Talia

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

The place I'm at right now is cold.

I open my eyes, my eyelids feel heavy, and so does the rest of my body. I'm lying in a huge bed in a black room. Everything seems to be pretty modern, but classic.

Banan sits at the bedside with an empty look on his face, probably spacing out again.

"Where are we?" I ask. My voice is low and almost inaudibly, but Banan hears me.

"You're awake? We are in your brother's house." My body suddenly feels normal again; I rush out of the bed.

"Calm down."

"Where is Anzor?" Banan ignores my question.

"Your brother said he would meet you when you're awake. Come with me."

I follow him through a long corridor with a lot of doors. The door we enter is at the end of the hall, five doors away. On the way we meet a lot of waiters and servants, all dressed in white and black.

The room we go into is enormous. It's filled with bookshelves like a library and in the middle of it all there is a throne; a gray masterpiece with a lot of details such as small children that seem to be afraid, maybe of the realistic fire that surrounds the throne.

One man sits on it. He is a middle-aged man with dark, long, brown hair. I'm too far away to see his face, but he wears a black suit with a white shirt inside.

"All in all it was you, Banan, who brought her to me. Thank you."

"It's an honor master." Banan says and kneels while he holds one hand against his heart.

"Please stand." The man raises both of his hands like he is helping Banan up at his feet.

"I never thought it would take you ten years, but rather now than never." Ten? Just how old is Banan? The man looks at me.

"Talia. My sister." He says with open arms as if he thinks that he is close enough to hug me, and believes I want one.

"Why am I here? What do you want from me?"

"I will run some tests."Duglas snaps his fingers, and suddenly we are surrounded by waiters and servants. Banan steps aside and allows two of them to hold my arms, they makes me fall at my knees. Duglas slowly walk down the stairs from his throne. In his hand he holds a thin, long, probably sharp, sword that looks like a foil. When he comes close enough for me to spot his details, I notice the waves in the end of his hair and the color of his eyes. They are like mine, but on the perk of becoming yellow. Even though he is older than me, he actually looks a lot like me. I think we are at the same height. His suit matches the rest of his household. I can tell he is curious and excited, it almost feels like he does small jumps of happiness on his way to me. He looks at one of his servants until he folds out my arm and holds it steady. It's too difficult to do any resistance because their grip around me is too firm. Duglas sticks the foil into my skin, it's like a needle. When he slowly brings it out, my blood rushes out in every direction, and when the blood gets to the end, it drips down at the floor. Duglas uses his forefinger to catch some of it and licks it off.

"It doesn't taste good. I wonder what we can do with it." When my wound starts to grow together he loses his sword.

"It works!" His laugh sounds worse than Banans, it is evil. He laughs higher and higher, greedy for more power.

I have lost too much blood today; the outcome is that I feel very dizzy. I get thirsty and have the urge to eat something salt. My sight fails a couple of times and I'm really tired. I need to lie down and rest my weak body.

"Let her down." The servants let go of me, when I fall, I manage to protect my head with my arms.

"Talia!" Banan shouts and lifts my head from the ground to repose at his lap.

"What is this? Banan, have you no shame?" Banan looks at Duglas like he just discovered a terrible truth. His face is full of worry and confusion. Banan carefully lays my head at the cold ground again, gets up, and walks a bit away.

Duglas stands above, and looks down at me. I want to hit him; I want him to feel a huge loss rather than victory. He picks up his sword and starts to cut in my skin again.

"I wonder how long you can keep this up." For the first time in my life I feel pain, it honestly hurts.

"Stop." Duglas stares at Banan in overwhelming.

"You dare command me? Where is your loyalty?" Duglas cuts deeper, rubbing the foil into my bone. I can't help but scream. The world is turning black, but I can still hear. It sounds like Banan is finding his ax. My body is shaking. Duglas removes the sword. After a little while I'm able to see again. I sit up.

Banan is fighting the servants and waiters. His smile is back and the more people he hews, the wider it gets, as does his eyes. They are sparkling of joy.

"Don't kill him, just capture him!" Duglas shouts. Banan manages to kill a few of them before they make him face the ground. Someone's dead body is covered in more blood than I am, and some of them are missing their head. The servant's throws Banans ax away, they need five people to hold him still.

"I see. We must train you again. Put him and her in detention."