Arius tapped on the steel bars making the guards begin to lose their minds. Arius found it amusing on how agitated the guards started to look. When the guards would shoot him a glare or slam on the bars in warning, Arius would flash a smirk.

It was hard for Arius to move with all the restraints on but hopefully it wouldn’t be too much longer until Elio and Astoria came. He would keep himself busy for now taunting the guards and angering the king. He knew the king would sentence him to death, but he would be gone before he would be executed.

Arius couldn’t help but think of that one woman in the room when he was brought to the king. She seemed like she was trying to hide in the crowd. She didn’t have anything fancy like everyone else in the room, so she stuck out like a sore thumb. She looked like she should live in the city with the peasants.

He thought she was beautiful though despite how unhealthy she looked. Her long brown hair looked brittle, and her light brown eyes seemed dull and tired. He wondered who she was and what her story is.

Arius looked up when he heard the sound of the big metal door creek open. The sight of Ceron Viserynn walk in through the door with an angry look on his face made Arius laugh. “Well look who it is. The big bad Ceron.”

“Leave us,” Ceron ordered the other guards in the room, who were not even looking at them. They quickly walked out the door at the frightening tone of his voice.

Arius looked at Ceron, waiting for the attitude that was coming his way. Ceron approached the bars with a look of vexation. “What in the hell are you doing?”

Arius raised a brow. “What do you mean? It wasn’t my goal to get captured.”

“Bullshit.”

Arius shrugged. “I don’t really care what you think.”

“Whatever you are up to needs to stop,” Ceron warns.

“Or what?”

“You will die.”

Arius snorted. “Ha! What are you going to be the one to slay me?”

“You never know,” Ceron said as if it was a warning and began to leave the room.

“Who was that maid you were with?” Arius asked, making Ceron freeze in his tracks.

“What?”

“That maid. You were staring at her almost the whole time when I was in the room with the king.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Ceron snapped.

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“Oh? Is she your lover? She’s a pretty one.”

Ceron slammed on the bars. “I said don’t worry about it.”

“Does she know who you are? Or are you playing the knight in shining armor?”

Ceron clenched his jaw and turned around and stormed out the door. Arius chucked and lied down on the cold hard floor.

Esper couldn’t sleep. She tossed and turned on the small pile of blankets that was her bed. Her father said she didn’t deserve the same luxury as her brothers, who had nice fancy rooms and big soft beds. Esper managed to gather some blankets so she wasn’t entirely on the bare floor of the old, abandoned room she occupied.

Unfortunately, the room was also occupied by rats and spiders, among other things. She had somewhat gotten used to them, but she was stuck with them either way. She just prayed she wouldn’t contract the plague. It wasn’t like she would get any medical assistance if she did.

She used to try to earn her father’s love when she was younger but learned quickly that she would never get it. Esper doubted her father even loved his sons. He saw them as mere tools for his succession and just treated them better because they were boys. The king could never love his daughter.

Esper, deep down, still wished that her father would somehow love her one day despite all the horrible things he had done to her. A part of her hates him yet still earns for his love. She hated herself for it. She should not have any sense of love for someone who has done her so much harm.

Esper sighed, tried to close her eyes again, and relax when she heard tapping somewhere in the room. Her eyes opened and she looked around the room to see a black mass in the corner of the room. Esper gasped and shot up into a sitting position, looking at the figure in alarm and fear.

A pair of glowing eyes stared back at her, and Esper fought the urge to scream. She felt her stomach twist and her heart pounding in her chest. The figure moved toward her, and she quickly scooted back in response, but the figure continued to get closer to her.

When the figure got close enough for her to see, she realized it was a black cat. Esper breathed in a sigh of relief and slowly began to feel her heart slow from the aggressive pounding of fear.

The cat’s tail flicked from left to right as it stared at her with golden eyes. It let out a soft meow before sitting down in front of her. Esper figured the cat was hunting for rats and mice. It sure wouldn’t find a shortage of rodents in this room. It most likely wandered here from the kitchen or somewhere outside, as that’s where cats were often placed to prevent the rodents from getting anywhere else in the castle.

Esper reached out to the cat to see if it was friendly. The cat sniffed her hand for a moment before ducking its head under her palm and brushing against her hand.

Esper smiled and began to run her hand down the cat’s soft fur. The cat purred and continued to rub against Esper’s hand. The cat came closer to her and made its way onto her lap. Esper chuckled as she continued to pet the cat. It was nice to have some sort of companion in this horrid, dark room.

No candles were lit as she didn’t have access to any so the room was always close to being pitch black unless the moon was full and gleamed into the room. On those nights Esper would look at the moon until she drifted off to sleep.

Currently, the moon is half full, but she has this new companion to ease her thoughts and uneasiness. She lay down with the cat still by her side and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Esper woke up to the rays of the sun in her face. She slowly opened her eyes and turned away from the sun. She noticed that the cat was gone. She felt a tinge of sadness, but the cat was probably hunting for more food. She hoped that maybe it would come to visit her again.

She yawned and stretched her body and sat up. When loud knocks vibrated on the door, she sighed and stood. The door opened before she could even approach it. Her brother Malick.

Malick had black hair and dark brown eyes to match the darkness inside of him. He loved the pain of others like their father and would make her life and the lives of the poor who lived in the city. Their father would allow him to do as he pleased, which often included executions for minor things. He loved his public executions and keeping the dead hanging from the walls for a few days to terrorize the people. He was the heir to the throne as he was the eldest of her three younger brothers. He was only sixteen yet filled with so much hate that matched their fathers.

“Get up. You’re on cleaning duty, you useless cunt.” He snapped.

Esper sucked in a breath but only nodded. She would start in the banquet hall and make her way to cleaning the bedrooms.

“Well? We don’t have all day. Go.” He said with an impatient tone in his voice as he left the room.

She was just so tired of this. All of her brothers treated her this way. They would hit her if they thought she had an attitude or often just for the hell of it. She made her way to the door when Malick stopped her.

“You have to clean the blood from the dungeons too.” He smiled sadistically.

“Yes, brother.” She responded with dread.

“Either that, or we just throw you in the cells.” He grinned.

“I will clean them.” She said back.

“Good.” He said as he walked away for good this time.