"Warren," she yelled, "I found him! Our little Earth king. Where are you keeping them? Where are our people?"
Just as Lex was about to speak, another five guards ran into the room. They had their swords raised. But they didn't get a chance to use them.
The gunshots from the woman's gun rang through the room, slicing through the five guards that had just come in. They dropped to the ground.
Lex had turned, pushing Aria to the wall and shielding her from the woman's assault.
After she stopped shooting, he turned and looked towards the front doors, where the guards lay. Some of them were already dead, but at least two were still alive. Aria could hear their screams, their moans.
The look on Lex's face broke her heart.
His eyes widened in shock, and he moved to go to them, but the woman trained her gun back on him.
"Get away from him," Aria yelled, standing in front of Lex. "I'm Aria Dia-"
But she didn't get a chance to finish her sentence. She felt the force of the gun slamming into her temple. Her vision tunneled, and little black specks swam in her eyes.
"Aria," Lex yelled, reaching for her.
He grabbed her just as she tumbled to the side, bringing him down with her.
"What the hell is going on here?" she heard Warren ask, walking towards them.
"This man is the king, apparently. And his little princess tried to-"
"Stop," a familiar voice yelled.
Aria's eyes were trained on the ground. Her head hurt so much she couldn't even lift it to identify the source. She saw a pair of boots running towards her. Whoever it was stopped a few feet away. They took a few slow steps towards her and dropped to their knees a few inches from where Aria lay on the ground, half draped over Lex.
Suddenly she felt a hand on each cheek, lifting her head up.
"That's my daughter," Katy said.
"M-mom?" Aria asked. She couldn't believe her eyes. Was her mother really there? Or had she been hit so hard that she was hallucinating?
"That's Aria Diaz," Warren said.
"I'm sorry, ma'am," the woman said, "I-I didn't know. She's dressed like them. And she was with him. I-I thought..."
"Aria, honey, it's me," Katy said, searching Aria's eyes.
"Mom," Aria said again, her voice breaking. "You're OK. You're here."
She could feel the tears slipping down her face.
"Yes, honey, I'm right here."
"What are you doing? Why are you attacking us?"
"Us?"
"This is my kingdom. I-I'm the queen. Why are you doing this?"
Katy looked confused. She looked up, meeting Warren's gaze.
"We were told that you'd been taken. That you were being kept prisoner," he said, looking down at Aria.
By that point, she could see clearly again. She tried to get up.
"Aria..." Lex said from beside her. She grabbed his arm, using it to help herself up. He stood up after she did, keeping an arm around her waist.
"What the hell are you doing? Why did you kill those people?" Aria asked. "They were innocent!"
"Looks like she's been spending a little too much time with them," the woman said, pointing her gun at Lex again.
"You fucking bitch," Aria spit. "Do you have any idea what you've done? Our guards will-"
"Your guards won't do anything. They're all dead. We've stormed the palace from every side. And we have guns,” she yelled.
"Edwards, that's enough," Warren said. "I'm sorry you feel that way, Aria. But this place is ours now."
"Like hell! This-this place is ours! Our people-"
"Our people," Warren said, raising an eyebrow. "You're one of us, Aria."
"No, I-"
"Lex!" someone yelled from outside the throne room.
Aria looked up and saw one last guard running towards them. She didn't even get a chance to tell him to stop before Edwards shot at him. He dropped to the ground.
And before Aria could stop him, Lex jumped forward towards Edwards.
To Aria's horror, she shot at him too.
His scream echoed around the room as the bullet sliced through his shoulder, just below his clavicle.
"Lex," Aria screamed, running forward to reach him. To shield him.
He didn't fall, but his hand went to his shoulder, coming away bloody.
"Stop it," she screamed at Edwards, standing in front of Lex.
"Aria," he said from behind her.
"That's enough," Katy yelled, moving to stand in front of Aria. "Get your gun away from my daughter!"
Suddenly Warren shot his gun at the ceiling, making all of them shut their mouths.
"Aria, get out of the way," he said, moving towards them.
"No," Aria said.
"He's the king, you say? I'll make this easy. Accept me as your leader, bow before me, pack your shit and get out of here, and I'll let you live."
Lex spit on the ground. "I'm not accepting shit. You want the palace? Take it. Kill me. I bow before no one."
"Have it your way," Warren said, raising his gun.
"Warren! This is madness! Stop this right now," Kieran Hunt yelled. Aria was a little surprised. She didn't know him very well, but he was a complete asshole from what she remembered.
"Stay out of this, Kieran," Warren said.
But Hunt moved to stand in front of Aria and Lex, right beside Katy.
"Think about it. We know this isn't the only place with people. From what Ben said, there are multiple villages around here. More guards. A lot more people. Do you really think they'll stand behind you if they learn that you killed their king?"
Warren paused to consider. "What do you suggest, Kieran?"
Hunt glanced back at Lex, studying him.
"Lock him away, for now. Wait until things settle down. We can decide later," Hunt said.
Warren nodded. He motioned for two of the guards to come forward. "Take him to the dungeon," he said, nodding at Lex.
The two guards pushed Hunt and Katy to the side. Katy reached forward to grab Aria to pull her out of the way, but Aria shifted so that Katy couldn't reach her. There was no way she'd let them take him.
"Aria, please," Katy yelled.
"Move aside, girl," one of the guards said, placing a hand on his gun.
"No," Aria said through gritted teeth.
"I
