The strong scent of sweat and metal permeated my nostrils.
I shifted my head as I lay on the thin mattress, feeling the hard concrete beneath it. I stared at the front wall, which was covered in profanities, previous prisoners' wailings, and the injustice they had suffered...
"Your Highness, can you hear me?" A suppressed sound came from the adjacent cell.
It was of the same person who first came to meet Desoreth and proposed the deal with him, his name was Qiliyer.
"I'm no longer royalty; now, I'm just another aide to the defeated…" Desoreth replied.
Silence fell on both cells after Desoreth said those words.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness, we didn't calculate the intervention of the Savashier House in our plans, they took us by surprise…" Qiliyer whispered.
"No use regretting it now, you should accept it while you can, at least you gave your best," Desoreth stated.
"I would've given you the method to your situation if I had it, but sadly, the one who knew where it was has already passed away."
"Don't worry, as I said, there's no use in regretting."
*Pitter-Patter*
The sound of footsteps became louder and louder until finally, they came to a halt.
*Clank*
"Out!"
Qiliyer was dragged out of his prison cell, he was about to face the consequences of his actions, but before that, he must do one more thing.
"Your Highness Desoreth!" He shouted, grabbing everyone's attention.
"Thank you for your gracious support, I shall not forget it, even in the afterlife!" He said in an honest voice, Desoreth turned his head away from the prison wall and glanced in the direction of his cell bars.
There stood a man, with grievous wounds running down his entire body, blood dripping like a leaky tank, but an earnest smile on his face created a stark contrast to his dire situation.
He didn't appear to be regretting anything, but rather, it seemed as if he had already accepted his fate.
"Move along!" The prison guard finally lost his patience and kick-pushed Qiliyer.
"Damn Losers! Licking each other's ugly wounds…" the guard berated.
After Qiliyer was taken, silence once again fell, but this time, it didn't last much longer as Desoreth could soon hear another pair of footsteps coming in his direction.
'Looks like my time has come... Should I be feeling regret in this situation?' Then again, he didn't know what regret was. Desoreth sighed and stood up.
He moved towards the metal bars, dragging his chained limbs.
He waited for the prison guard to appear and unlock the gate, but the one who came before him wasn't a guard, instead, it was the patriarch of the Varnis family, Tevokerui Varnis.
And as if it were programmed in Desoreth, he kneeled on one knee and paid his respects.
"My Lord"
"I'm no longer your Lord," Tevokerui spoke in a cold, emotionless voice.
Desoreth acted as if he didn't hear anything and remained kneeling. "Get up," said Tevokerui.
Only then did Desoreth get up and face the family head once again.
Piercing blue eyes, a sharp nose, perfectly parted jet-black hairs, a face as clean and white as paper.
"What did they offer you, for you to support them so wholeheartedly?" The head inquired.
"A method that would allow me to feel my emotions," Desoreth replied honestly.
"A method like that doesn't exist, if it did, I would've already found one. No one can unbind the curse of our bloodline," Tevokerui stated.
"Maybe, maybe not; how would I know if I didn't try my utmost?" Desoreth answered.
Tevokerui didn't reply after that and just looked straight into Desoreth's eyes. The lockdown remained for a few seconds.
"Put your hand forward," the head beckoned Desoreth.
Desoreth obliged, and the chains that bound his arms rattled.
A smooth grey coin was placed on his rough palm.
"I shall not go into details, but I will just say this: I have kept an eye on you since you were small. You weren't anything special or particularly talented, but you sure were the oddest one to be born in our family," Tevokerui articulated, and he took his eyes off of the coin and once again looked at Desoreth. "Keep that coin with you, and if you think you can't do it, simply toss it away."
"What does it do?"
"You'll find out soon enough, anyway, I should leave now," he spoke, taking a few steps away before coming to a halt once more. "Desoreth, endure it, I shall wait for your return," his voice echoed, and without turning around, he left.
'My return?' Desoreth clutched the coin in his hand and felt the smooth engravings on it.
.
.
.
"Fresh fish, go unlock the gate, and bring the dessert outside."
"M-me?" A skinny boy pointed a thumb at himself.
"Who else is the new guy here?" the bald executioner with scars on his face asked back in a gruffy voice, and he threw a bunch of keys at the new guy.
"But, I don't want to…" he muttered under his breath.
"What did you say?"
"N-nothing, I will go get him!" The skinny boy moved with hesitation in his steps.
.
.
.
'I won't get into any trouble, right? After all, he is royalty, whereas I'm just a measly commoner. What if they sent an assassin to kill me? No, I don't want to die just yet, I'm not even married. Somebody, please help me' the skinny boy continued to worry.
"How long are you gonna delay?"
"Hiyah!" the boy jumped back in fear.
"Please! Don't kill me, I'm still a virgin," the boy ranted.
"Just open it, will ya?" The cold voice ordered once again.
"Yes, yes, yes, of course."
*Clank*
Desoreth stepped outside the cell with chains around his limbs being dragged behind him.
"Let's go"
"Yes, your majesty!" Keeping his eyes away from making any eye contact with Desoreth, the boy moved in front with jerky movements while Desoreth followed behind in an elegant gait.