Her smile had two sides. The left side was sinister, and the right seductive. Her hair was brown in the shadows, but under just the correct amount of sunlight it would shine a radiance of red. Her face was as thin as her frame, cheekbones visible every time she clenched her jaw in frustration. Her thin eyebrows highlighted the blueness of her eyes and the slenderness of her nose that hooked upright slightly did the same for her lips. The pale nature of her soft skin was kissed with speckles that on one side painted a sense of youth, but on the other a woman robbed of her childhood.

Strained. Beautiful. Scared. Angry.

If Kaid could contain every emotion or feeling into a capsule, it would look like her right now. Their eyes met and held for what felt like minutes. Kaid didn't even know if he had stopped time to observe her, obtain an impression and calculate a response to the scenario now thrown upon him. There were plenty of empty cells these days in Caladin. Why they felt to throw a woman back into his cell after all those years seemed to scream that things were in motion beyond his control. This felt like a deliberate experiment that Kaid was doomed to fail.

And this young woman was caught into the storm.

"You must be Kaid," she broke the silence, the tenseness in her shoulders slowly fading as she began to let her guard down. She pronounced his name incorrectly, which seemed more of the fault of the guards. No doubt they told her who she would be sharing this small space with for the rest of her life.

"I've been here for thirty years and they still cannot get my name right," he found humor in that, "it is pronounced Kai-eed, not Kade."

Her eyes widened at the prospect of being here for so long, as she felt uncomfortable the second she was forced into this place. But then she regained control of her emotions and clasped her hands together in front of her, her thumb coaxing the inside of her palm. A nervous tick, perhaps? He supposed anyone would be nervous being taken to this place, and thrown into a cell with someone like him.

"Kaid, apologies," she corrected herself, "My name is Jess. I... well, I am afraid I do not know much about this place, or why the Guards put me in here with you. All I know is that if you have been here for that long, it sounds like I might be in good hands."

Or the worst, if she really planned on getting out of here.

Jessamine looked at the man across from her. His skin was dark like the rich earthly tea she had every morning. His hair was dark black curls, long like the beard that covered his handsome face. His nose was broad, much unlike her own as it curved down. Despite his wild, uncontrolled appearance, his demeanor had an entirely opposite approach. He appeared calm, despite the disturbance. Inquisitive. He acted through his thoughts and not with his emotions.

A man with his much experience would know everything about Caladin, how to blend in, and perhaps even how to escape. But a man who had also been here this long would not have the same drive to escape as someone who had just arrived.

Was Jess responsible for the spontaneous lockdown?

"Jess," he hummed, taking a deep breath before sighing, "have you heard of Caladin from the outside?" Outside. The world, whatever that encompassed. She could have been from anywhere on the maps he had glanced at from time to time. All he wondered was what it would like with his own eyes.

"I'm afraid I paid little attention to it but I have heard of it from time to time. I was just traveling to the city with a group as it was supposed to be safer that way. We were ambushed and all I did was protect myself. I thought I had reached a safe distance to rest, and I woke up being dragged by Guards here," she explained, her voice much more calm and sincere than panicked.

"You used Magic to protect yourself?" Kaid asked.

"Yes, I can-"

"Do not tell me what you can do," Kaid firmly interrupted her, "do not tell anyone here what you can do. Do you understand that? Everyone here will use it against you and once someone finds out, that is it. Your life will be gone in the blink of an eye."

"Right," she nodded quickly, a bit ashamed she was getting ahead of herself when she didn't know the rules here, "you said Magic, though. Nobody calls it that anymore, at least not that I know of. It hasn't been called that for almost a hundred years."

The books he read were much older than that, which would align with what she was saying. He hardly spoke the term outside his cell either, as most people would talk about anything but the powers they possessed. Kaid knew nothing truly outside the books he read regarding the world that was outside. Jessamine knew nothing about the inside of this establishment, but everything about the outside.

Jessamine slowly moved to what she believed to be her bed, which was nothing but a small platform with a thin blanket on top, and sat on the edge. "They call it Oblivion. Once it was powers designated for those that ruled, that held status in the realm. The second it spread to the commonwealth, the world seemed less controllable. The Emperor at Vitross was the first to outlaw the use of Magic, calling it Oblivion because he believed if powers were left unchecked or unplanned, it would destroy the civilization that took thousands of years to create."

Oblivion. It did have a dark tone to the idea of Magic. Kaid had never used his Magic for evil, or personal gain that would trample over someone else's. But he knew just from the way people treated each other in Caladin that a person with uncontrolled Magic, or Oblivion, could be harmful to those around them. Even from the small amounts of history Kaid was able to read, it was not unsurprising to him that laws were drastically changed to continue having a grasp on control. That was why laws existed in the first place.

It also explained why over the years of being here, the number of newcomers dwindled, which meant their plan was working. Or the rest got better at hiding it.

"I can say then, the same rules apply here. Never use it. If you have to break that rule then you have to be damned sure that nobody notices. Never tell anyone what you can do, no matter how simple it may seem and no matter how trustworthy they may be. People here will do anything to get out of Trials, even if it means betraying a cellmate or person they believe to be a friend," Kaid explained. He assumed that if he engrained the rules that had kept him alive all this time, he wouldn't have to worry about her.

If he didn't worry about her, then he wouldn't make the same mistake as last time.

"Trials?" she asked, this time the slight worry shown in her voice.

"Every month or so, we all get thrown into Trials. It can vary from the easiest thing in your life, or the hardest test that will put your mind and body through extremes. Usually, it starts easy. They want prisoners to become complacent, because when the Trial becomes extremely difficult, they'll not think to hide their Magic if it means survival," he answered, "so don't get complacent. Focus. Never let your guard down here."

She nodded again in understanding, her eyes finally leaving him and staring at the white walls across from her. Reality hit her hard in that moment, as he could see her knuckles turn white as she still clasped her own hands together. Her breathing was irregularly fast, before her eyes steeled and her body relaxed. If she was hunted outside Caladin, having to hide her Oblivion, then this was going similar. Only her life was outside of her own hands in a place like this.

Silence fell as Kaid had left Jess to dwell in the moment, gather her thoughts together and maybe try and get some rest. No doubt she had questions but she was not asking at the moment. Her thoughts might be clearer by morning, and so would Kaid's. Despite the moment throwing him off guard, finding sleep wasn't a challenge. With interrupting the fight, reading earlier, and using his Oblivion earlier to escape lockdown he was rather exhausted.

When he awoke, he first wondered if it had just been a dream. Kaid had always been susceptible to strange dreams he could hardly recall when he was awake. But the moment with Jess had felt so real. Turning around in his bed confirmed the truth, as Jess stood at the cell door which appeared unlocked, watching people walk by. She stood much more proudly now, and didn't seem to have the faint bit of fright about her.

It was a foolish decision to not be afraid of this place at first.

She turned when she noticed Kaid had slowly gotten up, feeling his muscles ache from the lack of comfort as he slowly stretched to combat it. Her eyes spoke trustworthiness, as if the world seemed much more at ease with him around. Jessamine hated that it did feel that way. She hated how his mere calm demeanor and presence seemed to help her. But she had to remember what he had said: she couldn't trust anyone.

Yet it felt so easy to trust him.

"The cell has been unlocked for some time. I didn't want to leave without you, and I didn't want to wake you," she whispered softly, her voice a bit coarse as it was the first time she had spoken that morning.

"Not an unwise decision," Kaid pointed out, figuring he had felt the same upon his first several weeks here. Then again, he had been just a child, and he remembered cowering with the rest of the group he was thrown with. Someone had been lucky enough to mentor him here. Others didn't get that chance. If he could mentor Jess how to survive in this place, it meant he could sleep better at night.

Kaid walked out first, feeling Jess walk behind before slowly moving to walk beside him. The long and wide hallways allowed it, and most of the crowd was already having breakfast which meant she could take her time seeing the endless white walls. When they walked by posted Guards, Jess didn't let her demeanor fall or shrink. She wasn't afraid of them, even with their large batons that could shock a prisoner into submission.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked, already knowing the answer. But, he wanted to be cordial. He knew growing fond or establishing acquaintanceship would only be worse for him, but Kaid cared about others. He knew the misery that stained this place and if he could provide comfort for troubled souls then he would do so. It was only at the cost of his own feelings.

"No, but it is alright. I was never one to need several hours of sleep," she answered honestly, "you, however, talk in your sleep. You were talking about sailing."

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"Sailing?" Kaid asked with a slight laugh. He knew of sailing, the use of boats to travel across large bodies of water and that was about it.

"Yes, you kept telling someone to fix the riggings on the portside," Jess smiled, knowing it sounded a bit unbelievable.

"Must have been a dream. I get a lot of those. I suppose it is my brain trying to imagine what life is like beyond this place," he tried to rationalize it, "I will have to try not to talk in my sleep, lest I disturb you."

"Please, I sleep rather heavily, which seems to be the reason I was dragged here in the first place. If I had been awake, this wouldn't have happened," she clenched her jaw slightly, "but I will make use of what I have."

The way she stated that made it seem she was determined to escape. There was no chance. Kaid had looked into it once he felt confident enough in his time abilities and his physicality. The second he realized portals were the only visible way in and out, he was out of luck. He wouldn't take the chance taking a portal and ending up in a more volatile environment. Besides, he had witnessed hundreds die either with riots or attempts to escape plenty of times. The last thing Kaid wanted was to be placed in a body-bag, although he wondered if Caladin was just the same thing: a giant white body bag meant to suffocate any and all life.

They reached the mess hall, and her presence seemed to gather attention. It was predominately male, which Kaid had a feeling might phase her but she seemed unbothered. If anything, she stared back until the other prisoners felt uncomfortable to look away. Kaid let Jess step in front of him to get food, mostly because he knew men here didn't have manners. And some got particularly handsy. He supposed going months or years could make a man go feral, especially at the sight of a woman.

Animals in Caladin did not survive long.

Finding a place to sit, Kaid pried the lid off his bowl to reveal the gray sticky substance that was half liquid and half solid. It was a gray mush of nutritious and filling void. It had no taste, but it kept prisoners satisfied, never longing for more. Those with picky tastes would soon find it was the only food they would receive and starving to death wasn't pleasant.

Jess stared at it for a moment before poking at it, soon watching how Kaid ate it with a spoon. She looked surprised to find it tasted like absolutely nothing, yet it did violate all the food textures she had grown used to in her life. Yet, she did not verbally complain like most newcomers did. Kaid was genuinely surprised about that and admired it. She probably had other things on her mind than the bowl of mush in front of her.

"Did you get in a fight? Your nose looks broken," she asked, which caught Kaid off guard. With the bright lighting in the mess hall she noticed it had been bruised and swollen around the bridge, and every time he scratched near it he winced slightly. Kaid was accustomed to pain but sometimes a broken nose could be quite a nuisance.

"I was breaking up a fight yesterday, managed to take a fist to the face. It happens. Fights here are very common, mostly to frighten newcomers into submission. Prison dynamics to keep control. Guards won't do anything because they like the chaos, and it relatively keeps people in line. The fights will often get someone to use Mag-Oblivion, I mean, so they won't interfere," Kaid said.

"Wonderful," she sarcastically responded. Men. Always so prone to handling their problems with their fists. Caladin wasn't so different from the outside after all. "You broke up the fight though. Why?"

"I don't like men who use their power or experience over someone else. Besides, the prisoner getting his ass beat was close to using his powers. Caladin would be a much better place if prisoners didn't turn on one another, but that's exactly how the Guards want it. To most people here, all they have is Oblivion. No muscles, no brains, no desire to fight. Strip that away, only the biggest man with bigger muscles has real power, and they sure love to use it to avoid a Trial for a couple of months."

"People here seem to admire you," Jessamine observed, which was very much true. The second she walked in here, it did look like every man would jump at the opportunity to speak with her or even hurt her. Yet they saw Kaid by her side and decided against it. It was almost as if Kaid was the designated warden, whether he liked it or not. People would follow him if he barked orders. It was such a rare and admirable trait, when in the right hands.

And Jessamine felt like Kaid was a rare relief to find in this cruel world.

Kaid was about to object to that statement before noticing someone sitting down the table from them, a good couple feet away. His face was bruised much worse than Kaid's, his hands equally cut and ugly, but his soft green eyes showed admiration.

"Thank you for stepping in yesterday. Phillip was bothering me for weeks and I almost gave him what he wanted," the young man spoke, glancing at Jessamine briefly before looking back at Kaid.

"Don't give anyone what they want here. How is Phillip anyways?" Kaid asked, mostly out of curiosity.

"He is still in the infirmary as far as I am aware of. The second he leaves and someone notices his broken arm, no doubt someone will jump on the opportunity to return the favors once bestowed from him," he answered.

Kaid should feel good about that. He did break the man's arm, and not just a calculated twist. He severed it, made sure it broke uncleanly in multiple places with the correct amount of force. Once someone did see his arm bandaged and slung across his shoulder to heal, they'd jump at the opportunity for revenge. The cycle continued. Phillip would get what he deserved, but it wouldn't break this vicious idea to turn against each other. Kaid hoped Phillip would learn from his lessons, but no doubt he would prey upon someone else if given the chance.

"Do not be one of those men. My actions alone should prevent Phillip from hurting you again. Just keep your head down and don't get involved in that nonsense," Kaid spoke, almost commanding him, but not that of a leader. A father scolding and demanding more from his son, a mentor requesting the better of his student.

Jessamine looked at Kaid, knowing he was more than just a calm, friendly face. He was deadly. She knew it from the look in his eyes. He would only fight when given no choice, kill when he had to, even if he had never killed before. And when he meant to harm, he meant it. He knew the means to do so. Kaid had muscles, and most of all he had knowledge and experience here. Jessamine only felt more determined to keep close to him, and her hopes at what she had in mind only increased the more she learned about her cellmate.

Kaid finished his food, letting the spoon clatter the ceramic bowl before looking at Jess, "Half the people here admire me, and the other half very badly want to figure me out. Rumor has it, the man that finds out my secret will get a year's worth of Trials postponed." It most likely wasn't true, but Kaid knew he was overstaying his welcome. Guards did not like him because he was the outlier in their statistics. Most only lasted a year, some got lucky to make ten. Nobody had been capable of staying alive for thrice as long, except him.

"Add me to the list of someone that admires you, then," Jess replied softly, seeing him nod and look around at his surroundings since she was still eating. She couldn't help but smile to herself.

He is more than ready, she thought to herself. More than capable than anyone else in this god forsaken prison.

∎∎∎∎∎∎

The rest of the day was spent with free time, which ranged from a person's likes. Some could spend the entire day lifting heavy weights, or attempting to bash them into people's skulls. Others walked around the boring, long white loop until their legs gave out. Others socialized, hoping to make more friends instead of enemies.

Jessamine had remained by his side the entire time, but did take a few moments to introduce herself to others and socialize if Kaid was. It was mostly small talk, often about where she came from or how she arrived here. Kaid learned she was from Vitross but that was the extent of it. Vitross: the region of water power. It made sense how she knew he was speaking of sailing in his dreams. Or maybe she enjoyed books the same as Kaid. They spent the remaining day in the library reading old books, Jess often laughing at how old some of the books were and how outdated they were.

Now it was time to wash up and get a fresher white uniform. Kaid's still had small stains of blood on him and he was excited to get a fresh pair. Jessamine froze upon entering the shower room, which had too many naked men to her taste, but she kept her eyes low. Kaid had promised to let her shower first, and he guarded the area around to give her some privacy. He could already sense the tension as she walked into the room.

It reminded him of how Mara often begged Kaid to keep watch while she was here. Kaid found it an annoyance at first, but he soon realized just how important him standing around meant. And being the nice gentleman he desired to be, he told himself it wasn't a bother anymore. With Jess, it seemed second nature to not even let her offer. He had been the one to offer it to her, which she accepted kindly.

Her hand eventually extended beyond the damp curtain and Kaid handed over her fresh pair of clothes for her to change into. He then went back to seeing the room slowly empty as people were returning to the mess hall at the start of dinner. Good. The less people in here when Kaid could quickly get washed off, the better. Normally he liked spending time letting the ice cold water soothe his aching body, but those would be days in the past, so long as Jess remained.

She eventually stepped out, wanting to tie her damp hair up before realizing she didn't have anything to secure it in place. Guards probably wouldn't offer a tie or band, seeing as anything could be labeled as a 'weapon'. Yet they let people have access to towels or other articles of clothing in the washroom.

"Go ahead and clean up," she offered, figuring it was safe enough to let him clean up. Besides, she wanted to stop staring at the small bloodstain on his clothes.

"You sure?" he asked, seeing her nod in assurance.

"I'll be just fine," she assured, crossing her arms and leaning against the same edge of the wall Kaid had.

Kaid didn't feel the same confidence she did but accepted her decision, moving to the shower she had just used to strip his own clothing. Normally he wouldn't need privacy, but he didn't feel quite comfortable doing so in front of a woman like Jess. He let the water wash himself off, using the limited amount of soap to clean himself off. It wasn't until he was scrubbing the bottom of his feet that he heard the commotion.

"You must be a new piece of raw meat," a voice snickered, one Kaid immediately recognized: Wilson. While Wilson may be harmless physically, he definitely liked to intimidate. When it came to women, Kaid knew the rumors he certainly took advantage when he could. Looks like he didn't take the soft and sweet approach this time.

"I don't think revealing to me that you view women as mincemeat was a very solid approach," Jess responded, her voice not wavering in the slightest. Kaid immediately turned his water off, grabbing his clothes to change before this became a very dangerous situation. "I also would stay where you are, if I were you."

"Oh darling, I don't think you realize just how bad some of the men here have always wanted to fuck a piece of royal-" his sentence was cut off with a soft squeal and it sounded like a scuffle.

Kaid immediately pulled the curtains back, his fist curled to immediately step in and beat the living shit out of Wilson. Except he saw Wilson forced to his knees, naked, with a towel wrapped tightly around his neck. Jess held the ends of the towel above him with confidence and anger, adjusting the angle she twisted the towel to hear him choke. The commotion had gathered an audience, which was no surprise since Caladin always had a bit of theater in its fights.

"Now, do you still think you can handle this raw meat?" Jess asked with a smile, seeing Wilson struggle to try and pry the cloth burning into the skin of his neck and prevent the constriction of his air flow. Kaid calmed down at the sight she seemed to have control, but it made him wonder if he had miscalculated Jess. She wasn't the same woman who had arrived into his cell last night, who appeared confused and scared. She knew exactly what she was doing, what she had to do.

She may not need as much learning as he once thought.

Jessamine then bent over slightly to whisper in the man's ears, and Kaid noticed Wilson's eyes widened with fear. More fear than when he was being choked naked on the bathroom tile. Kaid had never seen Wilson afraid before. He was mostly the one always in control, and when he occasionally got his ass beat he would just find someone else to prey upon. But he had never seen him fearful for his life like he did in this moment. Jess was prepared to kill. Maybe she had killed before, maybe she was given no choice.

But there was nothing more deadly than a woman prepared to kill in the blink of an eye.

She eventually loosened the towel and kicked his backside to let him collapse to the tile floor, hearing him gasp for precious air as if afraid he would never savor it again. A few of the ones watching smirked before moving on, perhaps thinking twice to not make the same mistake Wilson did. Jess had stood her ground, and wouldn't fall prey to the advances most newcomers received.

She threw the towel to cover his nakedness before motioning to Kaid to get out of here. Kaid followed behind, noticing her hand begin to shake at her side. It stopped within a few seconds and noticed her knuckles whiten again. And then came her hands clasping together in that nervous tick of hers.

What she would demand of him next, would surprise him more than the actions that had transpired moments ago:

"You and I are getting out of here, no matter the cost."