Sakura Eyes

Chapter 80

Aslan pulled me off his shoulders and carried me bridal style as he laid me down on a red cushion seat. The carriage dipped as Violet and Aslan sat across from me.

"Raylor, I'm leaving the rest to you," Aslan said. 

"Yes, Your Grace," Raylor responded.

"Here we go!" Aslan cheered as the carriage began to move.

Judging by the red and gold decorated ceiling and the soft cushion seat underneath me, this sure felt like something someone in royalty would sit in. 

"So, Your Highness—"

"Aslan," I cut him off. "I want to be in a sitting position."

My request hung in the air for a moment before Aslan got up from the opposite seat and helped me up. As I rested my back against the corner of the carriage, I looked out the small carriage windows. 

The sky was full of large, threatening clouds, completely blocking any sunlight. The trees were bare, waving their stick arms around in the wind as we rode past them.

"Okay, now can I talk?" Aslan prompted as he sat back down next to Violet who was staring out the window.

"Oh yes, I'm more than willing to talk to my kidnappers," I replied dryly. I tried to flex my hand, but couldn't even lift a finger.

Aslan flashed me a sarcastic apologetic smile. "Well, I don't think you would exactly sit still if we just let you do whatever you want to do now, will you?"

I sighed. "Well, I've got questions of my own so hear me out first. We're going to the capitol, aren't we?"

Aslan nodded without hesitation. Damn, these fucking liars; I shouldn't have let my curiosity get the best of me. 

"How long will it take?"

"Two days at most," he replied. "Both of our towns are in close proximity with each other.

Two days. That should be enough time. The others are smart and intuitive, but even if they did catch on, they wouldn't be able to catch up with us on foot.

As for me, I don't know how long that stuff they injected into my neck lasted. But let's say it wears off in a few hours, do I have enough guts to go head to head with two Bares? I haven't had any training—no interaction whatsoever with other people who were like me. Whether I had enough power or not didn't worry me, but would I be able to keep Nan under control while I was fighting them was my concern.

The only thing I knew was Aslan's Guang seemed to involve fire, and Violet's had the ability to drug muscles. Other than that, I would be blindly trying to land a spot.

"You've been to the capitol, correct?" I decided to switch over to a different topic.

Aslan nodded. Bracing myself for his next answer, I breathed, "Then have you seen...the 'experiments' he's been working on?"

A mixture of relief and disappointment coursed through me as Aslan shook his head. Throwing his hands up in the air, he sighed, "As far as I know, nobody has ever seen the actual place where he's been experimenting with his subjects."

I frowned. "Turning you into a Bare and turning the kids into Bares...I'd expected you to be in the same room as everyone else."

Aslan tapped his chin thoughtfully for a moment before shaking his head. "In the room, we did it in, the room was simple and clean. But I'm sure with the numerous feisty kids His Majesty has to deal with, there would be a lot more...tools in the room."

"Do you know what's up with him targeting a specific age group?" I frowned. "I don't see any adults getting experimented on."

"A large portion of his experiments are kids coming from poverty. He sends a brigade of men to the south region of the country where the poorest villages are and gets more than enough eager parents exchanging their children for a decent sum of money," Aslan leaned his head back. "His Majesty isn't the most keen when it comes to taking care of his country, but that's because he's too busy experimenting and taking advantage of the lower class. Adults are too nosy and fickle. After all, no one except for us knows exactly what's actually going on inside the palace."