Rosetta

24

Warning: Injuries
Cinder heaved the body into the dumpster, the weight of her inactive metal prostheses dragging her down. The tape on her mouth stayed stuck to her lips despite the sweat that was constantly dripping down her face.

She grimaced at the smell of the rotting flesh, the movement making the deep scars on her face crack open, and she could feel the trickle of blood flowing down her cheeks. She didn't bother wiping it away. The mulled throbbing pulsating through her body was worse than a red stain.

Cinder found her thoughts wavering towards the woman she had dumped into the rusting, alleyway dumping ground, what she assumed had been copper looked nothing like the shining orange metal now; it was covered in the waste of the people.

But the woman. Natasha Parks. Ameiry Parks' sister. Now they were both dead. And the girl, the earthen. She couldn't have been more than 20, and she looked tortured and hurt. Her Spanish accent was clear, but her story said otherwise. Hadn't Natasha taken her from Russia?

She shook her head. Cinder didn't know the poor girl's name, let alone how all the pieces fit together. Or maybe she did know her name, and had just forgotten?

She didn't have time to think. Esmerelda was calling her from inside the house.

Her house was larger than most of the others she had seen; there was about 7 rooms, including a dining room, living room, kitchen and a spare empty room, where she had first regained consciousness. The walls were marble white and held an orb that lit the room up similar to the lights on Earth, but she couldn't figure out how they worked; there were no blueprints.

Cinder half-trudged half-limped towards the living room, where Esmerelda was sprawled out across a lavish, and overly decorated in Cinder's opinion, couch. She was watching a net drama, eyes locked on the recently reunited lovers. Cinder grunted to get her attention. She ripped the tape off her mouth, making it burn.

"You called, Mistress?" She asked sweetly, rubbing at her lips. Oh, how she hated every kind word, every calm tone she wasted on this woman. But she had to. She had to listen. She couldn't endure another beating, and not for her sake. For someone else's.

"Cinder dear, fill this with more crisps, will you?" She waved a bowl in front of her.

"O-of course, Mistress," Cinder responded. She took the bowl and dragged herself, quite literally, to the kitchen.

Fumbling through the drawers, she gave herself more time to think. Esmerelda struck her randomly, leaving her ring on to slash her. She taped her mouth every day so that she couldn't scream for help, something she wouldn't even risk for another strike. She let her sleep for only a few short hours a day, giving her meagre meals of a small glass of water and bread crust after she had completed all of her compulsory tasks. And worst of all, she had taken her cybernetic mind, her leg, her hand, parts of her that she had worked hard to get people to value, for them to just deactivate.

However, she called her 'dear' and 'darling', gave her scrap cloth to stop the bleeding, and had been slightly nicer the past few days. She gave her extra rest and less jobs, and milder strikes. It was as if she knew something. Something no-one else did.

"Actually..." Esmerelda drawled. Cinder stopped crouching and stood up. "Darling, come here. There's something I haven't told you yet."

A shiver ran down her spine. The same shiver that shook her bones to the core every time she was given new information. But why couldn't she just leave? Why, for the entirety of her imprisonment, had she not been focused on escaping? She had been cleaning this house for days, days where she could have been making a route for an exit.

No. Esmerelda would find out.
And she had to protect them.

She limped back to the living room, where the netscreen was now shut off and Esmerelda was sitting on the edge of the couch. It scared her.

"Yes, Mistress?" Cinder asked, fiddling with her hands.

"Sit on the stool, Cinder. I just ready something interesting," she said, jutting her chin towards the stool behind her.

"What was it, Mistress?" She questioned whilst lowering herself into the chair.

"I was looking at Earthen news, and guess what I saw?" She mused.

Cinder stayed silent. Was it about Kai? Or her friends? What about the Commonwealth?

"I saw that the Empress's step family had passed away in a tragic house fire."

Cinder gripped the stool's seat with her hands.

Esmerelda continued. "And Cinder dear, guess where I went before going to collect my starchild-"

"You were her starma- her starmother!" Cinder hushed under her breath. Suddenly, her mind connected the dots.

"Oh Cinder! Guess where I went?"

Cinder stilled, her newfound happiness short lived. She wouldn't have- She couldn't have-

"Well, I went to the Linh Family to deliver a present. I glamoured the box to look like a gift, and guess what it did? As soon as the glamour vanished, it revealed a hot coal. The flames grew and grew until-"

Cinder jolted up. "YOU TOOK INNOCENT LIVES!"

"I did what I had to do to push you over the edge. Sure enough, it helped my starchild to capture you, didn't it?"

Cinder wasn't listening. The abrupt movement made her dizzy, and soon, she was doubling over and vomiting in a bin held by Esmerelda.

"When were you going to tell the Emperor?"
She asked when Cinder finally lifted her head up.

She didn't answer. She took a glass of water from the table and gulped it down.

"I'm sure he would be pleased with the knowledge of a child," the witch continued.

He would have been. Cinder was ecstatic when she found out, and planned to wait until Father's Day to tell Kai.

Cinder hauled herself up onto the couch, lying down and shivering.

Esmerelda smirked, knowing that she had gotten the reaction she wanted. She let her rest and turned on the netscreen to an Earthen newsfeed.

A reporter was recalling the past events. "-emperor has given word that kidnapper Rosetta Luciana, 20, has joined forces with His Imperial Majesty's party to rescue Empress Cinder. However-"

"Netscreen, off!" The witch shouted.

Esmerelda paced around the room, back and forth.

"That wretch! She-she's going to destroy everything!" She screeched, throwing the long-forgotten glass across the room. It shattered on impact.

Cinder didn't know where she mustered the strength to sit up and shout, "She's going to have her revenge!"

Her captor looked furious. Then, suddenly, she began to laugh. A horrid, cruel cackle that made her shiver again.

Esmerelda closed her eyes. "I swear to the stars," she whispered. "I swear to the stars that on the day of her birth, Rosetta Luciana will pick up a spindle, one crafted by her adoptive mother and given to me in a  seal of friendship, and drive it through her heart."

Then the changes began, subtly at first, her hair beginning to grey in the roots and the softness of her hands turning rough. Now, more drastic, her face became wrinkled and her full lips shrivelled to a stern line.

It was as if she had aged ten years.