Luminescence

Twenty-two.

Swiftly, I get onto one knee.

"Much better." An evil smile stretches across his face as he sits his fat ass back on the throne. "So tell me, my boy. Why did you send an entire fleet of ships out to that small skirmish?"

"I showed them who was boss," I say, my voice deep and filled with anger. "They should have never attempted to capture our base."

"What about the mutant girl?" He questions. "Did you finally kill her?"

"She is heavily wounded. I left her on the field barely breathing so she would know to never come out of her pathetic hiding spot again." I was lying straight through my teeth, but I sounded believable.

"You're telling me..." King Red mutters and pauses, rubbing his face in anguish. "You risked hundreds of Plague lives to put out that small flame, yet you didn't kill her?!" He rages.

"They were about to steal our base that contains our strongest of military weapons!" I claim fighting back. "You think I was going to kill—"

"SILENCE!" He orders, and the whole room falls dead quiet. Nothing remained but his harsh words echoing off the walls. He begins to walk down the steps to his throne, taking painfully slow steps as his eyes didn't leave mine once. He was just twenty feet away from me now, and it was just enough for him to analyze me completely.

"That tear on your shirt," he says as calmly as possible. "There's blood around it, yet no wound."

My heart skipped a beat. I forgot to change my shirt from where I was healed by Mara earlier.

"Yes, King Red. The girl tried to stab me as a last effort, but only managed to slice the fabric of my shirt. She stained her blood all over me."

He stays silent, as I hoped whoever was watching over me would protect me. The lie was half effort, but I think he believed it.

"She healed you." The words came out of his mouth so deeply I could barely register them. A feeling of unease had risen in my chest. How on Earth could he tell? Was he able to see the past? "If her blood was spilled on you, it would be in a handprint or a splatter pattern."

"I can assure you, King Red. That is what happened on the battlefield—"

"She's trying turn you to the Rebel side, against me." He paces back and forth, putting the puzzle pieces together. I knew I was in deep shit. There was no getting out of this one, especially when Red was a man that didn't like when people challenged his beliefs. "You... you like her. So much to the point where you're willing to give up your hidden identity to be with her."

"Where are you getting this bullshit from?" I question angrily, trying to sound as intimidating as possible. I stand my ground, still slightly shocked at how he was able to come out with the surprisingly truthful conclusion.

King Red sighs, before turning around in his position and heading back towards his throne. "I am sorry, Commander. But the next action I an about to take is for your own good." He gets up and walks out a door next to his throne, leaving me with nothing but my heightened senses. Someone, or something was in this room with me.

I hardly have time to react as a soft click came from behind me, when an excruciating pain shot through every nerve in my body. It felt like the world's largest taser was being used on me. My limbs trembled uncontrollably, as I fell to the ground in pure anguish. I tried to move, but my body wouldn't respond.

My brain then became foggy. I couldn't think any rational thought as I felt three pairs of hands on me, dragging me to reform like a toy doll.

Whatever reform Red had planned surely wasn't going to be forgiving. And my last thought was one I had never expected to think.