The first thing Ren did was bark out a laugh, sprawling out on the couch to my right. “Well, damn,” he said, a smile on his face as his glossy eyes stared aimlessly at the ceiling. “And to think I thought the boy was in love with you.”
“I honestly think he is,” I responded, shuddering at the thought, “in whatever twisted way someone like him can be.” I leaned back as I spoke, slumping into the velvet cushion behind me as the tension of the moment passed.
“I guess you’re right,” Ren said. “Guess he’s got a thing for strong gals, huh?”
“Ew.”
Ren burst into another laugh at my response.
“Ren, this is serious,” I scolded, even though I felt more like joining in on his laughter than being serious.
“Oh, yeah, hundred percent. This is a damn mess,” he agreed, a smile still on his face. “I did a bit of research on the way here. He’s not joking about his background. That kid comes from some serious power. And from the way it sounds, he’s got his eyes set on you, so he’s not just gonna leave us alone.”
I nodded at his words, looking at my clasped fingers as I slumped deeper into my seat. A slimy feeling had taken hold of me at some point during the conversation, and Ren’s words made the revolting feeling stronger.
“I don’t like this,” I said, my voice suddenly small and honest. Reality was setting in, and as much as I wanted to fight it, the situation was really not looking good for me.
Ren stopped smiling immediately, propping himself up on an elbow as he faced me. “I know, Ruby. I mean, I probably don't actually know, but I can imagine. Just hearing the sleazy kid talk made my skin crawl. But isn’t this exactly what you’ve worked so hard for? You’re not weak anymore, Ruby. Sure, the other side is much stronger, but if there’s one thing, more than anything else, that you excel at, it’s facing odds that no sane person would ever think to face. That’s why I joined you in the first place, remember?”
The boy’s words were like cold water splashing on the slimy feeling coating my skin. “You’re right,” I said, a smile beginning to form on my face as the fog in my brain started to clear. “You’re right. So what if the boy has powerful backing? So what if the boy is repulsive? He has no right to make me feel disgusting. And he definitely is not going to be the one to cage me again. I’ll die fighting before I let that happen.”
Ren smiled at me, a smile full of pride. “There’s the boss I know.” He sprang up to a sitting position, rubbing his hands together. “So, what’s the plan? We’ve still got an almost impossible situation to handle.”
I nodded, my face turning serious. The gears in my brain, finally freed from the oppressive effect Zayr's words had had on them, began to turn properly again. “Well, first things first. We can’t skip tomorrow. I’m not letting the Tesserpine people get caught up in this mess.”
Ren nodded in understanding. “Makes sense. But we’ll have to be careful. Most likely, he’ll have some way of trapping you there.”
“Yeah, you’re right. And there’s really no way to know what that trap could be.”
“So how do we plan for a trap we know nothing about?”
I smiled wryly. “That might just have to be an in-the-moment thing. But I was thinking, the one advantage we do have over Zayr’s people is our experience with the forest. I mean, we survived months there on our own. As long as we can make it to the forest, I’m sure we’ll be able to get the upper hand over them. I’m not sure where we could go, but there must be some places where the Blood Palace’s reach doesn’t extend. Worst case, we could just leave the country and find another school to go to, somewhere where Zayr can’t get to us.”
Ren nodded slowly, going over the plan in his head. “Ok, that makes sense. It’s good to have a goal in mind, at least. Getting to the forest might be a little tricky, but I’m sure we’ll manage. Not much we can do to prepare, anyway. What about the Tesserpine people? I wouldn’t put it past Zayr to kill them all when we run.”
“You’re right. But there’s not much we can do to protect them. I think the best we can do is just warn them. Hopefully, they’re quick enough that they can escape to another city or something and wait out the Beast Tide somewhere else.”
“That’s fair. I can go tomorrow morning then, before the banquet, and let them know what’s going on. It’s probably best to let them decide how they wanna handle their safety, though.”
I nodded, still feeling terrible despite having resolved to do the most we could to guarantee their protection. I hated that there wasn’t more that I could do, that I couldn’t just fight Zayr and his army head-on.
One day, I resolved to myself, one day, I’ll have that strength.
“Well then, that’s that, I guess,” Ren said, falling back into a lying position, eyes aimlessly wandering the ceiling. “We go to the banquet, buy as much time as we can for the Tesserpine people, break out of whatever trap Zayr’s got waiting for us, then go back to living in the forest, except this time with knights on our tail. Sounds easy enough.”
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I grinned at Ren’s summary of the situation. The way he put it, it really did seem easy enough, and it helped calm some of the anxiety that had been building up in my chest.
“Guess we should get some sleep, then, I guess. Nothing else to do now, and we’ve got a big day ahead of us,” I said, exhaustion seeping into me now that there was nothing left to do.
Ren nodded, hands clasped behind his back as he lay on the sofa. Neither of us made to move though, save for me sinking further into the softness of the couch. We simply stayed still for the hours that followed, wrapped in the dark embrace of our silence and filled with the warmth of a bond so special mere words could not describe it, enjoying what we both knew could very well be my last night of freedom.
-
Ren packed up and headed out just as the first rays of dawn poked through the horizon, leaving me still brooding in a hollow and empty silence as worries of the coming day began to worm their way into my mind.
My paralysis was broken only when I heard the doorbell ring through the house. Curious, I forced myself out of the seat I’d been in for hours and made my way down the four floors and to the front door. There was no one there when I opened the door, though, only an ornate black-and-gold wooden box sitting at my feet.
Instantly recognizing what it was, a pulse of utter disgust ran through me, making me want to hurl what little food I had in me all over the gift. Flame leapt to life in my palm as I prepared to burn the thing into oblivion, but before I could, I caught a whiff of potent Flux coming from the box.
Curiosity getting the better of me, I called off the flames and picked the thing up, bringing it inside. Wondering why Flux would be coming out of a dress, I popped open the box and pulled out the bundle of neatly folded cloth, not caring that I was messing up what was sure to be the most expensive clothing I’d ever held.
I examined the deep scarlet cloth, not bothering to unfold the entire thing because I didn’t even want to know what kind of dress the boy had picked, but I found nothing out of the ordinary in the cloth.
A moment of confusion passed before I realized that the Flux I could sense was still coming from the box, not the dress in my hand. Almost subconsciously, the moment I realized that, I lit the entirety of the Flux around my hands on fire. Scarlet flame burst to life in my hands, enveloping the dress instantly. I marvelled at the sight for a moment, the deep red of the dress and the flame devouring it making for a unique picture. Within seconds, though, everything was gone, the expensive gift reduced to nothing but ash and glitter.
Dusting my hands off, I checked the box again and realized I’d missed a part of the gift. It was a glass vial, beautifully carved and filled with a blood-red liquid. It was oozing out so much potent Flux that I was surprised I hadn’t noticed it immediately. Curious, I tenderly picked the thing up to study it.
However, the moment I lifted the vial from the box, a blue holographic screen popped up above the box, painting a picture of Zayr's face. I physically recoiled at the sight of the boy appearing so suddenly, at a time when I was not ready to see him in the least.
The boy was sporting the same smug grin he had when he’d left the house last night. “Ah, Ruby. What a pleasure to see your face again. Glad to know you received my gift; hope you like it. I personally chose it for you, y’know? I’m certain you’ll be absolutely stunning in that dress, Ruby. I absolutely cannot wait to see you in it!”
Disgust coiled in my gut. I wanted nothing more than to show the boy the ashes of his precious gift at my feet, but I held off on it. There was no point in riling up the boy right now, not when he still had the upper hand.
“What do you want, Zayr?” I grit out instead, tasting bile in my throat.
The boy’s face soured. “Again with the naming, Ruby! You’ll learn to call me as you should, Ruby, eventually; save everyone the trouble and just start now, why don’t you? Here, ask me again, but do it properly this time.”
I smiled tightly at the boy, my patience for his arrogance utterly evaporated. “I said, what do you want, you arrogant, insufferable, inconsequential, repulsive, weak little mama’s boy?” I spat, channelling all my frustration onto the little blue screen in front of me.
Zayr laughed in the face of my anger. “Oh, I will thoroughly enjoy breaking that will of yours, Ruby. And mark my word, I will break you.”
A smile curved my lips. “Crueler men than you have tried, Zayr.”
That seemed to catch the boy off guard a little, his attempt at breaking my composure backfiring on him. But he collected himself quickly enough, a small, sick smile warping his face once more. “We shall see, Ruby. We shall see. And in fact, that brings me to the point of our little chat. That little vial in your hands, Ruby? Drink it for me before you come today, alright?”
I narrowed my eyes at the boy, suspicious, even though I had no plans on listening to him. “What is this?”
“It’s a dilute made from a Life-Blood Pearl. It should toughen you up a little, make you a little more durable, if you understand what I mean. It’ll make things a little more fun for me, not so fun for you of course. But then again, you don’t really matter here, do you?”
I hardly heard the boy’s question, hardly heard anything after the words ‘Life-Blood Pearl,’ the name ricocheting in my mind like a bullet. “This Life-Blood Pearl,” I asked, my voice surprisingly controlled given the ticking bomb some had placed in my chest. “Where did you get it from?”
The boy had no reason to answer me, I knew, but he seemed proud enough to answer anyway. “Oh, that? Just something my men brought to me today. Apparently, a harvest from the village they ransacked a while ago.” That seemed to remind him of something, so the boy kept talking. “Can you believe it, Ruby?” he asked. “Those village idiots had the nerve to ask me for help with some monsters in the forest! Me!” The boy laughed, as if it was the most unbelievable thing in the world. “So, of course, I helped them out with their little problem, but in return,” the boy checked his nails, “I told my men to take anything of value and bring it to me, and sell the rest. Apparently, the villagers had an Elixir Pool near them – the fools thought it was a holy pool, gifted from their gods – so their bodies are quite hardy. I’m sure they’ll fetch a good price-”
I didn’t hear anything after that, as the Flux running through my veins exploded out then, utterly incinerating the first floor of the house and breaking through the upper floors until it burst through the roof. Within seconds, the entire house collapsed in on itself, the rubble aflame with scarlet fire. And, in the center of the ring of rubble and scarlet flame I stood, shaking with barely contained rage, despair clawing at my insides as a single thought dominated my mind: Maya!