Chapter 22
Eron
"Enoka, Enoka, Enoka," the man tsked. "Did you really think you could get away that easily? You're in my world, girly. And here, things go my way."
The girl, Enoka, lunged for the man, snarling and bearing her teeth like a wild animal. Instantly there were humans holding her back. "And look at this!" laughed, "Our little fire-cat brought friends!"
"Leave them out of this, Eron," Enoka hissed. "They have nothing to do with anything."
Eron laughed. "But you do," he whispered, "and now you've sucked them into it." He began circling her, "So how does it feel? Sucking in innocent people because of your mistakes?"
"It wasn't my mistakes," she growled, "You had no right to come after me."
Suddenly, Eron was inches away from her face. "I have every right," he spat, "I run this city. If I come after you, you come with me. It was as simple as that, but you had to resist."
"Aw," Enoka smiled, fiercely, "did I hurt poor little Eron's pride? What will everyone think when word gets out that the city's most feared black-market leader was bested by a simple peasant girl?"
Sonya watched the whole exchange in horrified fascination as the Eron raised his hand to strike the girl. Suddenly a tattoo palm wrapped around his wrist holding him back. Eron whirled around, and pinned his attacker to a nearby wall by the throat. Sonya's eyes landed on Dearekk's face, his features twisted with rage. The elf green around his pupils had once again taken over the grey, making him look just like and elf.
"Leave her alone," Dearekk spat, "She has a debt? We'll pay it."
Eron chuckled. "An elf would help a human?" he mocked, "What is this world coming to?" He dropped Dearekk to the ground, and Sonya heard him take in a sharp breath. "Besides, you can't help her," Eron sneered. "She tried to steal someth-"
"Succeeded," Enoka spat still restrained by the humans with their faces covered. "I stole it from you, and now you're angry that your reputation got hurt."
"Shut up!" Eron snarled. "Can't you shut up for five minutes, girl? Or do you have talk all the time?" He turned to Dearekk, "Unless you can buy back a status, I suggest you leave, elf-child."
"I am not an elf-child," Dearekk snapped, eyeing Eron with something akin to hate. He lifted his chin with pride. "I am your prince."
There was silence for a moment, and then Eron burst out laughing. "My prince?" he said between laughs. "Oh, I am so very, very, sorry, your Majesty," he mocked. He gave an over exaggerated bow and stepped away from a door into a decrepit building. "Perhaps you would like to talk, my prince," he sneered.
Striding past him, Dearekk walked into the building, his head still held high. Without a second though, Sonya started after him, Enoka right on her heels. Before she could take two steps, humans were in front of her, blocking her way.
"Only the prince and the leader can talk," one rumbled in a low voice. "You must wait outside."
Both Sonya and Enoka began speaking at the same time.
"I've been traveling with him from the beginning!"
"They are talking about me!"
The human raised up his hands. "No one can go in," he said with finality.
Sonya's hands clenched into fists, ready to hit him and run into the building. Knowing Dearekk, he would probably get himself killed in there alone. But right as she was about to pounce, Enoka rested her hand on Sonya's shoulder. Reaching into her pocket, Enoka pulled out a handful of golden coins, her bright blue eyes alight with a mischievous glint.
Very slowly, she dropped them on the ground. The human's eyes darted from her to the ground then back again. He leaned down and began picking them up, one by one. Darting behind him, Sonya and Enoka ran into the building.
Enoka stopped suddenly, holding up her finger to her lips in a sign to be silent. Glancing around the corner, Sonya saw Dearekk and Eron sitting at a table.
"So tell me," Eron drawled, "What is the rebel prince doing in our little town of Raydale?"
Dearekk scoffed. "I wouldn't call it little," he replied, "It's the second biggest city in the land. Speaking of which, how did you come to run it? Last time I checked there was a duke."
A loud laugh came from Eron. "You run away from the King, defy him, betray him, and yet you still reprimand me for taking the place of a duke," he sneered. "There is a duke, but all he does is sit in his castle all day. I have agents everywhere, I control who rises to power and who...mysteriously disappears."
"And what did Enoka do to 'mysteriously disappear?'" Dearekk shot back.
Eron leaned back in his chair. "You know," he observed, "for a rebel prince you sure do ask a lot of questions."
Dearekk's body stiffened. "Stop calling me that," he said slowly, enunciating each word.
"What?" Eron smirked. "Rebel prince? That's what everyone is calling you now days, the prince who turned on his own loving father. Oh, I have agents, but nothing compared to the King. You should have seen how fast the rumor spre-"
Dearekk suddenly stood up, knocking over his chair. "He is not my father," he whispered, his voice low and lethal.
Eron tsked. "Now, now," he mocked, "I know that every teenager goes though a phase where they reject their parents, but this is really going to far, don't you think Dearekk?"
"No, you don't understand," Dearekk growled, leaning over the table. "You saw what happened in the alley. You called me, 'elf-child'. I am half-elf, and my father is not the King." Dearekk's eyes softened a little bit. "You say you run this city, so prove it. We are staring a rebellion, we will throw down the King from his throne and reunite the land." Dearekk's grey eyes held a fire like Sonya had never seen. "Join us, the fay already have. But we need allies if we are to succeed. Join us, and we can change this world. We can make it a better place."
Eron looked at Dearekk from the corner of his eye. Then slowly a smile broke across his face, and then he laughed. "Tell me, rebel prince," he laughed, "Who taught you to talk like that? You almost had me there. Was it the King? I hear he is a very eloquent speaker."
Sonya saw the fire of hope in Dearekk's eyes change to that of rage. No, Sonya silently begged him, Don't give up! You were almost there!
Eron finally finished laughing. "Come on," he scorned. "You don't really think that you can overthrow the King, do you?"
It was as if a light hit Sonya. He was testing Dearekk. Seeing if he really believed what he was saying. She wanted to scream out, to warn Dearekk not to give into his temper. But she knew she couldn't intervene. He had to do this by himself.
"I do," Dearekk replied though clenched teeth. "But I do not believe we can do it alone. We need your support."
"We," Eron scoffed. "You speak as though you are one of them. Perhaps you are. Besides, you are a halfling. You will never know what true loyalty to your race is. Any real human would know not to defy the King. As the saying goes, 'The King is the tailor and the people are the cloth.' We have no real purpose without him. How do you even know that you could rule better than him?"
Dearekk's palm slammed on the table. "Because I know of a time where all races lived in peace. I know of a time where humans did not fear the forest and elves did not fear the cities. I know of a time where fay, elves, dwarves and humans all ate together, lived together and did not seek to annihilate each other! And all I can hope is that one day, those times will come again and we will never have to fear each other."
Eron looked at him with thoughtful eyes, "Perhaps you are more than you seem, halfling." But this time the term was not meant as an insult.
"You will consider then?" Dearekk sounded surprised.
"I will consider."
Dearekk's whole body seemed to relax, but only to stiffen again when Eron chuckled and said, "It seems we have some eavesdroppers..."
Whirling around, Dearekk's eyes met Sonya's and all she could do was spin back around the corner. "They saw us," she whispered.
Enoka cursed under her breath. "We'll split up, you run to the left, I'll run to the rig-" she was cut off as Eron grabbed the neck of her shirt, pulling her to her feet.
"You just can't resist making me angry, can you?" he snarled.
"Let me go!" she yelled. "You have no right to-"
He silenced her with a shake, as though she were a naughty kitten. "I have every right to!" he roared. "You are in my region!"
Dearekk was there in an instant. "She stole something from you?" he asked.
"A potions belt," Eron spat in return.
"It was my potions belt!" Enoka cried indignantly. "You just took it and-"
"You sold it!" Eron bellowed.
Enoka continued to struggle to break free from his strong grip. "And you bought it for the price of a barrel of rotten fish! I could have gotten five times that amount anywhere else!"
"It was an illegal item!" shot back Eron. "You couldn't sell it anywhere else!"
Sonya couldn't help but shake her head. They were fighting like young siblings over a toy!
"Enough!" Dearekk hollered. He turned to Enoka, with a cunning look in his eye. "Do you consider yourself skilled?"
"Yes," Enoka huffed in return, seemingly have given up at trying to break out of Eron's grasp.
"How much was the potions belt worth?" Dearekk asked.
Eron shrugged, his hand still anchored in Enoka's shirt. "About four-hundred-fifty gold coins..." he said, with what could only be a guilty expression on his face.
"Four-hundred-fifty!" Enoka shrieked. "You paid me sixty-five!"
"You only wanted seventy!" Eron yelled back.
Dearekk held up his hands in an attempt to calm down the furious individuals. "How about a compromise?" Dearekk said slowly. "Eron, you let Enoka keep the potions belt, and in return, Enoka will work for you." The chaos was immediate.
"Let her keep it?!"
"Work for him?!?"
"What's so bad about working for me?"
"Oh, you mean other than you're an arrogant, self-serving, egotistical, pig of a man?"
"I'll show you an arrogant, self-serving, egotistica-"
Finally Sonya spoke. "It's a reasonable deal," she said. Instantly both Enoka and Eron stopped yelling and turned to face her. "Well, I mean you did buy it from her," she said to Eron, "but at a ridiculously low price. So she should have it back. But if she is working for you, others won't question your choice to give it back, therefore not hurting your reputation among the city." She turned to Enoka. "And you get your potions belt back, and maybe even a bit of extra change for helping him," she jerked her thumb towards Eron.
Slowly, both Enoka and Eron nodded. "Fine," Enoka spat. "I'll do it. But don't expect me to enjoy it."
"Don't expect any tips," Eron muttered back. He turned to Dearekk. "If I'm going to consider your proposition, I'll need an ambassador to hang around here. And since I don't trust her," he spat with a glare towards Enoka, "I'll need someone else."
"I'll do it," a voice came from above them.
Sonya's head jerked upwards, only to see three fay sitting on the rafter beams. "Oh, come on," Nyx snorted. "You guys snuck in and expected us not to follow?"
Zabin jumped down and landed neatly on his feet. "I'll stay behind. I know a bit about politics and I'm very persuasive," he winked at Sonya.
"Are you sure?" she asked, almost sad he was staying. "I mean, you'd probably be the only fay and you'd be stuck here for a while..."
Suddenly Zabin was beside her. Before she knew what was happening, he leaned forward and kissed her full on the lips. Shocked, Sonya didn't know what had happened until he pulled away and whispered in her ear, "I'll be fine. Hopefully it won't be that long."
When Sonya turned to Dearekk, his face was expressionless and impossible to read. "Very well," he said. "Zabin will stay behind and we will go back to the elves and prepare for battle."
"You know," Eron drawled, inspecting his fingernails. "Before you go, you could check out another potential ally..."
Nyx laughed. "I thought you ran this city?" she snickered, "If we have your support, then whom else would we need?"
Eron leaned back against the wall. "Oh, I do run this city," he smirked. "On the surface."
The Seer's mouth turned upward into a smirk. "Of course," he whispered. "I don't know why I didn't see it before."
"What?" Sonya looked between a smirking fay and an enigmatic human.
"This is Raydale," Eron said slowly, as if he was bored, "but its history has been far from sunny. You see, Raydale has been plagued with a sort of...bad luck since the time it was established. I discovered the reason, quite by accident a couple years ago. When the tiny town began growing into a huge city, it unwittingly created a new enemy for itself."
"Stop the history lesson and give us a straight answer!" Sonya couldn't help but growl out. She was getting frustrated with all this mystery.
"Don't you understand?" he smirked. "Raydale is a human city on the surface. But as if grew bigger and bigger, it expanded over another city: Cretinia, the Earthen Citadel. You are standing over the home of the dwarves."
(A/N Eh. The picture is of Eron. I sort of imagined him with longer hair, but this was the closest picture I could find. And I was working on this instead of homework, so you better comment and vote!! Please? :D )