The Lazy Prince

Chapter 17: Maybe Things Are Changing

Valdis Spyridon Aritiri

Saturday Night, Present.

After an impromptu going away dinner for Sinclair I find myself standing in front of the door to the Quint house. Staring. Sin has long left after dropping me off with promises to swing by in the morning for a proper goodbye hug. The ring that is enchanted to make me look like a boy is back on my left thumb. I'm about to open the door when searing pain tears through my soul. Panic shoots through my body and my eyes lock onto my crystal watch. 23:00 hours. My torture session is starting a whole hour early.

One hand on the door and the other hand on the knob keeps me from falling over from the initial shock. I think he might actually kill me. I can't do this here. Not out in the open. I force myself to turn the knob and I fall ungraciously through the doorway and crash into the foyer. A pot shatters against the floor along with the table in the foyer.

I do my best to crawl past the mess I made and a sharp pain slices into my knees. I definitely sliced them open on the pot. That doesn't matter right now though. What matters is getting down to the basement. My crawl to the basement door is slow and torturous as the pain continues to increase in my soul. It's hard to see where I'm going through the tears but I've been living here long enough to get there with my eyes closed.

Once I'm at the door I reach up and open it and drag myself through the door. There's not enough room for me to close it unless I take a step down but when I go to do that I lose strength and fall all the way down the steps, hitting ever edge on the way down. All I can do is groan before I start to drag myself away from the steps and to the farthest corner of the stone basement. I can't remember why it's strange that I can drag myself in a straight line and then it hits me. Where is the hot spring? My face pressed against the cool stone and I can hear water bubbling from underneath. Lucian must have covered it after I left. I'll have to thank him tomorrow.

I crawl to the center of the room before the pain really sets in. I don't have the energy to find something to bite onto so I settle for my jacket. It does little to muffle me and I have to hope that no one hears me. My plasma shoots out from my body like an electric tree when the Iron Coffin settles on a level of suffering that I'm not used to. I really think the Regent is trying to kill me this time.

Just when I think I've settled into the pain it amps up another notch and a raspy scream tears from my throat. I can barely hear the sounds of footsteps coming down the stairs over my own screams and the violent hum of my magic.

"What the fuck? What time is it?" One of the Princes asks and I can't tell who's speaking over the pain and humming.

"It's 23:28." Another answers.

"I thought the sessions only happened between 00:00 and 01:00?" Another voice asks.

"This is bad. This is really really bad." Another voice. 

I can't tell if everyone is talking or if it's one or two. All I know is that this is probably going to kill me. I thought the Regent need me alive. All the data till now suggested that he did, but I guess he's changed his mind. Then the pain intensifies and I can think no longer, just an animal being tortured in a cage.

"Valdis!" The voice sounds irritated and angry. Like they have been calling my name for a few minutes. I look up through my tears and find gold eyes inches away from my face. "Breathe!" Kyro yells in my face. "Fucking breathe!"

I didn't realizes that I had stopped breathing before but my diaphragm suck oxygen back into my lungs. My eyes still on Kyro. Kyro who is way too close to me. Kyro who is within range of my plasma. I spit the jacket out of my mouth. "Go." I force the word to form in my mouth. "I don't wanna hurt you."