ꜱᴄᴀʀ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴋᴇʏꜱ

Chapter 20: Rheton

 The guards led him and Reylyn up black shadowed stairs, he wouldn't have been able to see anything if it weren't for the guards' torches.

Reylyn looked like she could kill someone, probably because she did want to.

The guards shoved them into a cell next to the stairs with a hard thud. They chained them up to the wall.

"Don't you dare think about escaping," the biggest guard glared at Reylyn.

Reylyn just smirked. "Oh? I definitely will think about it now,"

The guards dissipated and a boy that looked about eighteen walked in. Rheton thought he looked too familiar. The prince.

The boy walked in and sighed. "I told them to lock you up in a cell, not chain you to the wall," he eyed Reylyn up and down. He stepped into Rheton's view and raised an eyebrow.

"So you are here?" he asked as if Rheton were a ghost.

"Yeah?" he nodded. "I'm here, why?"

"Oh. Your family thought you died or something," the prince cleared his throat. "Your missing back in your hometown,"

Rheton swallowed, but quickly regained his composure.

"Nice to know someone cares," Reylyn commented with a cough. He heard her shift.

"And you are?" the prince walked over to her. "I don't think I've seen you before,"

She gave him an evil grin. "I'm not from here. I'm from Maleni,"

The prince's eyes widened. "So my brother was right!"

"Your brother?" Rheton asked, but then he remembered the 'prince' from earlier.

He nodded. "I'm Adeldio, he's Arkin. Surprised someone could tell us apart,"

"It's kind of easy to be honest," Reylyn admitted bluntly. "You have straight hair, your brother has curly hair. Your eyes are a twinge off too,"

"Why did you need your brother to be you?" Rheton asked.

Aleldio sighed. "We needed to find someone," he admitted. "And we succeeded,"

"The people you needed were us," Rheton realized. He could feel Reylyn's eyes on him.

The prince nodded. "Yes." He fixed his tailored suit. "You may meet your cell keeper now,"

He disappeared into the shadows for a few seconds and a beefy girl followed him behind. Her hair was ragged and dirty. Her dress was covered in dirt, but she had a fierce expression on her face like Reylyn's. Rheton's heart sank when he realized who it was. His older sister, Aslean.

No wonder why Reylyn had reminded him of something.

Aslean nodded to the prince. "Thank you," she came to Reylyn and opened her cell. "You need to get ready for the ball,"

Reylyn scowled. "I'm not going to be all prissy for a ball that's gonna last two hours,"

Aslean didn't answer, instead she unbuckled Reylyn's chains bounding her to the wall.

She stretched her wrists and grinned. "Feels good to be back," She walked out of the cell reluctantly.

Aslean walked over to Rheton's cell. She fidgeted with the keys she was holding but snapped out of her trance. She sighed and cursed under her breath.

"You need to get ready too," she had no emotion in her voice.

He nodded and followed Reylyn.

She was already dressed in a fiery red dress, and she was grinning. Her hair was braided into a bun.

That color fits her. He thought as he felt one of the designers drag him to a closed off room.

The designer did some motions with her hands, and Rheton's outfit was no longer tattered jeans and a t-shirt. He was wearing a fancy black suit with silver designs on the tie.

The designer grinned happily. "Your ready,"

Rheton followed her out to where Reylyn was still grinning.

The designer laughed. "For these balls, the men always accompany a girl." the designer cleared her throat. "It's usually someone close to them," she was hinting at him taking Reylyn.

He nodded. "I'll take her with me," he reached for Reylyn's hand, and she accepted it quickly.