Poisoned Lips

10: High Guard

"Be as calm as the waves. Pretend you have everything in control. It gives you the upper hand."

"Don't take her!" Azalea yelled. She tried crawling to Freyja who had stopped thinking. "Take me! You wanted me, take me!"

Only when she felt meaty palms around her arms did Freyja start panicking. A guard gripped her shoulders and pinned her against the wall. The other unlocked the shackles around her ankles. When her legs were free, she kicked in all directions with terror.

"We will be forced to hurt you!"

The chaos in the cell was overwhelming. Azalea was screaming, Lila was trying to block the gates, the lanky boy was crying, the guards were yelling. Her foot connected with a guard’s stomach. She punched the other’s neck.

"Let. Me. G— Ah—!"

More guards ran into the cell. They immobilized Azalea and pinned her to the ground. Still struggling and kicking around, the extra guards forced Freyja to the ground and tied a noose around her wrists and ankles. They held Freyja up like burial men holding a coffin and marched out of the cell. Before the cell left her line of vision, she noticed Devland fighting with a guard.

They marched down the dim hallway that was illuminated by torches. The further she was from the cell, the darker it became. The hallway stretched out longer than she expected. Despite the flat ground, her body was tilted up and the guards looked like they were climbing stairs. Freyja grunted and stopped struggling.

It had been almost five minutes since they left and the hallway was still going. Just when the end was close, the hallway seemed to extend. A weird smell drifted into her nose as the guards bumped into the wall. It reminded her of her 10th birthday.

Her mother had used Magi powder to turn their small cottage into a massive castle that overlooked the forest. Horses and unicorns appeared in front of her at the same time a blue dress materialized on her body. 

"Get on, Frey! It's going to fade soon."

With the help of her mother, Freyja hopped on a unicorn and braided its multicolored mane. She squinted at her mother, the sun too bright.

"Why won't it last forever, mother?"

"Because, darling, only witches can hold illusions for a long time. The powder is the only substance every other person can use to create illusions but only for a short period."

"So witches can create illusions forever?"

"Of course not. They're not gods. Imagine holding up a chair. It's easy but you can't do it forever."

"Oh, I see." She turned to face her mother, her curly hair framing her small face. "Can I take a look at the powder?"

She handed a transparent bag to Freyja. "Be carefu—"

"EW!" Freyja coughed up the powder from her nose. "It smells like...like your socks."

The hallway was an illusion.

The smell of the Magi powder confirmed it. They used magic to stop magis from escaping. The irony. By making the whole prison into just one hallway, it made it impossible to escape. It was a brilliant idea. She chuckled.

But that made her question Devland's proposal. To agree to it, she'd need to learn more about his plan. Deep down, she knew that escaping was almost the same as sleeping without nightmares. To her, it was unachievable. But she'd need to survive whatever torture the High Guard had reserved for her before thinking of the future.