Ari was thrown into the sleeping quarters of children gathered from the war-torn countries of Assania and Vermur. He could tell by the disheveled look on their faces. In a week's time, they would weed out the sick and dying. Within three days, they will test their strength and knowledge. They would toss the ones who did not make it back into the streets. Most of the time, they nursed them back to health and kept them as stewards or servants to the Khaeo. Not all of the priests were so cruel as he would like to think.
He sifted through some children playing near the door and made his way further back where all the bigger children and people his age were. Ari was only some months away from claiming adulthood and still they decided to put him in the mix with the rest. It caused him to scoff and move faster.
As he pushed back the curtain separating the two halves of the room, he spotted a man looking around his age sitting atop of a bed. His hair was a sandy blond and he had eyes made of ice, instantly reminding him of Nolan. There were two more, a boy and a girl, about his age claiming the other two beds. They both had dark brown hair and nut-brown eyes. Their facial features differed greatly, however. The girl had sharp eyes, a sharp nose, and a small mouth like a cat. Interestingly enough, the boy had soft features: a small nose, kind eyes, and a warm smile that made Ari believe he was not meant to be here.
Their laughter stopped as he took a wary step inside. Even in a place like this, there was a hierarchy. Whoever was the oldest and the strongest tended to be in charge and he would have to adhere to that, if only for a little while. He was not so used to it as he had once been. Nolan had always favored him and gave him rooms near his once he was old enough.
"Who're you?" the girl asked as she rose from the bed. The sandy blond put a hand out stopping her from approaching him.
"Eira, don't go and do that."
"I was only asking him a question. I wasn't going to do anything," Eira said back in response.
The sandy blond eyed him before he gave him a small smile. "She is Eira. The guy over there is Halvar, and I am Leif."
"Ari," Ari said, assessing them. It went without saying Leif was the one in charge although, Halvar looked to be the strongest out of the three.
"Ari..." Leif tapped his thumb on his chin before his smile fell." Priest Reynold had spoken to me... about you. You have a punishment."
"Disregard it," Ari said.
"He cannot just disregard it," Eira cut in. "He'll be in here for you. And we owe you nothing. It's better you than one of us."
Ari wet his lips and nodded his head. He should not fear that priest any longer. It had been years and he was young. He was only a man. Just a man, and nothing more.
He took the last bed nearest to the wall. Halvar had not said a word a to him. However, Ari could feel his stare boring into the back of his head. Ari did his best to ignore it, but it was growing tiresome. He pulled the thin blanket over his head and turned on his stomach.
It was a while before sleep came to claim him. Just as he was dozing off, Ari heard wet sounds coming from nearby him. Ari opened his eyes, waiting for them to adjust to the darkness of the room as the sounds became more pronounced. He heard clothes ruffling and soft moans. It made Ari's eyes narrow, but he did nothing more.
Ari had thought no one in the Khaeo would break the rules that governed them. They did not even answer to most rules the king made in Assania. Seeing people breaking these rules away from Nolan's care made Ari believe Nolan had sheltered him from it all which added to his ignorance. He turned on his side trying to ignore the sounds, but his hearing was too sharp. Even the smallest noises made his face scrunch making him become disgruntled.
He tried moving around, but it only made him become hot. The marks on his neck burned through his skin as some thoughts passed through his mind. He sat up on the bed and unlaced his boots. His shirt came next, followed by the many daggers stashed around his waist and pockets. As soon as he was finished with that he laid back down and willed his curious mind to listen and not to look. What good would it do for him to know things he should have never known in the first place? He touched the mark on his neck. Soon he began to rub it, growing restless.
Ari lurched forward as he felt a cold hand touch his upper arm.
"Get up. If you do not want Priest Reynold to find you, you best leave now," a dark voice said. However, Ari could see bits of his face through the darkness. It was Halvar.
Ari placed his hand where Halvar had touched and looked at him with a curious gaze. It was understandable for them not to care for a stranger. Things were different here than where he was raised and the people who surrounded him. So Ari could not help but wonder why Halvar would be trying to help him. In these cases, Ari usually thought someone would want something in return. They did not seem like the kind of people to do something out of the kindness of their hearts.
"They do not care for me. You should follow suit or you will become a black sheep of your own group," Ari said.
Halvar continued to stare at him, causing Ari to reach for his shirt and put it back over himself.
"You should go now," he whispered as the sounds stopped. It was quiet for some moments until Ari heard footsteps and clothes being put back on hurriedly. "He will be here soon."
Ari sat up and put his boots back on. He laced them up quickly while placing the daggers strategically inside and around his waist.
The door to the barracks opened with a loud bang, waking the sleeping children nearest to it. He heard their hushed voices as loud footsteps made their way back towards where they were at. As the man grew closer, the candle he was holding in one hand flickered off the curtain. He pushed it back and his dark eyes looked around the room until he found Ari.
"Did you sleep well?" Priest Reynold asked as he smiled a mouth full of rotting teeth.
Ari looked at Halvar as Halvar looked from Leif to Eria.
"Someone is missing here... Where is Raoul?"
Reynold flashed the light in Leif's face as he drew closer. " Where is he?" he asked again.
"Hunting... I believe... Your Holiness... " Leif said as he bowed his head.
"If he is not back within the hour, I will take one of the little ones and whip them to the inch of their life until he comes."
"Do what pleases you," Eria said.
Reynold let a chuckle in response. It was deep and rasping which made Ari's skin crawl.
"You insolent little... " He walked passed Eria before hitting Leif with the back of his hand, knocking him to the ground. "Child."
Leif brought himself on to his knees and spat. It made Ari ball his hands into fists. If any of them thought he would allow himself to be hit by a man who took pleasure is causing him pain, they were wrong. He was tired of being condescended and looked down on by people, especially by those knowing what he was.
"And you." He tried to grab Ari by his collar, but Ari smacked his hand away. He tried to do it again, but Ari grabbed his hand and twisted it around his back, pushing him back into the opposite direction.
"You have grown bold now. Not so mild-mannered now as Nolan so likes to profess." He spread his arms out to each side of himself and showed his palms. "Take your punishment, Ari, and all shall be forgiven."
Ari thought on all the leg whippings he had gotten and the many cold baths he had to take due to small, little things that would be ignored if it were anyone else. If he was like everyone else. He thought of the times when he sat out in the rain for not memorizing or saying a word correctly. All things not leaving a visible bruise for Nolan to see, Ari surmised. He was not the only one who treated him poorly, though, and now Ari knew the reason for why that was. It made him angry and saddened all at once.
"Since you are a few months shy of being twenty, why not take a man's punishment and get a back whipping instead?"
Ari brushed away the hair falling in front of his face not bothering to hide the glare in his eyes.
"Ari, do not," Halvar warned.
Just as Reynold approached him again, Ari slit his throat in one easy stroke. Reynold grabbed at his throat as the blood flowed through the cracks in between his fingers. His voice was gurgled and strained. Ari did not blink and continued to watch him bleed out in front of him. Ari never realized it before, but they were much easier to kill than demons.
"What in the darkest realms of hell have you just done?" Leif said, trying to keep the panic from his voice.
Ari bent down and wiped the blood on his blade onto Reynold's robe, ignoring his spasming body altogether.
"Something one of you should have done long ago... "Ari mumbled as he rose again.
"You killed a priest!" Eria screamed. "The gods will smite you dead now. You will never be forgiven."
Ari looked at the three of them as the light from the candle flickered. His eyes went to the ceiling before he looked around again.
"What are you doing?" Halvar said.
"Waiting. For the gods to smite me dead." Ari was amused by how well indoctrinated they were in this belief of gods and hell. That was the single thing that Nolan could not bring himself to make him believe, so he made him promise to act as if he did to those around him and he had. But enough was enough. If there were ever such a thing as hell, this place would have been it. If there were gods...
Eria sank to her knees and mumbled out incoherent words as she bowed her head in fervent prayer. It baffled Ari how such a person can act that way after partaking in such carnal desires just moments ago. Was she not a sinner as well or was she a hypocrite instead? Balancing the sins of others in comparison to her own... Ari shook his head. It did not make her a better person. And what sin had he truly committed? He saw nothing wrong in what he had done.
"You are a damned thing," Leif said.
"I do not care," Ari said back. "He hurt me as he hurt the rest of you and he would have continued on to do it with the smaller children. If I am so bad as a person as ridding you of such a person then so be it."
"You killed a priest, Ari," Halvar stressed.
"Anyone could go around in a robe and call themselves what they will. It did not make him any holier than the rest of us. He was only a man who abused his power... and had received what had been in store for him."
"Damned, damned, damned," Eria said as she glared at him.
It did worry him, though. The lack of sympathy or remorse in what he had just done. Alia's words still haunted him as well. He was an evil man. That was what he would have liked to think, but there was something more to it and Ari wanted to find out what it was.
Ari grabbed the priest's arms and looked at Leif's paling face. They may be distraught about it now, but in the end, they knew he had done the right thing. Ari kicked the priest's arm catching Leif's attention.
"Grab his legs."
"What?" Leif's face was an assortment of fear and dread. He would help him. He had to. They were selfish things and they wanted to survive, so they would do what needed to be done.
"Are you not going to help me?"
Leif swallowed and did as was told just as Ari thought he would.
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[A/N]
Ari is definitely figuring things out for himself. I think Auovin is playing a major subconscious role in his thought process, though. He is starting to see the flaws and dangers in humans he never bothered to notice before. And Auovin isn't the best role model for anyone to follow in any regard. Leave me your thoughts down below! Thank you again for sticking around to reading this book. I love all your comments, so definitely leave me some to read! Also, thank you guys for voting! ❤️