A Kingdom of Sins

Chapter Three

I woke to a knock at my door, "Lady Kaitlin you will be needed in half an hour." I got out of bed and through on an emerald dress, took off my hood, that I hadn't realized I'd fallen asleep in, and walked out the door to meet a rather happy Mason. He wearing a plain black and white shirt, his hair slightly imperfect, even though that made it ever so slightly more perfect. Good to know he's rebelling in some form.

"So this is the happy face to look forward to in the morning," I said with a yawn, patting him on the back. Some encouragement could do him good. It causes him to stiffen, like fire to water he couldn't stand something out of his box.

"My father thought it would be smart if I took you to the hangings," I stood there in fear, choking trying to keep my memories down. I had seen many dead bodies scenes Noah and I ran but each one looked like Ash. I don't think I could hand something like this. My death I would be fine with but others felt like failure. " Are you okay, you look rather pale," I had not thought a single kind word could come out of his mouth.

"I should be fine. It's just..." I could feel the tears peeking out of my eyes. Ash had died and it was because I did nothing. If only I had stayed awake for another hour. My steps quickly got out of beat, but then I would be dead too. "It's just my parents were killed by hanging," I lied.

The rest of the walk was filled with silence, each second standing my ears. I wouldn't say it was complete silence tough, the soft footsteps and corresponding breaths were a beat with the hum of the wind as our singer. All the halls were bare like the soul of the building. The walk weaved in and out of the palace, going from closed borders, open hall, to caged gardens. Everything here was trapped, the people, the plants, and the murmurs that echoed only off the palace halls. After around fifteen minutes of musical silence we reached the arena. I had spiral pillars carefully placed around the outside for support, a design much similar to most buildings in Torchwood. From what I heard King Alric took the design on his third visit, but that wasn't the last thing he took from us. The whole thing was built out of marble, the gloss reflected every inch of the mornings sun's rays. The arena was filled with people, but all I could see where the five standing in the middle. I was forced to sit next to the King, probably so he could laugh at my pain. Eves.

People flooded the sets, each one fighting for the front. It was like darkness itself, everyone put on a happy face even though they knew death was coming. It sent loud pounds to my head. After a few minutes he stood, "Ladies and Gentlemen of Lydia we have found traitors," in the center of the field stood three young men, none of them older than forty, and two young girls. It disgusted me, one of the girls looked no older than twelve. They all stood tall not fearful, waiting to die a martyr. A proud death at the hands of The King would shake the county,their death would serve a purpose, they would get this rebellion going.But this was probably the seventeenth execution this month. Nothing seemed to work. "I will make examples of them."I put my hands over my eyes, fearing the sight of what would come, but then the King sat and Looked at me. He said quietly as he pulled my hands away, "Girl you must watch! You need to see what will happen if you do something stupid," he stood to count down to their death, "The act's you have committed brings you death! One!" The crowed cheered as ropes were put around five necks. "Two!" none of them started to cry or beg, even the little girl was as calm as could be. "Three!" Their limp bodies hung, their eyes growing gray and dead, their souls were almost visible through the frozen air. The crowd chanted but I didn't. I could barely digest what I was seeing. Their faces were all so familiar yet I could not name a single one of them. The voices in my head grew, each one yelling at me for killing them. It wasn't me, I shouted in response, I couldn't help them. Just like that it was over as the King stood to address the nation I turned and walked away, looking for someone who I knew would be safe. As I walked away I could feel The King's twisted smile slice the air.

During this time I walked to Noah's home. Well it was more of a run than walk, but for Faes it was really just a walk. We Faes are more agile, faster, and stronger than normal humans. With my training the "run" to the meadow took me five minutes, it took normal people around twenty. I knew it was dangerous but I had left behind the palace, completely avoiding the inner circle where nobles and the such live. I just needed the "run", I needed to see the waves of grass pass in blurs. It was as if I wasn't moving at all yet the world was running around me. Nothing could touch me whenever I ran or trained. Not even the darkness's temptation echoed in my ear. It was the only time I knew my true strength, and I was proud of it. The only person who ever beat me in a sparring match was Luck, but he was dead. Drawn in by the darkness's whispering soldiers of death. Tucked and hidden behind curtains of peace. I came to a jarring stop in front of Noah's house, the skid marks almost visible behind me.

His house fit its environment to a tea. Well it wasn't his house, necessarily. We frequently moved, disappearing from one place to another once a year- idiotically we stayed in Alina. We only moved to places where there had been a recent Fae execution or massacre- our reasoning being that they were cocky enough to believe they killed all the Fae in that area. We would move into a house of someone who died. For most people it might have been a nightmare but I found the idea of a spirit protecting their home almost endearing. I made sure to write down the names of the families whose houses we stayed in, charting them down in a notebook wishing that this piece of paper would give them a proper funeral. This one belonged to Rachel Lilighard, a Temperate Fae, and her two daughters, Anna Lilighard, age eight, and Rose Lilighard, age ten. All three of them hung for practicing magic. The father had left right away when he found out about their secret, Rachel was still pregnant with Anna at the time.I didn't care if it was twisted to keep track of all of it but it made me feel like no one would forget. Like they would always be important some way some how.

The house was shady, dark, almost cruel but it had the same warmth as the forest. It was covered in an almost gray wood, that was marked from water damage. It was barely two stories, only having a small bedroom that peaked it's way across the pointed roof. The other surrounding houses mimicked it, like they were jealous of the house by the forest. I ran inside, the small stone breakfast bar echoing late night conversations between Noah and I. "Noah," I whisper-screamed his name. I slammed the door behind me, if Noah was home he would have already ran down the stars and I would be pinned to the wall, a knife at my throat. But that didn't happen. For a moment I let my fears pin my to the wall, each one suffocating me like nothing I knew before. Did the government take him? Is he just out for a walk? Is The King keeping him captive as some cruel prank on me? Is he already Dead? I panicked, hoping for an escape to come. Worrying like this was worse than any damage from a knife wound, it was like you were crumbling and the world was laughing at you the whole time. I choked on my, now extremely soar, throat before realizing that Noah would probably be at the market by now. I had only been at the palace for a day and look how much it's changed me. I walked over to the counter, the imaginary note in my head writing itself. As I walked over I could hear the Earth's hideous cackling echoing in my ear. It was always looking for the nearest person to pull a "comical" joke on wasn't it?

Dear Noah,

I was taken to the castle but the King would like to keep me alive . I am working as The Crowned Prince, Mason's protector. I will be able to sneak away during lunch hours. I'll meet you around one. I wish things had worked out differently. I don't know if we will be able to return to our normal way of fleeing from town to town- and I don't know if that's such a bad thing. If I can't get away tomorrow, though I should so don't worry, I want you to stay safe and don't draw attention to yourself. 

Your cousin,

Kaitlin

I folded the note when I finished writing, letting it sit there and wait for Noah to return. I sprinted up the stars, the creaks and squeaks yelling at me to let them go back to sleep. On the far side of the attic room was a bed. Noah and I would switch every week, one of us sleeping in a small bed down stairs. I grabbed my staff and hung my quiver around my back, its strap clinging to me for life. The steel like vines wrapped around the otherwise perfectly smooth staff. It was some kind of drug, injecting strength into me like it did every time I picked it up to practice. I knew I couldn't wait around for Noah like I wanted to, people would notice and The King would either be beyond angry or just happy to cause me discomfort. After jumping down the stairs, each one yelling at me again, I sprinted back to the palace for a hopefully normal boring day. Hopefuly.