"Trinity!" Adam yelled, waving towards her. She only allowed a ghost of a smile to appear on her face as she continued down the path behind her brother.
"Who is that?" Ptolemus demanded through his usual disarming, diplomatic smile. He glanced at her with cold, calculating eyes. They had only reached land a few minutes ago and it seemed the whole kingdom had come to see her brother. She would have felt bad about what they were going to do if it weren't for the vicious glares from the guards and the servants trying to avoid her. They had her marked as a threat and enemy, so the feeling would be completely mutual.
"A servant, he brings my medicine sometimes," Wren responded carefully.
"The medicine you never use despite what I say, and he seems a lot more familiar with you than a servant who occasionally brings your medicine," Ptolemus replied coolly.
"Is there a problem with that, brother?" Wren asked innocently, barely containing her hatred.
"As long as you aren't doing anything to shame our family's name," he responded.
"Why does it matter, I'm not really a part of this family am I? You refuse to call me Trinity and you refuse to acknowledge any title I may hold," Wren snapped back, her temper escaping. Maybe Adam's opinions were starting to rub off on her a little.
"I suggest you hold your tongue, girl," her brother commanded, his words a threat.
"Sorry," she muttered.
Wren held back, getting as far away from her brother as she could manage. The halls of the palace were large and airy, windows of beautiful stained glass went from the floor all the way to the ceiling and ornate doors lead to balconies overlooking the sparkling, wild ocean below. Even from inside she could hear the waves crashing against the rocks far beneath them.
Servants scampered around, hoping to make Ptolemus and all the other nobles as comfortable as possible, but they didn't bother to help her, she could practically feel the fear radiating off them anytime she was within a yard.
As soon as Wren's brother was busy in conversation, Adam walked up beside her.
"He seemed tense," Adam whispered.
"Yeah well he hates the name Trinity and he hates me having a presence so the fact that you yelled to me AND called me Trinity royally pissed him off," she responded.
"Want to go see the city?" Adam offered.
"No, I have work to do," Wren responded simply, not bothering to elaborate. She wanted to go with him, she really did, but Wren knew better. Sometimes she wondered if it was wrong to befriend Adam, if it was even ok for her to get these little snapshots of happiness and normalcy, but she was selfish, she was glad to finally have a friend.
Adam stiffened, but nodded his head in understanding. He didn't like what she had to do but he also understood that her brother was in charge here and she would not go against him. He knew what happened when she failed. He had been the one to find her on that first day, seeing the bruises and cuts given by her brother, and after their fight they were trying to completely avoid the topic, trying to cover the wounds in thin bandages of lies and ignorance.
Wren had grown to enjoy Adam's presence a little, but deep down she could hear her mother's voice chanting every sign he was going to betray her, could hear his own voice telling her she was like Ptolemus. She tried to ignore it, but sometimes it was all she could think about, for once she was allowing herself to be slightly vulnerable, and that scared her.
"See you tomorrow, Trinity," Adam called as he walked off.
"Wren, catch up!" Ptolemus snapped, barely restraining his temper.
Unlike her, Ptolemus had never been good at controlling his emotions. He could put on his disarming mask, but when he was around Wren, he exploded over every little thing. Ever since they were little he had taken his anger out on her. He had never been a brother to her, only a nuisance, a threat.
They entered a large room filled with extravagantly dressed people, jewels adorning their throats and every other exposed inch of skin, they reminded her of peacocks. The table was made of dark wood with ornate details, and the whole room was filled with delicious smelling food and glasses of wine.
Ptolemus took a seat at one end of the table, his most trusted advisors beside him.
"Who might this be?" One of the foreign men asked, gesturing towards her, wearing a smile on his face that made Wren want to punch him. Some people were just plain disgusting.
"One of my guards," her brother said, not elaborating. He didn't feel like dealing with the stares and doubt that came with saying who she truly was, he wanted all the attention on himself. She was glad she looked nothing like him, he had taken after their father with blonde hair and green eyes while she had her mother's darker hair and sharp face.
The man frowned, taking a step back. He had expected her to be some sort of high ranking noble, but he wouldn't involve himself with a lowly guard.
"Watch the outside," her brother commanded. Wren nodded, stepping into the corridor.
She slumped against the door, having no interest in the politics going on inside. She had always found them incredibly dull, much preferring the action of the battlefield. Wren had never really been good with words either. She leaned her head against the wall, praying to the gods that the meeting would be fast, but knowing it probably wouldn't.
"They really put the most attentive guard out here," a boy stated, approaching her from around a corner.
"I could kill you in an instant," Wren responded, realizing she had been zoning out.
"Pleasure to meet you Ms..?" The stranger trailed off.
His face was decently handsome and his crooked smile was kind of cute, but that sort of thing didn't really matter to her, she wasn't free to choose and would probably be killed off instead. Looks only mattered if they could be used as a weapon.
The boy's clothes were of fine make, but not too fancy, he was probably a lower ranked noble hoping to learn something by listening outside the door.
"Trinity," she responded, hoping to remain unknown for a bit longer. People from other kingdoms surely wouldn't remember her old name. Wren didn't want to see the look of disgust and fear replace the smile on the boy's face. She blamed Adam for this sudden urge for human companionship.
"Your name..?" Wren asked.
"I like keeping an air of mystery. I have no clue who you are, and you have no clue who I am," the boy replied.
Wren narrowed her eyes, the boy was suspicious.
"Want a tour I'm sure I can arrange someone else to take your place here," he said.
She desperately wanted to say yes, but she knew her brother would kill her, plus this boy was probably just looking for a pretty face to entertain him for a while.
"My king would kill me, so I must decline," Wren responded, meaning every word, she wouldn't put it past Ptolemus to kill her or get close to it.
"How about if I showed you where the training room is. You can make good on your promise to kill me in an instant," the boy stated, smirking.
Wren loved a good spar, an opponent to decipher and ultimately beat, but she doubted he would put up much of a fight. On the other hand, since he seemed so suspicious maybe it would be better to keep an eye on him and use that as her excuse. She would just have to be careful to not touch him and to be back before the meeting was over.
"Fine," Wren said, pushing to her feet.
"This way," the boy said, leading her down the hall.
He reached for her arm, but she avoided him with ease. He just smiled at her, shrugging, unbothered by her flat out refusal.
"You know most girls would fight over me," he stated as they walked.
"I'm not most girls," she replied.
"You're making that crystal clear, but honestly I like it better like this. You seem to have depth to you, much more interesting," he said.
She rolled her eyes, but smiled a little. She had to look like someone he could use and manipulate, someone he could win over. If he was actually a danger it would be better if he believed her to be someone he could control. He may have seemed like just another curious idiotic noble trying to climb the rankings, but something about him felt off, like he was hiding something.
The whole place was like a maze, but they eventually entered a large room full of wracks of all sorts of weapons, all beautiful, gleaming, and deadly, Wren's favorite combination. She went straight for the knives, her preferred weapon besides her own skin. The boy chose a knife as well, a choice obviously made so that it was fair, but not a smart one if he wanted to try to win against her.
The other guards who had been sparring quickly left the room, probably leaving because of the boy.
They circled slowly around the training mats, when the boy struck, she dodged aside, swiping at him while he was off guard. He narrowly dodged a deep slash, getting only a small cut on his arm. The tear in his shirt revealed tan skin and a few droplets of blood, but he didn't seem to care.
"I was thinking more like practice weapons, but this is good too," the boy announced.
He came at her again, this time he predicted her move, gifting her a nice slash on her arm as well. Not many people could land a blow on her, but then again she was going easy on him. The boy wasn't afraid to hurt her and he was decent, she would have to try a little more.
She circled around him again, waiting for him to attack. He was smart though, he waited, only smirking at her. His eyes were calculating, predicting her movements and reactions. If he had been trained the same way as Wren he would've been an incredible fighter.
She lunged forward, the boy dodged aside but she had expected this. Wren went with him, cutting his stomach a little. Blood started to stain his white shirt but he didn't seem to notice.
"You're pretty strong for just an average guard," he stated.
Wren came at him again when she noticed his hand grabbing for hers a second too late. It wrapped around her wrist, his face mere centimeters from hers, his eyes sparkling. She stood in shock for a few moments, both of them just staring at each other before he slammed her against the ground, stepping back. She just laid there, her eyes wide. This boy was more dangerous than she thought. It was one thing for that weak assassin to be immune, but this boy was cunning and probably wielded a little bit of power.
"You seem shocked, you should know not to get distracted during a fight," the boy said, laughing, obviously assuming she had been affected by his looks. Why had she been affected so much by his immunity? Usually this wouldn't phase her, but for some reason his touch had frozen her. Could he also wield some sort of ability?
"How?" She whispered, still in shock.
"What do you mean?" The boy asked, confused.
"You should have felt pain, you should have collapsed. Instead you somehow froze me in place," she whispered.
"You wield an ability," The boy stated.
Wren nodded.
"If someone wields an ability it doesn't affect me and when I touch them they freeze, but only if I'm fighting, it doesn't affect them normally though I'm still immune. Pretty great, right?" The boy said, smiling.
Wren stared in shock. If this had been an actual fight she would have lost, something she hadn't experienced in a long time.
"Trinity…?" The boy asked, obviously a little concerned.
"Most people… know me as Wren," she replied slowly after a pause.
The boy's eyes went wide in surprise.
"You mean like the goddess?" The boy exclaimed.
"....Like the assassin," she corrected.
She pushed to her feet, unable to look the boy in the eyes, afraid of what she would find.
"I guess I should probably reveal my identity too. Prince Zane," the boy said, his voice not shaking at all, no disgust on his face.
It was her turn to be surprised. This random boy who had sparred with a guard and allowed himself to be injured was a prince?
"Ptolemus is going to kill me! Not only did I leave that horrible meeting, but I've attacked a prince, I could have accidentally killed you!" She exclaimed.
"You're right the meeting is probably about over, we should get back," Zane responded.
"You aren't…scared?" She asked slowly, looking down again.
"You look like a normal girl to me," he said, even smiling a little.
Adam burst into the room, out of breath and looking like he'd seen a ghost. He looked around, spotting her standing there.
"Trinity! You need to get out of here now! Ptolemus, he's looking for you, and not like the nice polite type of looking, he looks like he might actually kill you," Adam exclaimed before noticing Zane.
"I can cover for her," he stated.
Adam looked almost insulted at the sight of him. She held her head high only feeling a twinge of guilt for not accepting Adam's request for them to see the city.
"How can you help? Who even are you?" Adam asked.
"Prince Zane, should we go back now Trinity?" Zane said, barely sparing Adam a glance.
Adam looked almost angry about Zane's existence. Wren had never seen someone worse at controlling their emotions. He looked like he wanted to kill Zane for some unknown reason, wasn't Adam the type to befriend everyone?
Her head gave a violent throb and she winced a little.
"What's wrong?" The boys demanded at once.
"It's just my ability bothering me a little," she muttered.
"Does it help any when you touch someone else?" Zane questioned.
"Yeah it does, the way it works is I send all the pain into someone else when I touch them," she explained.
"Here hold my hand," he said, grabbing her before she could respond.
"Thanks," she whispered, relief flooding through her.
It felt weird for her hand to connect with someone for so long, but it felt nice, like something she had never known she needed or missed.
"He can touch you?" Adam asked.
"Yeah, he has an ability too, he-"
"Let's go, explain later!" Adam yelled, glaring only for a second before stalking ahead. Looks like they were going to have an argument later, this was exactly why she didn't like dealing with people.
They walked down the twisting hallways, avoiding every guard they could with Zane's help, Adam remaining silent for most of the walk. Thanks to Zane holding her arm not a single guard had questioned them.
"Stay here, I'll talk to my father and King Prolemus," he whispered when they finally made it back to the meeting room.
He disappeared inside, shutting the door behind him.
Now that they were alone Adam finally spoke, sounding annoyed: "Couldn't go to the city with me but you had no problem going off with him. If you wanted to spar with someone you could have just said that."
"You can't fight and it wasn't like I was planning on this," Wren responded calmly.
"You could teach me?" he offered, a ghost of a smile dancing across his face.
"That would be nice," she answered, smiling.
"He calls you Trinity too, he seems nice. Guess it wouldn't be terrible if you had another friend, especially a prince," Adam whispered.
"Could you be…jealous?" She asked, smirking.
Adam only frowned.
"Wren!" A large booming voice yelled as the meeting room door opened.
Both her and Adam's smile disappeared.
"Brother I-"
"Silence, girl!" He yelled.
Adam seemed ready to jump on Ptolemus at the first hint of trouble. She wished she could wrap her hand around his, a strange wish, she had never even considered doing that before.
"Prince Zane has most generously taken the blame for your sudden disappearance and has made an offer to make up for it. He is a prince and outranks you therefore I think it would be in your best interest to do as you're told without complaining," Ptolemus explained.
"He does not outrank her considering I know your little secret! Princess Trinity has not chosen to let you take the throne and since she is the older of you two she is the rightful queen!" Adam exclaimed, his temper exploding. She thought about when she had told Adam her birthday, one that made her obviously older than her brother even if only a little. Adam must have assumed her brother had taken the throne.
"How dare you interrupt this meeting, servant. You will be dealt with later, and to settle this, Wren do you agree you have allowed me to take the throne?" Ptolemus asked, grinning wickedly.
She paused, her whole life seeming to flash before her. Her childhood being groomed into letting Ptolemus take the throne, learning how to stay out of trouble and be perfect. She remembered how he had threatened her forcing her to take the blood oath that allowed him to become the ruler. She remembered snapping and attacking him and how his screams from just her touch had been like music or candy, how his warm blood had felt splattering her as she clawed at his face, and how she had fallen to the blood splattered ground next to him.
She remembered how soft the grass felt and how warm the sun was, but most of all she remembered the pain causing her to writhe and screech. Wren remembered the guards coming along with her mother and father. Her father yelling and calling her a demon, yelling at her mother for having a cursed child and her mother trying to come up with some way to help her. Nothing could, so Wren had been forced to get used to it, to endure.
As soon as her mother had passed away Ptolemus had taken the throne and ruined her. Turning her into this, into nothing.
"I agree," she whispered, bowing her head, pushing her emotions down, barely able to glance at Adam out of shame.
He stared at her in sadness and pity. He knew what her brother did to her when she failed. How he would deal blow after blow with his sword until she was unrecognizable and allowed her no medicine to treat her wounds unless they would leave lasting effects. Adam knew the atrocities Ptolemus had forced her through, the killing she'd been forced to do. She had murdered every last target and every last witness, even if they had been just children. Wren knew she was doomed, when death finally dragged her back into its icy black depths, she would feel even more pain and deserve it after her deeds.
"Prince Zane would like you to stay with him for these next few days and serve as his personal guard, we can discuss this in more detail alone, follow me" Ptolemus commanded.
Wren followed him into a nearby room. As soon as the door shut Ptolemus whipped out his sword and slashed it across her face. He was almost as good of warrior as she was without her ability and the strength behind the blow made it sting even more. Warm blood started to drip down her face but she didn't bother to wipe it away.
"I knew I should have killed that servant boy, he's causing this," Ptolemus growled.
"N-no he's not!" She shouted.
Ptolemus looked at her, his eyes promising pain. He swiftly cut her arm, Wren cried out, not expecting the sword to cut so deep.
"Don't talk back to me," Ptolemus whispered, deadly quiet.
"I'm sorry," she lowered her head, Adam's life was on the line, she couldn't do anything wrong.
"If there are any more issues, I will kill him. If you won't obey me out of obedience then I'm sure this will convince you," he said, smiling.
She nodded, trying to hide the fear in her, trying to steady her hands. Friends were weaknesses, but at the same time she was glad to have one. Wren's mother had repeated and repeated lessons, drilling them into her mind, but she felt them slowly fading, slowly disintegrating as she thought of all she had felt in these last few weeks. How warm Adam's smile was, and how much Wren smiled when she was with him. She thought about peacefully reading with him all afternoon on the ship and the conversations they would have when she put her book down. The way he encouraged her to be better and defended her from Ptolemus.
Wren's hands stopped shaking as she turned back towards him.
"You can't control me the way you control your servants, I'm not powerless, I'm not a scared useless child anymore. If you hurt Adam I will kill you and I will take control of our kingdom. I'm done with being your pawn, I'm done with being your tool, your weapon, but most of all, I'm done with you. Oh and by the way, my name is Trinity, not Wren," Trinity stormed from the room, her heart full of a deadly calm. She didn't wait to hear Ptolemus' response to what she had said, she simply didn't care. He couldn't hurt her, couldn't beat her.
She walked down the halls feeling as if a weight had finally been lifted from her shoulders. Her whole life she had simply obeyed, pretending that she was fine, pretending that she didn't mind what she did while fantasizing over a world that was just out of reach. She had trapped herself in the thought of freedom, the type you only read about in books, never fighting for it herself.
Trinity saw Adam and Zane talking quietly where she had left them. Adam looked mad and Zane looked almost nervous. Was he nervous about what Ptolemus would do to her?
"Trinity!" Adam yelled, rushing towards her, no doubt noticing the several bleeding cuts.
"Are you ok? Should I get someone to help?" Zane demanded, joining them.
She stared at them for a moment and just started laughing. They looked at her in confusion as she sank to the floor, laughing for several seconds.
"I can do whatever the hell I want and he can't do a thing about it," she said, laughing again.
"What?" Adam asked.
"He's too scared to say a word to me, much less control me. I'm free Adam, I'm finally free!" She whispered, smiling more than she had in years.
"What happened?" Adam asked, a wicked grin crossing his face.
Trinity laughed more, their faces were priceless, she didn't even want to say anything rude or sarcastic.
"I'd kiss you, but I'm not sure if that would feel so nice on your side," she said to Adam, her eyes twinkling. Trinity didn't even blush after saying that, she just sat there on the cold floor, smiling, not even processing what she had admitted. Adam's face went bright red and Zane just smirked.
"What-You-" Adam started.
"What he's trying to say is he would totally kiss you too," Zane interrupted.
"You still want to see the city?" She asked.
"...Yeah…I would like that," Adam whispered, still in shock.
"I'll let you two go ahead, have fun," Zane winked before waltzing off, leaving Trinity and Adam alone.
They walked through the streets, a small distance between them, both of them silent. Now that her weird happiness and adrenaline had worn off she had no clue what to say to him, the embarrassment of what she had admitted finally setting in. Adam's reaction had been just a little bit cute, and that thought alone made her blush.
Love was a foreign emotion to her, she read about it, but had never felt anything past the attachment for her mother. Now she felt something completely different, something that felt like she was being stabbed, but it felt good somehow. It made her feel truly alive.
The people around them were dressed nicely, all of them in dresses and well tailored clothes. Even the commoners in this place must have been rich.
"Let's go down to the ocean!" Adam exclaimed, looking at her and smiling a little.
Trinity didn't respond, just following behind him. When they reached the cliff she couldn't help but smile again, her eyes twinkling. The roar of the ocean filled her ears, sounding almost as lovely as music. The smell of salt entered her nose and the breeze whipped at her hair. She pulled her clip out, letting her hair blow wild. Adam laughed, and for the first time in years, she felt true happiness.
"C'mon!" Trinity motioned, carefully making her way down a steep path through the rocky cliff and down to the beach below. Adam followed after her. She removed her shoes and ran into the ocean, he quickly joined her.
The water was cool around her, but she didn't care. She splashed some at Adam, and soon they were both completely drenched and laughing. Trinity walked back towards the edge of the water, collapsing onto the sand and staring up at the sky. Storm clouds had gathered overhead and soon little droplets of water fell all around her. Her untreated cuts stung a little, but she didn't mind. Pain was the last thing she was thinking about at the moment.
"Trinity Dawnfire, I am completely and totally in love with you," Adam said, sitting beside her.
"Adam whatever the hell your last name is…. You are a complete idiot," she smiled at him.
He laughed, shaking his head, his wet hair hanging in his eyes.
"How horrible of you, can't even remember my last name" he said.
"You've never told me, dumbass," she replied.
"Dubois," he told her.
"Sounds strange," she responded.
He shrugged before splashing more water onto her.
"I'm sorry about what I said on the ship," Adam whispered finally.
"It was true," she replied, her voice soft.
"You're nothing like him, and I probably won't ever be able to understand how you can kill people, but I can't judge you for it, if you hadn't done this you'd be dead," Adam stated.
She nodded, closing her eyes.
That had to be the best day of Trinity's life. Despite the start, the ending was perfect. It wasn't that her life revolved around other people, around love, she didn't need it to be happy, but having Adam certainly helped little. It was nice to forget for a little while when she was with him.
They walked through the streets, their soaking wet clothes getting odd looks from people, but they didn't mind. Trinity couldn't have cared less about anyone or anything else at the moment.
"Are you cold?" He asked.
"Are you?" She countered.
"A little," he replied.
"Same," she said.
"We could leave this place, go somewhere far away where no one could find us!" Adam exclaimed suddenly.
She paused, looking into his hopeful, intense eyes. Then she smiled softly, nodding her head.
"That would be nice, but what about your parents?" she whispered.
"I don't know my dad, but I can write my mom a letter, it's not like she'll be hard to find," he replied.
"Alright," she said.
"Tomorrow night, we can leave for good, you can be free," Adam stated.
"Tomorrow night," Trinity agreed, barely comprehending her own words.
They walked the rest of the way back to the palace in comfortable silence, waving as they parted ways and headed towards their rooms.
"Trinity, wait!" Someone called.
She turned around to see Zane standing there.
"I just thought I'd say…You should kill Ptolemus. No one could prove it was you and even if they thought it was, no one would dare speak against you. Then you wouldn't have to bow to anyone ever," he explained.
"I'd love to kill Ptolemus, but I'm not fit to rule a kingdom. Tomorrow night Adam and I are leaving," she responded.
"What about your kingdom, what about my kingdom? You and me both know he's here to conquer and destroy us," Zane stated, his face full of disappointment.
"I'm a selfish person, I always choose myself and what I want over everyone, it's the only way to stay alive," Trinity replied, trying not to feel any guilt. Zane had been kind to her, but she couldn't help him with this.
He nodded curtly and turned away.
"I'll keep your advice in mind," he stated.
Trinity didn't even bother to turn back, simply letting him be and heading towards her own room, too preoccupied in her thoughts to worry about him at the moment.