Jaid ran the horses harder than they’d ever been pushed in the mad gallop back to the castle.
“You heard what he said, right?!” Parano had pestered Jaid again and again, endlessly on the ride back. Jaid never answered, though, her mind too far gone. But it wasn’t from blood loss. No, she was thinking clearer now than she had in a while, and she was so focused that her injury had stopped hurting entirely, guessing it was from the adrenaline.
The guards at the castle gate tried to stop the carriage for inspection, but Jaid just barreled right through. They should recognize the prince’s carriage and understand, but she’d apologize and report to them later anyways. In the castle’s courtyard, there were a few other concerned and panicked eyes when the carriage came to a screeching halt, all staring at Jaid suspiciously. It was understandable due to the ruckus she’d caused, but she didn’t have time to placate them.
Jaid didn’t even stop to check on Princess Parano or see that she made it safely out of the carriage. The other guards could take care of that. Jaid had already afforded the princess all the courtesy she could muster. What mattered now was saving the prince. They could yell at her later.
As the knight rushed through the castle, more and more guards gave her hostile stares. When she got closer, their expressions shifted more towards confusion. Did she really look that bad? Getting cleaned up was the last thing on her mind, but she didn’t even want to think about her own state right now.
She shoved open the doors to the throne room and the number of odd stares increased. Unfortunately, the room was busier than usual. At the center was King Guzmeir sitting loftily on his throne. It seemed he’d been engaged in pleasant conversation with Parano’s parents just sitting off to their side. They were only a few, but as a result, the number of guards normally stationed in the room had more than doubled.
“Who the hell are you?!” The king grumbled, his stare suspicious and angry at the intrusion.
Did he really not recognize her? “Knight commander Luciri, Sire,” Jaid hastily knelt down and introduced herself so she could get to the point. “I have grave news!”
“What happened to your hair?” King Guzmeir seemed to not comprehend the direness of the situation. But if even the king was commenting on it, Jaid couldn’t help but take a look.
Green, why is it green? And my arm… The bolt was still sticking out of it, since Jaid knew better than to remove it without proper medical care waiting. However, the wound had all but closed around it, and the blood had dried up. It was still a murky red down her armor and near her hand, but the closer it got to her shoulder, the color changed. It was like a gradient that shifted from the normal stain into a deep blue.
It was bizarre and inexplicable, but there was no time to dwell on it. “Sire, we were assaulted on our excursion. The prince—”
“Parano, what of Parano? Is she safe?” the princess’ father leapt to his feet and demanded.
“She’s fine and unharmed, maybe a little shaken. I left her in the courtyard with the guards,” Jaid couldn’t help but glower at the man for interrupting her and went back to her frantic explanation. “Prince Lyke! We were attacked and during the altercation, he was thrown down the gorge into the river below. He may still be alive. We must send out a full rescue party at once!”
It seemed the king did not share her urgency, and he just sat there, pondering for several moments. Finally, he rose from his throne. Jaid was expecting a grand decree to send out everyone to search for the prince immediately. But all she got was a single finger pointing directly at her.
“Guards! Seize her at once!” the king ordered. “This traitor has killed my son and is trying to fool us all! Just look at her. Look what she’s become. Clearly, some dark magic is at play. Might she be a witch and is attempting to enchant us all under her spell? Maybe she is a Fiend even if her eyes aren’t red! Do not let her escape, and do not fall for her tricks!”
What? What? The mawhg? I don’t… Huh? It made no sense. Not a single word out of the king’s mouth made any sense. Where had this accusation come from? Why did he think the prince was already dead? Why wasn’t he trying to save him? It was all too confusing, and Jaid’s mind couldn’t process it.
She didn’t resist at all when the guards approached her. Many orders and frantic bodies swarmed around her, but she didn’t see any of them. Jaid was gone, lost in thought entirely as she was dragged down to the dungeon.
◆◆◆
Magic? What magic? There’s no magic in this world. King Guzmeir’s words repeated in Jaid’s endlessly as she stared at her hair. Since she’d regained some sense of conscious thought, that’s all she’d been doing.
There was no light in the dungeon, and she couldn’t even rely on guard shifts to keep track of the time. No one was watching her, and there was no one to listen to her pleas about the prince. They’d thrown her in the deepest cell at the depths of the dungeon.
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Not a single guard had come to check on her, nor had she been fed. Yet, she didn’t feel hungry at all. Just alone, forgotten. Maybe they were keeping their distance in case she’d cast more alleged enchantments on them.
No matter how many times she replayed all the events in her head, none of it made sense. How did the assailant know where they were? Why had they been attacked in the first place? As far as she knew, no one was opposed to this union, except for maybe Jaid herself.
What had the princess been so freaked out? Was she just that fearful in the face of danger? Why had the king shown no interest in hearing Jaid out about his son? It was like he had no desire in entertaining the thought that the prince was alive. His accusations made the least sense of all.
No, that wasn’t true. It had to be her hair. Not that she could see it very well in the darkness, but she stared at it nonetheless. Even with it barely visible, it was obvious that it had changed. No wonder everyone had been so freaked out, and she could see why everyone would lean so easily into the magic idea. Just running her fingers through it, she could tell it was different somehow. It felt wrong, supernatural.
A Fiend, he’d called her? That’s what their assailant had been. She believed that with all certainty after seeing those eyes up close. But why had the king called her one? Just because her hair had changed color? But what about her eyes? He said they weren’t red. She didn’t know what color they were since she had no way to check.
Didn’t Fiends have to kill someone? Or at least that was how the gossip went. Jaid hadn’t killed anyone recently. Maybe it was the attacker. Had he died from the wound she inflicted on them? They were certainly bleeding profusely, so it could be. Why was she different then? Why had Cosmos cursed her so?
So many questions, and absolutely no answers.
The door to the dungeon creaked open and the flooding light blinded Jaid for a moment. “Worry?” Jaid squeaked when she could finally make out the figure. Worretta didn’t say anything at first, a serious intent on her face as keys jingled in her hands. Jaids cell clicked open a moment later and Worretta rushed in to hug her.
“You need to get out of here, Gem,” Worry cried after the embrace had gone on long enough. “They’re talking about executing you first thing in the morning.”
So it really has come to that… There was no more hope of salvation. They weren’t even going to hear her out. Abandoned by king and country, alone in the world save for this one friend risking everything.
“Listen, Gem. I’ve secured a way out of here and—”
“No, Worry. No thank you”
“Gem, no, Jaid, listen to me, you can’t stay here!”
“It’s not that. I need you to stop helping me. Thank you for unlocking the cell but YOU need to get out of here. Go back to your post, act like usual. You were never here.”
“Where are you going?” Worry worried as Jaid slowly worked her way out of the dungeon. “I made sure there’s an unguarded exit, but it’s the other way!”
“There’s something I need to get first,” Jaid stopped at the last door out of the dungeon. She turned to Worretta and gave her one last hug, not just out of gratitude, but Jaid knew that this was goodbye. “Remember, you were never here.”
Jaid slammed the door open and started sprinting. Something insane had gotten into her, and she was so full of vigor and energy. She ran faster than she ever thought possible, blasting past guards before they could even realize she was there. Some tried to stop her on her way, but they didn’t stand a chance at slowing her down.
It only took a minute for Jaid to climb all the way from the dungeon up to the top of the tower. Surprisingly, there were no guards at her home, but word wouldn’t have gotten around that she’d escaped yet. That didn’t stop the voices yelling behind her, chasing after the blurring stampede they’d all just witnessed.
The tower had a lot of steps, but it still wouldn’t take her fellow knights long to climb it. Jaid didn’t have time to waste and immediately went to the corner of the room. She didn’t pack any clothes, grab any food, or touch anything that belonged to her.
The only thing of importance to her was her mother’s sword and visor. Jaid grabbed the visor in her left hand and hoisted the massive sword over her shoulder with her right. It was unexpectedly light, way lighter than it had any business being, but she couldn’t stop to think about it.
The voices were just outside the door now, trying to bang it down since Jaid had locked it behind her. She rushed over to the window and flung it open. Only now did she realize it was the dead of night, and it was pouring outside. Not the best choice of weather, but it’d only make her escape that much easier.
Jaid didn’t even look down before she took her leap of faith. It was dangerously stupid, but something inside her told her she’d be fine. The next thing she knew, her feet were firmly on the ground. She didn’t quite understand how, but it had felt like someone had caught her. When she looked around, though, there was no one in sight.
Not going to let the opportunity go to waste, Jaid started sprinting again through the guardless yard. She didn’t stop at the stables, she didn’t steal a car. She just ran. She ran and ran until her legs felt like they were going to give out, but then she kept running—running from the kingdom, from her pursuers, and everything she loved.
It felt like she was betraying her entire life up to this point, but Jaid couldn’t die just yet. She needed answers first. When she understood it all, she would return to this place, to that palace, and finally receive her judgment.
Even after that night, Jaid kept going, but not by choice. Everywhere she went, tragedy struck around her. She felt cursed, but eventually realized it was all linked to those like her. Those with weird hair and oddly colored eyes. To that, she did eventually get an answer: the root of everything that’d gone wrong in her life. It had been told to her and the rest of the world by the first of their kind. Those monsters who called themselves Fiends.