Kings Cage

Chapter 1: Mare

AN-This is me just trying out writing. It might be terrible, but just let me know your opinions in the comments. If you like it, I'll make more chapters.

  I kneel at Mavens feet, completely left at his mercy. The Silvers in the crowd are shouting, calling for my death. I know Maven would never kill me, but death is certainly a better fate than what horrors I'll have to endure here. The crowd goes on leering at me for another minute until Maven puts a stop to it.
"Silence!" Maven yells. "You all know why we are here today. One week ago, I was able to capture the head of the villainous Scarlet Gaurd, Mare Barrow. I know you are all expecting her execution, but death is too good for her." Maven looks down at me, making sure I'm hearing every poisoned word that is coming out of his mouth. I almost feel the urge to laugh back at him, knowing that this so called "mercy" of his is just his way of keeping me tethered to him. Laughing would surely get me punished, so I keep a determined face and stare back into those ice blue eyes. Those eyes used to enchant me, and I used to love them. Now I see them for their true evil, an ice that keeps me frozen and trapped in his grasp. Eventually, Maven looks away and continues with his speech. I stop listening after about two minutes of him spitting lies about my cause, but I can tell that the Silvers are eating up every word. To me, Mavens speech is quite boring. I don't even know why he brought me here if he's barely going to address my existence. That is, until the guards walk up on stage with a box. Maven takes the box, and turns to me with a devilish smile on his face. He opens the box slowly, taking delight in my horror as I see the contents of the box. A single collar lies in it.

"Maven.." I breath, fear and disgusting coating my words. He simply laughs, taking the collar in his hands. I try to back away, but he leans down and grips my chin hard, keeping me from moving. His hands are burning hot.  Slowly, he opens the collar and places it around my neck, locking it firmly. He leans closer to me and I tense up, anticipating a slap. Instead, he whispers something to me.

"Now that I have you Mare, I don't plan on letting you go anytime soon. This collar is your reminder that you belong to me, and only to me." He snarls, watching me with a blazing look in his eyes. I cringe in disgust, looking at him with hatred.

"I don't belong to anyone Maven, least of all you." I say. His face twists into a look of fury, and I instantly realize that I said the wrong thing. He raises his hand and slaps me across the face, raising a collective cheer from the crowd. I fall back in pain, but I can't let him see my cry, let him see that he is still able to hurt me. Giving me one last warning look, he turns away to dismiss the crowd. He waves a hand at some guard in the back, who shuts off a broadcasting machine. Shame runs through my body as I realize that this was broadcasted to all of Norta. The Scarlet Guard saw this, my family saw this, Cal saw this. I put my head down, and finally let the tears of frustration fall. Maven notices, and grabs hold of my collar to pull me up to my feet. He drags me closer to him so our faces are nearly touching. Reaching towards my face with a pale, bony hand, he wipes a single tear from my face. I try to lean away from his hand, but his firm grip on my collar doesn't allow me to move.

"I can't have my prisoner already broken, now can I?" He muses, taunting me with his words. Then, he lowers his voice to a volume only I can hear. "After all, I always loved your determination." He whispers with a smirk.

"You disgust me." I choke out, spitting at his feet. His face turns into a snarl and he leans in even closer.

"Remember Mare, there will be consequences for misbehavior. You may think that your crimes are victimless, but I can promise you that I will track down every single person you care about. I'm not scared of a little bloodshed to teach you a lesson." He says, raising his voice slightly.

"B-But... Maven you promised," I cry, "You promised that they would be safe if I sacrificed myself." He tsks in disapproval, moving his hand to trace my brand with an icy touch.

"I'm a man of my word if you stay true to yours." He says calmly, continuing to trace my brand. I freeze in place, not wanting to move or even breathe. Finally, he turns away and leads me into the palace. He doesn't say a word to me during the long walk to my cell, which isn't actually a cell. It's a nice room, furnished with nice things that obviously aren't supposed to be used by a prisoner. I sigh. This is just another example of Mavens obsession with me. I am the first to speak when we enter the room.

"Seems a little too nice, wouldn't you say?" I note sarcastically. Maven simply raises an eyebrow.

"Only the best for you Mare," He says with equal sarcasm. "I hope you enjoy your quarters for now. I will arrive tomorrow to visit you, and some Maids will arrive shortly to clean you up. If you're good, maybe the collar will come off." He detaches the chain from the collar, and rushes forwards to grip my arm threateningly. "If you ever try ro escape, it won't be your body displayed. It'll be your sisters'. Gisa, isn't it?"

"Don't touch my sister." I snarl. I couldn't live with myself if Gisa died because of me.

"That all depends on you, my dear. I'll be looking forward to our visit tomorrow." He releases my arm, studies me for a minute more, and them turns to leave me alone. I sit in silence, a prisoner trapped in a room fit for a princess