Holding up his hands he calls up to her smiling "I come in peace I swear." He began lowering his hands as Larc got closer. She was soon in an arm's length distance to him, and without missing a beat he drew his concealed dagger and went to draw her close to him. Though what he wasn't expecting was a sharp pain in his lower leg. He let out a short yelp before Larc slapped a hand over his mouth to prevent him from alerting anyone.
Letting the forest engulf them, Larc tore a piece of her flannel sleeve, tying it around the boy's mouth, further ensuring he wouldn't make their presence known. Though he struggled, flailing his head about, she successfully knotted the fabric tightly at the nape of his neck. Through the walk the blue and green fabric continued to slip, making Larc believe her troubles were for not.
The boy limped along, surprisingly keeping up with Larc. The fabric continued to rub against his face, bringing on a rash. The two teenagers soon found themselves in front of a small log shack. Pushing the mysterious boy inside Larc became more curious about who he was and why he'd tried to wound her.
She ripped the makeshift gag from his mouth and studied the boy's face. He didn't speak, he watched her, waited for her to ask her questions.
"Wanna explain?"
"Not particularly," The boy slumped into a wooden chair as Larc twitched her fingers near his temple emitting a black glow that sept into his eyes turning them black. "My father, not the most friendly person. He, like many others, is looking for Lacuna." Larc raised an eyebrow turning towards the boy, as his eyes returned to their normal colour.
"And what the hell do I have to do with the legend of the girl in black?" She questioned, seeping the same black light into his eyes.
"Father says the two of you are related in some way, unfortunately for you, he didn't elaborate"
Larc pushed the back of the boy's chair making him tip back slightly, bringing their faces no more than an inch apart.
"One more question," she smirked, "who are you?" Once more the boy's eyes became black holes. The boy resisted the question at first, which came as a surprise to Larc, then he spoke a few shocking words.
"Lucas Riverty love"
Larc stumbled back after the boy said his name. She studied his face closer and realized who he was.
"You're the prince of Kand."
"Guilty"
Larc quickly untied the prince. Any act against the royal family would result in execution, the law was taught to every child since birth. The girl had just committed the worst crime she could have. The last of the rope fell to the ground and the prince rose to face Larc.
"What did you do to me? I'm not usually a very talkative person, but you somehow made me. How?" Prince Riverty looked deep into her eyes, though she quickly broke the gaze.
"None of your business, Prince Riverty"
"Not the sharing type I see and please, call me Lucas. Can you at least tell me why I can't feel the stab wound you gave me?" The cold night air began to fill the shack making the teens shiver. "Fine, don't tell me, I'll figure it out myself." Lucas reached into his back pocket and took out a bandage. Larc snatched the bandage and placed it on the table.
"You know I can't let you leave with that wound right, your family will execute me." There was a short pause before the prince darted toward the door, though he was quickly tripped falling flat on his face. Standing behind him was Larc who had, yet again, bested him in combat.
"How?"
"How'd a girl just kick your ass?" Larc laughed as she forgot the boy was royalty and in the coming days she might very well be dead.
Lucas stood up to face the girl, a smirk plastered on his face. "You aren't a normal girl are you"
"Not in the slightest, ya still can't leave though, for obvious reasons."
Larc looked at Lucas assuring him he was safe, even though she wasn't sure what she'd do if he told his family. Letting him go also meant letting go of her mom, Avanth, her friends, and the new mystery of how she might be related to Lacuna that was thrown into her lap.
A few more exchanges of words and Larc exited the shack leaving the prince alone. She again twitched her fingers mumbling something that sounded like a spell.
"Kam est no pendo lory"
A large midnight blue dome surrounded the shack. Larc's eyes lit up, proud of her achievement she was never able to do this level of magic, considering she was self-taught and there wasn't anyone known to have abilities like hers. The sayings helped her concentrate on what she was doing. The dome sank into the ground as the prince stared in awe at the mysterious girl from a small window.
"I'll be back, Riverty!" Larc yelled walking away, "Not that you can leave"
Walking through the woods the light was slowly dimming until eventually, it was pitch black she snapped her fingers and a warm yellow light came out of her hand. She soon reached her home. All the lights were off but the one in the living room, inside she saw her brother on the couch reading his new books and mother in her rocking chair. They seemed happy, clearly unaware she'd been gone for a few hours. She often disappeared without reason and reappeared hours and sometimes even days later.
The scary thing about Larc disappearing was she sometimes didn't know where she went. She had blackouts. Periods of time went missing from her mind and she didn't know where that time went.
Avanth was deep into a book when the screen door opened. He was stuck staring at the pages, reading about knights killing dragons and saving the princess. He had trouble ripping his eyes from the words that brought the story closer and closer to an end. He thought the person walking in would be Larc and he was right. Standing in the entrance was Larc, Avanth ran up to her wrapping his arms around her stomach. He quickly took a step back looking down.
An unknown black liquid had stained his pale skin, he looked up at Larc confused. Lowering his gaze he saw the liquid was coming from underneath her shirt.
"What is this, Larc?"
Staring down at the liquid she soon identified it as her blood. She was used to covering up her wounds but she'd barely noticed she was bleeding. She had no excuse prepared, her mind fired trying to come up with an answer for her brother's question.
"Oh my god, I must have spilled a drink on myself. I was out with Raeghan."
Judging by Avanths change of expression, he bought the lie. He looked down at the so-called drink and left to clean it up. Larc's mother on the other hand didn't seem to buy the lie. She made a disappointed face turning to allow Larc to see it.
"Lying to friends and strangers is alright, however a lie to the family is not. What is the dark liquid on your arm?"
"Okay, do not lecture me about lying, all you do is lie. To me. To Avanth. I don't need to explain myself to you"
Larc stormed down the stairs to the basement leaving her words behind her, pushing yet another mother-daughter interaction further away in her mind. The two always had an awful relationship, it started with the first major lie she told. Ten years, she thought her father and sister had left the family, and just one day disappeared. Turns out, no, they had died and her mother was too scared to tell anyone. The secrets and lies never stopped, it made everything that came out of her mouth hard to believe.
Laying in bed the thoughts of all the lies were brought back, though she was fighting to push them down, they remained boiling on the surface. She felt like screaming, maybe it would release some anger.
Soon there was a knock at the door, Larc struggled to her feet clutching her side. The wound had stopped bleeding and was glued shut by dried blood, still, the wound was throbbing. Larc swung the door open and saw Avanth.
"What's up, Bud?"
"There's someone at the door asking for you"
Larc's face went pale, thinking it was Prince Riverty. However, who stood on the other side of the screen door was much worse, the man at the front door was the king.
"Ms. Vexx, I usually don't personally come to people's houses, but I felt this time was necessary. Especially since it's regarding my son." The king paused looking down, ashamed of his words, "He's missing, I believe he was coming to have a chat with you."
Avanth walked up behind Larc and stared up at her searching for answers.
"It's okay, Van. I'm just gonna go have a talk with the king, k? Tell mom I'll be right back."
Larcs brother left as she followed the king out of the house. To Larcs surprise, outside of her home was only a gernadio. Larc stared at the horse-shaped creature in disbelief. She could have sworn the last gernadio was killed over 40 years ago, her grandmother had told her stories about a time when everyone had one.
"Beautiful thing isn't he?"
"Absolutely my king. How might I help you, with your son and all?"
The king had the same look again, ashamed. He began stroking the gernadio, diverting his gaze towards it.
"Right to the point. Well, my son was tasked with a mission. An important one. Lucas was to come to your residence and ask you a few questions. I guess my question is, did the prince visit you tonight?"
Larc knew the question was coming, she just was hoping it wouldn't. She knew her answer but found it hard to put it into words.
"Um, I'm sorry to hear the prince has disappeared and it pains me to say I'm unable to help you. I haven't seen or heard from Prince Riverty."
"And you're sure of your answer? Absolutely sure?"
"I would never lie to you, my king. I swear, your son hasn't been here."
The king mounted his gernadio and rode off. Leaving Larc alone, standing on her driveway, contemplating whether or not the king would come back with soldiers to escort the traitor they thought she was to the prison. She stood looking out onto the pathway the king had just left on in fear.
She spent the night awake, staring at the ceiling. At some point, Avanth walked by sleepwalking. Like always Larc guided him back to his room and helped him to bed. She went back to bed herself only to go back to the same thing of staring at the ceiling.