A Kingdom of Bones

Chapter Two: Aiden [REVISING]

One must merge with the shadows if one expects to live on the streets of this cruel country as it shapes you and your future alone.

—Sir James Realtor, Aiden's father and mentor

A shadow among mortals. 

A monster among demons.

Aiden slipped through the streets of Ossa, a shadow dancing in the dim flicker of the bone torch in the middle of the maltena, something that no one pays attention to. Just as well—if anybody catches him here, he is dead.

He shivered in the rain, the sharp winds lashing his face. Aiden clutched his small coat closer around him, staggering to his small enclosure for the night.

It was on an abandoned street, with nothing but a few bins and pictures of bones lying on the floor. A thistle bush twisted upward in the corner, its thorns pricking the ground. 

Not much, but it would have to do. 

Taking off his coat and lying it on top of him, Aiden's mind flashed back to her glare, the hatred boiling under the surface. It made him sick to the stomach, knowing that is was aimed at him. He was the reason that she had to stand before the Bone Throne, that the Walnata of the Crown of Bones was watching her—looking straight at her from the shadows.

The smug smile he gave her to mask the pain...

Nobody deserved that.

Night slowly grasped the outskirts of the land. Aiden's eyes drooped, but he was reluctant to give in to the lull of sleep. He knew that as soon as he drifted off, the nightmares would come to take him.

Late into the night, he fell asleep. The nightmares were worse, combined with the haunting whispers of an unknown voice. It had been happening for a few weeks, and slowly the whispers become part of his own thoughts. 

Dark whispers that had become entangled in his own thoughts, trapping him in deep—deep enough so that he didn't know his thoughts from the whispers.

A searing pain shot through his body. Aiden tried to peel his eyes open, glad for the reason to wake up but they were clamped shut.

It continued, although after a while it was just a throb—background noise.

He didn't know the danger that lay ahead.

*

Touching the base of his neck sent lances of pain jolting through his body. He gave up trying to identify what it was a while ago, but he couldn't resist. Aiden wanted to know what was there, what was causing something thick to pour down his neck, onto his back.

"Get back here!" a low, masculine voice shouted. Two people ran by, too invested to notice him standing there. Aiden caught the flash of the Ossa seal.

Guards.

Aiden scrambled back, hiding behind the thistle bush. The guard's shouts echoed around the area.

"Hello, Aiden," someone said behind him. Jumping up, Aiden turned around to see a man with slick hair and a cruel smile staring back at him.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" Aiden asked. The man didn't say anything for a while, just looking at him.

"I think you know."

Aiden touched the back of his neck again and the reality sunk in. His eyes turned several shades darker as he looked at the man, shaking his head. He trembled, the importance of it all sinking in. 

Aiden did know why the man was here and the reason...the reason sent shivers trailing down his spine. The man locked eyes with him, staring him down—another sign.

"You've been chosen for the Iudiciis."

The Trials.