Warlord's Ward

You're Still Here

"Killian!" The woman called after him. Appalled he was leaving the dinner table just as the meal was beginning. Abandoning her to sit alone.

Surely the man to her other side will have no qualms about alleviating that disappointment. I saw her pretty face in my mind's eye and recalled Killian-Warlord stating he didn't want to continue their relationship.

They'd had one prior?

Why did that sicken me so badly?

I was yanked from my thoughts as his boots thudded from the banquet hall and he took a hard left from the doorway. Ducking down a short, dark hallway.

A servant's hall. What is he doing back here?

Curiosity thrummed through me, and I was nearly biting through my lip. I have to follow him. Where does he go when he's upset? Who does he go to?

I had so many unanswered questions. My curiosity overwhelmed me, and I found myself padding behind him. Watching the strange black fingers of smoke vanish into the gray darkness of one room near the servant's quarters.

I walked tentatively closer despite that every instinct in me was screaming to turn around and go.

Hide until they're all gone. Get out of here!

What am I doing?

***

This strange man which always seemed so sullen, had for a moment shown some fake bit of cheerfulness which had been heady to say. His rare smiles were breathtaking and seem to reveal some bit of someone that hid deep below the surface.

Someone I couldn't help wondering about.

Had he always been this monster? He had implied that he had good reason to be. And though his hand was the one bloodied, it was commanded by the King.

Why?

I clutched the doorframe with trembling hands and peered around it to see him standing within. His hat was resting atop his head. That fluffy white feather bouncing slightly when he shifted to the side.

He was painfully quiet, and his stature and presence emanated pain. Unbearable sorrow.

I found myself drawn to see what it was that was causing this flat, unemotional creature such depths of agony.

I stepped on my heel to ensure I was silent. Working slightly sideways in the darkest parts of the room to see what it was he was watching so carefully.

I glimpsed the oddest thing...

***

There was a strange, overturned vase. Trimmed in flowers around it as though someone treated the odd object with reverence.

Warlord. Clearly.

The room seemed hazy gray and infinitely dark and so cold that it seemed unlikely anyone ever lit a fire to warm here. There was a forbidden feel to this room.

Like no one dared enter it.

Everything was coated in a filmy sheet of dust which even seemed to float in the room. Making it feel stifling to breathe.

The walls were gray stone which had become so dirtied that many corners were black. Some chipped.

This is an abandoned place.

The only light came from just beyond Warlord. Shining yellow along his chest and shoulders.

I took another careful step forward to see what glowed in this awful room.

Inside the center of the clear glass, was a small flame illuminating the bit of dancing gray fluff inside. It seemed to float and retract like someone had trapped a bit of steam floating from a camp fire.

What was it?

"I'm surprised you're still here." His rumbling voice said.

***

I flinched. Looking around and hoping he was talking to someone else. The thing in the vase?

"No. You." He clarified without looking away. "Come closer and see. Everything you've yearned to know about. This tiny piece of my history."

He thinks I'm the woman from the banquet. I realized in panic.

He must've heard me walking in behind him and assumed.

I looked around anxiously. If I answered him, he would realize I wasn't his pretty little lady but if I didn't, he was inevitably going to turn around.

He sighed. "I know who you are, Jade. Come closer."

How the hell!

"Come on now, Jade." He chided softly. "Haven't I told you enough for you to know?"

Know what? I was frozen. Looking from him to the doorway and gauging the distance. Maybe I can still get away.

If I can make it to the doorway of the banquet, he can't get ahold of me. I could get away.

He drew a disappointed breath and lifted a hand. Curling the fingers over his shoulder slightly had the door creaking shut.

I fled across the room and caught the handle just as it clicked closed and the lock turned. I grasped for the key still in the lock, but it flew out just as my fingers would've curled around it.

It and the ribbon attached to it skimming through my palm as it crossed the room to land solidly in his opened palm. Peeled back over his shoulder.

His fingers closed around it, and I felt as if it had sealed my fate with it.

I utterly deflated. Feeling the first tear of hopelessness skid down my cheek.

"As I said, come here, Jade." He urged softly.

***

"Just let me go!" I stomped in frustration.

"I can't. You'd be dead in two minutes, trying to leave this place."

"You wouldn't anyway!" I argued. "Don't pretend like you would."

"You're right. I probably wouldn't..." He said nothing more. His commanding air seemed utterly absent right now. It was more like he'd been pleading for me to come over to him than demanding, I realized.

I took a few halting steps forward until I'd circled wide and could see the side of him. Eyeing his dark profile.

Long curling lashes framed lowered lids. His black curling hair was visible under the broad brim of his strange buccaneer's hat. His large lips were still, tight against his face. Hard, slashing cheekbones broke the smoothness of his cheeks. His jaw was so tight that I could see the flexing muscles near the hinge. His hands were on the edge of the small square table holding the vase. The knuckles white.

He seemed mesmerized by the tiny fragment of steam. The tiny fragment and the bit of yellow light eerily reflected in his blue eyes.

Strangely, I had only one thought pounding through me. He needs me.

I hated that I knew it to the very core of my being. And somehow, I couldn't stop myself from going to him.

I walked over and his arm unfolded to wrap my shoulders as he tucked me next to him.

"What is it?" I asked.

"My sister."