The creak of the cell doors woke me from my dreamless slumber. Blinking in a dim light of a torch, I looked up and saw Kian standing in from of me. He wore a stone-cold glare that looked more menacing in the fire light. His black tunic was tight around his shoulders and his tan leather breeches were fitted. His feet were stuffed in brown working boots and he had a belt around his waist that held a sheathed sword. Dark blue eyes looked almost black in the muted gleam of the torch.
"Get up," he growled as emotionless as a pile of dirt.
I stood slowly, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. "If I must." My mouth opened wide to yawn, my eyes closing against the strain. When I opened them, Kian was halfway down the dark corridor of the dungeons and I had to sprint to catch up.
It was only after we emerged from the dungeon that I realized what an opportunity I had. Kian was walking in front of me, with his back turned to me. I could easily turn and run.
Before I gave it a second thought, I whirled on my heels and began to sprint down the hall. I hardly took two steps before I was yanked back by my hair. Yelping loudly, I crashed to the stone floor. Kian leaned over me and scowled.
"Did you forget that we hold your parents' runes?" Kian reminded me. "Not to mention that you have no idea how to get out of the Palace."
I rubbed the back of my head and grumbled, "I would have figured out what to do." Once I stood up, I pulled my hand away from my head to find several black strands plastered to my palm. "You pulled out my hair," I howled, infuriated.
Kian turned around and began to walk down the hall and sent a wave of his hand over his shoulder, coldly dismissing me. "It will grow back." Rage burst from inside me and with my fists clenched I brandished them wildly as if to punch Kian over and over again. With most of my frustration gone I followed him resentfully.
"Your ability to be completely and utterly infuriating is astonishing," I snarled. He said nothing back, but I swear I saw his shoulders shake from a laugh.
From then on, I narrowed my eyes at the back of his head. I began to search that wall in Kian's mind, trying to find a crack. I tuned out the repetitive clomp of our shoes hitting the stone floors and focused on finding a hole. Just a small sliver would allow me to pass through and access his mind, thoughts, and influence his actions. Minutes passed by and I have searched the entire wall. I've groped every inch on that wall to the point where I practically mentally raped him, and I couldn't even find a soft spot. There was no crack, no sliver, no way for me to access his mind. How was this possible?
With my frustration over its pinnacle, I gave up and I bashed into the wall on Kian's mind with all the mental strength I had in me. And as expected, Kian let out a loud cry. He doubled over and held his head in his hands, face twisted in torment. In that moment, a roar of laughter exploded from my throat. I fell on the ground, clutching my stomach howling madly.
A large, calloused hand tightly gripped my neck and before I knew it I was dangling in the air, the toes of my shoes brushing the gray floors. Kian's hand gripped my throat and his eyes full of venom.
"I'd appreciate it if you stayed out of my mind," hissed Kian, his voice matching the venom in his eyes. Even with my windpipes constricted, I was laughing hysterically. Kian's dark blue eyes narrowed at me, his face was covered in absolute disgust for me. That only made me laugh harder. But his rune caught my attention and I flicked my eyes to it. Something about it was off. Kian still held my throat tightly and my breath came in shallow wheezes, but I brought my hand up to touch the curious rune. Although, Kian didn't give me time to.
He discarded me quickly and I flopped onto the floor with a loud thud. I gasped in breath and rubbed my neck as if it will help my breathing return to normal. "You mind telling me how you knew I was going to try to run away, probably even before I did," I wheezed. "Why don't we start with you telling me what kind of sight rune that is?"
Kian bent down, grabbed my arm, yanked me to my feet, and then commenced to tow me down the hallway.
"You're in no position to question me," Kian informed me and in response my lips stretched into a grin.
He had no idea who he was dealing with.
Kian pulled me down familiar hallways and I came to the conclusion that we were headed towards the same room from yesterday. He stopped in front of a door, threw it open, and tossed me in. When I stood up and looked around, I confirmed my conclusion. The stone was a slightly darker gray from where the blood had been washed off earlier this morning I was guessing and my broken chair and the Witch King's table of witch craft was gone.
There was, although, an oval shaped mirror on the back wall that I didn't recall it being there before. When I saw my face in it I cringed. My face was a ghastly shade of white and my black hair was in a tangled mess. Red was smeared on my neck and the gold of my rune made my green eyes look dull. With a sigh I looked away.
"The King will be here shortly." I had forgotten Kian was there and my heart jumped, startled, but I didn't let it show. Like a block of wood he stood in the corner of the room and whether it was out of boredom or curiosity I began to ask questions.
"So what is the King's plan for me?" I began as I monitored the wall in his mind as I started my game.
"My father's plan is to use you for his own good," Kian finally answered. He said the words, "my father" as if they were a curse.
"If it were up to you, you would have me killed," I implied.
"If it wre up to me," Kian growled loudly, "I would have you tortured to the point of insanity as a retibution for all the souls you have damned! And then I'd have you kept alive, at just a hairs breath away from death, so you can rot for the rest of your sinful, pitiful life!"
"Need you not forget," I chimed as I shifted closer to him, "I'm already insane." I watched his jaw clench and unclench. I held his gaze, daring him to make a move. He kept the wall in his mind strong, though I noticed his jaw clench. "Why is that?" I continued. "Why is it that you hate me so?" Now he looked at me. He glared into my eyes, hate swimming across his face.
"Demons like you," he hissed through clenched teeth, "do not deserve to walk this land."
"Why?" I asked grinning from ear to ear. The wall in Kian's mind began to quiver in anger, soon it would crumble. "I do have rules you know. I only steal the runes of those who abuse their gift. Bullies of sorts. I only kill those who deserve to die." Kian became livid and he took a few angry steps towards me till he towered over me.
"You have no right to choose who dies and who lives. You cannot play God." His hot breath trickled across the bridge of my nose. I searched his mind again and frowned. Although the wall was shaking furiously, there was not a crack on it. I had to get through to him with something personal. There had to be a real reason why he hated me so much that he did not fear me. I had to find out. But that damn wall was in my way! My frown deepened and Kian's mouth twitched upward into a makeshift smile.
"You can't get into my mind can you-" Kian clutched his head in his hands and screamed in agony. A laughed erupted from my mouth. I didn't get through the wall in his head but it was still hilarious to see him in pain.
"Stay out of my head!" Roared Kian suddenly as he charged at me.
"Kian!" Kian was stopped in his tracks at the sound of the King's voice. "She is to be kept alive, and unharmed. I do not care how much you hate her." Kian scowled at his father for what seemed like a century.
"Yes father," Kian finally said through clenched teeth. Then King Saar turned to me and smiled brightly.
"My apologies Miss Laika," The King bowed. I nodded, grinning, then gave a triumphant look to Kian, who then closed his fists rightly. "I hope my son has done you no harm."
"None at all," I chimed flashing a wicked grin towards Kian then returning my gaze to the witch King. "Actually, he helped me." King Saar's eyes widened in surprise while Kian began to take deep breaths. I reveled in how much I affected him.
I threw myself up onto the window sill, for there was no chair in the room. While the orange beams of the rising sun illuminated behind me, the King and Prince watched me as I made myself comfortable. Once I was satisfied with how I was sitting, I looked up to meet their gazes.
"I'm famished," I announced patting my hollow stomach.
"Oh yes," squeaked Saar walking towards the door. "I assumed as much." The Witch King opened the doors and walked out into the hallway. When he walked back in, he was carrying a silver dome. In one swift movement, King Saar handed me the silver dome and took off the top revealing what was underneath. Four slices of ham, two slice of bread, and an apple that looked awfully familiar.
"Hey," I exclaimed picking up the apple, "it's my apple!" I took a bite out of the red fruit and groaned as the sweet juices danced over my taste buds. "You know I stole this," I explained, my mouth full of apple pieces. I swallowed and said, "things always taste better when they're stolen, do they not?"
I continued to eat, while the royals continued to stand there and watch me. Their silence begun to annoy me so I looked up from my bread. "And," I drawled.
Saar flinched as if I've woken him right before he was going to fall asleep. He cleared his throat. "And?"
"Are you going to tell me why I am here or are you going to stand there and observe my eating habits?"
"Oh yes," Saar squeaked. "I have brought you here this morning so you can explain to us more thoroughly about your-" his eyes flicked to my golden rune then quickly back to my eyes- "gift."
I almost choked on my ham. "Gift," I coughed. "That's funny how you call it a gift." I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, set the silver platter next to me on to the window sill, burped, cleared my throat, and then met both the King's and Prince's eyes before taking and deep breath and saying, "I kill people."
The words hung in the air like the smell of rotten cheese. King Saar, even Prince Kian, looked at me with both confusion and surprise. Priceless. I threw my head back, opened my mouth wide, and cackled loudly and wildly. I clutched my stomach as I keeled over in laughter and it was soon that my laugh hit that point where it became silent. I couldn't help it. Their faces were just so funny and pathetic. Eventually, my laughing ceased and I sat up while I wiped my watery eyes.
"Whew," I gasped, "I'm funny, but I was serious. I do kill people. Runes are part of people. It is basically like a heart and if you take out someone's heart they die, right? Well it is the same with runes. Take it out, they die. Super simple.
"How do you do that?" Asked Saar, intrigued as much as Kian wasn't. Kian stood with his hands behind his back respectfully, his face expressionless.
"Why are you looking for lessons?" Saar's eyes widened and I chuckled. "I am joking." Saar's face relaxed back to normal, but I swear I saw disappointment flash in his eyes.
"Actually," I continued, "I really don't know." I stood up and walked over to Kian, my eyes on his rune. Kian stiffened with each step I took closer to him. "Runes are a soul of sorts, and I guess I can feel it." I circled Kian like a predator trying to decide what part of its kill to eat first. I paused, resting on the balls of my feet, at Kian's right side. I inched closer, eyeing his rune hungrily, until I was but a breath away. Kian remained stone still.
"Runes have two parts," I explained as I cocked my head in thought. "The external, which is the actually visible part: the black, ancient scrawling written in the lost language of Kainor that identify which rune it is. Although it has been studied since the beginning of runes, no one has been able to decipher the code of the rune language." I looked away from Kian's rune and met the King's eyes. "Is that not peculiar?"
"Well yes, I guess it is," croaked Saar while clearing his throat.
"But I can," I went on. "I can decipher the ancient language of the runes and know what kind a rune a person holds." I turned my attention back to the Prince's rune. "The second part of a rune is the internal: the soul. The soul of the rune is not a real soul. It is black and squishy and tangible because it is a dark soul. It is tainted. Runes are evil, you know. They weren't supposed to be a luxury; they were supposed to be treated as a plague. A real soul, a living beings soul, is big and white and smoky looking. You cannot touch a soul, but you can hold a rune soul. Well at least I can. Why do you think that is?"
During my speech I raised myself onto my toes so I could see Kian's interesting rune. The muscles in his next flinched when they felt my hot breath spread across the skin. There was something off about Kian's rune, something I couldn't figure out. I squinted at the black scribbles on the side of the Prince's neck. If I could only touch the soul...
Unconsciously, I brought my hand up slowly to touch his rune. "So strange," I whispered.
"What's strange?" King Saar's voice knocked me out of my daze. I slapped my hand back down onto my thigh and stepped away from Kian as if I'd been caught doing something I should not have. Kian relaxed visibly.
"Hm?" I asked.
"You called my son's rune strange," recalled Saar. "What is strange about it?"
"Oh nothing," I said quickly and I jumped back up onto the window sill. I looked at Kian expectantly, but he was looking at the ground as if he was trying to stop whatever is in his stomach to not make a reappearance.
"Any other questions," I breathed when King Saar opened his mouth to probably push me more about Kian's rune.
The Kings mouth shut with a snap and then after a moment's thought, it opened again. "What do you even do with the runes once you... steal them?"
"I usually put them in a vial, like the ones that my parents' were in, because they're easier to store that way. And then I sell them." Both the King and Prince's eyes narrowed and for a moment I was shocked to see how much Kian actually looked like Saar. "I can also give someone a rune or trade one for another. Granted it definitely does not always work, but some people are desperate for such an extravagant power as a rune." Their eyes were still pointed in confusion.
"Remember when I took that archer's rune when you kidnapped me," I continued. "Well he died when I did, obviously, but when I gave his rune back to him he woke. It works that way when I trade runes except they go into a deeper sleep of sorts after the trade. I believe it is so the body can readjust. How long of sleep depends on the strength of the rune and how much they have to adjust exactly. With people who have never had a rune and want one shoved into them, it is much more complicated. It involves a lot of cutting and screaming." I made a face of disgust that was mimicked by the King; I could tell that he had a few pictures of what I meant floating around in that witch mind of his.
I sighed and crossed my legs. "Any more?"
"Earlier when you stole the archer's rune, you said something about a weak rune," Kian asked. He hasn't said a word till now so I had almost forgotten Kian was even there.
"Some runes are stronger than others for some reason. I think it has something to do with their personality and upbringing, but weaker runes are easier to steal. With a snap of a finger-" I snapped my fingers abruptly and the witch King flinched- "I can steal it. But with a stronger rune it is harder. It is usually a longer process.
"A person's rune soul is usually directly conncected to their mind. Normally, I have to sever the connection between a person's rune soul and their mind. If a rune is weak, that's the easiest; sometimes I don't even have to reach into their mind to take it. It gets tricky once the rune starts to be strong. If the rune is strong, but the mind is still weak, I still have to sever the connection no matter how small. However, if the rune is strong and the mind is also strong-" I eyed Kian and he glared right back, his jaw hard. "It takes a little time to sever the connection."
In a blink of an eye I was at Kian's side again. The prince did not even wince when I touched my fingers to the powerful black ink on the side of his neck.
"But with enough patience..." I pulled at the soul of Kian's rune, not enough to steal, but just enough to cause Kian some pain.
Kian recoiled with a hiss, hand going to his neck, and Saar took a protective step towards his son.
"Relax," I assured, "He will be fine. His rune is too strong to just take. I'd probably have to knock him out first." I received icy glares from both of them which granted them a soft chuckle from me.
King Saar let out a heavy sigh. "Is there anything else you can do with that golden face rune of yours?"
I paused to think and then something very important came to mind and I began to get excited. "Ooh," I piped plopping down on the window sill once more, "I know something I can demonstrate. Someone bring me a rat!"