They had called for her, but she ignored them, heading upstairs and out into the hallway. She didn't stop for anyone, instead breaking into a run and heading straight for the tower.
She didn't pause to think about what she was doing, nor the danger she had put herself in as she began her climb. She only thought to climb as high as she could go and escape them all and the burden they had placed on her.
She was not responsible for humanity or the human world, she was just a creature who lived in it and yet they were demanding she take that responsibility and pick. There was no way all of the human world would fit into Faerie, that meant she would be responsible for the deaths of millions in a heartbeat. Not because she chose to devour them, but because she simply couldn't save them all.
The Creators wanted power and that meant bringing down the human world, if they brought it down the humans would end, at least most of them.
They were asking her to either become the one who gave up on humans and ran to Faerie to hide, a coward and weak, or to be a hero and save them all. She was neither weak, nor a hero.
As she climbed up onto the roof of the tower, she sat down and stared out at the land around her, searching it for some hint of what she had to do.
She knew it already. She knew she really had no actual choice. But then she thought of the option.
She could become a vampire and then run to Faerie. It would mean she would be hated by those who came from the human world, but what if the creators were successful this time? What if they could expand Faerie and gave them all enough room? But then, how would she be able to decide who went to Faerie and who stayed behind to die?
Or was there a third option? Could the human world be entirely parted from Faerie and left to exist without magic of any kind? Would the humans not be happy without magic?
She bit her lip and tried to think through her fear and worry. Would that last option not be best for the humans? Let them live their lives without any magic while the mythicals expanded Faerie? Or was the human world needed in order to rebuild the magic? Could the human world survive without magic or was its existence reliant on the magic of Faerie?
Surely the Creators would have thought about that and simply tried to dump the human world off, it would have been easier than trying to dismantle it. Simply cut the string rather than pulling apart the anchor on a sinking ship. One might make you float a little longer, but was it rope or was it steel you were trying to cut with a butter knife?
***
She climbed down after several hours, shivering and hungry from sitting up there in the wind so close to sunset and she had not come to any conclusion on her situation.
Heading back into the castle, she ignored the staring and headed in the direction of her rooms in the royal quarters, not wanting to see her friends and their fear. She didn't want them to be afraid of her, or what she was capable of.
A small sound caught her attention and she turned to see that same man who had looked so excited to see her helpless and protected.
Blinking, she had no idea who he was and so she paused to see what he might want.
"Hello princess," he said, and she tilted her head, curious.
"Hello, do I know you?" she asked.
"No, but you knew my brother, Jacob," when she looked confused, he smiled wider. "Jacob Carriger."
It took her a moment to place the name and then her eyes widened as the name clicked in her mind. He had been the first man she had killed for Epharis.
"Never heard of him," she lied, sliding her left foot back in preparation of running.
"Oh, don't bother, princess. We already have you trapped."
Glancing behind her, she found three men were standing there, grinning only five paces away and they weren't human like the man before her. Tilting herself slightly to the right to see around him, she found another two standing some eight paces away.
"Six against one? That seems fair," she said slowly, trying hard to remain calm.
"We had to be sure we could get you down, and keep you down," the man before her said and she offered him a weak smile.
"Can't we just blame the lich and call it even?" She didn't sound very hopeful.
"No," he said bluntly, and she sighed.
"Alright…" she exhaled and then stepped forward, driving her foot up between his very unprotected legs.
He dropped like a stone, and she went for the two, knowing they would be easier to beat than three, but they were all so much heftier than she was.
As she moved, the three behind her had started forward and she knew she needed to move fast. They thought that she was weak because she was human? She was about to teach them a lesson.
Reaching the two grinning men, she had a flash of worry that the right seemed to be an elf of some sort and so she aimed for the left, her fist driving hard into his gut, and he doubled. As his companion turned, she spun, her hair flying and drove her elbow into his cheek.
He staggered but didn't go down and he spun to try and catch her, but she was out of his reach.
Cursing her lack of speed, she sprinted for the end of the hall and then ran straight into a massive chest and bounced off, landing hard on the ground.
Looking up, she found the broadest man she had ever seen looking down at her. Damn, they had known where she would run, and they had backup.
Crawling backwards, her eyes went to the space between his wideset legs as a means of escape and rolled forward onto her knees and balls of her feet when a boot landed on her calf, and she was jerked back down.
Yelping in pain, a fist found her hair and a cloth was smashed down on her mouth and nose.
It smelt sickly sweet and chemical, and she immediately tried to hold her breath, but it was too late. She looked up to see Carriger approaching, his face furious but turning gleeful and she collapsed against her captors.