We're Not Evil, Just Betrayed

Chapter Twenty One (Part One)

An : I'm leaving these way too often, but I'll be trying to update more commonly now. Maybe. Changed writing style :0

When Sky came to, the scent of blood was the first distinctive thing he caught. Next came onto how cold this barren room was, and how heavy the weigh of his numbness came on him. The glow his eyes gave was barely enough for him to see much of this dark room. It was very cold indeed, he realised with a weak shiver. That was when his eyes darted onto the gently clinking metal, snapped around his wrists, around his ankles. There was something around his neck, he was not so sure what it was, he couldn't see it. He could guess, but he dared not do that either. He just tried to guess how long he himself had been unconscious, scanning the room for any source of outside light. It had been around three in the afternoon when he was taken. How much time would have passed ? If he remembered enough the other inmates said that the solitary prisoners were kept there for several hours, and judging by the faint and muffled screaming in the background, he guessed he had not been there long. There was still a chance.

Then, the door opened and the slither of something leathery sliding across the floor came onto him and he shivered, glancing up. The woman standing in front of him held an unrelenting gaze and an unmatched smile, staring at him, her eyes gleaming in the darkness with something he felt like he should fear. Her hand was tight around the fierce whip, calloused and firm. The name plaque 'Jess' was engraved onto her uniform back, he noted when she turned slightly to analyse him. 'That name does not fit her at all' was the only thing Sky could come a conclusion to when he stared at her. No, those golden eyes that might have once matched his showed the darkness his own held, but hers were so much more apparent. He could see lines barely peeking out of her uniform. Red, thin lines...

As Jess analysed him, she couldn't help but feel some form of disappointment. She had been assigned to this man several hours before, and she had checked on him regularly to make sure he would wake up before she began her work. This...man. The son of the king, jailed in a prison, eons away from where he was born. She had expected something... more. His body was frail with what she could only assume was the lack of effort to take care of himself. The scars on his body, from the fight probably. His clothes torn, hair mattered, mouth curved into a tight scowl. She had seen this sight often but usually on inmates that had been there for months, or years. He had been here for a week. She was not sure if it was out of his bravery or his foolishness.

Looking at the rest of him, her expression didn't change from the gentle smile she had. Disappointment. It's what she felt looking at him. When she heard the herobrine reincarnate was her next companion, lest for a few hours, she had expected something... better. He was so frail, and already so weak. What was she going to do with a broken toy ? Of course, she could mend him. She could sit down, gently take his hand and whisper him things that would make many a man cry. But as she glanced to his face, her fascination suddenly reappeared.

It was not like she had never noticed those eyes before. She had seen it time and time again, in the castle when she was the one training executioners. But back then they had been hazel and matched her own, the light brown swirled with a carefully hidden darkness. Now his eyes were a bright, soft yellow, glowing with so much warmth and care. "So much hope..." her voice seemed to crack slightly, like a whip. He almost jolted at the sudden tone, as if he had half expected her to be mute as well.

She knelt in front of him, careful to keep away from grabbing hands or snapping jaws. Indeed, there was so much hope in his golden eyes, it was literally glowing. She suddenly felt excited. Maybe she had something to work with after all. "Sky... you have such... beautiful eyes..." she giggled, gently tracing the side of his face, watching him cautiously tilt his head away. Those eyes... they were absolutely gorgeous. Such, raw, naive faith. She couldn't wait to test it. "I hope you will make it interesting. It's been a while since I've seen hope in this world"