Her finger was bare. Why was she so stubborn and prideful that she’d stopped wearing the ring he’d given her? He didn’t care if she hated him; why couldn’t she just let him protect her?
And then Aimilia began moving, taking advantage of the one thing she did have in her favor at the moment. Her legs.
Even if she couldn’t cast easily, she could at least run. Her braid whipped through the air, as did her red cloak. With just her feet, she managed to dodge the next two bolts Cyprian sent her way.
Cyprian hadn’t moved. He was clearly taking it easy on her, although from the way his brow furrowed and his scowl deepened each time one of his shots missed, Nikias didn’t know how much longer that would be the case.
Nikias shook his head. “It has to stop. Someone has to stop this.”
His mother snapped, “The brat made her choice. Now she gets to suffer the consequences.”
“I can’t watch this.”
His mother’s voice was clipped as she leaned forward, eyes brightening as another bolt shot toward Aimilia. “Then close your eyes.”
Nikias didn’t. Cyprian switched, becoming more aggressive. A vitae whip lashed across the air, and Aimilia threw herself into a roll to avoid it snapping around her ankle.
Her scream ripped through the air as she jostled her arm, but she sprang back up afterwards, staggering. Her face was red, and her arms even more scraped than before. But she moved her hands, another scream ripping from her lips as she cast.
At first, it wasn’t clear what she had cast, but a smirk overtook her lips, and she thrust both hands up in a quick motion. And then Cyprian went up, a vitae platform underneath his feet.
Cyprian fell off it before it could take him much higher than a foot, but it sent him to the ground, giving Aimilia a second to breathe. A second which she desperately needed, since she was now clutching her broken arm and seething each breath through her teeth.
It was a short-lived victory. Cyprian scrambled back up, face flushed red and boiling with fury.
Aimilia started running, but there was only so far she could go, not to mention the fact that she’d just finished a long race. She was slowing. Aimilia barely dodged the first whip. She wasn’t as lucky with the next. When she stumbled, that was when the vitae wrapped around her ankle and ripped her legs out from under her. She went flat on her front, arm pinned beneath her.
Her scream was going to haunt Nikias’ nightmares. She flung her other hand out, sinking it into the dirt, but Cyprian was dragging her back toward him. All her fingers did was pull up dirt as she went.
Nikias didn’t care what the rules were. He tried again, this time succeeding in ripping himself out of Prisca’s grip. He got his foot under him and started to push off, but his mother’s bruising grip elicited a hiss. That combined with the vitae that burned through his cloak, slammed him back into his seat.
Once Cyprian had finished dragging Aimilia toward him, he flipped her over onto her back. Nikias could see as her head tilted back, the tear tracks streaming from her eyes as she tried to crawl on her broken arm.
Cyprian snapped, “Yield already.”
Aimilia closed her eyes, and her whole body jerked as she convulsed.
Yield.Nikias stared at her, begging her to put them both out of this misery and just yield already. This wasn’t proving anything. All it was doing was torturing her and Nikias by proxy.
There was a soft, choked, “N—no.”
Then Aimilia’s foot slammed into Cyprian’s shin. She knocked him off balance, giving her just enough time to push herself up with her good arm. She started to crawl away.
Nikias opened his mouth, but then two hands were on his throat. He only just barely got out “S?—”
His voice died before finishing the word. Nikias gasped and choked. His mother pulled her hands back, and then she dropped one to his wrist. A burning overtook his arm, and Nikias looked down to see a rune now pinning his arm to his stone seat as well. If he tried to break out of it, it was going to leave a grievous burn.
His mother settled back in her seat and said, “If you won’t be quiet and let this play out, then you’ve left me no choice, son.”
Aimilia was crawling through the rocks with only one arm. Cyprian had gotten back on his feet, rolling his eyes. He simply walked as he caught up to her. He then grabbed her by the back of her cloak and jerked her back.
She cried out again. Nikias’ screams didn’t leave his lips. Cyprian grabbed Aimilia by the hair, sinking his hand into the base of her skull and tilting her head back.
“You are making this harder than it needs to be.” He spoke through gritted teeth. “You’re done.”
But she wasn’t. She reached behind her, screaming as she moved her arm. She grabbed Cyprian by the head, finishing the rune she had been casting as she went.
Nikias’ breath caught in his throat. The same paralysis rune she’d used on the dog. But right before she finished, Cyprian grabbed her arms and ripped them away. Aimilia let out a desperate, panicked cry as her rune disappeared. Cyprian grabbed her by the cloak again and flung her. Aimilia went rolling through the dirt again, more scrapes and bruises accumulating.
