As we walk through the zone I can't help but cringe. How could people live like this? Even the poor animals were sifting through the filth. We walked down the streets, not being able to avoid walking on garbage, but very careful not to step on broken glass; from who knows what. As we were about to pass by an alleyway Damien shoots out his arm to block me from walking further. He turns around with his index finger to his lips, signalling me to be quiet. I look around to see the usual poor citizen, doing their own thing, quietly. That was it, they were quiet. Yelling echoes from the alleyway causing me to jump at the sudden sound. Without thinking I take a few steps forward to see what was happening. Two female soldiers had cornered a young women. She looked beaten up and tattered. My heart immediately ached for her. "Who are those women!?" I whisper to Damien, who's eyes are fixed on the young lady as well. "Soldiers from my brothers army." He whispers seriously with a hint of sadness. One of the soldiers raises her arm and back hands the poor young girl, causing her to twist and fall into the pile of filth behind her. They laugh as she scurries away from it. Based on their body language it seems they are warning her, before finally turning around walking in our direction.
Damien grabs my arm and pulls me into the shadowy wall. My heart thumping in my chest, I slap my hand over my mouth to reduce the sound of my breathing. Thankfully the two soldiers decide to turn left from the alley, instead of towards us. Now I knew the coast was clear I push myself off the wall and turn the corner. Only to run into the young women, almost colliding into her. We both gasp, but she jumps and begins to tremble. "P-please, I don't have anything to give." She cowers as her shaky hands pat over her body, telling me she has not a cent to her name. "I-I only have my clothes." Tears fill her eyes. I throw down my back pack and reach inside to pull out my water cantene and some remaining food. I hand it to her but she just stares at my hands, as if it were impossible someone could do such a kind act. "No, I-I can't accept this." Finally Damien comes around the corner. I'm not sure why he had taken so long to make an appearance. "This is no gift. It is a human right." He says seriously. She flinches at the sight of him but quickly grabs the food and water from my hands and scarfs it down, barely giving herself time to breath. My eyes widen at her but Damien just looks sad. "Are you not being fed?" He asks quietly. Without looking up she responds with a mouth full of food and water. "All supplies are given to the soldiers. We don't have money or strength to go to the capital."
She glances up at me. "You're not from here?" She slowly looks me over from head to toe. "You could be killed if anyone saw you. Why would you come here?" She turns her gaze to Damien and she immediately chokes on her food. She drops to her knees and bows her head to the floor. "Your grace, please, please forgive me for not noticing you!" I take a step back in surprise at her sudden reaction. "How could you accept such behavior. I must be punished. What a disgrace!" She rambles on as we both stare down at her stunned. Damien kneels down and gently grabs her hand, signalling her to rise and stand. She resists at first, she looked more confused as tears spill from her eyes. "Please stand." Damien says softly. She slowly stands as she looks back and forth from both of our faces. "Please forgive me." She whispers as she hangs her head in shame. "There is nothing to forgive you for." He says sweetly and a few more tears of relief slide down her cheeks. "Are you here to save us?" She says in a quiet desperation. Damien's face pains and shakes his head. "I'm here to see the state of the royal quarter. Don't give up. My brother and I are very much committed to this cause." She reaches for his hand and squeezes it tightly, bowing her head. "I could not thank you enough." She holds his hand in both of hers, leaning over to give it a soft kiss, smiling. "Good luck, your grace. Please be careful around here, it's not safe." Damien chuckles. "I am not concerned about my safety, but thank you." She smiles and turns to me, grabbing my hands and doing the same as she did to Damien. Holding my hands she turns her head to Damien. "You are the true ruler, and I will gladly bow to your feet when the time comes." She gives us both a small smile before running off down the street.
We stand there in silence for a moment, rewinding in our minds what had just happened. "Only a true queen would have done that." He glances over to me, giving me a sweet grin. I furrow my brows. "Anyone would have done that, the poor girl was starving." He chuckles as he leans in to kiss my cheek. "Not as many as you think." He stares down at me in adoration. "People adore you." I smile with raised eyebrows. I was still not used to how people treated him. He nods with a frown. "This is a problem. She recognized me." I nod as I look us both over. "We don't exactly blend in. What should we do?" He rests his chin in his hand and thinks for a minute. A mischievous smile and a raised eyebrow quickly appears on his face, contagiously causing me to smile as well. "Looks like we get to have fun with some soldiers." My eyes widen and I throw my hands up. "I don't know about this." "I have an idea. You could use your ability to pull them into an illusion and I'll swoop in and kill them. They won't see it coming and it won't cause a scene." He says strangely excited. "That actually might work." I say thinking as I stare off into he corner. "I will definitely try." I know I've been doing well, but I wasn't fully confident in my abilities yet. "You can do it." His smile grows with excitement. "Let's go get some soldiers." I link my arm in his and we exit the alleyway.
We walk around for some time before we find a less populated area. We slow our pace when we hear the voices of a man and women. From a distance we could see two soldiers, both blonde. It looked to me that he was trying to pick her up. I chuckle a bit when I realize they're standing in front of a bakery. "Who picks someone up here in the middle of the night. So romantic beside the piles of trash." Damien chuckles with me, shaking his head. "Who knows. Are you ready?" I nod slowly as we discretely walk closer to them. He glances over his shoulder and gives me a reassuring smile. "You can do this. I'm going to go around. Be aware of your own surroundings, don't worry, I'll have my eye on you as well." He gives me a quick kiss and disappears. "Okay, I can do this." I whisper to myself.
I make my way close enough to hear their conversation. "You think you even have a chance?" The girl rolls her eyes at him and crosses her arms. The male soldier shrugs. "Thought I'd give it a shot." She laughs, almost in his face. "You, are not good enough for me." He scowls at her and leans against the wall of the bakery. "You don't have to be such a bitch." She sighs and props her hands on her hips "It's my middle name baby." She glances over in my direction and makes full eye contact with me. I take my chance and immediately pull her into an illusion. I run through her memories and find what looks like a brothel house. Without much time to choose I bring her there. I can see her but it seems she can't see me? Yet I'm standing directly in front of her. She looks frantically around before she realizes where she is. "What the hell!? How are you doing that!?" She says with panic in her voice. The male soldiers voice rings through the air of the illusion. "Doing what?" He asks confused. "Don't fuck with me! Did you drug me!? You sick bastard, how dare you bring me here!" "What the hell is wrong with you Julia. What are you talking about?" She feels around her surroundings as if she doesn't believe she's here. "Stop it Skyler! Where are you!?"
I focus on his voice and pull him in through my mind. It almost felt the same as if I was physically dragging him in. He fades into the illusion but I struggled to keep him here. "What the hell!" He yells in shock and confusion. Julia looks over to him and sees he is equally as scared as her. "What's going on Skyler!?" She reaches for him but he fades out and disappears. Her breathing becomes short and shallow as she begins to hyperventilate. Suddenly she flies forward, falling to the ground on her hands and knees. She grabs her shoulder and looks behind her to see who it was who pushed her, but nothing. "Skyler! Help me!" Suddenly her voice is cut short and her hands grip her chest as a sharp stabbing feeling fills her lungs. She looks down to see blood soaking her clothes. She lifts her trembling hands to see they are also covered in blood. She coughs suddenly as the blood flooding her throat begins to choke her, she reaches up to her mouth to stop the blood from flowing, but it was impossible. As her airway becomes blocked she quickly loses oxygen. She scratches at her throat, but it was no use. She falls over, lifeless.
Now I can fully focus on Skyler and I am able to bring him back into the illusion as Julia fades out. I see him looking around frantically still trying to figure out what exactly is going on. His hands are stretched out as if he were trying to feel around for something. As he reaches out, he begins patting the air as if an invisible figure were standing in front of him. He furrows his brows before he is thrown into the wall behind him. His feet lifted from the ground and he reaches for his throat. He struggles for several minutes, until his body goes limp and drops to the floor.
I shut my eyes tight and when I open them, Damien is standing, holding one of my hands in front of him. "Is everything okay?" I whisper as I take a sigh of relief. He gives me a proud smile. "You did great." I shrug, "I couldn't hold them both in the illusion at the same time." I look down but he quickly lifts my chin. "It's okay. He in a state of shock and couldn't react while I was taking care of her. Plus, you're still training. You have to practice somehow, yeah?" He wraps his arm around my shoulders and walks over to the two dead soldiers that lay in front of the bakery. "Let's put on their uniforms." He leans down and begins to undress the male. "You were so messy with her! There's blood all over her. That guy's uniform is all clean." I say annoyed. He chuckles and shrugs. "My bad. I wasn't thinking about it."
We undress the soldiers and hide in a dark corner and change. We come out and I can barely recognize him with the black face mask that wraps under our chins and over our noses. "We definitely fit the part now." I say, even more impressed with his idea now. "Yeah, unfortunately." I nudge him with my elbow. "You look kinda cute." He chuckles and runs a hand through his hair. "I always look cute." I roll my eyes and giggle. "So cocky. On a serious note though, is there something specific you want to see while you're here?" He sighs, "Yeah, but we'll get to that. Plus, it was easier to get home this way, rather then walking all the way back home." I think for a moment. "Oh yeah, you said that the royal quarter borders our border, right? Like a big circle?" He nods, "Why do you think we were so freaked out when you not only disappeared, but almost crossed the border." I rub my arm awkwardly. "My bad. So why do we need the leaders of each zone?" I quickly change the subject. "We need to change their status from neutral."
We stand in the dim light, all I can hear is our soft breath in the crisp air. Damien looks around, almost pained. "I had to see it for myself... How bad the royal quarter has gotten." He pauses as he processes his thoughts. "It's much worse than I thought." I nod silently in agreement. "I want to make one more stop." He says looking at me intently.
"Where would that be soldier?"
An unknown voice rings behind us in the darkness. We both whip our heads towards the deep male voice. I begin to blurt out unintelligible words, stuttering, not able to get a full word out. "There is one more stop on our patrol, general." Damien says calmly and flatly. A middle aged man emerges from the darkness, dressed in similar attire as ourselves. I notice a small red pin placed over his heart in the shape of an upside down triangle. The man thinks for a moment and then nods. "Carry on." Damien gently pulls on the rim of my jacket sitting at my lower back. "Come on Jessica." He says to me flatly with a serious expression. I glance over to him and then back to the general. "Sir." I say before bowing to him. We both turn on our heels and walk in the opposite direction of him, leaving him in the darkness.
"Jessica?" I nudge him and whisper. He smirks and switches his gaze to mine. "Well I wasn't going to say your real name." I shake my head with a smile. We walk up to a small run down park. Out of the corner of my eye I notice movement. I whip my head in the direction to see a middle aged man standing in terror at the sight of us. His flinch is what caught my eye. He immediately bowed to me the second my eyes connected with his. I shake my head and throw my hands up. "Please stand!" But the man stands frozen, keeping his eyes at the ground.
"Why the hell are you telling him to stand?"
I look to Damien confused, but he is looking over my shoulder, arms crossed, anger filling his expression. I whip my head around to see the same general. He must have followed us. I had to think quickly. I clear my throat and adjust my posture, putting on my best face. "I want him to look into my eyes while I punish him. I want him to remember my face." I say in my most serious tone. The general crosses his arms and rests his chin in his hand, running his fingers across his beard. After a minute, he flicks his hand out with a shrug. "So let's see it then." He says, waiting. I didn't expect him to stand there and watch. "Of course." I reply without hesitation. I slowly make my way over to the still frozen man in the park. It broke my heart; His clothes ripped and dirty and he was way too skinny. I bite my lip and take a deep but quiet breath. "Look at me." I say loud enough for the general to hear. The mans eyes slowly meet mine as he straightens his posture. His eyes only match mine for a second before he jumps back gasping, fear fills his expression as he swiftly turns around and sprints into the darkness. I watch him in shock, unsure what just happened.
"Aryah." I hear Damien call out to me. I look behind me to see why the man had taken off. The general lay lifelessly beside Damien in an unnatural position. "What the hell, how did you do that!?" I turn my body to face him and point at the general. Damien shrugs it off, turns around and begins walking slowly away, waiting for me to catch up.
We walk through the dark alleyways of the royal quarter, soon coming up to a large stone opening. When we turned the corner my eyes widened as a huge palace filled my view. This was much larger than Ember's mansion, which I didn't think was possible. This place was obnoxiously massive. I was so distracted with all the incredible detail in the architecture that I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. "This motherfucker came here!?" I blink out of my trance and look to Damien. He moves to take a step but I quickly throw my hand out to his chest. I turn my head to the open area to see Jace screaming at another soldier. He seems to be giving her orders. The soldier quickly runs off as he rolls his eyes and turns the corner. Damien runs out into the open, pushing through my hand. "Stop! You can't go after him here!" I yell out to him. "I'm going to kill him!" He yells through his teeth. "Damien!" I scream, clenching my fists. He turns around for a second to look at me and I catch him into an illusion. I change his surroundings but keep my own. I've only done this once before but it seemed to be an effective distraction. "You have to calm down, you are going to cause attention." I whisper to Damien as I catch up to him. He reaches out into the air, searching for me but can't see or feel my presence, he can just hear my voice. "I won't. I'm going to follow him; Catch him when he's alone." He reaches out again and takes a few steps around looking for me, increasing frustration in his face. "Aryah! take me the hell out of this place!" I giggle at his annoyance. "Calm down and I will." He sighs loudly and stops walking around searching. "Fine, I get it." I nod and allow his surroundings to return to normal. He blinks a few times then turns around to face me. "I may regret having you trained." He says jokingly. I giggle and shrug.
My eyes glide up to the top of the estate, making my chin lift. "So, this must be it." Damien nods, "Yup, my old home." I bring my chin down to level. "Is Kai in there?" I ask hesitantly. "Probably." He responds flatly. "Do you ever miss him?" He drops his head and looks to the ground. "I miss the old him. He wasn't always like this." I link my arm in his. "Maybe he still has a heart deep down." He scoffs at my comment. "If he does, it's cold and black." He pauses, "Let's get the hell out of here."
We stroll casually through the streets as we walk towards the outskirts "What are you thinking?" He finally says after several minutes of silence. "I'm trying to picture this place when it was full of life. It's so... dark." He drops his head and nods. "It was once a beautiful place. It was where the rich and powerful lived. Everyone wanted a piece of it." He takes a long pause. "When Cain and I are back, we will return it to it's former glory." He says this seriously as he comes to a full stop. He breathes in deeply through his nose, letting out a loud sigh. I look around to see several tomb stones surrounded by an old iron fence. I look over to Damien who seems to be focusing on something in the distance. He begins to walk and I follow behind him. We come up to the largest stone, a beautiful women sculpted on the top of the large solid cube base. My eyes make it's way to the epitaph. "In loving memory of Queen Kiara. Loved by all." It continued in smaller letters underneath in another language, which I was unable to read, completed with the date she died.
"Damien..." I whispered. "She was always one with the people. She never believed in levels of power. She didn't want an extravagant tombstone nor did she want to be buried with the rest of the royal family. My father thought it was ridiculous, so we compromised. She was buried with the people, but her tombstone was noticeable, as a queens should be." He says this without taking his eyes off of the words in front of him. I say nothing and decide it's best I just listen. He needs an ear in this moment and I was happy he was comfortable enough to choose me to be that person. He continues, "She saw everyone as equals, no one deserved better than the other. She always made a note to say to my brothers and I 'You do not look into your neighbours bowl to see if you have more. You look into their bowl to see if they have enough." He leans over to touch the grass in front of her grave. I watch him for several minutes, wondering what he is saying to her in his head. He finally stands and turns to me with a broken smile. "Come on, let's go."
"Leaving so soon?"
A voice, dominant with a hint of mischievousness. Before I have a second to turn around to see who it is, Damien grabs me and roughly pulls me behind him. I blink a few times, flustered and confused. I look to the side of Damien to see a very well dressed man. His features were eerily similar to Damien's. Broad, tan and light brown hair, slicked to the back perfectly. He glances at me and gives me a devilish smile. If I weren't in the situation I'm in now, I probably would have melted just from that look; as I'm sure many girls who come across him do. He switches his gaze back to Damien and crosses his arms casually. "It's good to see you brother." All the blood from my face drains as he confirms my suspicions. This was Prince Kai. His reputation preceeds him, there was no doubt he was an intimidating figure. "I can't say the same." Damien throws his words at Kai. Kai rolls his eyes and sighs. "Stubborn as always." He takes a few casual steps towards us and glances down to the grave. Damien tenses, reaching back to grip my arm. Either to ensure I was still there or to make sure he had a hold on me if Kai tried something, I'm not really sure. "Visiting our mother?" Damien doesn't respond. "I visit her daily." Kai puts his hands in his pockets. Damien's grip on me tightens causing me to flinch. "I would if I could." his jaw clenches and tightens. Kai leans to the side to see me attempting to discretely give Damien the signal to loosen his grip. "You might want to loosen your grip little brother." He says raising his eyebrows. Damien immediately lets me go and glances back at me with an apologetic frown.
"Don't forget Damien, you chose to leave." Damien whips his head around and scowls at him. "What the hell do you want." His fists tighten and his body tenses once more. Kai chuckles, pulling his hands out of his pockets and adjusting his jacket. "I believe you have something that belongs to me." Kai looks directly at Damien. Damien scrunches his face and narrows his eyes. "And what would that be?" But Kai doesn't respond. He takes another minute to look at Damien, ensuring that he is following his gaze. When he's confident that he's focused on him, he switches his gaze to me. The second his eyes catch mine a shiver of goosebumps runs down my spine and my body goes cold. Damien immediately steps in front of me causing Kai to look back at him. "That beautiful girl behind you." He finally responds to Damien's question. Damien responds by a direct punch to his face, causing his head to fly backwards in response. Kai yells out profanities as he covers his nose from the blood pouring out. Damien whips his head to me giving me a serious look. "Run." He says coldly. Terrified but thankful my feet move before I could think. I burst into a sprint into the nearby forest. "Shit, D. You got a nice punch." Damien shoves him back and Kai puts his hands up in defence. "I'm not going to run after you Damien. Just know I will come for her." With these words, Damien grips onto Kai's jacket and pulls him in, whispering through his teeth in Kai's ear. "If you even so much as breath on her. I will kill you." He shoves him back and Kai stumbles back as he chuckles. He fixes the collar of his jacket and smiles at Damien. "You've grown feelings for the girl?" A rhetorical question. Ignoring Kai's comment, he points at him. "I'm warning you." Kai scoffs. "I suggest you run along little brother, or it won't be me catching your precious light." Damien gives him one last look, then turns around and sprints into the direction I went, leaving Kai in the grave yard.
----------------------------------------------
I run through the forest, sprinting through the trees. Something about this feels so familiar. I hated to admit it but I was scared, scared not really knowing what I'm running from, scared of the dark forest, scared of getting caught or running into something I won't be able to handle. The tip of my foot fumbles as the ground had a sudden dip. I fall hard onto my hands and stomach. I grumble as I look down at my now dirt covered clothes. A hand reaches down in front of my face, offering to help me up. I jump, not expecting company. I am incredibly relieved when I look up to see Damien staring down at me. Although it confused me how he got here so quickly, I decided not to ask. He helps me up and I brush off my clothes. "Are you okay?" He asks with a worried tone. I ignore his question. "How does he know me?" Referring to Kai. He gives me a pained look and shakes his head. "I don't know."
The sky begins to rumble and lightening shoots out from the dark sky. We both look up in response and feel a few drops of rain on our face. "We have to get out of here." By the time Damien finished his sentence a flash of rain suddenly pours down on us, soaking us instantly. He grabs my hands and pulls me through the forest. I'm barely able to keep up with him. He comes to an immediate stop causing me to run into him. "What!? Why did we stop?" I see him scanning the area before turning to me. "Can't you hear the fighting in the distance?" I look around and listen closely. The rain slows down and the sounds of people yelling and clashing ring through the air. Damien walks slowly through the trees, following the sound, until he sees a small opening. He pushes a branch to the side which revealed four rebel soldiers taking on six of Kai's.
The rain pours, hitting the ground hard and the sky fills with anger once again. "We don't have time for this." Damien says angrily. In a blink of an eye he disappears, leaving my hand empty. I whip my head up and see him flashing back between each soldier, killing them swiftly. The rebel soldiers are startled at first but soon realize that whoever this is, is here to help. Finally Damien stops as he looks down at his fresh kills, breathing heavily, causing his shoulders to huff up and down. The rebel soldiers stand in shock before one of them calls out asking who he is. The sudden realization that we are wearing soldier attire hits me across the face. I run out yelling that everything is okay but they don't seem to be listening. Instead they turn to my direction and lift their weapons. I stop solid in my spot and throw up my hands in defence. "She's not one of them." Damien finally says. He throws off the black jacket and takes off the black face mask covering his face. The rebels immediately drop their weapons and bow to him. He ignores them and reaches his arm out to me. "Aryah come here." I walk to him slowly as I pull down the mask from my face as well. "Your grace." One of the rebel's says exasperated. "Sorry for the confusion. We were wearing disguises to walk through the Royal Quarter." They nod in approval. "Your grace, that was incredible. I have never seen anything like it!" Another rebel praises him and he gives him a small smile. "Scout out the area. Make sure no one is following us." They nod at his orders and bow before dispersing throughout the area.
When we are finally alone, Damien turns to me and grabs my upper arms in both of his hands, giving me a tight squeeze. "I'm so sorry you had to witness that." He says almost afraid of what I'll say. I guess my facial expression wasn't one of content. "You're... really... fast." Is all that seems to get out of my mouth. He chuckles and pulls me into a hug. "We gotta keep walking. We have to get home by the morning." I slump my shoulders. "Morning?" I whine. Damien shakes his head.
"We are not sleeping in the forest tonight. I'm not taking my chances."