ꜱᴄᴀʀ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴋᴇʏꜱ

Chapter 36: Rheton

 Rheton grunted as the prison keeper shoved him out into the wet grass of the kingdom's borders. He braced for landing by stretching his palms out. He sputtered dirt out of his mouth.

"Welcome to freedom," Blackburn grinned sadistically to his side.

Rheton raised an eyebrow. "Done this multiple times in your life before?"

"Plenty of times. So this is your girlfriend's kingdom?"

Rheton's cheeks tinged pink. "Not a girlfriend, just a friend. She loves her kingdom," he smiled slightly at the memory of Cazzlyn telling him about her kingdom giddily. She was right about the skies. The pink and orange tint was perfect, just like the person who described them. He plopped down on the grass and replayed the memory in his head

Cazzlyn smiled at the tinged pink sky slightly as the sun began to go down the mountain. "Back home, in Alnao, the skies are always tinted this color. My mom said the day I was born the sky was red and pink,"

Rheton swallowed his berries and chucked at her enthusiasm for the sunset. "If it's so much prettier back home, then why don't you describe them to me? I've seen the sunsets in Retano and Vadelin,"

Cazzlyn's face lit up. "Really? You want me to describe them to you?"

He nodded.

"The last one I saw was almost perfect. The skies were a light blue color, but not like the normal baby blue you see. It was almost a light purple. The clouds were dark purple and orange, it looked like the sun was coloring the clouds," She ran her hands through her hair and continued,

"Times up!" the king called, frustrated from the prison. "I gave you extra time today, we're still looking for the girl,"

"What girl? The one Adhrina thinks is a psycho?" Gia, she looked about twelve, asked softly.

Rheton gritted his teeth.

"Yes, Gia. They're looking for her. Aka the girl Rheton's infatuated with," Zayden teased, then laughed. Blackburn snorted.

"Is that a nice way to talk about a girl you don't even know?" he snapped, he didn't even realize it came out of his mouth. No going back now. His nostrils flared and his eyebrows furrowed.

"No need to argue, boys," the princess reminded. Luckily this time it was Ariella. "Papa says arguing isn't nice,"

King Basil turned to his daughter and scoffed. "Your mother said that, not me, Ariella." he dismissed her with his hand, but she stood by his side.

"Papa, I want to help you with the prisoners!" she tried. "I will spare more often with my prince?"

Basil let out a deep groan. "Okay, Ariella. But don't bother them, or give any speaking permissions."

She smiled gleefully. "Understood!"

Rheton sidestepped her as she tried to talk to him, he quite liked his speaking permissions.

Ariella grumbled sadly. "Papa! This one isn't talking to me," He glanced between the king and the princess.

"Well, he's smart." King Basil grunted at his daughter's willingness to talk to the prisoners. "To smart," '

Rheton put a cold look on his face as an attempt to deter the princess away from talking to him. More so revealing how worried he was for Cazzlyn.

The king smirked. "Your face reveals everything, no need to lie if you really love that girl," he scratched his chin, the tips of his fingers blazing black out of nowhere. "This is what I call my power. I can either force you to tell the truth of where Cazzlyn is at, or you'll willingly tell me, you decide, Rheton," The king's voice took a dark tone as he said that.

He swallowed a nervous gulp of his spit. "I don't understand why you want to no know where she is so bad," Rheton steadied his voice to stop shaking. He pushed himself off the ground. The king placed a hand on his shoulder and Rheton's mind went slack.