"I don't care if you take her, but I want compensation for the things you put me through raising that thing alone," I listen to my mother speak to someone with an old husky voice, one I feared I remembered a little too well. My head throbbed more than it ever had before, and I found myself back in the dark, hoping for a light at any moment.
"Your majesty," the husky voice continued, slowly fluttering my eyes open. I tried to turn the abstract nonsense into something that looked even slightly familiar. Everything was so bright that I didn't want any part of it.
"What is wrong with her face?" A younger, sweeter voice asks. One that sounded as if it was made of silk and laced with honey. The only one that didn't give me a headache was enough to ignore such a rude comment. I shifted my weight, realizing my hands were bound in cold iron between my back, rendering me rather useless at the moment. More cold tugs me around the neck, reminding me that I was entirely bound by the chains on a tile floor instead of the dirt I was used to.
"She must have gotten into an accident before we got her here, it's so peculiar," my view is shadowed by the husky-voiced man. I wanted so badly to assume it was my father, yet there wasn't anything other than the possibility of it being his voice. Footsteps in front of me begin to draw nearer, and I curl into a ball more in case something happens again.
"Odysseus, if I find out something has been hurting your seer I hope you understand whether you cure me or not, I will make sure you die in vain. I don't take kindly to ignoring obvious problems," my eyes shot open again, hearing such an awful name spoken by a silk voice. It seemed my predictions about my father were correct.
"You know I am not aware of what the mother does Atty. Please grant me your graces in understanding I am only here to safely retrieve the key to your success,"
"She is not a thing for you to just throw around, and it's Atlas. You will address me as such or be sent back to the jailhouse," a gentle hand brushes over the side of my face, and I wince. I didn't think the spot was so sensitive, even after what had to be a few hours.
"Have it your way prince, I am just stating the facts of the situation. They look like fresh bruises and her mother always had a nasty temperament. You can tell Mora takes so highly after her, hence the chains. I didn't even feel safe transporting her here freely," Odysseus seemed to have mastered speaking with such believable ignorance, even if I wanted to ignore the truth and fall into his words. That's the first step to ending up as hopeless as my mother though.
"I thought you said her name was Nova?" I clear my dry throat, coughing slightly as my head is stiffly picked up from the floor before being laid on a pillow.
"N-novamora," I barely recognized my voice, taking comfort in the fluff shielding me from the tile nastiness. It must have been a long time, considering it got so raspy. The hand gently applies something soft to the achy side of my face. I relished in the cooling sensation that overrode my discomfort.
"I see, well then Odysseus. I will take it from here, and my father will deal with you after the fact. You may leave now," The chains around my wrists are fiddled with before I feel them fall away, as well as the one on my neck, "you can trust I will be making sure you truly don't know anything about her injuries,"
"Oh Atlas, so skeptical all the time. How curious considering your father is such a trusting man. The differences in your personalities are truly… intriguing," hearing my father speak, I knew when he was trying to start something. There was a piece of information he knew but didn't want to let out so quickly. It was like an offensive inside joke that was said only to get under the victim's skin. Slowly, I use my hands to sit up, only to be pushed back down by an unfamiliar touch. One that was much more gentle than anyone who had handled me in the past.
"What do you insinuate Ody?" My eyes focus, catching sight of the younger man with his hand on my arm. I was on the floor, and he was right there as well. How could a royal take pity on someone as insignificant as I am?
"How can you ask me to speak your name in full yet you speak mine with little respect?"
"You deserve no respect, so please enlighten me on what you so keenly know about my history that I don't seem to be aware of, will you?" Atlas spoke in a way where his disdain needed no tone nor words to get the message across. It was attractive.
"You should get your information straight from the source, I am in no position to tell you what your parents keep under wraps," and before Atlas could protest, my father shoos him away, "Now, let me be alone with my daughter and have a moment before I just hand her away to someone less the fit of being saved by her graces," I grimace hearing my father's voice and tried again to sit up, shaking my head not needing anything more to ruin my day.