Rise or Burn

Chapter Twenty-Four

The palace had been infiltrated. And to Orrick Hast's surprise it wasn't M.A.G.E, or at the very least it didn't look like them. The palace had been swarmed by Kuth guards. They marched the halls in their blue-green iridescent armour in search of hiding nobles and remaining guards. Hast was hidden in the narrow space between two tall columns, his presence concealed by the dark shadows created by the late afternoon light. The smart thing Hast could do now was run. He'd could sneak out the way he'd come and leave through the underground parking lot. But he couldn't leave. Not yet. There were two truths he knew in that moment, one: Nicco was in the palace, his mother hadn't allowed him to leave the palace grounds since the disappearance of prince Kolan and princess Haelyn and two: he could never leave him here. He couldn't leave without him.

Once the guards had rounded the corner and their clunky metal footsteps had receded he slipped from his hiding place. He knew if Nicco hadn't already been captured he'd be hiding in one place. The atrium.

Keeping to the shadows and keeping his steps light and undetectable he made his way to the next floor. He had years of experience sneaking into places he shouldn't be, of staying hidden. For so long it'd been his survival. You want to stay alive? Then fight. The world is cruel and unyielding. It won't become easier just because you want it to. No one cares about crying orphans in this city. If you can't make your own way you don't deserve to live, Liaah had said to him when they were younger.

He's parents had died long before he was old enough to remember them. The only family he'd ever had was his sister. She'd kept him alive and taught him to keep himself alive. She'd been an impatient teacher which made him a quick learner. He stole, conned, lied and even killed. The world was cruel and if it wouldn't yield for him he'd break it. When M.A.G.E had first surfaced he hadn't thought twice about joining their ranks. Liaah on the other hand needed a little convincing. He'd argued M.A.G.E was the change they'd been waiting for. The retribution this city needed. He believed in the cause.

But then he met Nicco.

He didn't know who he was the day they met. He'd assumed he was some visiting noble who'd wandered down to the wrong side of town. The nobles of Oak Point were smart enough to know to stay away from this side of the city. He'd looked so lost and out of place walking the streets of the seventh district in his fine clothing and poorly concealed nilh mark. An easy target. It would have been moments before he caught the attention of one of the local gangs, but Hast had swooped in before that.

"Are you lost?" he'd asked the obvious, his lips tugged into a playful smile. Nicco had startled. He hadn't heard Hast approach, which Hast had purposefully done.

"Someone so pretty shouldn't be wondering the lower districts all alone this late." He'd trailed his fingers over the line of Nicco's jaw until his fingers were under his chin and tilting his head so their eyes could meet. He had beautiful dark brown eyes. They sparkled reflecting the flashing neon lights. "Who knows what trouble you could draw?"

Nicco had rolled his eyes. "I'm guessing you're trouble."

Hast laughed. "If you want me to be." He winked. "What is someone like you doing here?"

He raised a brow. "Someone like me?"

"A noble."

"How do you know I'm a noble?"

Hast untied the silk scarf Nicco had tied around his arm in an all too obvious attempt to hide his nilh mark. Nicco had stared at his own silver ink tattoo and frowned as his cheeks flushed. "I'm not lost," he insisted unconvincingly.

"Clearly." Hast turned him around towards the sixth district, in the process of which he pulled a small pouch heavy with liids from Nicco's pocket. "You're on your way to a ball, right? But might I advise heading down this way before you run into someone a little more unsavoury than me."