Kings and Thieves

﴾15♦Too Well ﴿

 The sun was strong overhead, shining brightly down on me and burning my skin with its intense heat. The strong blue colored sky, surrounded by a ring of green hovered above me. I spread my arms out, soaking up all the energy and light. The air felt so much healthier than it did back in Belleview, clearer than anything I've ever felt. I felt free.

"So is this what you wanted to do? Just stand on a rooftop until you burn your skin?" Nix asked beside me, his hands in his pockets as he analyzed me with his head tilted and an unimpressed expression on his face.

I let my arms fall to my sides as I turned to him. "You didn't have to come, you know." He shrugged. "It just feels incredible. Something about the air around here that feels... open. In the forest, it always felt trapped, like something was constantly pressing down on it." I looked up at the cloudless sky. "I'm just relishing in the feeling." I felt his eyes on me but I didn't react. Instead, I turned around and walked to the edge of the rooftop, looking out at the city.

Houses and buildings filled nearly every corner. Domed buildings, surrounded the large castle in the center, one every mile around it. The glassed domes reflected the sun perfectly, blinding those looking at them, but I kept my eyes on them. They were different from the other buildings in the city. They were brand new, sparkling in the summer heat, while the others were old and worn out, their inner structures exposed by the peeling paint on the walls.

"Those are the armories."Nix stepped up besides me, following my gaze. "Gadreel had them made a couple years after he overthrew the King. But my intel tells me there's more to them than that." I tilted my head, shifting my gaze to him. "They tell me there's an underground part of the building, that only certain lieutenants, Royals, those closest to Gadreel, are allowed in. We haven't been able to break through the security. Yet." I nodded, taking in that information for later.

I crossed my arms over my chest, looking over the horizon. The sky melted into a blast of colors of blue, red and purple. I followed the clouds to the borders of the city, the blast of colors turning into a horrid green mixture. A perfect circle lined the edges of the city, trapping the beautiful view.

I sighed heavily and nodded. "Okay, let's go." I threw my hood over my head and began scaling down the building. I looked up and found Nix watching me apprehensively. "Come on, I'll catch you if you fall." I called out with a teasing smile. He glared before starting his trek down the wall.

His feet hit the ground and I smirked up at him. "That wasn't so bad was it?" He glared once more before throwing his hood over his head and following me.

We took our time walking up and down the streets, visiting shops and bars as we kept our belongings safe. The noise of the crowd reached volumes I'd only ever heard in the Black Market and I winced slightly when we passed a merchant who had been screaming at the top of his lungs saying "Get your cabbages here!" as he walked around with a cart filled with cabbages.

"It's times like these I miss the forest." I murmured, watching the man continue yelling at another passerbyer. Nix chuckled by my side eyeing the same man.

"Never a quiet moment." We turned a corner and crashed into a wall. Nix caught me by the arms before I fell to the ground. I looked up to find 3 guards, looking down at me hungrily.

"Well aren't you a pretty little thing." One of them, with a scar on his cheek, said and I realized my hood had fallen, revealing the perfect mask.

"Such a nice little doll aren't ya." Another, with a busted lip said reaching out to touch my cheek. I flinched out of his way, keeping the innocent girl facade.

"Please, we don't want any trouble." Nix said pulling me into his side. "My sister and I were just on our way home." I hid under his arm as we shuffled back, noticing the group of people who started circling us to watch in curiosity.