The fact that my father had sort of been right doesn't seem to amaze me.
Minutes into the ugly venture that was been trying to figure out what the heck the rest of the people in the duke's room were doing i finally found out what Careen had been here for. The feelings that i had gotten the moment i had come into this place all seemed to make sense the moment i saw him smile, that condescending smile of his. There is this distinct feeling that i get whenever something is about to go wrong in my life and that is the same feeling that i had gotten when i saw him and the fool they called a Duke.
Sometimes i wish the king would just do something sensible for once and make a right decision in who he surrounds himself with. This Duke had his son sleeping with his wife and i'm guessing that is why she had been so insistent on killing him.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
The person who is sitting in front of me is one who i have not been chanced to meet but i have heard a lot about him. Ilya, son of La contessa.
Just the name makes me feel a sort of thrill rolling through me and i wonder if his mother will be at my execution. They say she's a real beauty and if she looks anything like her son, then it's sure to be a nice sight before i die.
Ilya is the sort of person i'd imagine you would want to see the moment you woke up, each and every day that you wake up, but still there is this essence to him that i can't seem to pick out.
This hum of energy around him that sort of makes me feel like i should be scared of him.
He releases a low cough and i blink as i come out of the lull i had fallen into while staring at him. Is this really how he looks on every regular day or is this added sheen all because i had managed to injure his father?.
"Hey is this what you look like on a normal day?"
He rolls his eyes at this and i smile the sort of smile that would have anyone i wanted falling for me. Okay, maybe not anyone but still. He gives me the sort of look that you would expect him to give a criminal and i'm guessing that is what i am. A criminal.
"Are you at least going to give me a name first?"
He is getting frustrated and there is a slight soft texture to his voice. I take a good look at him again. No one is supposed to look like this, I mean the heck?.
"Ivan"
He glares at me.
"What?"
I clear my throat.
"My name is Ivan"
There is a pause after that in which he simply looks at me with green eyes that seem to glow even in the darkness. There is something choking about the way he simply stares at me and makes a silent assessment of what he's currently dealing with. I smile at this because i don't really think he has a full knowledge of who exactly he has on his knees.
There is also the fact that i am on my knees right now and i wonder how i had gotten to this point. I killed the Duke successfully and i might have also done the same with Careen and his jealous ass if i had gotten the chance.
Someone else had gotten in the way and now that i take the time to actually consider it, he looks a little bit like the golden haired wonder that's standing in front of me with a scowl on his face. Maybe always aiming to kill had been a bad idea after all. I let the smile fall.
"You're going to kill me aren't you?"
He tilts his head to the side almost like he's actually contemplating it and i feel a smile creep up my face. Cute.
He snaps his head to me almost like he heard me...... and considering who is mother is, i'd actually suspect that he could. The tale of his family is one that has made it's way around the seven kingdoms for a while now and i'm tempted to ask for details.
"Are you going to kill me or what?"
He peers at me even more intently now and i wonder if i am showing more fear than i had been showing earlier. That is if i was even showing any signs of fear earlier. He leans against the wall.
"You seem to be in a hurry to die?"
I shrug and make a show of looking at the puddle of water that is just beneath me. I'm kneeling on a set of ironwork that is probably meant for drainage but at this point, with the sunlight finally deciding to make an appearance, the running water below me gives me a view of my face.
I had felt a few blows land on my face after i had been captured and i'm sure that i had also gotten a split lip in the few hours that they had taken to decide i was better alive. The thought of having to endure a beating is one thing, but being rained blows persistently while you are able to do nothing about it is another. I felt like an orphan in that moment. I mean i'm still an orphan but still, i felt like an helpless orphan simply receiving a beating just like that.
I make a mental reminder to get the names of each and every person that had manhandled me and give them a freaking good idea of what that feels like. I feel someone crouch down low before me and i raise my eyes to meet green ones. I gulp.
If he looks like this then what will his sister look like?
My head aches from the fact that i haven't had a good night's sleep and a meal in days now. I try to stifle the groan that comes out of my mouth but i can't. I'm having like the worst headache right now and it's only going to get worse the more i kneel.
Ilya traces his hand slightly in the space just above my head and i can feel something change. I don't feel any warmth flow through me and i don't feel anything that should alert me expressly to the fact that something is being done, but i know that something is changing.
I stare at my reflection in the pool of water below me and i can see my face quite clearly now. There isn't any bruise and no more of the swelling i got from the punches i feel i have earned at this point. There is also the faint feeling that i get, that feeling that usually tells me when i have walked into more than i bargained for and i can feel the mask i have been taught to put up in cases like this slip on.
I feel that mask slip into place and my look becomes guarded, i know he sees it too.
"Thanks"
Magic. Of all the things for me to encounter.