Chapter 16
A za found herself in a room with a young boy. Judging by his height and what little she could see, he couldn’t be more than sixteen.
His back was turned toward her. Long, dirty blonde curls hung down, caked in something dark.
His stance was wrong. He favored the left side of his body.
When he begins to turn, she can see that he’s limping on his right leg.
She moves her gaze up his body as he begins to face her, and she has to swallow a gasp when she glimpses his swollen face.
One eyelid was nearly swollen shut, while the other is black and blue all around.
His nose was clearly broken, bent at an unnatural angle, and blood leaking down to mix with the blood spilling from his split lip.
As her eyes trail down farther, she could see a dark red and purple mark carved into his throat as if something had been pulled tight around it.
Tears burned in Aza’s eyes, as she tried to understand what had been done to him.
“Miss?” The boy whimpers, “Everything hurts.
They wouldn't stop. I begged them to. I told them I would be better, that I just needed a little more time and training.
It wasn't my fault I was born with a bum leg.
But they didn't care. They broke it, and told me it wasn't any different.
Then they tied me up. Wouldn't stop hitting me.
I just wanted to go back to my mom. I called for her, but they just laughed.
I don't know where I am. I remember them not stopping and it hurting, hurting so bad, and then nothing.
I don't remember anything after that. And now I'm here, but I don't know where it is. I don’t know who you are.”
“M-my name is Aza. W-what’s your name?” Aza couldn’t stop herself from stuttering.
“Alaric. My name's Alaric.”
“I'm so sorry about what happened to you. I'm sorry I can't help you. You're not real. I'm just having a nightmare.”
He started crying, “I am real, and I'm really scared. Please miss.” He begs as he falls to his knees.
Aza’s chest tightens, but she continues to remind herself that this isn't real, it's just her mind playing tricks on her.
“I have to try to wake up now. Then this will all be over, for the both of us.”
“No! Please don’t leave me! There’s no one else! I can't talk to anyone else! They don’t see me; they don't listen!” He's yelling more frantically now and starts crawling over to Aza, reaching out his hand towards her.
“I-I'm sorry.” Tears stream down her face, blurring everything.
“Please!” Alaric screams as he grabs for her wrist.
Aza jolted upright in bed, clutching her arms close to her chest. Tears are streaming down her face.
Light poured in through the window. Aza is surprised she’s even up to see the sun's arrival, even if it wasn't a restful sleep, considering the nightmare she just woke from.
She must have been screaming in her sleep, because, before she knew it, Killian and Colby called for permission to enter, which she begrudgingly gave.
“Princess, is everything alright?” Killian asked in a calm voice.
“Yes, just another nightmare, I’m sorry to have disturbed you.”
“You weren’t disturbing us. It is our job to protect you and be there for you.” Colby informs.
Aza feels he may be laying it on a bit thick after what happened last night, but she moves past it.
“Is there anything we can do for you before our shift ends?”
“No, I’m alright. Thank you. I hope you get some much-needed rest.”
“Thank you, Princess, and to you as well.” Killian bows before he and a silent Colby leave the room.
Aza takes care of her hygiene and gets dressed for the day.
She puts on a pale pink dress that fell just above her ankles, with short, sheer sleeves.
It cinches at her hips, accentuating her curves and flaring near the bottom.
She puts half her hair in a ponytail above her head and lets the rest fall around her shoulders, with little curls framing her face.
She goes out to the front room to find breakfast spread out on the little table. She sits on the couch and begins picking at it, her appetite dulled by her growing anxiety. Her anxiety only worsens when a knock sounds at the door.
Jahar and Ramsee step inside. Aza bit back the urge to snap at the man who just last night treated her as if she were merely a crazed girl. Jahar looks over briefly to Ramsee before Ramsee opens his mouth to speak.
“Princess, first and foremost, I would like to offer my utmost apologies for how I acted last night. It was unprofessional. I plead with you to let me accompany you today and make up for my behavior and to get back into your good graces.” He says with his head lowered.
Aza glances at Jahar, who has an eyebrow cocked, looking at Ramsee with a subtle sneer.
Aza took a deep breath, calming herself before reluctantly answering, “Very well.”
Jahar clears his throat to speak, “Secondly, King Abasi would like to meet with you today in hopes of gaining back your good graces.” He finishes as he gives a quick glance towards Ramsee, whose head is still facing down.
“No,” Aza said sharply, “I was gracious enough to give Ramsee a second chance, but I am not giving that today.”
“Princess, if I may,” Ramsee begins, but Aza cuts him off.
“I am also not in the mood to hear your opinions.”
Jahar speaks up next, “Princess,” he starts slowly, “we have not yet received word from your father, so I think your best option is to meet with King Abasi today at the very least. We are still his guests here, and it would be unwise to continue this cycle of disrespect and making an enemy.”
Aza huffed as she contemplated the idea.
Her thoughts spin wildly in her head as she thinks of all the potential outcomes.
She hates that she thinks Jahar might be right, and she might have to bite her tongue and hold her pride to spend time with a man she is beginning to despise.
And despite everything, she still is basically a pawn.
But, she decides that if she is to stay here, she is going to play nice to uncover whatever dirt she can on Abasi and his empire.
“Fine.”
“He is waiting for you in the throne room,” Ramsee confirms.
“Let’s get this over with.”
“That’s the spirit,” Jahar whispered as she passes him, and she can’t help but smile at his sarcasm. He smiles back.
After a brief walk through the castle, escorted by two of Abasi’s men, they reach the King, who is seated in his gold throne, reading a parcel of paper.
He finally lowers the paper to look up at Aza.
“Ah, Princess, thank you for agreeing to accompany me again today. I apologize that we can never seem to have our meetings go the way we hoped. I would like to change that today. Let me start by asking, what is it that you would like to do today?” Abasi sounded calm and regal, but Aza felt in her gut that it was all an act, so she put on one of her own.
“I appreciate the kind gesture. There is a gorgeous city I see from my bedroom window, and I would very much like to see it in person. I quite enjoy visiting the cities of my kingdom and would like to extend that to yours as well. There is a forest and a dirt path that leads up to it, and I think it would be a nice, calming walk to it.” Aza’s voice doesn’t waver as she speaks in a poised, soft voice.
“That sounds like a wonderful idea. We can start our journey right away, unless there is something you require.”
“I am quite well and ready,” she said smoothly.
Abasi stands up, clasps his hands, and says, “Very well, let's proceed.”
Guards that were standing silently in the room filed forward to lead them out of the castle.
They eventually reach a familiar line of trees.
As they were walking down the path, Aza counted the trees until they got to the line from last night.
She stops abruptly, turning towards the trees and walking to them.
“Princess?” Jahar asks quietly.
“It looked like there was a hurt animal. I would like to take a quick look.”
Jahar makes a dubious look as she continues.
Aza makes her way into the forest as quickly as she can.
She nearly sprints to the tree from last night, but her heart sank when nothing seemed out of place.
The ground was only slightly disturbed, but there are no signs of blood or any other evidence to corroborate what she witnessed last night.
However, it did begin raining very hard last night, so it is possible that anything that was here was washed away.
Aza’s stomach continues to sink at the thought that she has found no evidence to support what she saw. She swallows the lump in her throat, takes a deep breath, raises her head, and begins to walk out of the forest.
“My apologies, gentlemen, it must have been a trick of the light. I’m glad there wasn’t anything hurt.”
Aza saw realization flicker through Jahar’s eyes, and he gives her a solemn look.
“Shall we continue to the city?” King Abasi asks, trying to hide his annoyance.
“Yes, please.”
They make their way back onto the path and towards the city. Aza tries to think of other ways to find out what happened last night. She puts asking the King as the last option on her list, but she thinks someone in the city might have seen or heard something. She’d at least give it a shot.
“I didn’t hear anything, although I did speak to some guards last night.” Jahar whispers behind her quickly.
She just looks back at him and nods her head.
As they continue to walk down the path, something does, in fact, catch Aza’s eye. In the shadows of the trees, a man ran straight toward them, right towards her.
The man skids to a halt mere feet from Aza, and in between gasps of air, he blurts frantically, “You must leave, my lady! It is not safe here!”
Completely startled, Aza glances towards the King, who seems annoyed that they are stopping once more, and then quickly to Jahar, who is shaking his head ever so slightly to hint to her that there is nothing with them.
She is having a vision, in broad daylight, in front of this king, whom she does not trust.
Aza turns back to find the man still standing there.
She was about to walk through him when her breath caught in her throat.
She hadn’t seen it at first, but there were definitely familiar eyes staring back at her, one brown, one green.
The same eyes as the clumsy guard from her arrival day.
But that couldn’t be. She never had visions of people she knew or had interacted with.
Maybe her mind was deteriorating more than she realized, mixing far too much reality with delusion.
Her thoughts were muddled with confusion.
Did this mean that maybe what happened last night wasn’t actually real at all?
No!
She couldn’t think that; she tried everything to make the scene go away last night, but nothing worked. It had to have been real. Maybe this whole standing near where a murder happened the night prior was frying her sanity just a little more than usual, and that’s why this vision was so odd.
Aza shut her eyes as tight as she could and rubbed at them. It lasted only a few seconds, but when she opened her eyes, the man was gone. A relieved sigh escaped her as she turned to the King.
“I apologize. I just enjoy nature so much that sometimes I forget when I am basking in it, and others are present.” She tries to play off warmly.
“Mhm.” Is all the King says before continuing.