The lengthy dungeon corridor echoed with the hollow sound of Taileen's footsteps. She fought to stifle a yawn, but it was a lost cause. She'd barely gotten a wink of sleep last night, burdened by the task her father had given her. All she could do was stare at the ceiling, frozen with fear, and remember the pure rage in his eyes. Some Commander I'm turning out to be. I'm an embarrassment to the entire kingdom.
The truth was, Taileen wasn't scared of Paolin or Sabin – or even Marithyda, for that matter. Her greatest fear for as long as she could remember was leaving the safety of the castle. The farthest she'd ever gone were the fields on the other side of Lake Heylweay, and people started to notice. Princess Recluse, they'd call her.
Poor dear; she's been all bent up ever since she lost her mother.
The poor thing is heartbroken over losing Prince Markus.
They could choose whichever reason they liked best; she didn't much care. But every time she ventured to step outside of her room, her haven, the words her father had ingrained in her mind froze her with dread.
Don't you know what they'll do to you if they realize you're like them? You'll be murdered just like your mother. People out there hate you, Taileen. Stay here, where I can take care of you.
When Taileen snapped out of her racing thoughts, she realized that she'd already passed the cell door. Doubling back, she stopped in front of room 353. She gripped the key in her clammy hand and took a deep breath. She could be weak on her own when no one was watching, but she'd be damned if she ever let a Touched piece of rubbish see her vulnerable.
When she entered the room, it took a while for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. And—Oh Seas, what is that smell? She covered her mouth with her hand and attempted not to retch.
"Wait ... Princess?" Came a weak voice out of the darkness. She finally saw a human-shaped blur against the far corner. "Princess Taileen?"
"Why aren't there any lights in this Seas-forsaken place?" She complained, trying to feel her way along the wall.
"You're telling me."
When Taileen drew nearer to the performer, she couldn't help but feel shocked. She remembered watching Paolin as he hosted the Exposition. Even then, she couldn't help but feel impressed by his poise. His coal-lined eyes had gazed defiantly into the audience, daring them to keep watching, and his shockingly white hair trailed down his back like a veil woven from snow.
But this ... this couldn't be the same person.
Someone had shorn off all of his hair so that it grew close to his head in unkempt locks. Barely healed cuts lined themselves along his arms, neck, and face. No pity for monsters, Taileen reminded herself.
"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Paolin said with a half-scathing little bow.
"The King sent me here with a proposition for you, Maxx. And by proposition, I mean command."
Paolin's forehead wrinkled. "What did he do to you? Are you alright?"
Taileen's head spun. All at once, she remembered that Paolin hadn't been at the arena when Marithyda Snapped. He had no idea about what Taileen had done, or what she'd revealed about herself. To him, she was still the innocent girl in the castle gardens.
And she decided she was going to keep it that way as long as she could, which meant she had to switch her tactics fast. Tough and vengeful wasn't going to get her very far. She softened her voice.
"Of course I'm alright. I'm the new Commander, in case you haven't heard."
"Oh," Paolin said, and Taileen watched the walls spring up inside of him. He shook his head. "I need to know where Laila is."
"The charade is over, Maxx. We know it was Marithyda Skyelorn in disguise all along." The look of horror that passed over Paolin's face was almost comical to Taileen. Did he really fool himself into thinking she'd never be caught?
"Where is she? Was she ...?" He gulped, unable to finish the sentence.
"Killed?" Taileen finished. "No, we aren't all so fortunate. She and Carthage managed to escape from the dungeons last night with help from a traitorous guard."
"Sabin is alive..." Paolin muttered. "Princess—I mean, Commander—what happened during the last act of the Exposition?"
Taileen remembered it like a blur: tying up Marithyda beneath the stage; torturing Sabin with his own power; the witch bursting up from the stage floor, wreaking havoc on all of the soldiers; Benjamin, struck down by the witch's dagger ...
"None of that matters now," she said, and she wished it were true. "The reality is, Marithyda Skyelorn is still alive and on the run. That's not acceptable."
"Wow." Paolin whistled and raked a hand through his bedraggled hair. "Now I think I understand why you're here. You want me to track her down again, don't you?"
"Precisely."
"Well, you must be mistaken, then, Princess," Paolin spat, crossing his arms. "Because there's no way I'd ever do that."
Better now than never. Taileen closed her eyes and tapped into the well of her magic, which had sat dormant for so long, and directed it towards Paolin. She gasped out loud against her own volition.
Every time she ever used her magic – which wasn't many times – it surprised Taileen how ... good it felt. It was simultaneously a release, a connection, a way to scratch an impossible itch. Taileen balled her hands into fists until her nails dug into her palm, drunk with power. To be so completely in control of someone else's body, an intricately-made living thing ...
Effortlessly, Taileen imagined Paolin clambering to his feet. And he did.
"Wha—?" Paolin said, alarmed. She flipped her hand and forced him to walk over to the opposite wall. She could almost feel the sharp aches shooting up his legs, as though they were her own. "What the hell is going on?"
Taileen forced herself to release him, but it was hard. When the tether fell, she felt for a moment as if a part of her were missing, and then her face blushed with shame. She wasn't like the rest of them; she didn't want her magic.
Didn't she?
"Surprise," she said.
"You're Touched!" He spluttered. She tensed for a moment, bracing herself for the barrage of hatred her father had told her to expect. However, he just stared at her in wonder. "How long have you known?"
She quickly changed the subject, feeling off-kilter. Why wasn't he screaming curses at her, telling her what a hypocritical monster she was?
"Maxx, you have no choice but to accompany me on my pursuit of Marithyda Skyelorn and Sabin Carthage. If you refuse, mark my words: I will do something much worse to you. We leave this evening." Before Taileen lost her nerve, she walked over to the cell door.
"I really thought you were different from the rest," Paolin muttered, staring up at her with a look that she instantly wanted to forget. Even in the dark, his blue eyes shone like Lake Heylweay in Summertime. She diverted her eyes from his scarred face.
"You thought wrong." The door swung shut behind her.
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