The Fallen Throne

Chapter 9 ✦ Preeminence

"Why can't I see what's ahead?
I can't control."
~ Lloyd (Joan Red, So Far Gone)

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Although Rose is the one glowing, she doesn't seem to notice this herself; she is still kneeling on the floor and facing the back wall of the room with her eyes closed, her breathing rapid.

They have all taken a step back the moment she started glowing, but now that they realise this odd phenomenon is against her will and unbeknownst to even herself, Lancaster slowly approaches her. Alaina and Lloyd exchange worry glances, but do not take their eyes off Rose no longer.

Lancaster is soon stopped in his tracks by a bandaged arm that belongs to Kai. "What are you doing?" Lancaster snaps, bringing his eyes away from Rose to glare at Kai.

"Don't interfere," Kai replies, not looking at him. "She's abnormal."

Lancaster turns on his heels, stomps towards Kai and grabs him by the arm when he attempts to back away at the sight of Lancaster approaching. "Explain. Now," Lancaster threatens, "what do you mean by 'abnormal'? Why do you keep saying that?"

"Don't touch me! How many times do I have to say it -- do not touch me," Kai returns his glare, though he knows it's not as strong as Lancaster's. He struggles to break free from Lancaster's strong grip, but that only makes things worse as the bandages along the arm he is grabbed by loosen, but his arm seems to be uninjured despite the bandages he wears. Kai watches in horror as Lancaster's fingers make contact with his bare arm, and he struggles even further.

Despite noticing his strange look, Lancaster holds on to his arm firmly, not letting go. "What --" he begins, intending to first demand an answer to the unanswered question regarding Rose's abnormality and second ask why is he so afraid of human contact, emphasising over and over again for people not to touch him. But Lancaster is unable to finish what he is about to say, as he feels a sharp, piercing pain where his hand had touched Kai's arm. Gradually, the pain increases and he feels his hand burning, so he jerks it away immediately, shaking the pain away furiously.

However, the pain fades from his hand after a short moment, and there's nothing else. Alaina tears her eyes away from Rose and inspects Lancaster's hand in concern, only to find nothing. No marks, no scars.

"Sorry, it wasn't on purpose," Kai says when he feels Alaina's eyes on him. "Just don't touch me again, and it'll never happen."

"You --" Lancaster starts again, but is stopped by Alaina this time. "This is not the time, both of you," she says sternly, her eyes drifting from Lancaster to Kai. "We have bigger problems --"

"Just watch," Kai interrupts.

"Watch what?"

"Do you want out of here?"

"No! Wait, yes," Lloyd says, still staring at Rose in awe and disbelief. "But we're talking about Rose here!"

Kai stares at her intently as if staring at his own reflection, and then says in a soft voice, "she may just be our ticket out of here."

Alaina and Lancaster turns to him, preparing to bombard him with questions, but they haven't a second to even open their mouths when they hear something approaching outside, through the barred gap above them.

Alaina takes a few steps back and lifts her head up in an attempt to see through the bars. In the silence of the room, she hears the wind blowing tempestuously outside, as if there's a storm coming. But she feels no wind. It's only after a whole minute that she realises it isn't the wind, but the sound of something moving at high speed through the trees and branches of the forest, rustling leaves and scraping through trees barks.