Landing firmly on the ground, in his court I push myself away from Kazimir. My stomach is extremely unhappy with me and I barely have time to turn before I'm heaving. My hair is being pulled back from my face and his voice states from above me, "It's alright, everyone's first time folding makes them sick. You'll get used to it once you learn the skill."
Wiping the vomit from my mouth, I stand and shove his hand away, "I'm sorry what? Folding? What is that?" Kazimir stares at me, his eyes taking me in appraising me. "That is a discussion for a later time. For now, you are to head to your room and sleep. We will reconvene tomorrow for breakfast. I'll send Arrow in to wake you up."
He places his hands behind his back, and begins to walk away. Blinking at his retreating figure, I heave my bag over my shoulder again then trail after him. Taking in my surroundings.
The palace is what I expected it to be, shades of black, dark red and silver. The exterior has a main gate that's made of iron. It's like those old-wrought iron gates I always read about in fantasy books, big and imposing. The tops of the metal spires end in spaded tips.
Beyond the gates is obsidian cobblestones, leading towards a large palace, with three large towers. There's stain glassed windows on the upper levels, and huge windows on the lower level. The palace itself is made of dark stone with some exposed brick. There's a porch and some balconies on the upper levels. The palace is huge, unending. The land surrounding it is surprisingly nice, trees, grass, the sound of birds chirping. But there's still a stillness to it, a lack of something.
Catching up to Kazimir I ask, "Who's Arrow?" He replies without stopping, "The servant I've assigned to you. She will take care of you while you're a guest here." I hate the word servant, but I keep my mouth shut.
I take in the surroundings some more, marking all exits and entrances, any advantage points to this building. Anything that I could use in case I needed to flee. Upon entering the gates, we are greeted by what I assume is a butler. The male bows to Kazimir, "Good evening Lord Morningsong. I assume the travel was pleasant enough?" Kazimir nods, "It was fine, thank you Tam." Tam bows once more, then looks at me, his eyes a dark brown and pale skin, along with brown hair. He doesn't look much older than me, but who knows with High Fae, they age differently. While my mother explained that I was born to High fae status, I was not gifted with the immortality that they were. Which means that I age like a human does. I hate that I have that difference, but no one ever treated me like less than because of it.
I also haven't had any inkling of magic or power over the years, it's still dormant. Sighing, I give Tam a brief nod before following after his High Lord. Upon entering the palace, Kazimir turns to me and states, "You room is on the second floor, third door to the left. All that you need is waiting for you there. I'll see you in the morning."
Then he turns and disappears down the hallway. "Rude. I don't even know my way around this godforsaken place." Grumbling, I walk up the stairs till I reach the second level, then proceed to the third door on the left. Opening it, I take in the room.
It lacks colour and vibrancy. The shades in here are varing shades of silver, dark blue and black. The walls are painted a dark blue with silver trim, the bed is black iron with silver bedding. The comfortor is also silver with black stitching and small blue flowers embroidered into it. The pillows are black. The desk, chair, and nightstand are a dark silver with black knobs. Everything in this room just feels depressing.
The large window in my room, leads to a balcony, at least that's one similarity that this room has to my old one. The curtains are white. The only shade of white in here.
Placing my duffle bag on the bed, I open the large glass doors that lead to the balcony and step out into the night.
Everything smells wrong. It's more earthy tones here than at home. At home I smelled spring and sweets, here I smell pine and bergamot. It's more spice than sugar. I've been staring off at the property before me when I hear a creaking from behind me. Without turning around I call out, "It's rude to sneak up on someone."
Footsteps approach and a gravelly voice speaks, "Sorry miss. I was sent to check in on you. To see if you'd settled in for the night." Turning I see the woman behind me. She has long white hair, with caramel brown eyes, golden skin and pointed ears. The marking of a fae, but it seems that she's of lower class. She's beautiful but seems too sunny for this place. "Who are you?" The woman bows, "Apologies miss, my name is Arrow. I am to care for you while you're here. Anything you need I'm here for you, just shout." I blink. The way she acts, like she's trapped here to be a servant. I don't like it.
"Thank you, Arrow."
"You're welcome Miss Alinac."
"It's Althea, but you can call me Thea." Arrow blinks at me. "Yes, sorry Thea." "No need to apologize, it's quite alright."
Arrow stands there quietly, her feet shuffling uncertainly. "Do you need anything? Miss Althea" I shake my head no, then walk back into the room closing the doors behind me. Arrow walks around the room, unpacking my bag and organzing my things. I watch her curiously, wondering what it must be like to live here.
"Arrow?" I ask, she turns to me her ears perking up, "Yes Miss Althea?" "It's just Thea, please." She nods, "How many women have you helped while you've been here?"
Arrow's eyes darken, her demeanor changing instantly. She whispers, "That is not for me to discuss. But I have helped many. Too many." I simply nod, and thank her for helping me. Then I bid her goodnight and change into a disgustingly showy pair of dark blue pjs, before sliding under the soft sheets and to my shock, passing out within minutes of my head hitting the pillow.
⤗
"Althea? Miss, it's time to wake up." A gravelly voice slips into the blissful fog I was in. Groaning, I roll over and throw the covers over my head, "Go away." I grumble, the voice chuckles softly, "I'm sorry miss. But it's time to get up, breakfast will be ready soon." Sighing, I open my eyes and squint at the early light of day. Sitting up slowly, I rub my eyes blearily, then turn to the woman standing by the edge of my bed, "What time is it?" Slowly my surroundings come back to me, the dark bedroom, the lack of colour. The weird smells. It wasn't a dream then, this is real. I'm actually here, in the Dark Court.
"It's 6:30am Miss." Groaning, I run my hands through my hair then turn to her again, her name comes back to me as the sleepy fog vanishes. "Arrow, why so early?" "That is when Lord Morningsong likes to eat and you are being requested at the table."
Sighing, I throw the covers back, toss my legs over the edge of the bed then stand and stretch. Arrow walks towards my closet and hands me some clothes, before turning her back to me. It reminds me of Rosemary. I miss her. I take the lacy undergarments, and put them on, rolling my eyes at the absurdity of it. Then I take the black silken leggings, that hug my figure and pair them with a silveryblue top. I slip on a pair of shoes, brush my hair and style it loosely, spray myself with some body mist that smells of jasmine and peppermint, I miss my peony smell; then apply some lip gloss and turn to Arrow. "How do I look?" She turns to me and smiles, "Like a dream Thea." I smile at her, I think she'll grow on me. If she's the only good thing about this place, I think I'll be fine with that.
"Thank you, shall we proceed to breakfast?" Arrow nods and strides for the door. I follow her.
Slipping into the hallway, I notice several other doors along this hallway. "What's behind all of these?" Arrow smiles, "It's the chambers of the other participants that are to compete in our Lord's tournaments." The thought of there being others not only makes me nauseous, but a little jealous too. Which I find absurd considering I hate the guy. "Oh." Is all I say.
"You will meet the others later today." I nod and follow after Arrow, striding down the corridor and quietly down the stairs. Upon entering the main floor, she turns left and guides me to a large open space. In this room the door is shaped like an arch, with high mahogany ceilings, dark brown wooden tables and chairs, large stained glass windows, and paintings along the walls. This room is weirdly beautiful for the gloomy appearance of the court. "Breakfast will be in here, Lord Morningsong will join you in a moment."
Then Arrow bows and slips out of the room, throwing a wink over her shoulder at me. Alone in the quiet room, I walk towards the art murals, examining them. The colours and brush strokes are amazing, I've never seen anything like them before. They're exquisite.
I must say, for a dark lord he has good taste in art.
"Beautiful aren't they?" I startle at his voice, I didn't even hear him come in. "Oh, you frightened me." I say as I place a hand over my hammering heart. Kazimir bows his chin slightly, "Apologizes, I'm known for being quiet. Didn't mean to startle you." Turning to meet his stare, I notice how bright his eyes look in this light with the colours from the stained glass hitting them. "They are. I've never seen anything like them and I've studied art for quite a while in my lifetime." He tilts his head to the side, "You enjoy art?" I nod, "Yes very. It's actually a passion of mine, I draw all the time and-" I cut myself off when I realize I'm babbling to this stranger who kidnapped me from my own home. Clearing my throat I throw my walls back up, making sure my eyes look like steel. "Yes, they're beautiful." I murmur again.
Lord Kazimir huffs softly, "You're distrustful of me."
"Yes." I admit. "I don't blame you, but if I were to wish you harm, it would have happened already. You're not a prisoner, Althea you're a guest in my home." I blink at him, my turn to tilt my head to the side and cross my arms over my chest. "We'll see." Kazimir smirks then extends a hand towards the table, motioning for me to join him. I follow and take a seat with one space between us. Close enough to defend myself should he attack, but enough space to have distance should I need to bolt.
He clocks my choice. "Smart. You're strategic, I like it. Picking up on the right amount of space to protect yourself while still having the advantage. Intelligent, spunky, and beautiful. You are intriguing Althea Alinac." Kazimir settles into his seat, the door at the end of the room opening and a line up of people enter. Plates of food are placed on the table ranging from eggs, to toast, meat, sausage, bacon, ham, to pancakes, fruits, juice and tea. It all looks delicious, but who knows if he's poisoned it.
Once the people leave, I stare at the plate of food before me; uncertain. Kazimir sighs, "It's not poisoned my dear. Now eat, you must be healthy for the upcoming tournaments." I frown, watch him take a bite of food and when he doesn't fall over foaming at the mouth, I decide to try a small bite.
The food is exquisite. My mouth salivates instantly.
"I presume it's to your liking by the little noises you're making." I feel mortified. My cheeks burning with shame, but the high lord simply laughs, "No need to feel shame, it's endearing."
He's being nice. Why?
"You're being awfully nice to me, why?" I echo my earlier thought. He sighs once more, "As I mentioned earlier, you're a guest here. I treat all my guests with respect."
"Yeah until you kill or torture them." I mutter. To my shock Kazimir bursts out laughing. He has a beautiful laugh, deep and melodic, captivating. "That's what you think?" "Yes. Everyone knows about your history, your cruelty and wickedness. Everyone knows about your reign and the shit that's happened since you took power." I blink, even if I only learned about this three years ago, everyone else knew. Everyone in my home knew of his evilness. Anytime his name was mentioned they'd blanch from fear.
To my surprise Lord Kazimir frowns at my words, but he doesn't reply. Instead the room falls into silence. I catch myself admiring the paintings again, trying to pinpoint the artist.
"It's of fae origin. You probably won't know the artist." Before I can say anything, there's a knock at the door, Kazimir's deep "Come in" breaks the slight trance I was falling into. The door opens and a male walks in. He's just as dark and beautiful as Kazimir is. The second male bows to Kazimir, then turns his attention to me. Tall, broad shouldered, same strong features at Lord Kazimir, but instead of black hair he has dark brown and instead of amber eyes his are a fierce blue.
"Who is this pretty thing sitting at our table?" His words make my skin crawl. Sitting up straight, I regard the second male with uncertainty. He pulls out a chair right across from me and plops into it. Never once taking his eyes off me.
"Please excuse my dimwit of a brother, he lacks manners sometimes. Althea this is my brother Augustus. Augustus this is Lady Althea from the Kingdom of Dawn." Augustus keeps staring at me, his eyes never once leaving my face. I blink, lower my fork then fold my hands neatly over my lap.
"Did anyone ever tell you not to stare? It's rude." Augustus leans back in his seat, finally removing his eyes from me to look at his brother. "I like this one, she's got a fire in her." He turns his attention back to me and licks his lips. I hate the way he's looking at me.
"Yes, I already know that. Please stop staring at our guest, you're making her uncomfortable."
"I'm not. I'm not making you uncomfortable am I sweetie?" The way he speaks to me, like I'm a child aggravates me. I ignore him trying to let my anger simmer away, but Augustus keeps talking.
"I don't think I'm making her uncomfortable. You see this is my home too, I'm allowed to say and do as I please. If I'm intrigued by the pretty thing before me, I'm allowed to be. She can't stop me, she has no say here. And you're certainly not gonna stop me, are you Kaz?" The way he's talking about me, like I'm not even here is appalling. The more I listen the angrier I get.
"Right, I didn't think so. Now, do I get some time with the pretty lady or is she part of your games? Cause I was thinking I take some time to get to know her properly if you know what I mean." He says it with a wink thrown in my direction.
The grip I had over my anger snaps.
In one solid motion, I grab my butter knife, launch to my feet and slam the knife down through the back of his hand. Augustus roars in pain.
"You stupid bitch!"
"If you ever, and I mean EVER talk about me like that; you'll get more than a knife stabbed through you. I am not a piece of property that you can toy with as you please. I am a person with emotions and a name, I have a life and a home. You don't know who you're messing with, so I suggest you be more careful with what you say."
Augustus stares at me, his eyes wide at my outburst. My chest is heaving, I'm not a violent person but I just couldn't hold my anger in any longer.
Standing up, I push away from the table. "Aren't you going to remove the knife?" I pause and glance over my shoulder, glaring at Augustus, "You're a big boy, you remove it." Then I turn and stride from the room, the sound of Augustus's complaints and Kazimir's laughter echoing far behind me.
⤗
It takes me about an hour to recollect myself after the disaster that was breakfast. Both Morningsong brothers are awful but Augustus might be slightly worse than Kazimir. After leaving the breakfast hall behind me, I rushed outside of the palace to get some fresh air. The early morning smells calming me almost instantly, I've been sitting on the front steps of the palace of almost an hour when I hear footsteps approach me. They pause a few steps behind me then I hear his voice, "There you are. I was looking for you."
"Well you found me." I say, still slightly snippy. The lord of bloodshed approaches and pauses next to me, "May I sit?" I don't look at him when I reply, "It's your home and you're asking me if you can sit? That's absurd. But yes, you may." He sits gracefully next to me. The silence we enter is tense but it's broken by me asking, "Why where you looking for me?"
"I wanted to apologize for my brother's behaviour. He's younger than I am, but also a brute. He believes that he owns the place and can do as he pleases. I must say, I haven't seen many stand up to him like that before. I think you bruised his pride."
"Good. He needed to be knocked down a peg or two."
Kazimir snorts, then turns to me, I meet his stare. "I'm sorry for Augustus." I shrug, "I'm sorry I stabbed him."
"No you're not." I smile softly at Kazimir, "No. You're right, I'm not. Not even a little." The high lord pauses when he sees my smile, which causes it to vanish instantly, "What?"
"I've just never seen you smile before. It's beautiful." I raise an eyebrow at him wondering what his angle is. "Are you trying to smooth talk me, to get in my good graces?" Kazimir blinks at me, "Of course not. Though I like how perceptive you are. It's a good quality to have."
"Can I ask you something High Lord?" He blinks at me, before nodding, "You can call me Kaz if you wish, no need for extreme formalities." I pause, considering it, "If I call you Kaz then that means we're friends, which we are not. So I'll stick with formalties for now." He sighs, "Very well. What is it you wanted to know?"
I pause, considering how to format my question. Finally I look away and ask, "Why did you pick me? I'm not a High fae, I have fae blood in my veins and was raised as royalty but I don't have the immortality like you or my parents. I have no magic that I can see. I'm basically human. I'm nothing special. So why me?" His silence unnerves me, causing me to turn my attention back to him.
Kazimir's eyes look like violent storms. He stands up briskly, stuffing his hands in his pockets, then strides away from me. His shift in attitude gives me whiplash. Just before he enters the palace, Kazimir turns to me and says, "You are to meet the other participants in two hours time. Arrow will guide you on where to go. Don't be late." Then he disappears into the shadows of his home, leaving me wondering what I said that could have possibly made him so angry.
Later, when it's time to meet the other girls, Arrow comes to find me. I haven't left my spot on the front step since Kazimir left. When she finds me, my ass has gone numb. "It's time to meet the others." I nod then turn to lok at her, "Arrow, could you help me up? I've been sitting here for too long and I've lost feeling in my lower half." She huffs at me, but extends her hands and pulls me up. Once I've got my legs balanced beneath me, I let go of her hands and nod my thanks. Following Arrow into the palace, we walk passed the eating area, down the hallway and take a right. There we walk down a flight of stairs to what I believe is the basement. My skin begins to feel chilled, nervousness creeps along my throat.
Is this where I die? No, it can't be. Arrow pauses at the bottom of the steps and opens a plain wooden door on her left. Once it's creaked open, she steps aside and motions for me to enter it. I raise an eyebrow but she gives me a smile, "You're safe still. I promise." For some reason I believe her.
Entering the room, I pause in the darkness of it. There's no light and it feels stuffy here. What have I gotten myself into? Suddenly the lights click on, and I'm blinded for a second. When my vision adjusts I take in the room. There's white concrete walls, with wooden floors. The ceiling is painted and along the walls there's different items. Weapons, fighting equipment, tools. Anything and everything. There's a large matt in the center of the room, and standing in a circle around the matt are seven others girls.
There's eight of us total including myself. The girls are huddled together, murmuring to themselves. Wondering, just as much as I am why we're here and what the hell is going on. Then from the only door in this room, Kazimir appears as does his brother Augustus.
"Oh great." I mutter.
Entering the circle with the other girls, I nod to some of them, but many either ignore me, or openly glare. God this is brutal.
Kazimir and Augustus enter the room, striding for the circle, I keep my eyes trained well away from them.
"Hello ladies, thank you for being here. I know this seems a bit extreme, but it's time that you got to see your fellow competitors and understood what the first tournament is." My heart stills, wait we're competing today? Oh god...
The girls go quiet at Lord Kazimir's words, all eyes trained on him. "You do not need to introduce yourselves if you don't want to but I suggest that you do, as you'll be living with each other throughout this process. Please begin by stating your name and the Kingdom you're from."
He points to a girl on the far left side of the circle, a brunette with fierce honey eyes. "My name is Alla and I'm from the Kingdom of Wind." Hmm, that suits her, she seems intelligent and cunning.
The girl to Alla's right then goes next, "Hi I'm Bree and I'm from the Kingdom of Light." The next girl goes and the next. Until the one beside me is stating her name, "I'm Eve and I'm from the Kingdom of Light." Eve is a tall girl with soft strawberry blonde hair. She seems nice but this is solely based off first impressions.
Now it's my turn. "Hi, I'm Althea and I'm from the Kingdom of Dawn." There's a few murmurs before the final girl goes, "I'm Tara and I'm from the Kingdom of Bloodshed." So in total we have, two from the Kingdom of Light, three from the Kingdom of Bloodshed and two from Wind and one from Dawn. I'm the only one from my Kingdom.
The girls all regard each other after the introductions are finished, Kazimir and Augustus standing still in the center of the circle.
"Great. Now that introductions are completed let me tell you the rules of battle number one." The girls begin to murmur amongst themselves, nervous energy is passed about. Something within my instinct is telling me that this could be a bloodbath.
Kazimir regards each of us, his eyes lingering upon me before shifting away. "The rules are simple, beat your opponent to move on to the next level. Once there are two of you left, you'll battle for the title of champion and winner of this game. Weapons are allowed, any kind of method of defense is allowed, but you cannot kill each other. Understood?" One of the girls raises her hand, "Yes?" "So are you saying that we're split off into teams of two, fight each other and then the two champions battle it out for the sole title? Is it like a wrestling match?" Kazimir and Augustus smile at each other, uh oh... that's not good. "That's the idea, only you can use whatever you want and whatever method you need to win."
Looking around at the other girls, I survey them, trying to pinpoint who I could battle with and win, but I also can't be too cocky. I know my court is deemed the fiercest warriors, but I've had little battle experience. I don't know how well my skills are.
I see a girl who looks really nervous, Bree I think was her name. She meets my eyes and sighs. "Wanna partner up?" I nod, "Alright."
Once each girl has partnered up, both Lords chose which order we battle in. My team is going last. Perfect.
When the first battle starts, I watch each girl. Every movement, every weakness, every weapon they take or don't take. I notice everything about everyone so that should I win and make it to the final, I will know what to do. One by one battles are fought, won and lost. Soon enough it's my turn.
I'm suddenly feeling less confident. But Bree looks even more nervous than I do. Before we go on she takes my arm and whispers in my ear, "I don't want to fight you, I know that you're a better fighter than me. So I'm going to ask that you punch me really hard in the face and knock me out. It's the only way I will get out of this alive." I look at her, "Why would you forfeit the match like that?"
"Because I want you to win. There's something about you that I can't explain. Something that's telling me you are the key to saving us all."
I stare at her, confused about what she means. Someone clearing their throat snaps me back to reality. Entering the ring, Kazimir and Augustus give the starting signal and Bree just stands there; looking at me. She doesn't move, doesn't do a damned thing. She's really gonna throw this match away just so I can win? Why? "Come on Althea, take a swing at me!" Bree shouts at me. What is she doing?
She marches towards me and gets in my face, spew hateful words and being a total bitch. "Come on you pathetic piece of shit, fight me. Are you scared? Scared that someone from the the Light court will beat you? Do it. Swing at me!" Bree meets my eyes and covertly winks at me. Shoving her from me, I keep my hands at my side. I don't like playing games, I don't enjoy that she's giving up like this. When I'm not baited by her words, Bree strides away from me frustrated, then whirls and throws her arm out.
The world slows down. I watch as her fist comes flying towards my face, I don't move. I wait until the last possible second then I duck and upper cut her. One swift punch to the bottom of her jaw has her flying backwards and crashing into the floor. Time speeds up again. There's murmurs and gasps, whispers of how I did that. Bree doesn't get back up.
At least not right away. When she finally stirs, she sits up and spits blood from her mouth, glaring at me but I see the twinkle there. The pride.
I calmly walk off the mat and join the winner's circle. Four girls were eliminated this round. Four are left.
We are paired off again and enter round two. Two more go. Now there's two left. Me and Tara, the girl from the Bloodshed court. This is round three, this one is going to be brutal. I've been watching Tara fight, she's dirty, strong, and doesn't play fair. Upon entering the ring, we shake hands give a slight bow then the signal is given for the final match to start. All six other girls crowd around to watch, many of them holding their breath. I don't know about this one, Tara might win. She's really good.
You are my little warrior my father's voice enters my mind. I inhale to center myself, waiting for the world to quiet, then I open my eyes only to see Tara lunging at me.