by Seth Eden
She chewed on her lip as she obeyed, feeling small at his side. Where was the bubbly Ethan who was always trying to get her to laugh? The Ethan who tried his best to dance with her and failed? Where was the Ethan so eager to fill her ears with compliments and her arms with flowers? Instead, his shoulders were squared back and she could feel the heat practically radiating off of him. She couldn’t tell if that was from his fire or his anger. To think that everything had been changed by one stupid thing...
“Can you tell me where we’re going?” she quietly asked, finally finding what few words she could to talk to him.
“You’ll see when we get there,” he replied curtly, drawing his cloak more tightly around himself.
She wanted to demand his reasons for being upset, why she was treated like a suspect in all of this when she’d done nothing wrong. She wanted to ask what had happened between him and his brother, if Zen was even still alive. But she couldn’t be sure he would even give her a straight answer, or even an answer at all.
She was led back down the corridor and into the hall, where it was mostly empty. There were several faces she didn’t recognize, seated in a half-circle facing her. In the middle was a bloodied body, barely breathing and naked. The matted hair covered their face, but she didn’t have to see to know who it was.
“Zen!”
He didn’t raise his head, didn’t utter a single response to her exclamation. His breathing was shallow and there was so much blood everywhere.
“What did you do to him?!” she screamed, shaking Ethan by the arm. He pointedly ignored her as he stepped into the middle of the room beside the prone body.
“All rise.” The commanding voice belonged to Dominic, and she quickly found his face amongst the crowd. Jen was by his side too, but she was making a point not to meet Samantha’s gaze.
The seated members stood, their hands folded politely in front of them.
“I’ve called you here today to pass judgment on my brother,” Ethan started, stepping forward and pulling Samantha with him. “Many of you are aware of his past transgressions. He was given a choice by the former king to provide mercy to his wife and children, and he refused. Instead, he fought us on every notion, every suggestion to remedy the situation, instead of acting on the good of his people. I personally pardoned him after the deed was done, exiled him into the wilds, never to return. And how does he repay me for sparing his life?” He steps away and makes a sweeping gesture at Samantha.
“He steals my love away from me. Burns our house down. Keeps her trapped and corrupts her mind against us.” It was only then that his tone and expression softened, and his eyes found her face. This was the Ethan she knew, and yet she didn’t trust it.
A mind corrupted? Ethan had barely said two words to her. How could he know she-...
Slowly, the pieces were being put together, and she didn’t like the picture they were making.
“I wish to renege on the mercy I showed my brother so many centuries ago and employ the court to consider his execution. As for this woman here, I request that I undo the harm he has done to her mind and sequester her from this place before she can do more harm.”
Samantha watched as the faces turned to each other, muttering quietly to themselves. Dominic and Jen were the only ones not deliberating.
Panic quickly swelled within Samantha, and it fell like the floor fell out from beneath her feet. The edges of her vision started to grow black, her hands started to shake, and she really wanted to throw up.
Find something to focus on.
Zen’s voice was clear as day in her mind, so much so she had to look at his bloodied body to see if he was still unconscious. His chest was still rising and falling, slowly and stuttered, and she could hear a slight wheeze on every exhale.
Focus on something small. Right. She looked down to find the patterned tile floor beneath her feet. Each small chip of porcelain was outlined in thick black grout, each chip a different color from those around it. She picked a blue one, stared straight into it as if she was trying to understand it.
That beautiful blue dress of Jen’s at her wedding. How it sparkled and shone in the sunlight. It had made her look so regal then. The smile on her rosy face. Samantha was supposed to feel happy for her...
The dizziness swelled and she knew she had to dig deeper.
The blue reminded her of Earth’s skies...
A stutter in her heartbeat told her to look somewhere different.
The color reminded her of blueberries, round and fresh and plump, hanging from their tiny stalks and freshly covered in rain. How she would steal into her neighbors’ hydroponics bay as a child to steal one or two. They were a sweet treat at the end of the day, those few plucked berries rolling around in the palm of her hand. The taste of them on her tongue was something to behold, and she would always look in the mirror afterward to see how purple her tongue would be.
She would always eat them in secret too, never in front of her parents who would ask her how she got them. They were her secret, and no one had ever discovered them. What were a few missing berries to one child’s happiness?
The more she focused on that memory, the slower her breathing became. The darkness and nausea started to melt away, peeled back through her own efforts. The muffled cottony sounds in her ears became clear again, much sharper than she previously realized.
She stepped away from Ethan and went to Zen’s side, not caring the chaos her actions would cause. She carefully rolled him onto his side and swept the hair away from his face. It was bruised and purple, swollen in places that would make it hard to open his eyes or even eat. Heavy stains of blood ran from his nostrils and over his lips to his chin, which also looked a little disfigured.
“Zen... Zen, it’s me. I’m sorry,” she whispered. When she drew her hands away from his hair, they were slick with blood too.
She felt the air grow heavy around her. No one was muttering to themselves and she saw Ethan’s form go rigid out of the corner of her eye. He obviously hadn’t expected she would step out of line like this.
“Breathe, remember?” she whispered to no one. A reminder to herself and the lessons Zen had taught her.
“You see? Even now, she’s still under his spell. Your decision must be made quickly.”
“I’m not going to let them kill you,” she whispered quickly. “I don’t know how but I won’t. I’ll figure something out.”
The quiet muttering from before was now an uproar of voices, too quick and hasty for her to make out any of them. Save for Dominic and Jen. They still remained apart from the others, and she couldn’t be sure of why. She likely never would.
“Give me your decision!”
The main speaker cleared her throat and slapped the table before her to quiet everyone else. The large hall grew quiet and the air went still with anticipation.
“The evidence you’ve presented to us, as muddy as it is, is not enough to warrant execution. If you wanted as much, he should have seen to it yourself centuries ago. Your brother shall remain in our custody for as long as we deem fit. As for this woman, she is free to go with you. Whatever spell you believe she is under is your sole responsibility.”
Ethan paled, his mouth hanging open. This obviously wasn’t the solution he’d been looking for, but Samantha had the feeling he wasn’t going to go against their orders.
“As you wish. Thank you for your time and patience.” He gave them a low, courteous bow and held it as they stood from their seats. It was only once they were out of the room that his demeanor snapped.
“You traitor,” he hissed between gritted teeth, grabbing her arm and pulling her up to her feet. “You choose him over me? After everything I’ve done for you, given to you?”
“You’re hurting me.” She tried to wrestle herself out of his grasp but his grip was much too tight.
“And you haven’t hurt me? To learn that you were with him for five whole days, for you to come back with his lies on your lips, you think that doesn’t bre
ak my heart in half?”
“That’s enough...”
The slow, mumbled words broke both of their attentions away from each other, their gazes shifting to the prone body on the ground. Zen’s eyes were barely open. He was exhausted, beaten and bloody. But he wasn’t about to let another woman suffer under the wrath of his brother.
“Do whatever you want with me, but let her go...”
Ethan redirected his anger, pushing Samantha to one side and stormed towards his brother. He grabbed Zen by the hair and hauled him up to his knees.
“You’re listening to a heartbroken madman.”
Ethan gave his brother’s head a good shake by his hair. Zen grimaced against the pain but had no energy to defend himself.
“You’re just lucky the council decided you were worth sparing. All of the agony and pain you’ve brought me, you and your family... I should have killed you long ago.”
“Maybe you should have. You would’ve spared me the centuries of heartache and pain. That’s no way for someone to live...”
“You shut up. You shut up you filthy liar.” Ethan dropped him to the floor once more and wrapped his hands around Zen’s neck. His teeth bared, Samantha could see the strain of his arms, how white his knuckles grew. He meant to kill him here and now, with no one else to witness his actions.
Samantha could only stand back and watch in horror as his pallor darkened before becoming a sick shade of blue. She didn’t know what to do, who to believe. It left her head spinning, save for one singular thought in her mind.
“Ethan, stop.” She grabbed his elbow and dug her fingers in. “Let him go and I’ll go with you. Let him live. He is your family.”
“The family who signed the death warrant on his own wife and children. The family that turned you against me. That’s not someone who deserves to live.” Samantha could feel his muscles flexing even tighter, and tightened her grip on him even further.
“Neither do you, if you kill him. Now let him go. Or so help me I will leave and you’ll never see me again.”
The deep lines that marred his face slowly melted away when he realized she was being serious. He knew he couldn’t lose her, not again. His grip loosened and Zen slipped to the ground. He coughed harshly as he started to reclaim his air, his throat aching and bruised.
“We go right now and everything will be right again.” She took his hands in hers to keep his focus on her and nothing else.
All of the anger seemed to melt from Ethan’s face. He couldn’t believe she was giving him what he wanted. It almost sounded too perfect.
He turned and looked at his brother on the floor, still gasping for air. His death warrant had already been signed. There was nothing else for him to do. And he would have Samantha again. They could go back to the way their lives were, once he learned how much she really knew.
He would have a lot to undo.
“Is this your wish? You truly mean to come with me and forget all of this?”
“I do. If that will make you happy.” And spared Zen’s life.
Ethan seemed to be chewing on that thought for a while before he eventually nodded his head. It wasn’t exactly what he wanted but it was better than the alternative. And he could still look good, even benevolent, in everyone’s eyes.
Ethan grabbed her about the waist and pulled her towards him, his lips finding hers in a bruising kiss that felt more forced than pleasant. Samantha went along with, despite his kiss turning her stomach. She would have to play the part until she found the opportunity to...
She didn’t have a plan that far ahead yet.
It was then that the guards finally came in to take their prisoner away. It forced the two apart, breaking their embrace. Ethan kept his arm around her waist, partly for his own comfort, partly to remind her he was there.
She watched as they dragged Zen up to his feet and slapped pairs of shackles on his wrists and ankles. She willed him to shift, to break out of the damn things so that he could escape. But the guards themselves had to keep him on his feet, shuffling with him towards the door and getting blood all over their uniforms. He couldn’t shift even if he wanted to, not in his current condition. Ethan had definitely done a number on him.
“Things will get better. You’ll see...” Ethan gave her one of his wider smiles as he led her out of the hall. They turned in the opposite direction from the guards, giving her very little opportunity to tell Zen goodbye.
“We just have to fix you first.”
His grip tightened on her as he led her back down the streets of the marketplace. Everything seemed... perfect. The people were going about their day like nothing was wrong, because to them, nothing was. How she wanted to scream at them, to tell them of everything that had happened inside, yet she knew that would change nothing. Ethan would still take her home and Zen would still be trapped in prison for the rest of his life. She would be denounced as a brainwashed pawn in all of this until Ethan deemed her “right” again.
The rubble had been cleared days ago and a hole remained where their house once stood. But Ethan continued past that as well, towards the walls of the city.
“Are we... leaving?” She wasn’t interested in going back out into the forests again. She’d had enough of that kind of life.
“No. I found temporary lodgings at the edge of the city. At least until our home is rebuilt. It’s not as big, but we’ll be comfortable there.”
Comfortable. She couldn’t imagine herself being comfortable anywhere with Ethan, not after the harsh look she’d seen on his face, not after his words of wanting to kill his own brother. The man he’d shown her for the past few months was obviously a facade.
The building was small, but very warm and clean inside. She half-expected it to smell like warm earth and was disappointed when it didn’t. There was no going back to that place.
“Would you like me to run you a bath? You probably haven’t showered in days.”
She didn’t want to correct him and simply nodded with a smile.
As Ethan left the room to go tend to her bath, a figure stepped out of an adjoining room. A figure she recognized and sent her into an instant panic.
It was Torfan. The wolf-like alien who had brought her and the others here in the first place.
10
Samantha’s scream drew the attention of Ethan, who sprinted back into the room. His arms were wet and he spun around, unable to find the source of her fear.
“What’s the matter?”
“Don’t you see him!?” She pointed right at Torfan, who bared his teeth in some kind of amused smile. Worried she was hallucinating, she grabbed the nearest thing she could find and threw it right at him.
Torfan deftly caught the offered pillow, his head cocked to one side in confusion.
Ethan shook his head and claimed the projectile from him.
“What is he doing here?” She didn’t want to be let down, not for anything. The last thing she wanted to do was see those aliens again.
“Torfan and his men are our bodyguards now, to keep us safe from everything else out there.”
“I don’t... I don’t want him here.” She continued to recoil until she got to the far wall. There was nowhere else to go but out the door and she was sure she wouldn’t get very far if she ran.
“Don’t be ridiculous. They work for me, you’re perfectly safe.”
“Perfectly safe,” Torfan parroted as he gave her a sweeping bow. His actions seemed a mockery of her fear, but Ethan looked absolutely amused by it.
“See, you’re fine. Now stop being silly.” He extended a hand to her, but she slapped it away. She could tell she was losing herself again, that the panic would take over her mind and render her useless.
Sensing her fear, he eventually wrapped his arms around her for comfort and tucked her head against his shoulder.
Time blurred in her mind and she could see nothing of what was around her. The edges of her vision grew black and she felt like she was breathing through a wet sponge, trying to
get air that wasn’t there.
“Help,” she uttered weakly, though it came out more like a squeak, so quiet that Ethan wasn’t sure she’d even said anything.
“No one is going to hurt you,” he replied quietly. His arm scooped her feet up from under her and led her into the bathroom, where the water was still running.
Caving in. It was all caving in around her and she had no means to pull herself out again. She tried to focus on Zen’s words, her breathing growing more erratic with each passing second. Something to focus on... there was nothing but the pain in her chest and the loss of any hope that she would get out of this.
She felt disconnected from her very being as she felt herself being submerged into the warm waters. Even as he poured it over her hair and ran the soap over her skin, she didn’t feel a thing. This had to be happening to someone else. She was just a bystander to this whole mess and someone would come along eventually to make this right again. She couldn’t be going through something this insane.
She felt herself being dressed and carried once more, one room shifting to the next until she was wrapped in warm, soft sheets. What finally plucked her from her spell was that familiar smell.
Bladetongue.
The name came to her like a firecracker going off in the middle of a serene night, the sparks of memories flying in every direction. Zen had given it to her to help her focus her breathing, said it was supposed to calm the senses.
With the safety veil lifted from her eyes, she saw and felt Ethan slipping into the bed beside her. She felt the tears run down the side of her face as she rolled onto her side, turning her back to him. This wasn’t what she wanted, he wasn’t who she wanted.
Ethan took that as an invitation and curled his arm around her waist, hugged her close against him. She could feel his naked skin against her through her clothing. She would have been fine with that once, would have relished in the weight of him against her. Now it only made her skin crawl.
“I missed you,” he whispered and planted a kiss on her bare shoulder.
“I missed you too.”
