Hellooo! Sorry for taking so long, but I finally finished the second chapter! Thankk you sooo much Red Shadow Ranger for beta-ing my work. You are the best!
A Cyclonian carrier without the noticeable markings was entrusted to take the pair to the zoo. I maintained a stony silence between us. It was appropriate. He may be Father's trusted soldier, standing a few steps below Grandmother's throne. I, however, considered him not worth my time, and I let him know with my own brand of aloof, patronizing glares.
A thin eyebrow rose. It was barely noticeable. It wasn't questioning, but it conveyed I received the message. I was very pleased with myself. However, a few minutes of the tense atmosphere, the loud rumble of the engines being the only sound, and it occurred to me that maybe Dark Ace preferred the silence. He wasn't known for being talkative, unless it was with father. Maybe he didn't want to talk to me
I pursed my lips into a thin line. The seconds were stretched thin between us. I made it a point to keep interaction with the soldiers to a minimum; their usefulness as sources of information and protection were the only thing that kept them in my vicinity.
This man was not useful to me. His function was a waste of my free time. If I couldn't have my father, Grandmother or mother by my side, then there was no point to the outing. Nevertheless, decorum dictated I accept my Grandmother's gift even if it is was-worthless. 'A day at the zoo.' What does she expect me to do there? Make friends with inferior life forms. Clearly, she must have mistaken my interest for the outing. I do not want to spend time with some stupid animals-one of them being the Dark Ace.
In the middle of the journey, Dark Ace began to throw surreptitious glances in my direction.
He stopped on recognizing the expression on my face. Stormy and annoyed, growing by the second, as if fed from some internal source. My anger at being denied my family's time was a heavy ball nestled inside my stomach. I could complain to the Dark Ace, but I was sort of familiar with his personality to know what he would say. 'Silly girl! Did you honestly expect the rulers of Cyclonia to drop everything for you, a wilful child?'
He absorbed my passing snide glance, looked unsure for a second before a blank mask swallowed his sharp features.
I returned to maintaining my stoic, aloof demeanour. I wonder if he thought of me as a minor challenge. One more challenge to overcome to be known as the greatest. He should beware of the fact that the talons gave me due deference because I commanded it, not because their show of respect was an obligation, -and he would soon be acquainted with the cruel methods through which I achieved it.
Terra Zoolodge had magnificent animals. Creatures with an IQ lower than the borderline that separated a human-like species from animals.
"Foolish, ridiculous creatures!" Dark Ace muttered under his breath but loud enough for me to hear. A scornful tint to his red-faced glower. Clearly, he was unhappy with the blazing sun. I wondered why he cared. It wasn't like the animals dwelled on the opinion of humans, at least not in a way I understood.
We entered the place and started our trek down a path. Cages were arranged on either side of us. Some of the animals peered at me from behind the bars of their individual habitat, their round eyes empty and listless. Others ignored the crowds to feast on food from the floor.
Dark Ace must be used to moving swiftly to other places because the rapid movement of his legs meant he walked faster than me. I scurried on my small feet to keep up; my head barely reached his knees. "Can I trust you to stay by my side?" He questioned with understated laughter in his voice. I gave him a cold stare for his impudence. I hated it when people brought up my shortcomings especially when it was someone who I deemed unworthy. My eyes regarded him with icy, cool and the barest hint of condescension. The corner of my mouth flittered upwards.
"I should ask you that question. It is your duty to stay by my side. The task is simple-allow me to have a good time on my birthday. So far the only thing you have done is dragged me on a speed walk. If that is the extent of your usefulness, then the fate of Cyclonia is in jeopardy." I replied.
He halted and turned, giving me the full brunt of a simmering glare. A smile simply quirked my mouth.
On other little girls, any smile would appear endearing. On me, it had the opposite effect. I had perfected a sort of twisted creepiness that was only heightened when I shed the grim shadows to smile.
"Fine." He groused, a dark frown etched into his forehead and hinted at being permanent. I had upset him. His mood was of no consequence to me. It was necessary for adults like him who dared to underestimate me.
Just because I was under his care and of a very young age, did not mean he could openly be rude to me. In the presence of Grandmamma, he wouldn't dare!
"What would you like to see first?" The sharp edges of his face appeared more prominent and his shark-like teeth were exposed like the fangs of a predator.
A shiver went down my spine but I remained resolute in portraying a strong, unaffected front. A princess of Cyclonia, since she is able to wear a thread of gold, learns how disadvantageous weakness is.
We stare each other down, eyes mutually hard and unforgiving.
My face is stern in displeasure and conveyed plainly my opinion of him-a mere annoyance. Seeing I am obstinate against relenting and realizing his lesser position, he capitulated. "What do you want to see?" He repeated the question but in a sobered, almost conciliatory tone. Clearly he understood he wasn't going to get anywhere by being boorish with me.
Her face relaxes until it is impassive and lips are pursed in contemplative thought. Her eyes roamed the surroundings, browsing the signs and noting the animals trapped in their enclosures. She raised her arm to point a finger to her right. The sign read hippolamus. He nodded, straightened his back and marched forward at a leisurely pace. I could keep instep and walk next to him.
"The hippolamus is usually found on terra aqua, where its deep lakes immerse its huge body. Its long neck has to be always kept above a foot from the water surface to avoid the feeling of drowning." In gruff monotone, Dark Ace read from the pamphlet attached to the cage.
"What does he eat?" I queried.
"Little girls!" Dark Ace quipped, the slash of his mouth curving slightly.
A small brow arched in mild reproach, "Was that meant to be a joke? Do you often attempt comedy in your line of work?"
"Yes, and it kills the crowd every time." Dark Ace replied.
"Then, am I correct to assume your battle prowess I have heard so much about is merely a rumour?" A smile surfaced on my pale face, despite the utterance of the cool words in a mocking undertone. The boy laughed and it sounded genuinely happy.
I felt a blush crawl over my cheeks. Other people casually set their eyes upon me. I didn't like it. I wasn't used to having eyes on me before, eyes of strangers who openly gawked, not caring for decorum or knowing of the respect they should have for me –unlike loyal Cyclonians.
"Lively and demanding. Qualities of a Master. Family must be so proud." Dark Ace stated airily, heaving a harsh sigh "Makes my job a little more difficult"
"That creature doesn't appear very happy!"
I studied the lines of obvious sorrow on the occupant of the current cage. Eyes dull and vacant. Flesh taut and rubbery over a hard, protruding skeleton. Lifeless sadness hung on its features.
Dark Ace snorted pitilessly at the visible display of what he considered weakness. "He was caught. Dumb or careless. Consequently, he paid with his freedom. It is the way of the world." A contemptuous sneer played on the words so they are cold and cutting. I perked my ears because I understood the meaning not so carefully obscured in the vicious speech.
They are also devoid of remorse for placing such a terrible reality in front of a child. "Does a similar fate befall captured Cyclonians?" I queried woodenly; nothing belied the child-like worry that swelled in my chest.
"Yes." It dropped from his lips like a rock into a cavernous well. The impact couldn't be heard but surely, it would have some ripple effect.
"No one is capable of sufficiently protecting me. I have to protect myself first."
He could easily say otherwise. Offer a small grain of solace to the unhappy girl trapped in a dangerous world. But he was the Dark Ace and he offered nothing except to the ruling family of Cyclonia. I deserved no such recognition. The way my insolent tongue provoked such irritation and frustration inside him. It gave him a small amount of satisfaction to crush a little of my childhood innocence.
When he spoke again, it was in a direct mater-of-fact voice, echoing a cruel degree of cold warning, "No! A princess of Cyclonia either learns to protect herself or be reduced to mere dust by the numerous enemies gunning for her demise."
He saw it roll over my face. It was purely unintentional. The first of many times when he will recognize the presence of it. An uncharacteristic, weak child-like vulnerability, shadowed by shapes of anxiousness and fear. I forced my wide eyes to return to the animal and changed my gaze to a thoughtful angle. I pondered silently the very few stark differences between my potential captured state and that of the animals.
The creatures appeared to have been bequeathed some mercy, a future Master Cyclonis-not very likely. Dark Ace can guess the essence of my thoughts. I was privately brooding as we visited the next few cages. And as for the Dark Ace, the sadistic part of him took great pleasure in my misfortune. After all, he was supposed to be 'teaching' the young lass as she advanced to maturity. A devious quirk to his brow, a suggestion of a wicked edge to his countenance. If I continued to be irksome, doubtless he had other lessons I would have to learn the hard way.
I can discern from his tightly compressed lips and the evil luminosity of his eyes that he feels the desire to laugh at my carefully hidden pitiful state filling the hollow crevices of my body. For some reason, he chooses not to indulge his cruelty. Perhaps he is looking forward for a better opportunity for me to sample it, ruler or not.
I force my mind to awaken from the memory. The day at the zoo, children always remember a happy time. As I stare out into the darkness, all I can hear is the echo of a warning. Even the warning wasn't enough to avert my fate. I shut my eyes, but the rancorous, mocking darkness appears to have taken residence behind my eyelids.
Maybe Dark Ace's intention that day was more than petty revenge. He was trying to be loyal in his own warped manner. By spoon feeding the little girl a taste of the cruelty, he thought he was contributing to the training of a powerful Master, capable of gaining control over all of Atmosia.
The alternate fate frightened me more than I dared show. I was made aware of the consequences of failure, but the lessons from my Grandmother and father compared to the one proffered by the Dark Ace bore a stark difference.
I brushed a lock of dark hair to behind my ear. The burning sun invoked beads of sweat on my brow. The fear gnawed at my insides played all sorts of internal havoc on my body. Muscles were in a constant state of tension, uneasiness filtered out from every pore of my body and morbid thoughts whirled in my head. I couldn't focus on the contents of my surroundings. I saw cages, but they were filled with misshapen and distorted colours. My mind plastered the similar morose expression on all the creatures. Everywhere I looked; there was a wretched reminder of the cost of failure.
My skills as a crystal mage were progressing well. I had exceeded expectations on numerous fronts, but was it enough? Could I win the war? Grandmother didn't freely bestow praises. The best I could receive was a nod of approval or the barest suggestion of a smile on thin, grey lips. Now-a-days, with the weight of the kingdom stacked on her shoulders, Atmos attacking and plundering from Cyclonia instead of the other way around as it should be, the nods and the imperceptible grins were exceedingly becoming a rarity.
'I want Grandmother to smile at me again!' The thought was so absurd and inconsequential that I would recall it for many years for what it was. A child's hopeless dream.
Until the day tragedy made the promise of Grandmother's smile impossible, I was a growing adult who believed I could change the concrete contours of my Grandmother's face.
Sorry, I am digressing….
The death of my Grandmother did pierce me greatly. On Cyclonia, grieving with sadness and tears is thought very little of. Tears cannot wash away the person's sins. Sadness requires feeling and Cyclonians invest so much effort into appearing impervious. Why waste it? There was only one way to grieve, revenge.
Yes. Revenge also procured respect. It was engraved as a jewel on Cyclonia's crown.
Dark Ace knew of this. Yet he had grown complacent. In the presence of one so young.
'She is awfully quiet. Good. I prefer her that way.' I surreptitiously read his thoughts by noting the emotions surfacing on his narrow face in abrupt intervals. The flicker of animation belies the obscene joy he takes in my misery. Surprising, the anger that knotted my chest was not as tight as I would have imagined. Perhaps as I knew internally that I could so easily make him pay for upsetting me.
We arrived at an enclosure. My glazed eyes cleared of their melancholy sheen could perceive the next unfortunate animal. A sudden impish desire gripped my heart and my breath hitched at the novelty of the idea.
I could demand the Dark Ace rescue some poor animal from the confines of their cell. The result would give me a small amount of satisfaction.
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