Crown Of Ice Ξ Editing

Chapter 21, Nostalgia

Void Icefall

I'm many things. A murderer, a liar, a thief, and a trickster, but I'm no oath-breaker. True to my word, I nod my head at the gray-eyed warrior, showing that I'm ready to unfreeze the Prince.

He smirks, and I give him a good view of my sharpened canines.

The guards walk me to where the Prince is frozen to the ground. I catch his eyes, and he looks away, flinching. Remembering the pain I inflicted on him. I wait for the feeling of guilt and sympathy but don't feel anything except bitterness.

"Remove her chains, but keep two swords to the side of her throat and another aimed at her back." The warrior man orders.

Carefully, one of the guards who seem a bit on the younger side takes out a key and inserts it into my chains. With a turn and click, the chains fall off and hit the ground with a thump.

I flex and move my wrists, easing the stiffness. I watch carefully to see where he returns the key, taking note of his face to remember where and who the key is on.

"Thank you," I murmur, the picture of a sad prisoner grateful for the small relief of no chains.

The young guard's face softens, and he opens his mouth to speak but gets cut off.

"Don't be deceived by her tricks," The warrior man growls. I bite back a laugh, knowing full well the irony of his warning. The warrior man has already fallen for my tricks himself, which is how I was able to talk to Leo one more time.

With a glare from the warrior man, he nods to the guards. The pressure of cold metal lets me know that two swords are now on each side of my neck. The tip of another sword bites into my back, and I'm careful not to make any sudden movements.

One wrong move and my head will be on the floor.

Slowly, I sit down in front of the Prince. Moving my hands towards the Prince, I watch for his reaction. His face is a mask of stone. Only his eyes hint at his discomfort of having me so close to him.

Placing my hand against his mouth, I seep in the ice that's covering his mouth. Once his mouth is unfrozen, I move my hands to his legs. The subtlest of shaking comes from the Prince, almost unnoticeable. Almost.

Once I'm done unfreezing him completely, the guards quickly up the chains back on, to my dislike.

The swords are removed from my neck and back. The Prince takes a big breath in, moving his now unfrozen limbs.

"Time to teach you a lesson, Assassin. King's orders." The warrior man states. I might have imagined it, but I heard a hint of sympathy in his voice.

"And I'll do it for his Highness since he's still weak from the ice." He adds with a wicked smile. Yeah, nevermind about the hint of sympathy.

Taking his heads-up, I put myself into a state of mind where I'm numb to everything. The same feeling I get when I'm doing a mission.

So when the guards grab my arms and force me into a kneeling position, I'm already prepared. The warrior man is in front of me now, his hands in a fist, his face a sneer.

The Prince has been moved to my right to get a good view of what I'm pretty sure will be a beating.

I focus my attention on his face. The Prince meets my eyes and doesn't look away this time. I focus on him like he's my lifeline.

A hard punch to the gut, another to the right side of my face. A kick to my ribs, then another and another. A crack echoes into the air, and I hear it with heightened focus. The slightest of throbs lets me know I have a few broken ribs.

The warrior man continues. He grabs my right arm and cracks it into an unnatural angle. Keeping the pain at bay is getting harder, but I keep my focus.

The Prince watches all of it, though his gaze always returns to my face.

A few more punches, kicks, and cracks later, the warrior man stops. He tries to hide it, but I can see the surprise on his face. He's probably wondering how I haven't screamed or begged for mercy yet.

"Is that all you've got?" I ask with a smirk, though my gaze stays on the Prince.

Rage contorts the warrior man's face, but he doesn't hit me again, to my surprise.

"Don't worry, that was only the start. You'll get the rest later." He growls before ordering the guards to put me away and leaving the room.

With the beating over, I look away from the Prince, no longer needing him to focus on. He tries to catch my gaze again, but I don't meet his eyes.

The guards blindfold me, then drag me to wherever they're taking me. The pain from my broken ribs, arm, and other injuries makes it hard to stay conscious. I try counting the turns as we go, but the blissful relief of sleep continues to pull at me.

Not having the strength to fight against it any longer, I slip into the realm of sleep.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wake up to a stone ceiling. I sit up with a start, pain like lighting pulsing all over my body. Scanning my surroundings, I find myself in an all too familiar dungeon. A barred window, along with a barred door, the only exits in the solid room.

This place is almost exactly like the one in the Hostiles kingdom. I wonder if the same architects made both dungeons.

It's like I'm nine again, waking up to a dungeon and the pain of being beaten up. I feel something like nostalgia, though maybe not the good kind.

This time though, no chains are on my wrists or ankles. I call up my power, and it surges in me but stays there. Looking around, I realize the walls and floor are made of the same material the chains were made of.

It's the crystal-like stone that keeps my powers at bay.

Noting that I'll have to use wits instead of power to get out of here, I take in what I might be able to use.

I'm sitting on a cot, and other than a bucket, which I could use to knock someone out, I guess, the room is empty. With a spark of remembrance, I find the pocket where I put the half-used tranquilizer dart. I breathe out a sigh of relief when I find the small, solid object still where I left it.

Happy that I have at least one and a half weapons at my disposal, if you include the bucket, I decide to see if I have any neighbors.

I try to stand up, but my injured body screams at me to stop and rest. The door is so close yet so far away. Still depleted of energy, I put aside the idea of crawling to the door.

Unable to use my powers, much less move, I lay back on the cot.

Staring at the ceiling, I wonder about how I get into these situations.

′If only I was normal,′ I muse.