Sacrilege

by Nicole N. King

  EIGHT

  My head broke the surface of the water, my arms splashing as I fought for breath. The water in my eyes cleared enough so I could figure out exactly I was at. The purple sky and the grassy hills instantly put me at ease. I was home. I was back in Pearu. As, I turned in the water I noticed some figures on the beach. My father guards stood posted on beach their weapons at the ready for any type of attack. In the midst of them was my father. Deciding to get it over with, I made my way towards the. The water level dropped as I swam until I could walk against the ocean floor. The guards eyed me as I sloshed towards my father. My father sat on a quilted blanket, his legs folded, his hands entwined and his eyes closed. He was in his meditative stance.

  “Father.”

  My father’s eyes opened slowly, the purple glow in his eyes the opposite than it was yesterday. There was no calm or anger in his eyes— instead they were mass of blankness. Immediately, I dropped down to my knees to seek forgiveness. It hit me now that I had run with information that should have gone to him first. I’d run from my father like a stranger who didn’t trust him. I’d run from an ally into the hands of an enemy bringing forth what could have been my death. I didn’t want to think about how Kiowa and Dyos would feel if I’d gotten myself killed today. I’d realized all of this now, a little too late.

  “Forgive me, your highness.” I said speaking again once he didn’t say anything.

  My father eyes stared at me taking in my ripped clothing covered in strays of blood. Without speaking, he stood up brushing off stray sands of dirt. He turned on his boots and headed towards the carriage. Placing one foot on the step, he turned back and said, “Take him.”

  The guards grabbed me by my arms as I let them drag me off to the second carriage that awaited me. Broxton stood at the doors, a smile on his face. He was very happy to see me.

  “Hello there Broxton. Sorry to disappoint you earlier.” I said smiling up at him.

  “No worries, your highness. I’ll take this opportunity.”

  Quickly before my father could see, he fist collided with my face, putting me to sleep.

  I woke some time later in a room that smelled of metal. Heat clogged the room making the atmosphere stuffy. I coughed as my eyes roamed the room. They were sore from the blow Broxton had dealt me. The little tick was smart enough to use fire behind his punch that not only put me to sleep instantly, but left my eyes and head feeling as if it was on fire. My arms felt strained as they were pulled behind me chained to bolts that led up to the ceiling. My jacket and boots had been removed and thrown on a hook that sat near the door at the front of the room.

  Swallowing against the harshness in my throat, I tried to pull at the chains to see if they would give any leeway but it was no use.

  “I am awake.” I said before launching into a coughing fit. My voice sounded scratchy and it immediately irritated my ears. The door to the room opened as one of my father’s soldier’s wheel in a table covered by a brown skinned cloth. He left the table to the side of the room and didn’t bother sparing me a glance. He left out of the room, the door closing with a loud bang. I hung there suspended in the air for what seemed like another hour before the door opened revealing my father. He came in alone, closing the door behind him. The tapping of his boots against the floor in the quiet silence made my body tense up with dread. My father has always been a quiet soul, but today I had never seen anything like his calm. He came to a stop inches away from me, his nose almost touching mine.

  “I apologize on the behalf of Broxton. He gets a bit overzealous at times when it comes to revenge.”

  “No apologies necessary. I figured at had it coming from heckling him all the time.”

  “As it is, he disobeyed my orders and now shares a chamber on the opposite of yours.” My father said. For a moment, I felt sorry for Broxton, but the fire thumping pain in my head made me think otherwise. “I’ve taken the liberty of having the medic patch you up from your injuries from earlier.” My father walked over to the hook where my clothes hung and removed the purple blazer he wore. He hung it up on the extra hook and pulled his loose strands of hair that he normally kept down, into a ponytail behind his back.

  “Those injuries that you obtained, I take it came from when you exited the world of Pearu, am I correct?”

  “Father-”

  “Answer the question Aristaeus, my patience for you is standing on the bridge ready to jump.”

  “Yes, your highness. The injuries were the result of me leaving the world of Pearu.”

  “Thank you for your honesty, young Prince.”

  The calmness of his voice shook me. Something was off here. My father walked over to the table the guard had brought in earlier and removed the cloth tossing it aside to the floor. I could now see what was on the table. I felt my eyes widened with disbelief as they took in the items that were on the table. On the table were weapons from knives and hammers to clear bottles filled with numerous colored liquids. These were items that were used to torture prisoners. I couldn’t fathom my father using them one me. My mind changed however, when I saw him study the weapons in concentration trying to decide which one he would use first. My father picked up a dagger and a clear bottle that was filled with a yellow liquid.

  “Father, do not do this.” I said as he was now nearing me pulling the table along behind him.

  My father ignored my words as he came to a stop in front of me, the table now at his side. Without blinking, he slashed my stomach with the dagger in my hands. I clenched my teeth in pain as my father followed it up by pouring the yellow liquid on the wound. The yellow liquid brought a stinging worst then the cut as I screamed out. I huffed and puffed for a few seconds before the pain numbed a bit allowing me to breathe.

  “Dragon venom.” My father said. I stared up at the half smile on his face. It is said to be one thing that the Gods themselves fear. It is why they banished them to our land. To avoid being attacked by this creature.” My father eyes turned from the liquid back to me. “I guess we are alike in some ways aren’t we?”

  “Father, if you let me down I’ll-”

  “In due time.”

  He turned to place the liquid back on the table but kept the knife in his hand, twirling it around before letting it pierce his finger. Blood bubbled to the surface as he brought it near me and wiped it within my wound.

  “Maybe now that you have some of my blood in you, you will act as my blood.”

  There it was. The cruelty I had been waiting for had finally reared its head. I knew there was no way that I was going to talk my way out of this. This was a punishment my father thought I’d deserve for disobeying him. It was a punishment that I would have to take.

  A gleam settled in my father’s eyes as he looked me. “Ah, it seems that we are now starting to understand each other. That is good, because I have some questions for you Aristaeus that need to be answered. You will answer them, won’t you Aristaeus?” I bothered not to answer him. He knew I had no choice in the matter. Proving I was right, he continued on. “When we last spoke, we talked about the hidden portal in our world. I asked you if the portal was still in the world of the sirens but you claim that it had been moved and you had no idea where to. And yet, you seem to find it quite quickly when you arrived from Belham.”

  The blade slashed across my left torso as this time my father added some clear liquid to the wound. If I had tears, I knew that my face would be drenched by now with the pain that I was experiencing.

  “Now tell me Aristaeus, did you lie to his majesty the king.”

  My father’s voice had taken on the accents of mortals during the Renaissance Period. He chuckled at his imitation. “I am waiting.”

  “No, your highness. I did not lie to you. I spoke the truth when I said I did not know the whereabouts of the portal.”

  “You seemed to know something. You headed straight for the ocean as if you were on a m
ission.”

  When I opened my mouth, I didn’t hesitate to lie. “It was just a quick hunch. I figured since the last portal was located in water, then the other big body of water like that of Nicolle would be the ocean.”

  My father was silent for a moment as we stared at each other. I could feel him smelling the untruth to my words. Despite betraying him so that I could run off into the hands of the enemy, I still kept quiet. I didn’t feel right confessing what Astraea had told me. Maybe it was because of what she went through to return me to my world, or maybe it was because of the strong attraction I was starting to have for her. Either way, my father could taste the deceit in the air. He just didn’t know how to sort out the truth yet.

  He soon answered my reply by slashing my arm.

  “You’ve always been a deceitful child.” He turned and threw the dagger down on the table. “I was just hoping that in time you would grow out of it.” Raising a foot, he sent a kick to my abdomen as I felt myself being thrown back into the wall. The chains stretched my arms out making the soreness in them double time. I released a groan as my head fell forward. “Why did you go through that portal? Who did you meet on the other side?”

  “I went there because I thought I would find Lilith there. I wanted to corner her and find out what she and Eris had planned.”

  “YOU CONTINUE TO LIE!!”

  “IT IS THE TRUTH FATHER!” I yelled back.

  A blow from my father sent my head into the chains that was holding me up.

  “You have done nothing but lied to me since I’ve entered this room. I am sick of playing this cat and mouse game with you.” My father walked up to me and placed a hand over my face. A humming went through me as I felt heaviness in my face. The force that was going through my body made my head feel as if it was too big for my body. “Gomel yahsir-sateus reveal.”

  Images from the past couple of days flashed before me as if I was watching them on one of those famous mortal screens. They were images of my deepest secrets, fears, and wants. They were images of the time I’d spent in Belham. They were images of Astraea. At the sight of her face before me, I instantly tried to block the force my father was using, but there was no stopping him. He was pulling everything that he could from me. It was only when the last image of me arriving back on the beach that made him come to a halt.

  I dropped completely drained against the chains. I waited for my father to speak on what he’d seen, but I heard nothing. When the silence became too much for me, I peered up through my lose strands of hair at him. He was staring off to the side with an unfathomable look in his eyes. Something he’s seen in my head had him shaken. But what? I recalled the memory of me calling forth the lightning from the sky. If that’s what had him the way he was now, I couldn’t blame him. I had yet to come to terms on what I’d done myself.

  My father finally looked back towards me. His throat moved as if he was nervous or better yet speechless. Without saying another word, he turned on his heels and headed over towards the door. He redressed in his blazer and walked to the door and opened it.

  “Beat him until he’s unconscious.” He spoke to the guards outside the room.

  He exited as the guards entered the room a look of pure happiness on their face. They lived for torture and pleasing their king, even if it meant teaching his spoil brat of a son a lesson.

  One of the guards wind his hand up and sent a blow to my face once again bringing me to darkness.

  Flashes of different scenery greeted me as I traveled to and out of consciousness. I saw myself being beaten, being removed from the chains, being taken up the stairs, being laid on my bed, and my favorite of all, seeing Kiowa leaning over staring into my face. The next time I awoke, I was glad to see that it wasn’t a dream. Kiowa glanced over at me, a mixture of happiness and fury on her face.

  “Hey you.” I said trying to push myself up into a sitting position. The sharp pain in my abdomen quickly had me lying back down.

  “Do not try to get up. The medic said you have a lot of broken bones. You’re not going to be able to move for a while. They really did a number on you.”

  “Don’t worry I’ll be fine. I’m tough.”

  “Well in that case.” Kiowa punched me in my stomach as I groaned. I reached up and caught her hand before she could deliver another blow. “Do not stop me Aristaeus. I should do much more to you after the trouble you have caused. How dare you consort with the Gods?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Do not play coy. Your father told me everything. I can’t believe the feelings you have for those mortals and on top of that, the ones you have for that woman God.”

  I stared at the anger in Kiowa’s face. While she was the nicest creature in Pearu I’d ever known, that still didn’t matter when it came to her views of mortals and Gods. She was one in the same with every other creature. It was only I who harbored sympathy for them.

  “Your father is irate over what he seen.”

  “Then he should have stayed out of my head.” I said feeling no remorse now.

  “I’m glad he for once went against your wishes and invaded your thoughts. Aristaeus you cannot take the throne with thoughts like that. No one in this world will follow you.”

  “Good, because I do not want the throne.” Kiowa raised her hand to slap me as I caught it. “Kiowa, I am only going to say this once. Do not lay another hand on me. I have been through enough hits tonight. The least you could do is spare me until I’ve healed again.” With that I tossed her hand to the side. “Leave me. I want to rest now.”

  I turned my back on her ignoring the hurt look on her face. My body remained tensed as I waited for the movement indicating that she had left. Yet, she remained.

  “I am just trying to understand Aristaeus. What is it that the Gods have that you want so dearly? What is it that makes you have feelings for that girl?”

  “As of right now, silence.”

  Kiowa scoffed at my reply. “And your explanation for the feelings you have for that girl?”

  “There are no feelings. Now please leave. I need my rest.”

  Kiowa released a huff of annoyance as she got up from my bed. My bedroom door closed with a slam as I finally released the tension. Rolling over in my bed, I stared up at the ceiling of my room. It seems I’d disappointed not only my father, but my Kiowa as well. They all seem to think that I’d betrayed them and gone over to the other side. While they were right about me betraying them, I’ve yet to join the Gods. Despite my attraction to Astraea, I still harbored some mild feelings of hatred for them. That part of my demon side I could not deny.

  Closing my eyes, I could now do what I’ve wanted to do since I returned home. I called forth the memory of the battle with Lilith. Lilith was a Baba Yaga. How could I not sense that she wasn’t a Creature of the Damned? She’d been living amongst other creatures while in Belham, and yet no one picked up on it. I wondered if Os’ mar did. Is that why he’d suddenly disappeared? I thought about the way she’d sniffed me claiming to smell something different in me than my demon blood. I thought about how she’d threatened to kill my father and how’d I called on an unknown power in me that I had no idea that I harbored. Not to mention the fact that it was lightening, a power known only to that of Zeus.

  The image of Zeus face came to me. He was just as shock as I was. Astraea carried all his bolts on the bracelet around her wrist so there was no way I could have snatched one off of her. For some reason I think they only moved at her touch. Thinking of Astraea, my thoughts switched to her placing a peaceful blanket on me. I pulled together images of her eyes, her hair, her mouth, until the puzzle of her face was completed. I wondered if she’d gotten home safe. I’d left so fast that I had no idea on whether or not if she’d gotten hurt at the scene. I wondered if she would be punished even more harshly because of me. The last thought I wondered before I fell asleep, was if she was thinking of me.


  The next day at the palace was a tense one. I spent most of my day locked away in my quarters away from the eyes of Kiowa and my father. It didn’t seem to bother my father much since that meant he could keep an eye on me better. Kiowa however, had stopped by plenty times trying to get me to come out. She’d even resorted to having Dyos stopped by. In the end she finally left me to my thoughts as day turned to night.

  The day after that, I continued the same cycle. It was only two days later that I decided to venture out of the confinements of my room.

  I walked down the spiral staircase to a quiet palace. It was early in the morning but yet there was no one at the table, in fact some of the servants seemed scarce. A group of guards were posted in the hall and I knew they were meant for me. I ducked behind one of the columns as I tried to figure out a way to get by them. My answer came when I saw a servant coming from the same direction I’d traveled holding an arm full of blankets. Once he was near me, I yanked him behind the column and covered his mouth to mute his scream. I peered around the column to see if we’d alerted anyone, but the guards were too busy talking.

  Turning back to the servant, I removed my hand and made a motion for him to be silent. Now that he knew who’d grabbed him, he began to calm down.

  “Young Lord, you frightened me.” He said once he was fully calmed.

  “Where are my parents?”

  “The King is having a meeting with The Courant in his office while the Queen is in her garden having breakfast. Shall I tell her that you are up?”

  “That won’t be necessary. Is Dyos still here?”

  “No young lord, the King sent him home a couple of days ago. He’s called but your highness asked the staff not to give you any messages.”

  I frowned at that. Father was cutting off any communication and outside information I could get from Dyos. He probably thought that I’d stayed in my quarters because I was angry with him. While that was true, it wasn’t the reason I’d stayed locked up. Because of the torture I’d experienced from him, my body needed time to heal. Kiowa claimed the medic said it would take a while before I could move again, but she must have forgot that I have suffered broken bones and cuts before and none of them have left me in pain for more than four days. No, I’m pretty sure the extra days were added on by the King. While experiencing the torture was new, the potions he used were not. In the City of Pearu and in Belham, those potions were anything the citizens could talk about. There were some farfetched stories about what they could do to you, but it was the ones in Belham that rung true. The potion was made to torture our kind, but like all drugs, it doesn’t take long for it to leave your system and with berry juice I found out it makes it leave quicker. Thanks to my father never spending time with the outcasts of Pearu, he had no clue of this remedy and the fact that I’d requested it for the last couple of days instead of my regular brew, did not alert him to anything different.

  “Listen to me, I need you to contact Dyos and tell him that I will meet him at the place where we once touched Zeus hand.”

  The servant eyes enlarged as he looked nervously around. “But young lord, the King has asked us to alert him if you try to leave the palace. I can’t go against the King. I could be sentenced to death.”

  “You will not be going against the King’s orders. I just need you to give me a head start and then you may alert the King. You can even tell him the message I ask you to give to Dyos.”

  The servant stared at me as his eyes darted over to the guards who were engrossed in their conversation. They had yet to see us but it wouldn’t be long before they made their way in this direction.

  “Very well sir, I shall do it.”

  “Thank you. I will not forget this favor you have shown me.”

  The servant seemed to beam at that. It was as if a light switch had gone off in his head that told him somewhere down the line when I am King, his position will no longer be that of a servant. Sadly, that would not be happening. He was too easily swayed. There was no room for someone like that in my palace.

  “One more favor.” I said staring at the guards. “Get the guards some medicine. They’re going to need it.”

  The servants stared wide eyed at me as I crept between the columns until I was close enough to the guards. Standing behind one of the columns, I listened as they talked about the plans they had once they’d retired off of the money they’d earned from the King.

  “Hello comrades.” I said stepping from behind the column.

  They all stared at me with confusion at how I had not only crept up on them but the fact that I was speaking to them. It began to register to them that something about this was not right. It was a shame however, that they did not pick up on it soon enough. I sent a kick to the guard in front of me while reaching over to the second guard to neutralize him of his weapons. My second kick went to the guard on my right as they finally snapped out of their slight moment of confusion. The guard that was standing behind the first one I kicked ran towards me with his arms outstretched. I could tell in his eyes that he only wanted to subdue and not harm me. Broxton’s act against me and his punishment seemed to put enough fear in the guards to the point where they barely wanted to touch me. Be that as it may, it worked in my favor.

  I ducked as the guard flew over my body into the column behind me knocking him out cold. The first guard I’d kicked was back up as he tried to latch onto my neck to put me to sleep. I quickly escaped his grasp and stole his idea making him go to sleep instead. Finally all the guards were down. I stared back to where the servant was holding on to the column, probably afraid that I might try to attack him as well.

  “Go!” I ordered. “Call Dyos and deliver my message. After that go to the King. By the time you reach the King, I will be off the palace grounds by then.”

  The servant nodded and took off down the hall the main center of the palace leaving the blankets he’d been holding earlier on the ground.

  I made my way over to the window and pulled back the drapes. Pushing open the glass, I climbed up onto the stone and stared out at the landscape. Below me was a body of water that came from the ocean. I took one more glance back at the unconscious guards and leaped out of the window into the water that awaited me below.

  The water let out a huge splash as my body floated towards the bottom. Before it could sink to far, I pushed my way to the surface and swam towards the hill bank in the distance. Since I’d given the order to have the bridge pulled up, there was no way that I could cross it and make my escape easier. I had no choice but to swim in the water and chance being caught by the different creatures that guarded the palace. As it were, lucks seemed to be on my side as I made it through the water over to the grassy hill bank. I pulled out the water onto the hill bank and took off with demon speed far away from the palace the slight sound of a horn being blown behind me.