{Two months later}
ERROT
We were all gathered at the meeting room for the annual conference of the royalties.
All except from the Inks who were fashionably late.
Noel kept trying to have small talk with me but my nerves always went in the way so he eventually stopped.
We were prepared to be neutral and show no emotion.
We had practised good and I thought I was getting the hang of it until Canton and Elvina appeared from their portal.
His sudden presence made my stomach churn and my breath got caught on my throat.
He is almost three months older than how I left him.
Even from afar, I can distinguish the dark circles under his eyes and how his figure looks worn out.
He must not be getting a lot of sleep lately.
The more he got closer, the more the exhaustion was greatly portrayed on his features. The paleness of his skin betrayed the feelings behind his always blank expression.
I frowned at his appearance.
"I know I should apologize but it wouldn't be honest from my part" Canton said and refused to glance my way.
The coldness that he greeted us with is forcing me to reminisce my first day in Ink Blood, when the icy tone of his voice would freeze a whole kingdom dead.
When we were total strangers.
The distance between us makes it incredibly hard to reach him.
I force myself to stay in my position, next to Noel and behind Quinn and not run to his arms.
But my body is urging me to go.
I can feel the adrenaline rush to my bones.
How my heart beats slightly faster now that he is in the same room as me and how my feet tremble at the fact that I'm not moving.
I need to feel the warmth of his arms wrapped around my waist.
I need to feel safe again.
I need to feel like I belong.
But I know that I can't.
And he still won't acknowledge me.
His eyes won't dart to me, not even once.
Not even by accident.
"King Canton, Elvina. We appreciate the attempt of an apology. Welcome" Elian decided to be the first one to break the ice as he obtains the only link between the other two dimensions.
Canton and Elvina dismissed him and sat down on the two vacant chairs that were intented for them.
Quinn and Cress both rolled their eyes at the same time while Elian kept sporting a grin on his face, possibly glad to see his favourite king again.
Pictures of them getting..personal.. before my own eyes flooded my mind but I refused to get jealous.
Not the time or place.
So I just decided to ignore them for now.
Flare and a Moccassin guy I do not recognise were standing behind Elian, guarding him closely.
I wonder where Santos is.
I begun inspecting the floor for his shadow but he was nowhere to be found, thus I directed my gaze back at Canton who cleared his throat.
We all waited for him to talk but no words were coming out of his mouth.
He glanced a bit upwards and raised a questioning eyebrow. "What? Stop looking at me, I will not hesitate to use my knife" he threatened.
"Will you not talk? You just cleared your throat" Elian's grin had now reached his ears.
"Can't I just clear my throat in peace?" He asked. "It was just a cough. We can talk about it more, if you want to"
Elian raised his hands up in defence, amused. "Alright, okay. Allow me to start then"
Elvina then elbowed Canton, hard.
Canton didn't even flinch. He rolled his eyes instead.
"Actually" he took a breath. "I have something to say"
Elian said "go ahead" at the same time that Cress mumbled "we don't care"
Canton threw a deadly glare at Cress. "Believe me when I say that you will care. I'm taking a break from the throne"
A small gasp escaped my lips while Quinn and Cress shared a quite shocked, quite puzzled, look.
Noel glanced at me worryingly while Elian was now frowning deeply.
The rest of the Moccassins were just expressionless, copying Elvina's exact look right now.
Canton continued. "Not permanently. My knight here will be in charge as long as needed" he briefly pointed at Elvina. "My titles and power are still in tact but due to personal reasons I will not be reporting for duty for a while" he uttered sternly.
I can't grasp his emotions today. It feels like he's built a wall around him that's preventing me from peeking behind it.
I kept staring his way hoping he would slip and meet my eye even for a single second but he never did.
"Is something wrong, Canton?" Elian asked.
"I..won't give anyone the satisfaction to reply positively to that" Stiff.
Elian shook his head, slightly concerned now. "You wouldn't satisfy-"
"He would" A stoney cold smirk was plastered all over Quinn's face.
"See?" Canton gave Quinn a fake smirk back.
"Let's all try to go along for once" Elian looked at Quinn and Cress. "This isn't a playground, it's a royal conference meeting" he averted his gaze "this is not the time to argue, the least you could both do is act civilised and respect each other for sixty minutes. Sixty minutes. Is this too much to ask for?"
"Okay fine. I'll act civilised" said Quinn and turned to look at Canton, feigning concern. "What's wrong, Alastair? Are you perhaps feeling poorly? You do look slightly pale and..old. Almost as if you aged all of a sudden."
Canton's muscles tensed. "Call me Alastair one more time, I dare you"
"That is your name though. Isn't it? Canton Alastair. Sounding perfect for a murderer. Your father really taught you well, after all"
"If you want to talk about parents I will be more than glad to start bantering about the Lyttletons. They were best buddies with my dad as well. 'Tell me who you go with and I'll tell you who you are' Are you aware of this saying or do we conveniently forget about everything that doesn't benefit our own selves?"
"You killed our parents!" Cress glared at Canton and Elvina.
"And your parents killed almost ou- Canton's entire family!" Elvina snapped back. "Not to mention that they were holding three curses against him"
"It was mostly his poor father's doing, Elvina"
"Mostly. Mostly, yes." Canton said. "But who stabbed my mother and left her into a room to bleed to death? Who helped Alastair tie my siblings to the wall and torture them until they begged for someone to end their life? They were nine years old and they killed them and you two knew all about it before it happened"
"You--"
"Enough!" Elian banged his fist against the table.
We all turned to look at him, surprised.
Elian took a breath and tried again, calmer now. "The Inks and the Teals will never find peace. We all know that. You know that. So instead of fighting each other every chance you get, let's proceed with the conference, otherwise I will never get to go home today and I will lose my mind"
They all stayed quiet.
Canton was looking down, his jaw clenched and his whole body tensed.
"Alright!" Elian smiled. "I'll start with the annual reports of Moccassin Blood and-"
Suddenly the three dimension portals disappeared.
I realised, to my great astonishment, that there was no other way out of this meeting room as it was located at the exact center of the three blood dimensions and you could only get in or go out through the now missing portals.
I froze.
My immediate reaction was to snap my head at Canton, wide-eyed.
Canton's eyebrows were furrowed and he kept looking at where the portals were supposed to be in curiosity.
I glanced at Noel whose face was one of absolute shock, his hand gripping on my right arm.
Everyone else looked around in confusion.
"What is happening?" Flare asked Elian.
"I don't know-"
Before Elian had the chance to finish his sentence, a wave of scorching-hot air begun steaming through the vent on the ceiling.
It immediately became incredibly hot to handle, a few drops of sweat already rolling down my forehead.
It was in that terrifying moment that I came into realisation of what was actually happening.
I stilled in horror and I watched as Canton and Elvina begun panting a bit.
"No.." Canton mumbled and Elvina looked at him in pure fright.
My heart dropped to my knees.
Elian stood up from his chair abruptly, his eyes focused on Canton.
Quinn was looking at Cress and frowning as if something was going to the wrong route.
Maybe this wasn't in their plan.
"Someone better turn.." Elvina took a deep breath. "..this thing off"
They were both sweating furiously now.
Elian rushed to Canton and grabbed at his hand so he could ease the pain but Canton shook his head "Elvina first. I'll be fine"
Elian looked at him unsure and warily made his way to Elvina who was panting heavily, now, her long hair gradually getting drenched.
Elian took her hand in his and begun trying to heal her when he came into a halt.
He frowned and looked at Elvina.
"What?" Canton muttered between breaths.
Elian tried once more but stopped again. He looked at Canton. "It's not working"
I felt my body going numb at Elian's words.
Noel begun pacing back and forth, his worry visible to everyone in the room.
Cress and Quinn seemed surprisingly nervous.
"What..what do you mean it's not working?" Elvina intoned.
"I can't heal you" Elian grabbed at Canton's sweaty hand and closed his eyes shut to concentrate better.
But nothing came out of it.
Panic begun consuming me whole making my heart pound loudly against my chest.
Elian ran a frustrated hand through his hair and slammed his fist against the table in irritation and possible fear.
Canton started undressing himself to buy himself some more time and he instructed Elvina to do the same.
Soon enough they were both in only their underwear which were soaked wet as well.
Canton lost his balance and tried to steady himself on the wall but his energy gave up on him and he slowly slipped down on the floor with a groan.
Elian glanced at Flare, shocked. "why doesn't it work?"
"I don't know, king Elian.."
Canton groaned some more and gripped at the skin that's covering his heart. He looked at Elvina who was equally hurting. "How are you?" He was breathing with difficulty.
"Not good" Elvina let out a small gasp. "it's burning my freaking insides"
I begun biting at my bottom lip, my nerves eating me alive.
I want to rush to him now more than ever.
But I can't.
Instead I decided to look down and wipe some of the sweat with the back of my sleeve.
Canton grabbed his phone with shaking hands and managed to dial a number.
He apparently didn't have the strength to hold the phone up to his ear so he put it on speaker.
A few rings later and a male voice answered the phone.
"Your highness?"
"We've been framed. We are dying from heat and the portals are.." he took a deep breath. "Closed"
"What?" There was some muffling on the other end. "Your majesty..are you okay?"
Canton closed his eyes shut at this. He seemed annoyed above all the pain. "I just said that we're dying, does this sound okay to you, airhead?"
"I'm sorry..I.. I'll try to..to open the portals. Give me one second, king Canton"
"Take your time" Canton murmured sarcastically and muffled a painful sound right after. He then focused his gaze at Elvina while everyone else was staring them down.
Especially Cress and Quinn who were now whispering to each other.
The seconds were ticking by making it harder for the siblings and me as well.
I felt like my heart would explode any minute now and I couldn't bear it.
"The portals won't open. It feels as if the system was hacked. We can't gain access. But the maids are already preparing an icey-"
"Connect me with Tristian, now" Canton's voice was slowly getting weakened.
"Of course, your highness. One second"
Canton turned once again to look at his sister who had her eyes closed. "Elvina, hold on. Okay?"
Elvina nodded, the action slow.
"Canton, what the fuck did they just tell me?"
I told myself not to let any of my negative feelings for Tristian show.
I swallowed my anger towards him and his possible involvement in this and I tried not to lose my patience.
"Tristian, I'll turn you into one of those poor science rats you experiment on if you don't save us now"
Canton mumbled his way through a threat.
"Wait, wait, Canton. I'm trying to think" Brief pause. "Isn't Elian there? Can't he heal you?"
"If I could heal them, don't you think I would have done it already, Mr Valder? Free them now and I'll convince king Canton to show some mercy" Elian snapped at Tristian.
Elian is full of surprises today.
I have never seen him like that. He always holds his composure and remains calm but not today.
He seems tensed. On the edge.
And I think Canton is the reason why.
"What makes you think that I am behind this, Elian?"
Elian huffed a humorless laugh. "What makes me think that you are behind every bad thing that happens to your king? Oh, let me pull out the essay"
Canton then whimpered in pain and Elvina followed right after.
Elian's and I's eyes widened more.
"They're dying! Do something about it"
"I'm trying to think but you're distracting me" Tristian retorted.
"You create robots out of living beings, you can't tell me that you don't have the ability to create a bloody portal of some sort"
"If I could--" he cut himself off.
"What?" Elian asked.
"Canton, are you still there?" Tristian asked, his voice rushed.
Canton nodded and Elian answered for him. "He's listening".
There was some noise of movement from Tristian's line. "Cant, the emergency portal. I created that portal for you, years ago. Do you remember?"
"Emergency portal?" Elian looked at Canton and my eyes got filled with a little bit of hope.
Quinn was frowning while Cress was staring ahead of her, skeptically.
It sounded like Tristian was running "you asked me to create that because of something that had to do with your dad" he was panting now. "I won't go into detail but I'm on it right now. I need you to tell me the password"
Elvina then screamed as if someone was torturing her and Canton looked like he was preventing himself from rolling down in pain.
"The password, Canton" Elian repeated and urged Canton to talk.
Canton re-opened his eyes, the task awfully difficult. "1-...0-0-8" he mumbled.
"Wrong"
Elian turned to look at me in a hurry, as if I would magically know the password.
I looked back for only a second. I then averted my gaze.
Canton gulped.
"Canton" Tristian pushed.
He didn't move.
Elian kneeled down next to Canton and shook him at his shoulders. "Try something else"
Canton flinched and took a deep breath. "1-1-0-..0" he murmured.
We heard Tristian type the numbers down on some sort of device and suddenly a very loud noise pierced through our ears, convincing me that I had turned deaf for a few tormenting seconds.
A big, black portal appeared on the wall while all the others remained closed.
"Guards are on the way" Tristian ended the call.
Canton and Elvina looked as if they were slowly melting, sweat dripping down their whole bodies.
Their screams were now muted, their low energy silencing them down.
I almost lost control of myself and ran to him when four armed guards burst through the black portal on the wall.
Two of them rushed to Canton while the other two went to help Elvina.
And it was due to that moment of panic that I had completely forgotten one small detail.
What about the rest of us.
There was no way out, all the other dimensions were locked and sealed.
All but Ink Blood.
I threw a quick glance at Elian and as if he read my mind, he was next to speak up.
"Wait, what will we do?"
Canton's Inks had placed him and Elvina on the stretchers and they were already heading towards the portal.
They would have kept going if Canton hadn't whispered something to them.
"My king-"
They were cut off by some more weakened words by Canton.
They nodded.
One of the guards stayed behind and turned our way while the others went through Ink Blood to save the remaining members of the royal family.
Even from a distance I noticed how he was slightly sweating already.
He cleared his throat but avoided our gazes which were stuck on him.
"Eyes on the ground, if you must"
He said.
More like, demanded.
We all looked away in sync.
To my surprise, Quinn and Cress looked down as well.
"The king is unfortunately allowing you access to Ink Blood. All of you. You will have to wait with me to the throne room until- " he begun struggling to breathe. "Until his new orders. Follow me" he finished his sentence hurriedly and immediately passed through the portal.
And we did just that.
We went through the portal in silence and with our hearts beating to an abnormal rhythm against our chests.
All for our own different reasons.
♛♛♛
Forty five minutes passed without any of us uttering a word.
We were all heavily guarded inside the throne room.
That incredibly familiar room.
Where I said my goodbye to him three months ago.
Three months ago I was on my knees, mentally crying and begging for him not to let me go.
And now I'm back to where it all started.
And to where it all ended and perhaps started once more.
My train of thought was interrupted the moment the main doors opened widely.
I was relieved to watch a wet haired Canton walk inside, fully clothed this time, his crown shining bright atop of his head.
I almost caught myself smiling at him.
Until I saw Tristian trailing his steps.
I sensed Elian walking and standing next to me.
He leaned his head close to my ear, his hands behind his back.
"Put your feelings into a safe box for now, handsome. Valder has eyes everywhere"
I almost snapped my head at him, my heart missing a beat. "If you mean my feelings of hatred for Canton, then you are right. I should put them into a safe box in front of him" I whispered.
Elian gave me an odd smirk and looked away from me, his eyes focusing on Canton.
I frowned as my heart missed another beat.
Canton was now seated on his throne. He looked disheveled.
Exhausted.
Like he could barely sit down and not pass out.
"I--" A small coughing fit cut Canton's unsaid sentence off, before he could even speak properly.
Quinn and Cress remained on the corner, unblinking and expressionless.
Identical to Tristian, who was blessing us with his avoidance.
He blinked and started again. "I have a few announcements to make"
His voice came out a bit raspy.
"It seems as if there is a problem with the dimension portals and all of our magic. They are trying to find the reason behind that and fix this mess but until then.." he took a breath in slight difficulty and kept avoiding eye-contact with every single one of us.
"Until then and to my great disappointment you are allowed to live here under some strict conditions"
Noel took a hold of my hand and squeezed it.
I tried to contain my excitement and bury it somewhere deep so no one would notice.
Hopefully nobody did.
"Someone possibly tried to kill my knight and I today and since there is another person in here who attempted on our lives a few months ago, you will all be closely monitored. Well, all except from the Moccassins."
He paused for two or three seconds almost as if he was trying to catch his breath.
"You won't be able to go anywhere without guards and you won't be able to leave this castle without my permission. The moment the portals re-open, I'm expecting all of you to get out of here. With that being said.."
Canton trailed.
My breath got caught on my throat the second his eyes met mine.
I suddenly felt light-headed and extremely vulnerable.
I hopefully kept my face neutral while he kept his face cold.
I didn't let anyone know I was inwardly jumping in nostalgia. How his stare only could make me feel alive again.
"Errot White you are temporarily pardoned from your exile" he then looked down again.
"Do as much as breathe the wrong way and my guards will take you down. Quinn and Cress, I believe you heard what I just said"
The siblings replied with their silence.
Canton then got up from his throne and begun walking towards the doors.
"Tristian show them to their roo-"
He came into a sudden halt, his head bowed down.
My body froze as well.
"Canton?" Tristian asked and started approaching him.
Canton kept blinking for a few seconds but he still wasn't moving.
Tristian placed a hand on his shoulder which resulted to Canton flinching hard. "Don't- don't touch me. I'm fine"
Another small cough escaped his lips.
Tristian was left simply staring at him.
"Errot, stop frowning" Noel whispered warily at me this time.
"I'm not fr-" I paused my own words when I realised that I was, in fact, frowning. I relaxed my eyebrows and tried not to let myself get too worried.
Canton continued walking, visibly shaken up and his steps a bit unsteady.
Tristian watched him walk away before he moved his gaze on us.
On me, more precisely.
"His highness had a long day. We will let him rest for now and I will lead you to your new rooms. This way" he said and started for the exit while a handful of guards piled up around us, their guns drawn, making me feel a bit claustrophobic.
It also made me realise something else too.
All I've seen today are guards.
Loads of them too.
But Santos is nowhere to be found.
He must have heard about what happened.
Almost an hour has passed.
There were sirens.
Emergency portals and another assassination attempt.
All that and the king's closest spy is missing.
His shadow is not here either.
We kept walking and I kept looking around in failed attempts to catch a glimpse of him or anyone else for that matter.
But no one was here.
No servants, no maids, not a single member of the castle's staff on sight.
Only his guards.
Our steps now are the only thing that can be heard and it's driving me insane.
I just want to go and find Canton.
But Tristian led us outside of the central part of the castle and to the left one.
In contrast to the central part, this one was filled with life.
The empty hallways of Canton's main building were replaced with this side's busy people walking around, running errands and gossiping with each other about the events of the last hour.
Well, the events and us.
The noise turned into whispers and intense stares or widened eyes.
I decided to ignore everyone and focus on something else.
Preferably not Canton.
Or the fact that I felt like I was finally back home.
Back to my comfort place.
Funny how I used to hate it here.
How I used to hate him.
I clenched my fists and looked up in time to see Tristian open the doors to two rooms placed next to each other.
"One for the Teals and their human" he uttered the last word in distaste and then pointed to the other room.
"And one for the Moccassins. Let's hope your stay here will be short-lived" he smirked and threw a brief glance at the Teals.
He then walked away and the guards guided us inside our room.
One room for the four of us.
I sighed deeply.
This will not end well.
♛♛♛
The clock kept ticking, the hours turning into aeons.
Nobody was really doing anything.
The siblings were laying down on one of the double beds and Noel and I were laying on the other.
My leg was moving along with the sound of the seconds passing while I was trying to put my thoughts into a right order.
That was until a guard opened our door and walked inside. "Errot White, you are requested to follow me"
My eyes almost widened. "What? Why?"
"I wouldn't ask any questions if I were in your place" he said.
My immediate reaction was to look at Noel who gave me a reassuring nod of his head while I caught Quinn and Cress glaring at me.
Their glares could only mean one thing.
They were warning me to stay in character.
I gulped and followed the impatient guard who was already out the room.
We left this side of the castle and entered the central silent building once again.
Anxiety made my heartbeat pulse against my head when he stopped right outside Canton's room and turned around to face me.
He grabbed both of my hands with force and placed handcuffs on my wrists. He then searched my body thoroughly for any possible weapons.
He didn't find any.
"The king desired an audience with you in private. Keep in mind that me and my team here will be right outside this room" he said and pointed at two other guards standing in front of Canton's door.
I nodded and tried to calm myself down.
My assigned guard knocked at the door and pulled it open.
"Your highness, Errot White" He said and pushed me inside, closing the door behind me.
I didn't manage to take another step, my body becoming immediately immobile when I saw Canton slowly getting up from his bed and heading my way.
He stopped when he was a few feet away from me, his expression cold.
The handcuffs thankfully kept my hands still and prevented them from embracing him into a hug.
"Errot" he said and I found myself unable to look away from his green eyes.
And how much I missed those eyes.
"King Canton"
"I believe you are aware of the reason why I'm keeping you here right now and not ordering your death" he said loud enough.
I furrowed my eyebrows once again, suddenly having no idea how to act towards him.
Canton was quick to place a finger against his mouth to signal me silent.
He then got closer to me, lifted my handcuffed arms up and slid his head at the empty gap in between them, locking it in place.
My arms were now wrapped around his neck and my body was pressured against his.
He placed his forehead against mine. "I missed you so much" he whispered lowly against my lips, only for me to hear.
I closed my eyes in relief and happiness, a big smile breaking out against my will and this time I didn't try to hide it away.
I pulled him even closer to me as I felt him holding me tighter. "I missed you too" I whispered just as lowly. "You can't imagine just how much I missed you"
"Next time someone dares to threaten you, just come to me. Even if you think you'll risk my life by doing so. I know how to keep myself alive, Errot"
I nodded furiously at him "I'm sorry"
"Just promise me" Canton pleaded.
"I promise" I replied. "I'll do anything not to lose you again"
Canton closed his own eyes now and begun running his fingers softly through my hair.
"Kiss me, already" I urged him, my lips gently making contact with his with every word of mine.
Canton leaned in and finally closed the remaining distance between us.
He trailed his hands on my back and pushed me even closer to him, if possible.
It felt like we were intertwined into one person, our lips, hands and bodies moving in absolute sync.
I was pressed against him so hard that I felt his heartbeat racing against my own chest.
But he suddenly stopped moving altogether.
I frowned and pulled slightly away from him to gauge his expression.
"Cant?"
He was breathing in a slightly unusual pace.
"Are you okay?" I mumbled while panting.
He pulled away from me completely by releasing himself from my cuffed hands around his neck and erupted into another coughing fit.
The guards immediately stormed inside and ran to Canton while one of them held me back.
Canton raised his hand up to stop them from getting any closer and coughed some more.
"Get out, I'm good" he snarled and coughed one last time.
The guards considered him for a few more seconds until they bowed their heads and left the room again before shooting me a glare.
My eyes were widened. "You're not good, Canton. What's wrong?"
He shrugged and sat down on his couch. "The heat comes with side effects, apparently. It must have affected my lungs badly"
I sat down next to him. "Okay. Get some sleep then. And ask for me again tomorrow" I gave him a fainted wink.
"Yeah, I might just do that"
I nodded at him and got up. "Where is Oda? Is she okay?"
"She's fine. She's not living here anymore. She's at the right side of the castle"
"Why did she move?"
Canton laid down on his bed and got under the covers to calm his shivering down. "Nothing serious. I'll let you go see her tomorrow and ask her yourself"
"Why thank you, your highness" I smirked at him but he didn't smirk back.
Instead, he opened his eyes and stared at me, his face blank. "Errot, there is something I need to tell you"
"What?" I stilled and prepared myself for what was coming.
"I slept with Tristian while you were gone. Once. And it was before I learned the truth"
I still felt shocked even though I had mentally prepared myself to hear something like that.
He continued. "I know it's not justifyable but I was angry at you. And you looked exactly the same. I'm sorry"
"No. I mean, I get it" I looked at him and tried to suppress the immense jealousy that I was feeling. "We weren't together at the time and you thought I had betrayed you. I can understand why you did what you did. And I know that you love me"
He gave me a weak smile.
"And.. it's probably the right time to confess something myself, given this.. confessing atmosphere" I bit at my bottom lip.
"Okay, let me get my serious face on" he lost his smile and fixed his composure on the bed. "Speak, human"
"It's not a joke.. I'm serious"
"I'm also serious. Don't I look serious? I pulled my serious face for you" He pointed at his expressionless face.
I sighed. "I made out with Noel"
There was a second of silence until Canton chuckled.
And then coughed a bit.
"What's funny?" I mumbled awkwardly.
"You and Noel..kissed?" He looked amused.
"Yes. We did. But listen how it happened--"
"No, you don't have to explain. I trust you"
"But-"
"Errot. I'm so tired. I don't care that you made out with the kid. I know where your love lays. Now, let me sleep"
I smiled at him. "Your wish is my command, my king"
"As it should. Goodnight" he got in a comfortable position on his bed and closed his eyes.
"Goodnight" I replied and left him alone to rest.
♛