***Destiney***

Destiney kept her back against the wall of the capitol building. She squeezed past dueling villagers. If she was attacked, she would fight. But for now, she cared only about finding Nabvan. The battle had entered the capitol building, and she needed Nabvan to flee with Alexis and the babies. A severed arm hit her chest and sprayed blood in her eyes. She screamed out and wiped it from her eyes.

Nabvan heard a woman's scream. His head spun toward the sound. To his horror, Destiney stood pinned to the capitol's wall. She was covered in blood. He did not know whether it was hers or not, but it did not matter. She had to be protected. Nabvan fought his way to her side, jerked her over his shoulder, and disappeared into a niche in the wall. Momentarily hidden from the fight, he stood her on the ground and demanded, "Get back to the king's chambers! You can not be here."

Destiney stared up into his angry face and growled, "Do not give me orders. I am your queen. For once, see me as such and not a helpless female. I must be here. You know it as well. I am the only one who can get close to Rowl without raising his suspicions. He is just crazy enough to believe that I am loyal to him. The best way to stop this bloodbath is to let me kill him."

Nabvan saw the truth in her words. He replied, "I will get you as close to him as I can without him seeing me."

Destiney shook her head. "You cannot. The war has invaded the capitol building. You must go to Alexis and save her and the children. I will find my husband, and he can get me close."

Nabvan declared, “The king fell. I can not find him. I will not leave my knights without a leader."

Destiney held back a sob. Her husband had fallen and might be dead. She would not let him die in vain. She ordered, "Go to my son. You took a vow to protect him with your life if we could not. Honor it. There is a hidden tunnel behind the monitor. Hide there with them. If we lose this war, take them to safety using the tunnel. Scyon and Nexxa represent the future of Milisaria. You must save them."

Nabvan replied, "You have found the only thing that could make me leave this war. I will honor my vow. May your aim be true." Nabvan stormed past the battle to save the future.

Destiney used the niche as cover while she scanned the faces of the fighters. Within moments, she caught sight of Rowl. He too was hiding. A statue of a Milisarian Knight stood at the entrance to the capitol building. The cowardly traitor hid behind its base. Destiney inched her way closer and shouted, "Rowl, where are you? Let me help you."

Rowl peeked out from his hiding place. His clothes were in tatters. He was bleeding from shallow cuts all over his body. His eyes were crazed with pain and rage. The knights were winning. His followers were in pieces on the ground. Destiney's shout was a lifeline. He could use her to get to King Siefer. In Rowl's twisted brain, she was his faithful companion. He answered her shout, "I am here. Come to me."

Destiney slipped on the bloody ground. A sword sliced her left shoulder. The pain was intense, yet she kept moving forward. Her anger and determination gave her the strength to ignore the pain and focus on her target. She shut her ears to the sounds of battle. She blocked the fear of death from her mind. She took the final step into Rowl's hiding place.

Rowl wrapped his bloody arms around her and said, "Help me get to the king. I must kill him, or we will lose this war."

Destiney sneered, "I would never help you kill King Siefer. He is my true mate and my king. You are nothing!"

Rowl's face contorted in anger. He shook Destiney and said, "You dare lie to me? You said you wished to help me!"

Destiney smiled and replied, "I did not lie. I am here to help you." She shoved the knife into his heart and twisted it for good measure. "To help you die!" She let his body fall and then collapsed behind the statue. It was done. The rest was up to the knights. She begged, "Please, Nabvan, save my son."

Silence filled the air. The clash of swords could no longer be heard. The villagers had seen Rowl's body and dropped their weapons in surrender. It did them no good. They had committed treason against their king. The penalty for treason was death. The Milisarian Knights showed no mercy as they slit the throats of the betrayers.

The dead and wounded covered the ground. The faithful found alive were bandaged and taken into the capitol building. They sat amid the bloody corpses of the men who had dared enter the sanctuary. Many had been slain by Nabvan on his way to the king's quarters. Any traitor found still breathing was slaughtered where they lay.

A cry rang out from a faithful village leader when he discovered the injured queen. She was carried by her knights to the king's chamber. Nabvan heard his men and brought out Alexis and the babies. Alexis settled the little ones in a crib and began cleaning Destiney's wound.

Nabvan turned to leave with his men. He told Alexis, "I am going in search of the king. If I find him alive, I will bring him to you. He will trust you above all others to care for him."

A knight spoke up, "Take excellent care of our queen. She was braver than us all. It was by her hand that Rowl died."

The Milisarian Knights waded through the dead seeking their king. He was nowhere to be found. The longer it took to find him, the less chance he would be alive. Nabvan had the knights separate the villagers into groups. One group stacked the identified enemies' bodies for burning, and another took the faithful for burial. Nabvan and two others continued to search for King Siefer.

The king's sword was discovered beneath a dead body. He had to be close by. A hand was spied jutting out from under the spaceship. It was adorned with a ring bearing the king's seal. Nabvan quickly crawled beneath the ship, and there he found his friend, barely alive. He carefully pulled the king out, and the mighty knights carried King Siefer upon their shoulders to his quarters.

Alexis had summoned the nurse and several of her students to bring all the medical supplies they could carry to the king's chambers. She had no idea how badly the king would be hurt when he was found. She hoped she had enough knowledge to save him.

Destiney was awake and bandaged when the knights brought her husband in. She kissed his still body and begged him to come back to her. Nabvan had to force her from King Siefer's side and hold her back so Alexis could do an examination.

It was immediately clear that the king needed blood. Alexis was glad that she had done so much lab work seeking a way to save herself when Nexxa was born. She had discovered that all male Milisarians had the same blood type. She enlisted the knights to save their king. One at a time they were connected to the king and their blood sent directly into his veins. Alexis and the nurse cleaned his wound and sewed it closed. He was given pain medication and antibiotics from Earth. Now all they could do was wait.

Destiney refused to leave her husband and rest. She was asleep with her head on his arm when he awoke. He startled her with a loud groan. She began to cry tears of joy upon finding his eyes open and clear. He touched her face gently and said, "I missed you so much. Forgive my stupidity. I love you."

Destiney sobbed, "I love you too, but I have made many terrible mistakes in your absence. Some are unforgivable. I am so happy to see you alive and healing. However, you may want me to leave when you learn about the horrible things I have done."

King Siefer took her hand and squeezed it gently. He replied, "It does not matter what you have done. Our love will overcome it. I pushed you away, and thus I am as much to blame as you are for any wrong choices. Milisaria could have been lost due to my choices. Alexis would have died if you had not defied my orders and allowed her into the lab. My mistakes were fatal ones."

Destiney answered, "So were mine. I trusted Rowl and allowed his charms to befuddle my mind. He gained control through me. He used my loneliness to insert himself into my life. I turned against my friends and believed his lies. Worst of all, I was unfaithful to you. I do not deserve to be queen."

"It makes no difference in my love for you. I should never have left you behind. I broke a promise. We should start over from here and forget the past. Is Rowl locked away or dead? Is Milisaria safe?" The king's mind had returned to business.

"I killed Rowl. He still believed that I was loyal to him and allowed me close. I stabbed his treacherous heart and twisted the knife. I know he was your brother, but I grew to hate him. He was evil and insane," stated Destiney.

For the first time, King Siefer noticed the bandage on Destiney's shoulder. His eyes grew wide. He sat up and asked, "Did he cut you? How bad is it? Why were you even in the battle? Nabvan should never have let you out of our quarters. I need to speak with him, right now!"

Destiney pushed him back down on the bed. She soothed his worries. "Nabvan did not allow me out. I snuck out on my own. I knew that no one else could get close to Rowl. I had to fix my mistake and save our planet. I used Nabvan's vow to protect Scyon to force him away from the battle. He is not to blame. Rowl did not cut me. I slipped in all the blood, and someone's sword sliced my shoulder. It is a shallow wound."

King Siefer replied, "You are far braver than I ever knew. I should have taken you to the colonies. Another brave and cunning warrior would have been useful. I am proud of you. You faced your greatest challenge and won. You are an excellent queen. Never doubt it again. Bring in Nabvan. We need to strategize. The villages need to be organized, and the colonies need governing. I can not do everything alone. I realized that I must humble myself and ask for help. I promise to never leave you behind. It is time for a better future."