Zayra

I dont have to look to know who it is.

You should have worked faster.

I slowly put the book down and distance myself from the desk. I turn my gaze to the floor and turn around.

"Your highness," I say with a bow.

I can feel his stare on me but I dont dare look up.

His steps echo in the room and so does the sound of the door closing. My heart is going faster than it has ever gone before, a mix of excitement and uneasiness.

He comes closer. Bringing a heat that warms my skin and then stops.

"I have questions for you." He says with a stern voice.

My eyes shoot up. He is wearing one of his training armors with his hands behind his back and an inscrutable look in his face, nothing like the last time I saw him and yet still as breath taking. I force my heart to slow down.

This is an interrogation, nothing else.

"I remind you that lying to royalty is considered treason and is punishable by death."

A long pause follows his words.

I thought I would look down or flinch at the threat but I didnt react at all.

His look hardens.

"What is your name?"

"Zayra Lowell." My voice comes out small and trembling.

"What is your position in this castle?"

He starts taking slow paces around me, like an animal waiting for the right moment to jump on its prey, an intimidation technique and a good one for that matter.

"Im part of the cleaning personnel."

My hands fidget and I feel his eyes burning in my back.

"Why were you a server at the banquet then?"

"The person with that post became unavailable and I had to replace him."

"Unavailable how?"

"He fell down the stairs and injured his foot." I say with out missing a beat.

I just lied to the future king of Norta.

He doesn't notice though. The questions that follow are fast, I answer with the same speed.

"How long have you been working here?"

"A year."

"Your date of birth?"

"September 18"

"Of what year?"

"300 of the New Era."

"Place of birth?"

"Citadel."

He stops.

"You were born in Piedmont?"

"Yes."

His expression doesn't change but his heartbeat does, it's faster, that's not a good sign. I wish I could have lied about this, it wasn't common for reds to move from one country to another but my lie would have been quickly uncovered the minute he looked in the Nortan database and didn't find me there.

"When did you move?"

"Three years ago."

"Did you come alone?"

The question makes me flinch. I dont like where this is going.

"Yes."

"Why?"

Something is slowly starting to burn up in my chest, I know the feeling all too well. Boness teachings appear in my head as the heat intesifies.

Study. Locate. Bend.

Study your enemy. Locate their weakness. Bend them to your will.

My ability starts enacting those teachings as if it was an instinct and not a command I should give. Keeping it from starting the search takes all of my concentration, I cant stop the bitter words that come out of my mouth.

"Why did you have to ask such a stupid question?"

His eyes widen for a moment before turning into daggers. Open palms are replaced with fists and he takes a step closer.

His expression is calm but I see how tense his body is. Nobody speaks back to the prince, not even silvers of the highest ranks dare.

I try to apologize but I fear that if I opened my mouth words filled with venom would come out, so I say nothing.

He takes another step forward and I am forced to take one back. The heat that emanates from him is no longer gentle. It has turned lethal.

"Last chance. Answer the question."

My head is fighting right now. The rational part of my brain is telling me to just answer the damn question and get out of here, but a little dark whisper is telling me to refuse. It wants me to die.

At least like this it will be quick. It will be the way you were supposed to go in the first place. You will be with them, dont you want that?

I do.

Then you know what you have to do.

"Go to hell."

One second, thats all it takes for me to register what I just did and regret it.

Everything happens so fast, he comes dangerously close and I try to stay away from him but my back hits the desk. I run to one side but his arm is expecting me, it blocks the way. There is nowhere else to run. I try to push him in a last attempt to get an opening but he takes my hands in his and that's when the torture starts.

"Why are you here?!"

I am paralyzed with agonizing pain. The pulse is begging for me to take control, it wants to rip him to shreds but I cant let it, I wont let it.

"For who do you work?!"

I can feel him scorching my hands beyond repair, down to the bone. I can smell the burning flesh as the fire he has started on my skin moves up to my arms and I cant stand it anymore. I scream.

Memories that I had forgotten start to dance in my mind as if giving me one last happy moment before the end, but it only makes the pain a thousand times worse.

Dad is fixing the roof of our house with me beside him as his assistant.

I feel my body hitting the ground.

Grandfather is telling Meira and I bedtime stories by the light of the moon.

The memories are attacking me and I cant make them go away. Why dont they just go away?

Mom and I are playing hide and seek. There is my little flower, she says when she finds me, and she takes me in her arms and leaves a kiss on my cheek making me giggle.

I feel the tears stinging my eyes and this time I let them fall. I let the sobs shake my body and let my heart break in a million pieces.

Meira coming home with a radiant smile plastered on her face after Danika, the girl she had loved her entire life, confessed her love for her.

The pain my body is experiencing is nothing compared to the devastating misery that has settled inside of me.

Dad carrying me on his shoulders, grandfather hugging me tightly, mom giving me a goodnights kiss, Meira tousling my hair lightly.

I see their faces in front of me, smiling, laughing. Everything we ever did together.

We were happy, even with our circumstances and the color of our blood, we were truly happy. I havent felt that kind of joy since they were alive. Im in a world of darkness thats eating away a piece of my soul every day and all I can do is watch until I become darkness myself.

I should be dead too.

Then something touches me and my mind clears. The memories fade taking every other bad thought with them and I feel a soothing energy that travels through my hands and my arms. A moment later the touch disappears and thats when I open my eyes.

There is no pain.

It takes me a few seconds to focus but when I do I cant believe what Im seeing. My hands are perfect. There are no burns or cuts, nothing. I dont understand.

Someone takes my chin and makes me look up.

It's a man.

"Sleep," he says in a beautiful melodious voice. Like if he was singing.

I cant resist, I do what he commands.

I close my eyes once again and let the waves of unconsciousness take me to a dreamless sleep.