Enhanced (first draft)

Chapter 13

Kali gently shakes her head. The luscious chocolate curls of her hair slighty bounce up and down. They always seem to stay perfectly in place no matter what. She gives Trace an understanding look, one full of sympathy and sorrow.

"I get it, I too have been away from my brother for a long time. It would be unimaginable to have something bad happen to him. The only problem is that my brother has not done anything wrong. He has not assassinated somebody for no real reason. I am positive that he hasn't committed any kind of crime."

Trace quickly looks at me, hoping that I can help him. I can't. Although I may know a little about their relationship, I do not know Xander. I cannot defend somebody that I don't understand, let alone haven't even met. Trace quietly talks in a high, pleading voice, "Please be empathetic to my situation. How would you feel if your brother was about to die for a crime that people are rarely punished for? What would you do? I will bet you that you would do the same thing as me. You would beg for your brother's life to be saved. Please, he is the only family that I have left."

I look back and forth between Trace and Kali. They both are pained. Trace has a look of desperation on his face. His eyes are gazing straight at Kali, pleading and determined. Kali is looking over towards me, trying to avoid Trace's gaze. It is obvious that it is hard for her to resist Trace's plea. She is no heartless person.

Finally, Kali slowly turns her head to Trace's eyes slightly light up as he notices Kali's face. Her eyes are rapidly blinking, trying to hold back the feeling. He knows what she will say, everybody does. "Okay, Trace. I will try to help you. I can't guarantee you anything, mainly due to the gravity of what Xander did, but I will try to convince Avery to cancel the execution."

It looks as if a hundred pounds are lifted off of Trace the moment after Kali talks. He runs up to her and embraces her gratefully. "Thank you so much!" Trace exclaims, enthusiastically. I can't help but feel a tinge of jealousy at their embrace. We have embraced each other before, but it only was when we were feeling sad for comfort, never out of joy. I don't even know why I'm jealous about this though, I mean, why would I be developing feelings for an Outcast? Why would I be developing feelings for any man after I have seen how cruel they can be?

Kali looks surprised at Trace's reaction, but nonetheless she welcomes it. Finally she says, "Remember, I'm not guaranteeing that your brother will be saved. I am going to try my best, though." Kali says cautiously, trying to make sure that Trace understands that there is a chance her effort may not work.

Trace makes no notion that he does understand, but he has to. He is probably just caught up in the joy that his brother actually has a chance to be saved. I bet I would be if I were him.

Kali leads the three of us inside the lavish house. It reminds me of my home back on the Inside. I honestly hadn't thought that homes on the Outside would be like this. The wooden walls appear to be freshly painted white. There are no stains to be seen anywhere, the whole home appears spotless. A small chandelier is hanging just past the entryway, it's crystalline droplets are scattering sunlight in various directions. Curtains of a heavy, almost velvety material adorn every window in sight. Kali must feel at least somewhat at home here, judging by the adornments of the house and its state.

Kali's feet silently pad on the steps as she leads us to Avery, even though she is wearing heals. She has the gracefulness that I have always wanted to achieve. At least I seem graceful compared to Trace, who is noisily lumbering up the steps behind me. He even seems oblivious to the racket that his footsteps are making. Or he just doesn't care.

Kali stops before a large wooden door. We all wait in anticipation to see how she will address our appearance. She lightly knocks on the door and says, "Avery, I want to talk to you with a few people."

She waits patiently, her head practically resting on the door so that she can clearly her his response. After a moment of what was likely pondering, Avery answers Kali. "Okay, you may come in."

Kali cautiously opens the door, and starts to walk inside the room, making sure that we are in tow. The first thing that I do after entering the room is examine it. It appears to be a study or a library. There are multiple bookshelves along the walls, all filled with thick, discolored novels. Avery is sitting at a desk directly across from the door. He looks up from a book in his hand as we enter. His large, calloused hands gently hold the tattered book.

His first expression is one of curiosity. Why would Kali and a few other people want to talk to him. Once he notices Trace his expression changes. He knows what this is about. His face contorts as he seems to realize that Trace must have convinced Kali.

"Go away," Avery starts in a warning tone. Although it is directed at all of us, his true focus is on Trace. He has cut off the head of the snake to kill our mission. "There is nothing that I can do, even if I wanted to stop it. Xander committed a major crime and he needs to be punished. The people are eager to see this. If I take this away from them, then they will be angry to be missing an execution. They have waited a long time for this."

Kali steps out in front of the rest of us. She is going to try to take matters into her own hands and attempt something that we can't do. Only she has the potential to convince Avery to stop Xander's execution. She looks as if she is volunteering to do some menial task, she is calm and collected, unlike how I would be if somebody's life was in my hands.

"Avery, please. Xander is Trace's only living relative. Trace loves his brother, he lives for his brother. He has a passion that you cannot even imagine as you are an only child. Even though Xander did assassinate somebody, it wasn't the first time that happened. And if you cancel the execution it wouldn't be the first time that the killer got away without any punishment. The only reason that Xander is being punished for this crime is because the person that he killed was liked by more people than usual. He was thought of as a better leader than previous ones. Even though that may be true, it does not serve as a reason to execute one when others have remained unscathed."

Avery looks intently at Kali during her whole argument. It almost seems as if he wants her to convince him. Once she finishes, though, he shakes his head slightly and says, "While these are good points that you are putting up, I have to say that this judgement is final. It cannot be changed. If so, then it may cause a revolt. The people will be angry that the death of their previous beloved ruler was not vanquished and they will take their anger and frustration out on me. They will cause true anarchy. I'm sorry, Trace but my previous ruling is final. Xander has to be executed." Even though his words seem to convey some cold emotion, Avery truly looks guilty when he is talking. He seems to feel bad due to the situation that he is putting Trace ino, but he feels that there is nothing he can do. I am not convinced that Avery's opinion is correct, what with the people revolting if the execution doesn't happen, but he knows a lot more about the Outside than I do.

Once again, Trace bursts into a waterfall of tears and I serve as a comfort for him. This has seemed to become my purpose lately. I just barely wrap my arms around Trace and I bring his head down onto my shoulder. I nestle my head by the side of his as I try to keep him calm. I manage to whisper, "It's okay. Kali and I will try to find a way to save Xander on our own. Everything will be fine. We will prevent this from happening to him. I know it."

But I don't know it. I don't really know anything for sure. All that I truly know is that I do not want to see Trace hurt again, so I lie for him. I lie for both of us because it will bring us comfort.

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Well, that was that...

Between my last update and this one I got 300 reads! This is absolutely incredible. I can't express how I feel in words!

Okay, so I'm kind of curious as to what you're thinking about this story so I have a few questions that you can answer if you want:

Who is your favorite character, and why? Who is your least favorite character? Do you think that Nyx is justified in her reason for running away, or do you think she is selfish like Cyrus says?

Anyways, thank you so much!