The King's Remorse

Amnesia

King Garonda XIV, or rather Bryant, immediately starts to writhe. "Let me go!" he snarls.

"Fight it, Bryant! You can break free. Please?" I tighten my grip, straining to keep him from returning to the Amethyst Throne.

Come on. I want the old you back.

"No!" Bryant escapes from my grip, and I scramble after him, pinning him to the ground. King Garonda XIV or Bryant? He's the King, but he was also my friend, best friend.

"Let me go." He groans as his face contorts in pain. Behind him, the Amethyst Throne is darkening into a deep purple. I tighten my grip when Bryant begins to thrash. The Amethyst Throne continues to darken, and its purple coloring continues to shift and move.

You're so close, Bryant. Just a little longer. Then, I'll have my friend back, and everything can go back to how it was. Keep fighting it, please. I want the old you back, Bryant.

"Please, stop fighting me, Bryant! You're so close to being free. So, so close."

"Ice, you've just made a big mistake," Bryant replies. He lifts his head and looks at the Amethyst Throne. It's looming before us, and the ground begins to rumble.

Huge chunks of marble crumble from the ceiling, crashing down into the ground in explosions of white and grey. What's happening?

"That's what happens when you anger the Amethyst Throne. Now let me go! This'll all be over if I can just get back."

My muscles strain as Bryant struggles to escape yet again. The purple of the Throne gets ever deeper and darker. One of the columns holding up the ceiling becomes riddled with cracks, and bits fall to the ground. Bryant reaches out a hand, his fingers just a few feet from the foot of the Amethyst Throne. Around where his fingers would be touching the Amethyst Throne, had he been a bit closer, the purple lightens to a violet, as if it were trying to coax Bryant into returning.

"Don't do it. Fight it, Bryant," I murmur in his ear.

"Don't call me that! Please, just let me return. It'll all be over. Look- everything is crumbling to the ground. I'm going to lose everything!" Bryant shakes beneath my grip.

"This doesn't mean anything. This is just a castle. You can rebuild it. And I'm not going anywhere. I want the old you back, Bryant."

The ground shakes even more. I roll over, bringing Bryant with me as I narrowly miss being squashed by a monstrous piece of marble. Several of the rats squeal as they're crushed beneath the crumbling castle.

"Ice! Watch out!"

I whirl around. A snake with the body of a chain is slithering out from somewhere within the Amethyst Throne. It's made out of metal, glinting in the sunlight. It lunges, and I backpedal, bringing Bryant with me.

"You know, Ice, you don't have to drag me."

"If I let go, you're going to return to the Amethyst Throne."

"No, I won't."

"You're not going to?" Is that true, or is he lying just so I'll let go?

"I won't."

"I'm not letting you go. I'm not losing you to the Amethyst Throne again."

"Duck!"

I follow Bryant's command, ducking and narrowly missing getting bitten by the snake. Chains clink as it slithers over my back. It hisses, the sound slightly metallic. The next time the snake moves in to make an attack, I retaliate with one of my own. Frost spreads across the snake's metal body as I begin to freeze it. But then the ice vanishes, there one second, gone the next.