Let Me Hold You //Apply Fic//

//chapter .14//

Kai waded through the thick grasses, barely able to see above it as she tripped and stumbled across the hem of her burgundy skirt, and though the dress was extravagant, it offered little protection against the sting and whip of grass and leaves.

She nibbled on her lip as she rose to her tip toes in an attempt to see further, but saw nothing but the mesmerizing wave of grasses. Surely she wasn't alone out here, right? Mr. James had said it was a game, of sorts. All games had plots, had reasons, had characters. There was no reason to think she was the only one out here, right?

Rustling. Kai whipped her head around, but saw nothing but the wind touched bend of stalks, and so, so much grass.

Again! Kai inhaled sharply and spun in a quick circle, but saw nothing. "H-hello?" Her voice quavered when she spoke, and the fragility of it startled her. "Is anyone out there?" She tried, and to her relief, the words sounded much stronger this time.

A hissing sound whistled through the grass, sending shivers up and down her arms. "Dependsssss. Do you want usssss to be out here?"

Kai choked on a breath and drew her arms around herself in a feeble form of protection. "Who's out there? Show yourself! I demand it." She tried to push every ounce of command into the words, but it sounded lacking, even to her own ears.

There was a hand across her mouth, something cold scraping across her neck, lips brushing against her ear as they hissed. "Are you sure you want to see your fate, Princess?"

The voice was threatening, but could not hide the silken tones woven through. Kai's tension laxed at the sound of it, the cadences and subtleties of it entrancing her.

She took a deep breath, and the spell snapped around her, shattered glass and the faint fragrance of roses, as Kai thrust her arm back into the man's chest, a satisfying groan choking out of him as he stumbled away, and she spun, her other elbow connecting with his nose with a sharp crunch.

His body hit the ground with a reverberating thud, and Kai pressed two fingers to her own neck, wincing at the pain from the knife blade that had dragged across her skin as he fell. She took a step forward to retrieve his knife, when her eyes caught on his face.

Kai's knees buckled, and she hit the ground beside him, eyes wide as she stared at that face, that face that she knew all too well.

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Juno stumbled blindly out of the castle, clutching his sack of food and supplies to his chest. He knew it was full, of course, but with the logics of the simulation, it lay limply against his chest, only fabric and empty space. Oh how he wished that just a portion of all he had could break that coding, that he might have something to cling to in this moment.

Blair had drove him from the castle. No. Not Blair. Blair would never do such a thing, even if he did not call Juno a friend yet. It looked like Blair, spoke like Blair, but those words, those actions, this person was a shadowy reflection of the true one that Juno had barely known.

He needed to get away from the castle, and fast. Though this Not Blair had locked himself in his chambers upon pushing Juno away, he could change his mind at any instant and hunt Juno down, and he would be helpless to the might of the prince.

He shouldn't have agreed to plug in. He should have fought against Mr. James, should have done something. Not for the first time, Juno let his mind sink into the endless outcomes this little game could have spit the others into.

One of them had to be the princess, and he had to find her. That, Juno was sure of.

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