Jack pulled Ryusei up onto his feet, who treaded precariously towards me. My guard went up again, but my intuition informed me that Ryusei was not the same as he was when he cursed me.
And so, his face dark with smeared blood, Ryu Alighieri, the famed leader of armies, dropped to his knees at my feet, his hands clasped together as though he were praying or begging.
"Forgive me, Miss Syndra, my lady. I acted inappropriately, thus please excuse my actions. I shall be more careful from now on. I truly apologize, I am not myself on Eden." Eden? That must be what the plant he was smoking was called.
"I'm just a random human, stop," I responded nervously, and my arms hung at my sides awkwardly. As Alighieri rose back up, Jack removed the handkerchief from the Elf's coat pocket and tenderly patted at the trickling blood. Something about the two of them made me wonder if they were lovers in a violent, Elven way, and the absurdity of the thought made me chuckle to myself.
Jack snapped his attention to me. "What?"
As soon as I was reminded of those wide, dead eyes of his, I became aware again of what I was actually dealing with here.
What Jack did to Ryusei was not at all something to laugh at. If the latter had been human, he'd be long dead, his skull shattered and brain caved in into mush.
Just an hour ago, I had nearly thrown up at the fact that Jack was two hundred years old. If anything, I should be throwing up now, but I was not. I felt nothing at all except a very weak sickness deep in my gut that made me want to carve myself out with a dagger. Perhaps I was in shock, and my brain refused to let me process what it believed to be insanity. Perhaps my numbness was just protecting my mind from shattering. And perhaps I was just making up excuses for the fact that on my second day, I was already adapting the same emotional habits of an Elf. Everything I saw was as though I were viewing it through another's eyes.
I must have gone pallid, because Jack said with a warning, "Don't hurl. There's enough of a mess here already."
"Can we go? Please?" I was begging now, my pride shoved away. The sickly sweet smell of blood combined with the powerful fumes of Eden had begun to deeply affect me.
"Yes, we may." Jack shoved past Alighieri and through the door, where he stopped to make one last remark. "Wash yourself. I'll speak to you later."
The way back from the Grand Marshal's wing was all a blur. I did not speak to Jack at all, and he did not attempt to make conversation. He did not touch me either, thus I walked a good distance behind him. I must have been looking particularly ill because as soon as we had reached his chambers, he deposited me in the bathroom.
"Be careful, please." He hissed. "This is my own bathroom, and I don't need you fouling it with the contents of your stomach."
"Lucky for you there's nothing in it," I bit back, my head in the sink as I retched helplessly. Giving up, I sank to the floor on the narrow plush golden rug.
"On second thought, it was a difficult first task," Jack said, breaking the silence that had returned. The volume of his voice suggested that he was leaning against the door, and I internally wished him to leave.
"First task?" I queried weakly.
"I brought you to Ryusei to elicit a reaction worthy of punishment from him."
"I don't understand."
"I knew he wasn't sober beforehand. I also knew that he gets excited around human females, especially the new ones."
"You brought me in there even though you knew what was about to happen?"
"Of course I did. I'm never ignorant about anything that happens in my palace. Anyhow, Ryusei had been falling out of line now for quite some time, and smoking was hardly an offense I could take punitive action against. But touching one of the king's personal staff," He said in a low voice, "is."
Manipulative bastard! I wanted to spit at him. "How is that a reason to bash his skull in?"
"Trust me, it hardly hurt him. It's more of the message that counts."
I went quiet as tears began to fall. I tried being strong, I really did. I think I reached my limit for the day.
Minutes passed as I sat, thinking about nothing save for the salty rivulets that poured down my cheeks and left wet spots on the front of my dress.
"Did you drop dead?" Jack suddenly said, but not an ounce of concern for me penetrated his voice.
"Y-you're still here?" I choked.
"Well yes, I am still in my own bedroom." Predictably, he resorted to sarcasm. "Are those tears I hear? Already? My, my, Syndra, how sad."
"Your Majesty--" I began to lash out, but he interrupted me.
"Your day is over. I don't need you for anything else, thus you are dismissed." I watched the handle turn as he opened the door. He waited expectantly for me to get up, so I did on trembling legs.
"I'm sorry," I felt the need to say.
"Relax, you were in there barely a few minutes. Do all you humans overdramatize every event in your life?" I turned away from his aloof gaze.
Suddenly, a small knock sounded at the entrance to the King's chambers.
"Yes?" Jack snapped.
The door opened a crack and Taro slid himself gingerly into the room. "You summoned me, Your Majesty?"
Jack strolled over to him, and from where I stood in the doorway of the bathroom, I noticed he was at least half a foot taller than Taro. Taro Kingesley's edges were softer and rounder, and he looked much like a child compared to the king.
"Take her home," Jack gave him a brief smile. "Get to know each other better."
Through bewildered, wide eyes, Taro stared at me, unsure how to react. "Yes... Your Majesty."
"Good." He placed a hand on the shorter Elf's shoulder, who then blushed furiously.
"On your way then." Jack's vulgar grin split his face in two. "We meet again tomorrow, Syndra."
Oh God, not again...