Cal

My eyes pop open at the sound of the bolt opening on the outside of the door to the room I am being kept. It shouldn't phase me anymore—someone comes in on regular intervals to bring me food and water and to retrieve the waste bucket they've afforded me. A part of me still hopes that when I open my eyes next it will all have been a terrible dream, a nightmare. I should put out that fire—that hope—before it has a chance to ignite.

The hinges of the door creak as someone enters but I don't bother to look to see who it is. I am more than content to continue laying on my back and wallowing in my self pity. Footsteps of someone approaching me cause the concrete floor beneath me to vibrate, giving me a headache but I refuse to move to sit up.

The footsteps stop a foot or so from my head. I hear the scrape of metal on concrete as my food tray is pushed along the floor.

"I was told you weren't eating but I didn't think you were that stupid. Mare will be disappointed in you."

I don't turn to the voice. All I can manage is to scoff at Shade's words.

"I care little of what Mare thinks."

"That's not what the rest of my family seems to think. According to them, you were the one who gave Mare the job at the palace, protected her when her abilities were exposed, brought her back to see her family—"

"That was before... before she used me. Her betrayal led to me being forced to kill my own father and my little brother crowned king."

Shade ignores me. "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself—the arena broadcast: the dancing, the kiss. And you fought with her, protected her. You didn't have to do that. You chose to."

"Despite what the country thinks of me now, I can be a nice guy."

"So don't you dare tell me that you don't care about my sister. She betrayed you and people died. Well, guess what? People died on our side too. Silvers and Reds. That doesn't give you the right to be so selfish. You have a chance to change the world now. That different world you once imagined isn't so far out of reach now. So get off your high horse and eat!"

He kicks the tray over to me. When I don't move, he shakes his head, muttering a slur for Silvers under his breath. Shade slams the door closed and pushes the bolt into place with necessary force.

I stare at the food tray. As much as I don't want to admit it, Shade is right. My arm is numb with lack of use, in fact it takes great effort to pull the tray towards me. When the first bit of food touches my tongue, I realize I am ravenous.

What is it about me that makes me listen to Reds? Why do I care? I am silver-blooded. A prince. I would have been king. They shouldn't effect me so much. But they do. I've cared for as long as I can remember. I dreamed about a different world—a world in which the color of our blood did not divide us—long before I met Mare Barrow. I just wasn't ready to sacrifice certain things. My pride for one; my father was big on pride. My comforts have always been something I was willing to give up. I refuse to lose. But what the sacrifice I was least willing to accept was to go against my father, against my colors. Now, my father is gone. Maven and his snake of a mother took care of that—made me take care of that. I lost. Lost my title and my crown. I lost my home. I have no more pride. What's standing in my way?

Not a damn thing.

I eat every morsel on the tray. And when I'm finished I bang on the door repeatedly until someone comes. This bolt slides out of place and a member of the Scarlet Guard holds a gun and points it at me.

"What do you want?"

"Mare. Mare Barrow."