Or Forever Hold Your Peace - l.s.

Chapter 20

"Louis, stab me." Harry insisted, handing the sword to Louis.

Louis looked at Harry and frowned. "Hasn't anyone ever taught you not to hold a sword by the blade?" Louis scolded.

Harry put the sword down. He moved the sword towards Louis. There was a sharp grating sound as the blade scrapes against the stone floor. Louis did not pick the sword up. He did not even give it a second look. Louis left the sword where it was. His frown reverted back to the solemn expression that had been wearing for hours.

Harry urged Louis, "I'm serious. Go ahead. Impale me. Better now than later. You might not be able to defend yourself against the beast."

Louis grimaced but he did not speak. Harry asserted, "You don't have to feel guilty. You're the prince of Ariak. You have so much to live for. Me, I'm a stupid monster. I will just continue to be a danger to everybody."

"Ha!" The palace guard sneered. "'so much to live for'? By the time King Stephen is done with Ariak, he wouldn't have a home to go to."

"Eavesdropping is not nice." Harry chided.

"Yeah? Well, neither is stealing a girl's man but that's none of my business." The guard said smugly before turning away.

"Fine." Harry snapped at Louis. "If you won't kill me, I will." Harry picked up the sword and pointed it at his chest.

As Harry was about to thrust the blade into himself, Louis snatched the weapon away from him. Louis winced as the pain rippled through his hand. There was a cut on his palm. Fresh blood was creeping out of the open wound. Louis scorned in dismay at Harry.

"You don't even know what you're doing." Louis began to reprimand Harry. "If you do it like that, you would have to wait for yourself to bleed out before you die. Do you want that? Do you want to be in agony for the last few moments of your life?"

"Then, how would you do it?" Harry asked.

"I wouldn't." Louis ordered. "Sit in your corner and keep your hands off my sword."

"Are you going to let me kill you? You're being ridiculous." Harry expressed his anger. Louis turned to face the wall. Harry shouted, "Now that you've scolded me you're just going to to ignore me again? Is this how it's going to be?"

Louis did not say a word. He appeared to be emotionless again. "Okay," Harry mumbled. "I'm sorry that I got us into this mess. You probably hate me now, don't you?"

Louis turned to look at Harry. He did not speak. He just gazed at the boy in silence. Harry leaned against the wall. He closed his eyes as he sighed deeply.

Harry's breath hitched. His eyes widened in shock. Harry felt something wash over him suddenly. It was ice cold and wet.

"I was just-!" Harry hissed but stopped himself from lashing out at the guard. He continued to speak in a mutter through clenched teeth, "resting my eyes."

"You looked like you were asleep." The guard shrugged. There was barely any water left in the bucket he held.

Harry bit his thumb at the guard.

"You don't have to be rude to me. I'm just doing my job." The guard said. "It's not my fault you're in here. You just had to kiss him."

Harry bit his lip. He already knew he was to blame for putting Louis and himself in jail. He did not need another reminder.

"It's about time you changed." The guard stated, seeing that it was past eight o'clock.

As expected, Harry's skin turned an eerie green colour. His wet curls were gone and replaced with a strip of black fur. He had teeth sharper than knives, sticking out from his gums.