. Despite the horrible things that have happened because of being one of us, she seems more complete in Altearis. I remember the way she danced at the party I brought her too. Tes won the hearts of every person there that night, just by smiling at them.

When we kill Chance and all our problems cease, Tes will be an amazing leader. She's kind, she listens and she's smart. I think Tes's idea of going to war is smart as well. Whatever gets me close enough to be able to rip Chance to shreds works for me and with a couple more weeks of training, Tes will be ready for anything.

The meeting to discuss if we go through with Tes's war idea is today.

"Ungh!" Tes punches Ron in the stomach and he collapses to the ground. They must've moved onto combat. I know Ron hasn't been using his full strength with Tes because he is a skilled fighter; he usually doesn't go down so easily.

Seelina steps in to give Ron a break. I think that is a better idea, Seelina doesn't go easy on anyone. Tes stands her ground for a while, blocking every move Seelina makes, but it doesn't last long. Tes slips up and takes a punch to the face.

I jump at the sudden contact, it looks like that punch was a hard one.

Tes holds her cheek in pain then suddenly she ducks, Seelina is still coming at her. One of Seelina's rules, never let a little pain distract you. Sure, that punch hurt, but dying is worse.

Tes comes back around with a punch to Seelina's side which doesn't seem to bother her at all. Seelina whips her hand out and catches Tes's fist as she goes in for another hit. Seelina twists Tes's arm behind her and kicks her to the floor. I feel the embarrassment radiating off Tes. She doesn't show it, she gets back up and starts with Seelina again. Now, all I feel from Tes is fierce determination to knock Seelina on her ass.

They go at it for another half hour, Tes getting her face thrown into the dirt every time. It's not all bad though, Tes lasts longer and gets more hits in each time. I'm proud of her, the way she never gives up is inspiring.

"Bryant? Is that you?" Tes is staring at where I stand in the woods. I'm caught.

I walk out and wave. "Hey Love."

"How long have you been standing there?" Tes asks, kissing me on my cheek.

"...A while." I grin and pull her mouth to mine before her lips leave my face.

Tes gasps from the sudden movement, but smiles back at me. "Why didn't you just watch from Seelina's porch?"

"You're different when I'm not watching," I tell her. "You don't feel worried that you'll mess up and look bad in front of me. Which you could never do by the way."

A blush creeps up her neck. "You're a dork, but I love you anyway."

"Well that is good to know..." I gaze into her hypnotizing green eyes and almost get lost. Almost...

"Hey, could you take your love fest somewhere else?" Ron pretends to look grossed out, but I know it's more than that. The need to pummel him for his previous betrayal has subsided; I know it's hard to resist Tes's pull, even without the soulmate bond.

I also owe him everything for saving her life and protecting her when I was not able to. I told him this, but he told me he doesn't deserve my thanks. He believes that since he didn't get to her in time, that he failed.

The truth is, if Ron did not fight off five Enderans with Tod and Taylar, Tes would be dead. Ron put his life on the line to get to her and for that I'm grateful.

"No time," Seelina says. "The meeting starts in ten minutes."

The living room is packed with the strongest Stameions in Altearis, the council. Tes and I stand in the front corner, waiting for the meeting to commence.

Grandma Sadie stands up. "Hello everyone," her voice silences the crowd. "It is time to begin this meeting. As you all know, Chance, the leader of the Enderans is after our queen, Tes. Today we will determine if going to war is in our best interest."

"There's no reason to go to war! We could just kill Chance and it would be over with," someone shouts.

"And you don't think that the Enderans would retaliate?" Someone else replies.

"We don't know that they would for sure."

Tes leaves my side and moves to the middle of the crowd. Everyone becomes silent again, waiting for what she has to say.

Tes clears her throat. "Thomas was killed...my best friend was killed and they would have killed Bryant if he hadn't broken free." Tes clenches her hands, she's holding back her anger and hurt.

"I bet you don't know how Bryant was tortured all day and night by other Enderans? Have you seen the scars on his back from when they sliced pieces of his skin off with a poisoned knife?" I know for a fact that they don't know, only Tes knows.

I'm not upset with her, it isn't something I wanted to keep hidden. I just kept what happened to myself because I had no need to tell everyone. Now I do. I take my place next to Tes and remove my shirt.

There's gasps and hushed cries as I show everyone the scars that cover my back. Tes looks at me for permission to tell them more and I nod. They need to hear this, but I don't think that I could get it all out on my own.

I brace myself for what she says next because if I don't, the memories will overcome me.

"They held out...the pieces of his skin in front of him...dangled them in his face while they laughed." Tes takes a deep breath. "Then they ate the pieces of skin with open mouths..."

I hear the knife ripping my back to shreds as she talks and I shudder. Being locked up there changed my life; it was an excruciating experience. I would relate it to what humans call 'Hell.'

"Even if I gave myself up to Chance, it wouldn't prevent you all from being hurt. Chance wants to kill me and take my powers. Why would he want to do that? What would he want to use my powers for?" Tes is shaking now, she is frustrated because she knows that some people are still not convinced that war is necessary.

I put my hand on her shoulder to steady her and take over. "I know I am young and I know that you all have years upon years of knowledge, but I have dealt with these...evil beings. If we underestimate the Enderans it could be the death of all Stameions."

"Killing Chance will not change that, if you want to live the long lives you deserve, see your children live the long lives they deserve, then you will accept this declaration of war."

Heads nod in agreement and there is a general mood change. When the meeting first started, I felt a lot of agitation, but now that's mostly gone.

"Would anyone else like to speak before we put this to a vote?" Sadie asks everyone, it's silent at first, then Gian pushes through the crowd.

"I hate violence, I hate the thought of hurting another person and I am totally against killing if it isn't necessary, but Thomas-" Gian brakes off, losing his composure.

"Most of you knew Thomas, he was the sweetest kid, he was an amazing friend. Thomas wouldn't even play fight with us when we were little..." Gian is visibly crying now, but he keeps going.

"Chance held Thomas against a tree by his neck, flanked by two followers who held us back. They didn't even pay attention to Thomas while killing him. They only watched our faces as we saw our friend reaching for us and struggling to breathe."

Gian raises his voice. "It was like they were getting off on our pain. If you can picture that and still let them get away with it, then you are cowards. I know that now, none of them deserve my mercy. The day they killed Thomas was the day my war started."

Gian finishes and the room is silent; no one else volunteers to speak for or against the war.

"Now we shall decide," Sadie says. "Council members please follow me."

Sadie opens a portal to her dining room, a place I have not been to since I was a little boy. We haven't had any need for meeting like this before. Everyone in the council steps through; Ron's parents, Taylor, Tony, Seelina, Tod, Josephina, Tina, Scarlet, Tes and I. Twelve of us. We all take a seat at the table and begin.

"Before we vote, I just wanted to say that whatever decision is made today will come with dire consequences. Regardless, we will still have to make a decision. I hope you all have considered both sides," Sadie says seriously.

An eery quietness falls over the room as we prepare to vote. Sadie waits a few moments, most likely giving us time to make sure that we know what we want. When the time to vote finally comes, Sadie's voice jerks me out of my head.

"All in favor?" Hands raise, including mine. Sadie counts them carefully twice. "All against."

There's no smiles when the decision is made. What comes next terrifies us all because people will die. We could all die and it's just now hitting me that Tes could die. I can't exist in a world without her. I don't even remember a world without her.

Back at my house, everyone waits expectantly for one of us to speak up, to tell them what their future is. Every eye is on us, and it makes me tremble. I am their king, but I have never had to truly be their king until now.

Gian asks the question. "What is the decision Bryant?"

I look at the faces of everyone in the room. They seem desperate to know, but also afraid. I seem to be afraid as well, just not for myself.

"Bryant?"

I look Gian in the eyes. "We are going to war."

I speak again before panic ensues.

"No one has to fight, everyone who joins us has to do so by their own choice. It is perfectly fine if you choose to go away as well," I tell everyone calmly. No one should have to risk their lives if they don't want to.

"Once we contact our allied realms, we should have more than enough people to fight," Sadie adds, which is news to me. I didn't know we had allies. Maybe that's because I spent most of my time in the human realm instead of learning how to be a proper ruler.

"What's wrong?" Tes whispers to me, while Sadie and Scarlet answer questions. She must feel how ashamed I am.

"I should have been here more often. I know nothing about allies or even how to lead Altearis."

Tes leads me into the kitchen. "It's not your fault that you wanted to have a life. You're here now, that's all that matters."

"I just want to be more useful."

"Bryant, being here is being useful. Our presence gives them strength, and you help Seelina with training. Give yourself a little more credit," Tes says sincerely and pecks me on the lips. Now I can see that I am not as useless as I thought, but I am still not as useful as I want to be.

"Well that was not fun." Scar trudges into the kitchen with Sadie and Ron following behind.

"It was necessary. To keep everyone calm, we must keep them informed on what's going on. I think next time we have a meeting like this it would be good for you two to answer questions as well," Sadie says to Tes and I.

Tes jumps to our defense. "Sorry about that, we just needed to talk."

"That's fine. We need to talk as well." Sadie takes a seat at the island.

"What about?"

"It's time for you to say goodbye to your parents. We need all efforts focused on Altearis right now," Sadie says bluntly.

I feel a shock roll through Tes, but she doesn't show it on her face.

"Of course, when?"

"As soon as possible, hopefully tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" I ask. "She gets no time to prepare herself?"

Sadie gives me a stern look. "She has known this was going to happen for a while."

"She just had to watch her best friend's house burn away. She just said goodbye to her!"

"Bryant Peters, you may be king of this realm but you are still my grandson. You will lower your voice and talk to me with respect." Sadie glares at me from her seat, but it does not bother me. Tes keeps suffering trauma after trauma, when does she get an actual break.

I go to speak again, but Tes cuts me off. "Okay, this has gotten out of hand. I can do it tomorrow. I want Altearis to be safe just as much as you, Sadie."

I know Tes is lying, I can feel her emotions spiraling. She's scared and she is not ready for this yet. I am not going to let her put herself through this so soon.

"Tes-"

Tes shakes her head 'no' at me.

'We'll talk later. Please don't make a bigger scene,' Tes says in my head.

I do not understand how Tes is okay with this... Her parents have to forget her and move away. I thought she was getting better and in touch with her emotions again, but it looks like I'm wrong. I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be a hard day.