Remi woke up the next morning with the sunlight shining through the canopy, casting a warm glow on her face. She smiled and stretched, before wrapping her blanket around herself and coming out.
She was surprised to see Killure already awake, staring at a photograph with a raised eyebrow. He snickered upon seeing her, then looked back at the photo.
"Give me that," she muttered, snatching the photo away from him. The picture was of her, Faye, and their cousin Caede, all in their beach clothes, grinning at the camera with wide grins. Remi's bangs were cut far too high on her forehead.
"I hated the time it took to sit and have my hair cut, so I thought I'd do it myself," Remi cringed, hiding the picture frame under a loose sheet of paper. "Didn't work out, as you can see."
When she looked back over at him, she ground her teeth in annoyance when she saw his shoulders trembling from suppressed laughter, and his free hand clutching his aching side.
She glared at him in irritation when he replied, "I can see that."
Killure's eyes snapped to the door before it opened, tensing his body.
However, instead of some hostile intruder, it was only Kareem, her little brother.
Kareem wobbled in on chubby legs, heading straight for her with open arms. "Emi!" he cooed with a big smile.
Remi reached down and picked up her little Kareem, spinning him around in her arms and eliciting a myriad of giggles.
When she finally set him down, he reached under his shirt and pulled out a small, crushed bird. Its brown wings were broken, and its head was slightly squished. Dead. And by the stiffness of its body, it'd been dead for probably quite a while.
"He had a broken wing, and couldn't fly away when the horse carriage came by last night. I would have brought him back earlier, but he was already dead and auntie said I needed to go to sleep," Kareem jutted out his bottom lip, before glancing back down at the bird.
His hand began to glow, and before long the bird's wings were perfect, without a single broken bone.
"You're turn," he smiled up at her, holding the still-dead bird in his outstretched hands.
She nodded at him. If he put any of the little bird's internal organs or brain back together wrong, the bird could come to life and be in immense pain with everything inside all twisted up. Only one who perfectly knew its anatomy could bring it back to life.
Remi tilted her head back as she felt the familiar sensation rejuvenate her body, accumulating in her hands.
Little Kareem giggled when her eyes began glowing green as she began putting the bird's broken pieces back together in the same way they'd been when he was alive.
And in a sudden flurry of movement, life began coursing through the bird's little body. In a flurry of movement, it flew from her hands into the air, chirping happily at Kareem before flying right out of Remi's partially open window.
Remi took Kareem's chubby, little hand and picked him up as they watched the bird dive and spin in the sky, before coming to rest on a thin tree branch.
"Nice work, buddy," Remi placed a kiss on his forehead and tickled his belly. He laughed and squirmed, and did a slow twirl when she put him on the ground again.
She stepped forward, pretending that she was about to chase him. Kareem screamed, running away without looking in front of him.
And ran straight into Killure.
Kareem backed up and crossed his arms. He glared up at the man and stood protectively in front of Remi. "Who're you?" he asked with a frown.
"A slave," he replied flippantly, his expression cold and guarded.
"You don't look much like a slave," Kareem grumbled. "You look like a bad, scary man. Are you trying to kill my sister?"
"No," Killure said shortly, before turning and walking out of the room.
What was his problem?
Remi spent the next hour playing with Kareem. He dressed up in their father's clothes, which were way too big on him and made him look downright ridiculous, but also terribly cute. They played and chased each other around, until Kareem's nurse whisked him away to breakfast, much to the toddler's dismay.
Killure followed her to breakfast, but he seemed different. Much more on edge, and definitely not interested in talking, or even in looking at her.
Before entering the large dining hall, a tall, old man with dark grey skin approached. Gulthar, one of her father's personal slaves. Ten years ago, he arrived with spirit, and there was a playful air about him. A desire to find his estranged daughter. But Remi's father had broken him, and now he was nothing more than a husk. The person from before had gone, moved on from this terrible life, and left a bag of skin and bones in its absence.
"Your father would like to debrief your slave," Gulthar stated plainly, his voice void of emotion.
A wave of panic jolted through Remi. She spared a glance back at Killure, who simply raised an eyebrow at her in response. But despite his apparent nonchalance, she could see in his eyes that he knew exactly what he might be walking into. And yet, somehow, his eyes held no fear. Almost . . . relief.
"Later, doll."
He tossed her a lazy smirk before shoving his hands in the pockets of his pants and whistling lowly as he followed Gulthar away.
Remi watched them disappear, wishing with all her heart that her father wasn't planning on doing to Killure what he'd done to every slave bonded to him.
What Remi couldn't fathom was that somehow, despite being a slave for years, the Icix had managed to maintain his soul, but that was probably because he'd never met a man who could slice off his limbs, let him bleed to death, and then bring them back to life only to do it all over again.
Remi shook her head. She was overthinking this. Surely her father wouldn't be so brazen. Killure was her slave, after all, and not his. He wouldn't hurt her slave.
The dining hall was a flurry of voices and chaos. The adults were shouting to be heard at one end of the table, while little Kareem, with food all over his round face, chased a couple of his giggling and shrieking cousins around. Faye and Caede, both equally as callous and vain, talked avidly. Others chatted away, or danced to the loud classical music played on guitars and flutes and harps by servants on the edges of the room in perfectly harmony.
Remi always liked having such a big family, even though she disagreed with most on them about their methods and the minuscule value they placed on human life. This was one of the few times when nearly her entire family was able to be in the same place at once. Usually, most were away on missions. An uncle and two of his children, Blue and Bliss, had just gotten back from one late last night.
As a child, she got to be tutored privately alongside her siblings and cousins. When she ran around the town playing with them, none of the harsh looks and fearful gazes of the townsfolk affected her. With her family around, she was invincible. Because they were all Designers, like her.
Remi reached up and felt the tiny, pointed horns a few inches above her ears. Though she couldn't see them, she knew they'd be red if she were to look in a mirror, just like they always were. Each of her relatives, aside from two of her aunts that had married into the family, had the same red horns.
Otherwise, they all looked human. However, there were few people who wouldn't recognize them as Designers.
She sat down beside a couple of her cousins, Blue and Bliss, who were some of her more tolerable family members. Though they were brother and sister, they looked nearly identical, although Bliss's features were a lot more delicate and feminine.
"Morning," Blue grouched, his mouth full of food. His plate was stacked so high, and Remi couldn't figure out how he'd managed to get so much food onto his plate.
Bliss gave her a nod, also messily diving into her food.
"All I want to do is sleep," Blue grumbled to himself. Bliss nodded in agreement.
Remi chuckled at them. All they ever seemed to want to do was sleep and eat.
Bliss glanced up, and then nodded to the door behind her, then raised her eyebrow in question.
Remi nodded with a smile. "Yes, he is an Icix. And also quite terrifying."
Bliss was mute, but most of the time Remi understood what she was trying to say. Sometimes she mouthed words, and other times she simply gestured and used facial expressions, and anytime that someone misunderstood her, Blue would instantly explain what she was trying to say.
Now was one of those times. Blue glanced at her. "She's trying to say that she overheard our fathers talking about buying the Icix. We both heard."
"Yes, to be my bodyguard," Remi explained.
Bliss shook her head, and Blue continued. "No, Rem, they wanted to dissect one."
The words slapped Remi in the face, sending her reeling. At once, she shoved back her chair and flew out of the room without another word.
Flying through the hallways, she descended lower and lower, until she'd come to the basement. Down here, nothing made sense. Hallways led to nowhere, stairways went up only to immediately come back down again, and cupboards led to rooms. If you didn't know every nook and cranny, you'd never be able to find your way out.
Remi climbed onto a counter located in the middle of a hallway and crawled up through a small, square cupboard that led into a huge, spacious room with absolutely nothing inside. A doorframe, only half the width of a regular door, led her into a wide hallway. She ran as fast as she could until she burst into her father's terrible room. She'd never had the courage to come down her before.
Why?
Because this was where he broke people.