Hello, readers! So here it is, my first fanfic. Keiro/Attia if you squint.
Just a note- time has passed since the ending of Sapphique. Also, in this story Attia chooses to stay in Incarceron and becomes head of the Sapient Guard. The Sapient Guard is created to tie up any loose ends after Incarceron's demise- like Chain-Gangs for example.
The Chains That Bind
The mangled mass of the Chain-Gang slunk closer, their armour clinking with each slithering step. Chain-Gangs were undoubtedly the most hideous creatures of Incarceron. A mixture of man and machine, the Prison had bound them together- some at the hip, others at the hand. Some had melted together, their faces unrecognizable mounds of flesh and metal. All were lost, crazed shells of the men they had once been.
"Well that's an offer we can't refuse, isn't it?" it sneered, its ten voices echoing its words like a witch's chant. "The head of the Sapient Guard instead of the little girls…we accept, foolish one."
"Go," I shoved the trembling girls towards the entrance of the cave.
"We aren't leaving you!" the elder one insisted, taking a step closer to me despite her fear of the Chain-Gang in front of us. With her dark brown hair, hazel eyes and defiant stance, she reminded me of how I had been as a young girl. She couldn't be more than nine.
I crouched down and met her eyes. "Listen to me. Your day to be the protector will come. For now, you need to go. Your duty is to your sister. She is yours to protect. And you are mine."
"But Attia-"
"Go," I stood. "I'll be alright." She stood frozen for a moment with tears in her eyes before nodding. Turning, she took her sister by the hand and ran from the cave.
Taking a deep breath, I turned to the Chain-Gang and dropped my swords. It grinned and drew a bloodied, spiked whip from the recesses of one of its bodies.
"Let the fun begin…"
I blink, coming back to myself, my hand falling from the jagged scars marring my torso. It's been five months since that Chain-Gang escaped capture and I escaped death. Still, my encounter with them stole something from me. I flinch at things I never shied away from before. I hope nothing goes wrong in Incarceron that the Guard can't take care of without my help. Prince Giles requested my presence at his and Claudia's coronation to discourage resistance to the return of stability to the Outside Realm. The Realm has been without order since the defeat and death of the Witch-Queen Sia. Giles is originally from the Prison. He saved my life once, but I'm not too happy to be playing the part of 'a savage of Incarceron'. The people Outside fear the Prison and the people that had been trapped in it. It's unfortunate, since we had wanted nothing more than to see the stars and be a part of the Outside world before Incarceron's defeat.
I wrap the bandages around my torso on autopilot, tugging them tighter than usual so they won't bulge under my corset. Protocol may be renounced, but it will take a while for the people to fully embrace the freedom they have been given. Keiro, Gile's rugged, egotistic brother-in-arms from Incarceron bursts into the room just as I'm finishing the final layer.
"Attia-" he cuts himself off at the sight of my scars. "What happened?"
"What do you care?" I snap, pulling the final bandages taut. We may have been forced to help each other Escape Incarceron, but I didn't owe him an explanation.
He watches me for a moment, his piercing blue eyes shifting back to the cold, calculating glare that I'm used to. "I don't."
"Right."
"The coronation is starting, Dogslave. Get to your position." He strides out of the room, not bothering to close the door behind him. Typical Keiro.
I lean further into the shadows, watching as a blushing maid daintily takes a young man's hand and lets him lead her to the dance floor. The coronation went without a hitch. My eyes move to the newly proclaimed King Giles and Queen Claudia dancing in the center of the ballroom. They are strong, capable leaders; exactly what the Realm needs to get itself back on track, unlike the excuse of a prince sauntering towards me. Caspar is Queen Sia's son. The Council voted off his birthright because of his drunken ways and playboy nature. He doesn't seem to have suffered a hard blow from the loss. More time to entertain his whores, I suppose.
"Good evening, gorgeous." Is he trying to sound seductive? If he is, he's failing miserably. "Can I interest you in a dance? We can have some fun afterwards…I heard you Incarceron women know how to have a good time," he leers.
Smirking, I push off the wall, leaning up to his ear. "Only if you aspire to be a eunuch," I hiss, shoving him slightly as I move to keep track of the new King and Queen. Over their heads I meet Keiro's eyes, returning his grin at the sight of Casper dejectedly making his way to the back doors.
"He's not as good as I could be, huh Dogslave?" he teases, reaching me and offering his hand for a dance.
I take it with a grin as he pulls me closer, leading me in a lazy circle across the dance floor. "Careful, Winglord," I murmur, "I won't be so kind as to give you a warning."
Whatever he's about to say is cut off by the shrill scream that pierces the air. Instinctively, I draw my blades, whipping towards the sound of metal ripping free from flesh. From the corner of my eye I see Keiro slip a firelock out from under his coat. Caspar's body lies limp on the threshold to the ballroom, a mangled, steel-flesh hand holding a rugged blade dripping with his blood.
The Chain-Gang.
The ballroom erupts in chaos. Children cower under tables and women trip over their dresses in fright. Guards flood the ballroom through secret entryways, herding the frantic mob towards the opposite exit. Through all of this, the Chain-Gang stands over its kill, sick smiles splitting its faces, its eyes on me.
"We want more blood, foolish one," its voices rasp. Its ninth man slowly pulls a blood-caked whip from his back and runs his tongue along the surface.
My blood.
It moves to surround me, the crescent of bodies reminding me of the children that had been skipping in circles mere seconds ago. The grins grow wider as it raises the whip and for all my training, I can't move. I can't move because they broke me and playing guard at a coronation was supposed to begin correcting that. I can't move because I haven't moved forward from that night five months ago.
With a sharp crack, Keiro's firelock explodes behind me and the Chain-Gang writhes in agony as its ninth man is vaporized, whip and all. Flesh and steel reach across the gap to bind them together again, but Keiro doesn't give them the chance. His eyes take on the hollowed, merciless look they had in Incarceron as he shoots each one down until a lone, weak link is all that is left of the chain.
"Take it. Finish this." Keiro holds the firelock out to me. "Or are you still afraid, Attia?" I hold his gaze for a long moment. The mockery in his tone is not lost on me. Neither is the rough affection it's held since the defeat of Incarceron.
I turn away from him and plunge my swords into the heart and throat of the remaining link, watching as his eyes take on the glassy sheen of death. I pull my blades free of the link and swipe them clean on the rough carpet before standing and meeting Keiro's knowing gaze.
"Me? Afraid? I think you're talking about yourself, Keiro."
He grins. "Well then, let's get back to that party, Dogslave."
There you have it! Hope you enjoyed the story. Feedback is gobbled up and truly appreciated. :)