♕✿~♕✿~Chapter 45//: Goodbyes♕✿~♕✿~

Madison's POV

After the tense agreement made between Ahren and Arenal, I decide to spend my time with someone that I haven't seen in a long time: Sydney.

As I walk to where she is staying, I think about the times we had spent together when we were younger. I smile as I think about the time I had cut off the hair on Sydney's doll, and she had retaliated by cutting off my hair. I had been beyond angry back then, but now I looked back at the memory with fondness and nostalgia.

I reach the door to Sydney's temporary bedroom in the palace. Raising my hand to the door, I knock on it and listen as, from inside, she walks across the room and twists the doorknob, pulling the door open.

Her face breaks into a grin upon seeing me. She throws her arms around me, making me stumble back a bit at the force put behind it.

"I'm so glad you're here right now. I'm terribly bored, and I'm not sure what I can do in this place," Sydney whines. I smile as I pull away from her death grip.

"Maybe we can go to the women's room. There's a huge T.V. in there. There's a movie theater too," I tell her excitedly as we loop arms and start to head down the hallway.

Sydney tilts her head to the side a bit. "Those sound like great options. But what are we going to do after all of that?" she asks.

I'm quiet before I say, "We could go out to the gardens. The weather is nice today, considering the season. Maybe we should take advantage of the good weather." The idea of going back out to the garden, where everything had gone downhill, made my stomach turn. But if Sydney wanted to spend some time outside in the gardens, I wouldn't object. And it would be silly if I always tried to avoid the gardens.

Sydney slips her hand into mine and holds it tightly. "Only if you want to do that."

I nod. This was all a part of me moving on from what happened, from Nathan. I wouldn't let him control my life and choices. And this would be my first step to do so. "I want to go out to the gardens."

Sydney's grip on mine never falters. "Okay."

We make our way down the stairs, heading towards the garden doors. Out in the gardens, I could see guards around every corner. I doubt there would be much use for so many guards, though. The Scarlet Guard was no longer going to be a threat, and the Rogue Dawn was nonexistent now, with their leader dead and he majority of their members sentenced to the Bowl of Bones.

Sydney and I walk into the garden, stopping to sit on a stone bench surrounded by slowly dying rose bushes with the oncoming winter. I let Sydney braid my hair, her fingers moving gently through my hair.

We're silent during all of this, until Sydney breaks the silence with the words: "Do you love him?"

I start a bit at her question. I knew she was referring to Ahren. I hadn't told anyone of the words we had exchanged before I passed out and after I came to.

"Yes." The word slips from my mouth with ease, and I wait tensely for what Sydney will say next.

"But...do you think he's good for you?" she questions hesitantly.

"What do you mean by that?" I ask her quietly.

She sighs. "I mean, you were hurt so much and he couldn't do much to save you-"

"He did so much to try to save me," I cut her off. "He sent multiple search parties every day to look for me. He even invaded the Rogue Dawn base once he thought I was still stuck there."

"But he didn't save you. You had to save yourself. You had to escape that horrible place, and you had to find a way to come here to save him." Sydney's voice softens. "It looks like instead of him saving you, you had to save yourself and him at the same time."

I turn around to face Sydney. Her lips are set into a small frown as she stares at me. I take her hands in mine.

"Even if that is true, you can't forget about all of the things he did to try and save me," I tell her.

Tears glitter in Sydney's eyes. "I just don't want you to get hurt again," she whispers.

Seeing my little sister near to tears makes my heart hurt. I pull her in for a hug, and she clutches me tightly.

"I know you're worried," I murmur, "but I don't want you to worry about me for the rest of your life. I'll be fine with a little bit of time."

I hold her for a couple more minutes after that. Then, I pull away to look at her, and smile.

"Let's go inside to watch a movie. Does that sound good?"

Sydney agrees and we walk back into the palace, hand in hand. But before we make it into the palace, we're stopped by a familiar figure at the doors leading inside.

I slow down, and Sydney cautiously stays behind me. Evelyn pays her no mind, only looking at me with her arms crossed.

"Do you know where Damon is?" is all she says to me. My eyes stray to the figure that had appeared behind her, who's looking at us with curiosity.

Evelyn turns to look at her brother. They don't say anything, only staring at each other harshly. I gently tug on Sydney's hand, pulling her with me into the palace to leave the siblings to talk out their past issues.

I lead Sydney to the movie theater, and I remember the memories of Ahren and I coming here. I smile softly as I look at the popcorn machine in the corner.

"Wow," Sydney breathes in awe as she takes in the movie theater's size. I laugh at the expression on her face as she walks around in a daze. She turns to me, her eyes gleaming.

"This is amazing!" she exclaims. She runs over to the popcorn machine and inhales deeply, sighing in content. "I can smell the popcorn," she murmurs dreamily.

"Can I make some popcorn?" she asks me as she taps the glass of the popcorn machine. I walk over to where she is.

"Of course you can," I tell her. "I'll go ask a maid for some blankets, and we can hang out here for the afternoon and eat some popcorn." She nods excitedly, and I feel relief that Sydney is back to her usual cheery self.

I excuse myself, leaving the movie theater to look for a person to ask for some blankets. But instead of finding a maid, I run into Lucas, who's leaning against a wall. He straightens when he sees me.

Not too sure of what to do, I stop in front of him but don't say anything. Lucas doesn't speak up as well.

"I'm leaving," he blurts out suddenly. At his words, I look up in surprise.

"Leaving?" I ask, blinking. I hadn't expected him to stay in the palace, but I also hadn't expected him to leave so soon.

He nods. "I have no place left in this palace. His Majesty is gracious enough to let me walk away alive even after my role involved in your kidnapping." He shuffles his feet, uncomfortable with the memory of what he had done. "I'm amazed, to be honest. I had expected to be thrown into the Bowl of Bones to be executed."

I shake my head. "You may have been involved in my kidnapping, but you've proven to me that you feel guilty about it. Without your help, I wouldn't even be here right now," I say honestly.

"Do you hate me?" he asks hesitantly.

I ponder the question for a bit. "Hate is a strong word," I start out slowly. "I liked you when we were friends. But I did detest you after you helped Nathan throw me into that prison. Now..." I trail off. I didn't know how I felt about Lucas anymore. I didn't hate him like I did at first, but I could never see him as a true friend anymore.

He seemed to understand my unspoken words. "I understand. I'm...actually very relieved that you don't hate me. I don't think I would have been able to deal with that," he admits.

We fall back into silence again. I want to get away from this situation, but I didn't know how exactly I could do that without sounding rude.

"Well. I'm planning on leaving now." He pauses before saying, "Goodbye, Madison."

He turns around and starts to walk away. I stay silent, staring after him.

"Thank you," I call out to him before he can turn around the corner. He looks back at me in surprise at my words.

"For helping me and Damon escape that prison. For helping me get here safely," I clarify.

"It was the least I could do," he simply says before walking away for the last time. I stand in the hallway for a moment more before forcing my feet to move.

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Thank you guys for being so patient with this update! Finals are coming up in school, and OH MY GOSH I AM SO STRESSED. I haven't had a lot of time to write, but I will after this week passes. I just have so so much to do before the semester ends.

Have a great rest of your week!

Glass_Sword