The Heir and the Spare

03. Amara's Tale

"Okay, you have five minutes. Talk," I command. I sit back down on my chair, and watch the two men evenly.

I know that I can't fight my way out of here. Especially not with Amara around to diffuse my powers and my will. My only option is to bide my time. They have to be taking me somewhere. Perhaps it would be easier for me to escape from wherever that is.

"I'll need more than that to explain everything. But here's the gist," Kir sits down opposite me, taking a sip from his goblet. "The Masters at the Castle have been gathering children for centuries. They go to war-ravaged villages and look for orphans."

"I know that," I mutter. "So far, your big truth is very disappointing."

He just smiles at that. "They take in orphans, that is true. But they only take in orphans who have abilities and powers. And then, when you kids are old enough and have mastery over your powers, they sell you."

I just stare blankly at him. They...sell us?

"To whom?"

"The highest bidder. And do you know what happens when you get sold?" Kir asks, cocking his head to the left.

I don't answer though. Surely this is all made up. Why would the Masters of the Castle take such good care of us then? Why would they spend the time and the coin to make sure we were happy?

"They sell you and you become a slave. Another cog in the games that the lords of the realm play. Everyone wants soldiers. And they're willing to pay for soldiers with powers," he says.

"I don't believe you," I whisper.

Kir and Dogg exchange a loaded look. Without any verbal cue, Dogg leaves the tent.

"Can I see my friend?"

Kir nods. "You are most welcome to see her. Now that we've saved you from the slavers, you're free. You're not my prisoner."

"I don't understand. You went through all that trouble to save me and yet you'll just let me go?"

"Yes. I would prefer if you let me show you a few things, and if you would come back with me, but you have the gist of it."

He's up to something. Nobody can be that selfless. He wants something. Otherwise, he would have just let me run away earlier.

Before I can think up my next step, Dogg returns with Amara. I tense up. What will she make me do this time?

"I'm not here to hurt you," she says, offering me a kind smile.

"So why are you here?"

"To talk." She takes a seat next to Kir. "I know what must be going through your mind right now. And I don't blame you. This is a very odd situation."

I nod my head.

"You see," she says. "I grew up in the Castle too. Many, many years ago."

I study her face, trying to find any tells that she's lying. It's far too convenient to be the truth.

Kir looks at her tenderly. He reaches for her hand and gives it a little squeeze. She looks down at his hand and smiles slightly.

Amara takes a deep breath and turns her attention back to me. "I wasn't as lucky as you though. I was sold to a Wraith."

I don't know very much about Wraiths. They're a relatively harmless people though. Too small to pose a real threat, too weak to ever threaten any of the other kingdoms. What could they want with someone like Amara?

Amara walks over to me and kneels down by my chair. She reaches for her top and begins unbuttoning it. I blush furiously, averting my gaze.

She pulls off her top, revealing her perfect skin. I barely know where to look. This woman is...amazing. She takes my hand and draws it to her chest. She pulls her hair out of the way and that's when I notice the blemish.

"I was branded," she explains.

The ugly scar feels warm under my fingers.

Kir clears his throat and Amara put her top back on. She moves back to sit by his side. A couple of minutes of silence pass.

"What happened?" I finally ask.

"A week after I turned eighteen, one of the Masters called me to his room. He told me that it was time for me to leave the Castle. He said that I needed to experience what the world was really like," she says.

"I didn't want to leave. I didn't know anything about the outside world. I grew up in the Castle. That was my home and everyone in it was my family. But it was made clear to me that I didn't have much choice in the matter. I thought it might have been because I was getting too old – perhaps it was too costly to look after me when so many children still needed to be taken care of."

As she speaks, I notice Dogg shudder slightly.

"The next day, a man came to the Castle to take me away. The Masters assured me that all would be good and this man was a former child of the Castle. He would look after me. I followed him willingly enough." Her voice breaks slightly. "He took me to what I later learnt was the Wraith kingdom. There, I was thrown in a cell. Undressed, prodded, used, branded and then beaten."

Kir once again takes her hand, squeezing lightly.

"Amara was treated like dirt. And then was used on the enemies of the kingdom. They had her chained up, and whenever they captured an enemy soldier, she was used to seduce and extract information from them. She would then be forced to watch them get tortured and killed," Kir says. "And that's how we found her."

"What happened next?" I demand.

Amara gives me a pained look. "Kir was captured one day. And by this point, it was such routine to me, that I didn't pay very much attention to him. That is, until I couldn't seduce him or get him to tell me anything. I was beaten brutally that night and sent to his cell again the next morning. Over and over and over again, but to no avail. One morning, I heard that he had escaped. Before I could fully process the fact that someone managed to escape the dungeons, I noticed Kir in the corner of my cell."

"I got us out of there," Kir finishes. He smiles slightly.

I sit back in my chair. Could they be telling me the truth?

Maybe what happened to Amara – though incredibly unfortunate – was an outlier. Maybe it was horrible luck?

"You still don't fully believe, do you?" Kir asks, looking slightly annoyed.

"Give her time," Amara says to him. "Her entire belief system is being turned upside down."

Finally, Dogg pipes in. "We have other former Castle children for you to talk to, if you like?"

"But perhaps another day," Kir says. "It's late and all of us need our rest. We need to march out of here at daybreak."

Amara smiles at me and excuses herself.

"Dogg will take you to your friends," Kir says, getting up too.

I reach out and grab his arm without thinking. "Why couldn't she seduce you? Why didn't her power work on you?"

Kir studies me evenly before everything around me goes pitch black. I feel like I'm in a void! I feel cut off from everything! I begin hyperventilating.

But just as quickly as it came on, the darkness disappears, replaced by Kir's emotionless face. "Maybe I'll tell you one day."

He walks off to the far side of the tent. "Dogg will take you to your friends," he repeats.

Dogg walks over to me and takes my arm gently.

I let him lead me out.

What the hell was that?!