by Kim Cormack
The frilly man summoned her to follow him. She began to walk behind him. He didn’t speak to her, not one word as they walked through the archway.
Silas appeared and began walking beside her. He whispered, “Don’t fight back. He can be a sadistic son of a bitch when he’s been drinking. Just remember, you’re stronger than any of this crap. You will be gone from this place tomorrow and this will just be something else on the list of things you need to forget.” Silas placed something in her hand and whispered, “So you can find a better place.”
She opened her palm discreetly to see what he’d given her. It was a yellow flower that resembled a buttercup. She’d removed one of these flowers from her wine. Kayn stared at the flower in the palm of her hand for a second and then looked up to thank him, he was gone. He’d admitted he’d been watching her. He’d known that buttercups meant something to her.
They stopped walking and the man who had not uttered a word to her whispered, “It will be over before you know it. If you fight back, you’ll be entombed.”
She repeated the last words she’d spoken to her clan, “I’ll be okay.”
He smiled as he reassuringly squeezed her shoulder and opened the door, revealing a room that reminded her of something from Arabian nights. The canopy and tapestries on the walls were rich shades of crimson velvet. The man told her to wait inside. Kayn stepped into the room, wandered over to the bed, sat down and started to laugh. She hadn’t seen, ‘virgin sacrifice’ coming but, why hadn’t she? Her life had been a comical collection of epically messed-up worst case scenarios for years. She looked at the bed. How horrible could it possibly be? She’d just strolled out of her own personal hell and the King was only a man. She’d just close her eyes, pretend she was somewhere else and tomorrow she would get to go home. She noticed the wine on a tiny table with a seat on either side. She stood up and strolled over to it. Kayn poured a glass from the carafe and accidentally dropped the buttercup into the wine. She watched it float around for a second or two. Why bother digging it out? She’d just drink around it. There was a noise outside of the door. She quickly downed the whole glass including the buttercup.
The King staggered in and slurred, “Did you really believe that you could just walk away from me. Did you think you could just leave me as though I meant nothing? Nobody leaves me.”
Oh wonderful. He was disgustingly hammered and he thought she was Freja. There would be no point in attempting to point out the King’s mistake, not with him in this state. He was standing there staring at her. He raised his hand and she thought he was just going to touch her face when he swung back and struck her. Her pulse raced and her mind began screaming at her to shut her emotions down. Kayn knew she couldn’t do that. She had to keep the Dragon within her at bay. She felt blood trickling from her nose and wiped it off with the back of her hand. Take it. Don’t run. Predators get more excited when you run. Kayn scowled at the King as she declared, “You’re mistaking me for somebody else. I’ve never hurt you and I never left you.”
The King smirked as he slipped his hand around the back of her head, grasped a handful of her hair and yanked it, tilting her head back. He spat in her face as he hissed, “You will be whoever I want you to be!”
With everything inside of her she wanted to beat this disgustingly vile piece of shit senseless. Was this what Freja’s life had been? Twelve years with an angry abusive drunk.
He let her hair go and took a drink of wine straight from the carafe. The King altered his entire demeanor as he politely said, “Would you like some?”
And he’s completely insane. Kayn softly replied, “No, thank you. I’m fine.”
He glared at her for a second, swung back and savagely smoked her cheekbone with the heavy carafe. She almost lost her balance but she remained standing, coldly indifferent to his show of strength. Don’t fight back. You can’t fight back. Her cheekbone was burning and the room was beginning to spin. Kayn shielded her face with her hands as her ears started ringing. She lost her footing and staggered a few steps backwards, the wall stopped her from falling. She heard a few strange thumps. She removed her hands from her eyes. The King had disappeared. She pushed away from the wall. What was going on? She could barely stand. She felt funny. He’d hit her hard, but it was her face not her head. The floor shifted underfoot. What was this? She closed her eyes, feeling dizzy every time she tried to open them. Had she been drugged? She opened her eyes again to find Tiberius standing in front of her.
Tiberius winked at her and teased, “He tagged me in. The King was far too drunk to keep going.”
Barely able to stand, Kayn gasped, “What?” Tagged him in?
He laughed, “I’m only joking, don’t get your panties in a twist.”
She quietly slurred, “Did you drug me?”
Tiberius gently touched her face where she’d been injured, looked deep into her eyes and said, “You drugged yourself.”
She staggered sideways towards the tapestry on the wall and tried to grab a hold of it to stop herself from falling. She was clutching it with both hands as she crumpled to the floor and felt the heavy material land on top of her. All she could see was the color of the velvet as the lights went out.
Kayn awoke in a strange room. She wasn’t in the King’s bedroom anymore. Her head was killing her. What happened? Had Tiberius been there? Had she been dreaming? She sat up in bed and saw two slightly blurry men standing in the doorway.
They noticed she was awake and one of them strolled to her side and said, “We’re not going to hurt you. You were drugged to subdue the Dragon. You probably don’t recognize me, do you? It’s Patrick and this is Prince Amadeus. You’ll have to stay hidden in here with us for a little while longer.”
Kayn felt her face. It smarted. She groggily questioned, “Am I remembering this right? Did Tiberius just help me?”
Patrick grinned as he replied, “It was actually Lexy and Tiberius. Oddly enough they were in on it together. Shocking, I know, but none of us were down with the new sacrificing a virgin policy.”
Prince Amadeus rationalized his part, “I’m friends with Lexy and I was also close friends with Freja. I helped her escape. He won’t know what happened. He usually blacks out when he’s been on a bender. He never remembers a damn thing. We’ll need to make it look convincing though…” Amadeus walked towards her carrying a couple of large chamber pots. He placed them on the floor in front of her, handed her a knife and said, “We’re going to need a lot of your blood. Enough blood to cause embarrassment to the royal family. That way, none of this will be questioned.”
Kayn sliced her arm and the blood slowly dripped into the pot.
Patrick grinned as he exclaimed, “There’s no time for that Kayn. We don’t even have time for you to use blood from both wrists. You do it or I’ll do it for you. We’re all involved now.”
She knew what he meant. He wanted her to slit her own throat and drain it into the pot. He didn’t know what he was asking of her. The sensation of Kevin slicing her throat flickered through her mind. This had to be done and at least this time it was her choice. Kayn grabbed the knife, leaned over the bowl and ran the blade across her throat. She felt the sticky warmth of her blood as it escaped from her body. Patrick rushed to her side and held her, making sure they didn’t lose the precious evidence of the violence she’d been forced to inflict upon herself. Her eyelids grew heavy and closed.
It felt like only seconds as her eyes opened. She clutched her throat, with the sting of the blade still fresh on her delicate skin.
“Do you usually heal this quickly?” Tiberius enquired. “You should see what that room looks like. The King’s going to wake up and think he went all Hannibal Lector on your ass.” He held out his hand and she reluctantly accepted it.
Kayn ignored his question and responded with, “Thank you, I guess. Where’s Lexy?”
Tiberius chuckled aloud, “She’s riling up the rest of your clan. Once they see what he’s done to you, they’ll allow us to sneak y
our body out of here to avoid the embarrassment. Playing dead won’t be enough if they check you. Do you understand?” He handed her a handful of yellow flowers. She looked into his eyes and understood what he was asking her to do. She ate them, knowing what only one of those flowers had done to her. She felt Tiberius lift her. She was being cradled in his arms and then she felt the sensation of being carried. Her vision started to flicker just as she felt herself being placed on a warm sticky surface. That metallic scent, it was her blood. All of this madness… to preserve her virginity? She felt the unforgettable sensation of her throat being sliced by the blade once again, followed by the gooey warmth of her essence flowing from the wound. The background noise became hushed and when it was gone, she was gone...
The Handler’s Manual
Her mind flickered and from a distance Kayn was aware of the whispers of horror and anger but she couldn’t open her eyes. She was being carried but she wasn’t sure who had her. All Kayn knew is that she felt safe in their arms. The movement stopped and she was laid down on a hard surface. She heard the sound of grinding stone and she opened her eyes as soon as it stopped, knowing she was safe. She was confined in a tomb. She looked at the tiny handprint on the top. It was much too small for her hand. It gave her hope. Maybe this tomb was meant for one of the original Children of Ankh. While she was waiting for the strobing lights, she noticed the color of the stone. It wasn’t pink. It wasn’t rose quartz. This wasn’t an Ankh tomb. What did that mean? The tomb began to strobe with blinding turquois light. She closed her eyes. I’m going somewhere. Where? How is this working? Wasn’t she supposed to turn to dust by touching another clan’s tomb? She sensed a change in the light around her and tried to open her eyes. The pulsing ceased and she wasn’t falling through the sky into the in-between. She opened her eyes. Pink, the inside of the tomb was pink now. What in the hell?
The top of the tomb began to slide open. The sound of grinding stone on stone had become a sound that meant she’d arrived home. Above her everything was white. Where was she? She sat up. The youthful version of Winnie was standing beside Azariah. Was she in the in-between? Kayn climbed out of the tomb took a step towards the two. A light flashed behind her. She spun around and the tomb had vanished. She met Winnie’s welcoming smile with a look of confusion but still walked into her open arms. The embrace seemed to absorb the residual anxiety within her. Winnie was still the only grandmother Kayn had ever known. Her age had been altered but the love in her eyes remained the same. She didn’t want the embrace to end.
Winnie squeezed her tighter as she whispered, “You did well my child. I’ve missed you.”
Kayn realized she was being rude to Azariah.
Azariah smiled sweetly as she read her mind and said, “Don’t stop hugging her on my account. I find it most entertaining. I’m off now. You two have a lot of catching up to do.” With an explosion of blinding light Azariah was gone.
She spent an hour or two strolling through the warm sand of the in-between with Winnie, talking about random things. Kayn’s memory of the events prior to her arrival in this place of peace had begun to come back to her in scattered confusing images. She remembered Lexy’s words, ‘Do you trust me?’ Lexy was a Dragon and her word might as well have been written in stone. She recalled the yellow flower being pressed into her hand and the feeling that it was her duty to do what she was told. She recalled the hilarity of the whole virgin sacrifice situation and the knowledge that there could be nothing worse than what she’d experienced within the endless torture of the Testing. This woman that strolled by her side had been Kevin’s elderly grandmother back in her mortal life, but in the in-between Winnie was a stunning young girl with ginger hair that flowed behind her as a ribbon of silk glistening in the sunshine. Even in this youthful state the sight of Winnie still made her think of Kevin. At first glance there was no family resemblance but when you followed the line of her smile you could see a hint of Kevin in the curve of her lips. Why was she allowing him to cross her mind? What was the point? He was gone… Kayn strolled through the endless dessert. The calming tickling sensation of the sand as it slipped between her toes and when she stopped moving, it enveloped her feet in soothing warmth. She stood there staring at the swirling pastel sky above her. Even though Winnie remained by her side, she’d never felt more alone. This was the price of being a Dragon. She noted that the scenery was beautiful but didn’t feel it in her soul. It was now just a picture that didn’t move her. A beautiful thing that meant nothing at all. She knew it would come back. She had regained her emotions before the banquet. Would they always come back? What if they didn’t? What if she continued to feel this hollow for months or years? Would feeling nothing become normal? Kayn stopped torturing herself with what ifs and sat down in the sand. She noticed that Winnie had taken a seat, quietly by her side. She stared at the sand for a moment before methodically drawing a squiggly line in the sand with one of her fingers. It felt lovely but her senses were still muted. Kayn picked up a handful and allowed it to slip through her fingers until all the sand had disappeared. One lone grain remained in the palm of her hand. She stared at the solitary grain of sand and noted that this was what she was. A single grain of sand in the vast desert of the unknown. Every grain of sand that had slipped through her fingers represented an emotion or loved one she’d lost and now she was back at the beginning of a new life. One single solitary grain of sand. The possibilities were endless. She could build a new life, all she had to do was to find a way to rejoin the others on the inside. She licked her fingertip and pressed it against the grain in the center of her palm and lifted it into the air. She puckered her lips and was just about to blow when Winnie blew on the tip of her finger and the single grain of sand disappeared. She glared at Winnie and said, “What in the hell?”
Winnie chuckled, “That was one deep conversation you were having with yourself for someone choked up over lacking the ability to access her emotions. Life is all about change. Stop overthinking everything and just get on with your life.”
Kayn couldn’t help it, she smiled. Winnie was right. Her emotions were not gone, they’d been dulled. If she could feel upset about her inability to feel things, that was still an emotion. Kayn stood up and said, “I should probably try to find my clan. I’m sure they’re here somewhere.”
Winnie grabbed her arm and scolded, “You’re not going anywhere my dear. It’s not your job to find him. It’s his job to find you.”
Him? What was she talking about? Kayn knit her brow and questioned, “Are you talking about Zach?”
Winnie replied, “Bingo! Now, he should have found you immediately. It’s been hours and that’s not fast enough. However, we were expecting a few complications, because this isn’t the original pairing. We were forced to improvise. Grey might be able to help Zach understand his duties.”
Kayn rolled her eyes and sighed, “Well, I’m sure Zach will be thrilled about that.”
The woman she’d known her whole life scowled and questioned, “Are you being saucy with me? I’ve known you since you were a child. I’ve never known you to have a sassy bone in your body. If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was talking to Chloe.”
Kayn pressed her lips together in an attempt to shut her mouth but a few giggles snuck out. She was starting to feel better. A little bit lighter on the inside.
Winnie shook her head slowly from side to side. She rolled her eyes and sighed, “Alright you comedian, just spit it out.”
Kayn grinned as she corrected her, “Theoretically, you are talking to Chloe.”
“Touché child. I keep forgetting you’re both in there now,” Winnie sparred as she scanned the horizon for Zach. With no Handler in sight she complained, “This is ridiculous. He should have been here right away. It’s been hours. How do you feel about staying here alone with him for a while?”
Kayn’s eyes widened as she pleaded, “No. Please. I just want to go back with the others. I’m so tired. I just need to get on with my life. I have to m
ove past this whole Dragon thing.” In all fairness, they hadn’t even started doing the whole Dragon Handler thing.
Winnie took both of her hands in her own as she sweetly explained, “There’s no moving past this Dragon thing and there is no life other than this one. Someday you’ll see that the pain you’ve gone through was nothing but building blocks in the evolution of the women you were always meant to become.”
She felt a presence. The area around them exploded with blinding white light. When it became bearable Kayn opened her eyes. Zach was standing there.
He strolled confidently towards the women and sighed, “There you are.” He embraced her, gently stroked her hair and kissed her cheek. She made a conscious effort to relax her body against his but remained slightly rigid in his arms. Zach whispered in her ear, “Are you alright? Did he? Did they get to you in time?”
He was obviously talking about the whole virgin sacrifice thing.
She heard Winnie scold Zach, “You should have found her a long time ago Handler.”
Zach winced at being addressed as her Handler. Nice, that wasn’t insulting at all.
He tried to give Winnie an excuse, “It’s not like there’s a Handler’s manual. I was trying to find her, if that helps?”