Hypermutant

Chapter 8 | The Sanatorium of Lagumi ne Crisho

Even on the tip of my toes, I can't see anything. Giving up, I push through the throng of people, trying to ignore the lingering taste of vomit on my tongue. A poik couple darts glares at me as I force my way through them, but their attention is consumed by the mutual fury towards the royal family.

"IS HE A CROSSBREED?" someone shouts over the rest, so loud it must be an agumi. The surrounding crowd roars in disgust, their fiery protests spreading.

Lip curled, I try to push him out of the way too, maybe with a little more force than necessary. Barely acknowledging me, he shoves me against a group of girls, who squeal and push me off them. In the back and forth, and with my balance already non-existent, I fall to the ground and have to crawl under a table to protect myself from the stomping of the Rialloran mob.

The ground trembles, and the prince cowers behind the princess. Only one of his eyes is visible over her shoulder, round with pure terror. I crawl along the length of the table for a better look. Princess Valaia tries to calm him down, but he shakes his head, curls bouncing on his head. I know that more than anything he wants to run, but we've done too much running for far too long, and this is the end of what we once knew.

"Does he not speak?" someone asks.

Queen Eril sighs as she rises to her feet. "Nie," she admits, shoulders drooping. "He does not speak; he's mute."

"How convenient," someone spits. The shouting picks up again.

"Where's the king? What's he got to say on the matter?"

"The king is away at this time..." The queen takes a breath and somehow finds me in the mess of her most valued guests. As she holds my gaze, I try to convey that I'm still with her with a nod. She returns it with a hand on her chest. "I know things don't look well at this time. The king has come across some complications regarding the draeken in Zraeshix... Sinashi emkirgu, I hope we can settle this in a civilized manner. Ponvaz, I will make an official statement. For now, please remember he's just a child, and you're scaring him."

Despite her best intentions, this sparks another wave of shouting from the mob as they tell her he wouldn't be scared or in this situation at all if she hadn't kept him hidden.

A heavy feeling grows in my chest, my heart picks up speed, my gaze pulled towards the boy behind Valaia. The prince's gaze locks on mine. Tears glisten in his pale green eyes, and even though he's never spoken in my presence, I can almost hear him scream, Help me! I don't know what to do, but my limbs act before coherent thoughts can form.

I leave safety under the table and a guard jumps in front of me, shoves me back. My hip hits the edge of the table and I fall to the floor yet again. Wind knocked out of me, I stay there until I've caught my breath.

Vram's incoherent swears are audible through the roaring of the crowd. Someone lifts me to my feet like a puppet as he pushes through the crowd.

"Nientsai, Ma'istis," the guard starts. "I didn't recognize—"

"Shove it up your ass, irokku," Vram spits.

"'Is his own fault," the guard shoots back, chest puffed up. "Wha's he thinkin' runnin' in like that?" Even with the solid argument, though, he shrinks away from Vram's unwavering glare. "Nientsai," he repeats.

"Vun," Vram says, pulling me by the elbow. Once outside, he takes a deep breath. "Dekyo'ya veisen."

"Yoz bie," I lie and drop my hand from my throbbing hip, shrugging off his grip from my other arm. "I still need to find Morq."

"Look at the state of this place," Vram says over the shouting pouring out the open doors. He puts a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "We'll send him a message. Ponvas, the sooner we get there the better."