King Canton's eyes were staring intensely back at Errot's . Emerald green against light amber. Dark against gold.
Errot suddenly felt numb to the core. He kept looking through them, eager to find an emotion, a feeling or maybe a piece of life but all he was met with was emptiness, cold and death. Those eyes belong to a man that has seen too much. King Canton has already lived eleven lives . And he remembers all of them. Every little detail. Every memory, every person, every loss. He is drained and damaged and that is heavily portrayed on his eyes. Anyone can actually see it. The only thing they need to do is look behind his smirk, that façade.
His raven black hair were cut short, right above his ears. Soft coal-shaded curls were falling on his face here and there but they were being kept on place by his golden crown. He had a sinful sneer on his face, making him look amused and evil at the same time.
"Name." Canton ordered.
Errot didn't break the eye contact because that would imply that he's weak and afraid and that's exactly how king Canton wanted him to be. Instead, he put on a brave face and hoped that his voice wouldn't break when he spoke.
"Errot White"
King Canton's face turned stone cold for mere seconds and then he snickered mockingly. "Errot White" he repeated his name as if to taste how the words sounded on his lips. "So, you and your little girlfriend basically just questioned my spy's exceptional abilities. Is that right? "
"With all due respect, your highness, but if your spy can't figure out that you're being stalked, does he really have exceptional abilities? " As soon as this whole sentence left Errot's mouth, he immediately regretted ever saying it but it was too late to take it back now.
Canton raised both of his eyebrows in slight shock . He looked startled by Errot's response, probably not something he's used to hearing.
He turned his head around and briefly glanced at a person in the back and then redirected his attention at Errot. His previous sneer was back on his face, possible amusement now replacing shock. Or so Errot thought.
His next words seemed out of place and totally unrelated to the subject and they were words that would keep Errot awake for a good amount of nights after that.
Canton kept that devious smirk on his face the whole time he was talking, his tone calm and steady, dark and furious. "I find it uncanny how you have the nerve to look at me in the eye for so long and pretend to be someone you're not. What happened? Did my spell wore off? Did you break it, somehow?" He pressed the sword deeper into his skin, forcing Errot to lean his head further back. Errot winced a bit at the pain but then he frowned.
"King Canton, forgive me but I really don't know what you're talking about"
Canton's smirk was now nowhere to be found. It was replaced by an expression Errot found very difficult to read. He wasn't sure if what he saw on Canton's face was anger, confusion, sadness, relief, none or all of the above. He only knew one thing. He was ultimately bewildered.
Canton stayed silent, staring Errot up and down, examining every single detail of his face and expression. He looked like he was trying so hard to find an answer to a question Errot had no clue about. Few seconds later and he scoffed, dropping the sword down in a quick motion. "Okay that's enough. We can continue our staring contest never, drop your eyes to the floor again" King Canton commanded while walking back to sit on his throne. Errot briefly glanced at an equally confused Oda and then followed the King's order.
Once Canton was seated, he leaned his head against his hand and took a breath, his eyes never leaving Errot.
"Now, where were we? Oh, right. Back to when you were bashing Santos. Continue."
He dead-panned, pulled one of his knives out of his arm sleeve and started turning it around his finger.
"I don't want to 'bash' Santos, I-" Errot started.
"Boom. And just like that, you got boring. Shut up and let's see if your partner can keep my interest. Speak, silent blondie." King Canton said but didn't avert his gaze from Errot.
Errot resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the King, his annoyance and frustration almost getting the best of him. Almost.
Oda tried to swallow her nervousness down. Errot was the one that knew his way around words, not her. He was supposed to handle the whole conversation with King Canton and she was supposed to nod and agree. There was no way out for her now so she needed to take matters into her own hands and speak.
"Your highness, we ask you to give us a chance. You are aware that we can't lie so we already proved that we obviously do our job better than your own spy. Now we need to show you that we rightfully deserve your trust and a high position next to you, like the one Santos own."
Canton's eyes finally left Errot's face and he looked at his right side.
"Elvina" He said and once Elvina turned to him, he motioned for her to come closer.
A figure finally emerged out of the shadows and started walking towards Canton. She had long black hair, that almost reached her waist and a sinister smirk of her own. The confidence in the way she moved was loud and clear, making her every step look like she was the royal instead. Her eyes matched her clothes, dark and black and when she leaned over at Canton, Errot remembered the rumour that wants the two of them together.
King Canton whispered something on her ear and she responded with a whisper as well. She then turned to glance at Errot and Oda, catching them both looking at her. They immediately lowered their gaze and stayed silent.
" So, just to be clear. You want a job in the castle, next to the King? " Elvina asked, looking straight at Oda, her voice as authoritative as Canton's, if that's even possible.
"That's what we want. " Errot replied.
King Canton clicked his tongue in irritation. "Didn't I tell you to shut your fucking mouth? If you're uncapable to do such a simple thing yourself, then I'll force you into it" He said, the tone of his voice furious but still calm. "Guards, tape his mouth."
One of the guards opened a wooden cupboard at the side of the throne room and grabbed a black tape. Errot didn't have time to react when the guard forcefully placed the tape on his mouth and walked back to his position.
Errot felt the fire inside of him expanding. It wouldn't take long for it to burst into wild flames. His patience was running low and for the first time since he entered the room, he felt grateful that he wasn't supposed to look the King into his eyes. He clenched his fist so hard, his knuckles turned white.
However, King Canton kept his gaze on him, his face heavily neutral and his knife still on his fingers.
"You may speak now, blondie." Elvina said.
Oda gulped a bit, inaudibly. " Yeah, we..we want to work for the King."
"Cause appearing one day out of the blue and asking to work for the king is a brilliant plan. Who thought of it? Bet it was the big mouth over there." Elvina pointed out, amused at the whole situation.
" We, uhm. We wouldn't be so persistent if his royal highness wasn't in danger. We know things that his personal spy isn't aware of. We could stay here and try to find out what is really going on. Who is behind all this. Bring them before King Canton and let him decide their punishment. But we can't do that if we are outside of the King's personal circle and environment."
"What's your say in all of this, amber eyes?" Canton asked sarcastically and Errot raised his eyes for a second or so and then looked away in an instant.
"Oh, wait. You can't speak. " Canton added with an icy sneer on his face while Elvina let a small chuckle out.
Errot looked at Oda instead, pleading her with his eyes to give him strength not to jump Canton right then and there, his now rosy cheeks giving his embarassment away.
The only thing Oda did was to purse her lips into a thin line, slightly sympathetically.
" You are aware that the King can't just let two random strangers wander around the castle like that and have ultimate access to everything that has to do with the crown. " Elvina started.
"However, Elvina, they are telling the truth. And it is one hell of a truth that could completely destroy me, if you ask me. We can't just dismiss that like nothing happened."
"We could always inform Santos about it and let him take care of the rest."
Canton scoffed. "Santos, who didn't have a clue about something as important as the Moccassins being noisy bitches who want to snoop through my business and can't mind theirs. I mean, I wouldn't even care if they hadn't put fucking spies on me."
" Yeah, but it's for your own protection, your highness. "
"My privacy has already been invaded, so what do I need protection from? Two little twinks? Look at them, they don't even look like they've reached twenty one. Ridiculous. " Canton rolled his eyes.
Elvina turned to stare at them and when she was done, she raised an eyebrow in slight surprise. "Shit, are you like, twelve?"
Oda coughed a bit. "We are eighteen. I admit that we are very young elves but you'd be surprised with how much we could find out. "
Both Canton and Elvina couldn't hold their laugh back .
"Awe, they are babies."
"I tell you what" Canton leaned forwards on his throne, his crown benting a bit on the side of his head. "I'll let you spend a few weeks here. Consider it a free trial. You can prove your worth and be added to the list of my personal spies. On the other hand, if I find out that you are somehow messing with me.. let's just say that I have two wonderful cells made just for the likes of you, so you can rot there for the rest of your miserable lives".
His face indicated that there was no room for jokes here. He was being utterly serious, the cold tone of his voice making their blood freeze.
What's the point of living if you are behind bars and treated like an animal until you take your last breath?
Errot thought.
If they discover them, everything they've ever worked for, all their dreams, their ambitions, will be taken away. Their chance to be free will die along with them. But that was a risk. A risk they were willing to take. A risk that could loan them some liberty even for a few days. Or weeks. Hopefully, months. Their fate was on their hands.
" But. " Canton emphasized. That seemed to wake Errot up from his trance. "That doesn't mean that you're required to know everything about my plans or the secrets that I keep. You have to earn that information. Every time you do something right, you'll get a piece of the insight. Trust is built, not gifted. And I'm not one to trust little kids easily with my life or reputation. One of the reasons why I'm doing this is because I can't take the risk to let it go. Am I clear? "
"Wonder what's the rest of them" Elvina mumbled scarcastically under her breath.
Unfortunately for her, Canton heard that and snapped his head at Elvina, his expression raw and unfriendly. Their eyes locked and it looked like they were having a whole conversation without uttering a single word.
Suddenly, Canton slammed the knife hard on the right arm of his throne, slight anger visible on his face. Elvina didn't even flinch, her stare steady and intense.
Canton turned his gaze away from Elvina and redirected his attention at Errot and Oda. "We're not done yet, you're gonna go to the hall and stay there until Santos comes to inform you about the rest of the details. Meanwhile" He said and turned his head back to Elvina. " You and Santos. My room. Now. " He ordered and furiously got up and walked to stand in front of Errot. He looked him dead into the eye and raised his chin up with force.
Errot dared to peer at Canton and the moment he did, the king snapped the tape off his mouth vigorously, a few drops of blood evident on his lips.
"Next time I'll just cut your young tongue off. " He said sternly and walked out of the throne room.
♛♛♛
A few silent minutes passed of Errot and Oda sitting alone on the hall, just as Canton commanded. Errot had so many things on his mind right now, he could feel his head ready to explode. The only thing he knew for sure was that he despised every inch of King Canton with all of his being. From his arrogance and his disgusting ironic smirk to his dead and cold eyes and behaviour, everything about him was a total nightmare. He was also pretty positive that the King has lost his damn mind. If he even had one in the first place.
What spell was he talking about? Why was he behaving like he actually knew who I was?
He started moving his leg a bit nervously, slowly getting lost into his own thoughts.
Oda couldn't take the silence anymore and finally broke it by whispering to him. "Errot, he seemed way to eager to let us into his house just like that. Something about it seems off. It doesn't make sense. And what about what he said to you whe-"
"Sh. We'll talk about this when we are alone." Errot interrupted.
"Ayee, finally, the children I was ordered to babysit! " A very beaming voice echoed through the hall .
Errot and Oda turned to glance at the person that was standing in front of them now. As soon as Errot locked eyes with him, the man's eyes got a bit wide and his lips slightly parted in shock. An extremely amused grin slowly started making its way to the Inks' lips but then, as if in sync, they both immediately looked away from him.
"No, no! I adore eye contact. You can keep looking at me unless you feel threatened. Then, that's on you." The smirk was evident on his voice.
Errot's curiosity got the best of him and he turned to look at the elf again. Errot was amazed at how tall all the elves he's met were. Judging from the red hot mess he likes to call hair and the silvery grey of his eyes, his name is most probably Adan and he belongs to the king's close circle. His upbeat and extroverted personality is what makes him stand out of all the other Inks.
Adan was looking back at Errot, slight amazement showing on his face.
"I'm shook to the core. Like, actually fucking shook. Look at the hair on my arm." He raised his sleeve up. "Look at it! Unbelievable." He said shaking his head a bit.
Errot blinked and Oda raised a confused eyebrow.
"What are you so shocked for? " Errot asked.
" You? "
" Huh?" Errot frowned and Oda was looking to her side in thought.
For the next few seconds, silence filled the hall, until Adan spoke again.
"You know, Moccassins indirectly going against our King and two eighteen year old kids finding out about that first. Shocking. So, call yourselves spies? "
He said as he comfortably sat down on the couch, next to the guys.
"We are spies. Yeah. "
Adan scoffed amused. "If you two are spies then I'm the fucking prince. Full offence but you look nothing like it. "
Errot rolled his eyes.
"Anyways, I'll throw a 'welcome to your death' party for you, Friday night. East side of the castle. I'll let you know about the dets later during the week. I won't accept no for an answer. Everybody will be there so it will help with your job too."
"I'm down" Oda said.
"Great, you can't take that back now." He said and shot up from his seat. "Santos is here now, so that makes me a retired babysitter. Have fun!" Adan said and dissapeared in mere seconds.
Before they even had the chance to process what Adan said, they noticed a fainted shadow under the light of the moon that shined through the window and the numerous candles before them.
Santos is here now.
♛