The purple armor disappeared.
She pushed the chipped wooden door open, thank Magnar the door was open. Then put the wooden bar back into its latch. King Magnar’s words replayed in her mind as she stepped foot into the living room.
I know you won’t, my child.
The King chose her as Captain, and he believed that she would succeed. She sighed.
That’s probably not what Ron thinks.
Ron probably believed that she would get herself killed in battle. Then she also saw the misery in his eyes as he watched the others manifest his powers when nothing flowed out of him.
How was Ron going to activate his powers if he only ever talked himself down? He couldn’t see his potential. Davina also struggled with these thoughts as well. So, she understood him to a certain level. The trials for their armor had been harsh but she didn’t consider it a reason to give up on the war.
She couldn’t help but remember all those thoughts that came to her before she activated her powers, thoughts that told her to throw herself off into an ice volcano. She recalled those moments when she would leave her own arms scarred because she hated her life. Those midnights that seemed never ending where she’d cry herself to sleep as she felt herself dying of frustration. All that misery went away when her hands ignited with purple flames for the first time.
Was that what he was going through?
If he was, then he was going through it alone and she was too naive to notice it sooner. She recalled the time on Sadoc’s roof when he’d called himself horrendous. Then when he kept arguing about not being able to protect her in war because of his dormant abilities.
She passed through the living room and headed to the middle hallway, where her room was. But Davina was met with Nico, who was sitting by the new kitchen table. The torchlight illuminated his bloodshot eyes. Davina gulped as she noticed his deep frown of distaste.
“Davina,” he said.
“Yes, father?” she asked.
How she hated the thundering in her chest and the fear that forced her eyes to look away from her stepfather.
“Where were you?” he asked.
“I was at Castellum, father. I went on some simple errands that required for me to spend more time outside of home,” she explained, kicking herself mentally for over-explaining.
“Your mother told me that you were not home all day and she required your help cleaning the kitchen and the bathing rooms,” Nico said. His questioning enraged her. “And that Genevieve and Emmy were fighting again today, and you were not there to discipline them. They’re your sisters, it is your responsibility to educate them.”
Davina loved Micah, Genevieve, and Emmy so much. So much that she was fighting a war for their safety, but her parents weren’t aware of how much she would be sacrificing for their wellbeing.
“They’re my sisters, not my kids,” she snapped, immediately regretting it. Davina breathed in. She would not give in to his provocations. “Sorry, father. I meant to explain to you how we’re doing something new and different at Castellum. It’s going to help me with my powers.”
“Castellum, Castellum. That’s all that comes out of your worthless mouth. We raised you to be better, Davina. You were supposed to come home and help your mother.” Nico raised his voice.
Davina remained still with a clenched jaw.
It was as if they expected her to stop her entire life so she could fulfill their temper tantrums. Even when she was present, she could never be enough for their expectations. Despite being the obedient, quiet, good, and role model of a daughter, they were never happy with her.
“You’re just like your mother.”
Hopefully, Mae was listening to his trash-talking and come in and defend her. Would Mae help her? Would her mother come in to rescue her?
“Like your grandmother.”
Whenever she spoke up, she was punished. She was judged as the hypocrite and as the unstable one. She had to remain silent.
“Like all the other crazy women from your dirty Almenara bloodline.”
Once, she wanted to prove them right after trying so hard to prove them wrong. She remembered the days when she ignored them, she chose to reject them as they had rejected her. For quite some time, it felt so nice to have some form of revenge for her pain. Then the kids paid the consequence as their explosion burned their perfect innocent skin. They bore scars because of her, and she would never forget that.
“You know, if I would’ve known that I was going to have you as the heir of the Elio’s, I would’ve seen a way for you to be sent off with your grandmother Rose, however, there’s not much we can do now,” he sighed.
The Elio family, Nico’s family, was not that wealthy. She was not going to be inheriting anything with value. But she couldn’t help but raise her brow at the mention of her grandmother. “What do you know of my grandmother?”