"Don't leave me alone with him," my voice was still dry and disgusting sounding. Both men seemed to be wrapped up in their own conversation, worrying me that I wasn't being listened to. Never did things end well for society when two men go at it, ignoring the things around them. Slowly I reached my hand out to this mystery guy, turning his chin to stare in my direction.
"Nova, you will have plenty of time to make moves later, I need to talk to you in private. Let your father say goodbye, why don't you?" Odysseus's words floated through my head with no real weight while my hand fell into my lap taking some sort of wooden piece with it. Atlas (I guess his name was) seemed to be disintegrating right in front of my eyes. A quarter of his face was black with decay affecting what seemed to be his left eye, turning it a pure white. It was morbid and I knew I wasn't subtle about the way I stared upon who the world called the unfixable prince. Why his smile never fell I don't know.
"I apologize seer… I assume this isn't the thing you like to see when first waking up," His palm opens for the mask and I hand it back, tracing the untouched side of his face, wondering what purpose the mask served for him. My thoughts were rudely interrupted by the condescending rhythm of my father's clap and fake tears.
"Oh how beautiful, my daughter is already making you look so much more lively! Do not be fooled though Atty, she is just as witty as her father, no?" I shot Ody a look of despise, hating the way he compared me to himself. This man was nothing more than a surrogate at best. My head throbbed as I turned my gaze back to Atlas who had never taken his eyes off of me. It freaked me out a little bit knowing he never looked away, but I probably looked as bad as he did at that moment.
"You seem worth much more than your father, I almost refuse to believe you are from his seed if it weren't for such eyes. Don't let his words fool you though, it seems you do a wonderful job making those crystal iris's your own," the poetics of this cursed prince were flattering no doubt, it was just a shame I had no true belief that he spoke to me out of genuine kindness. I don't know what I was there for, and I wanted to find out more without being cornered by just my father.
"Thank you, but I really must know what my purpose here is, one moment I am on the floor of my mother's house and the next I am writhing on your tiles in chains," my skin still felt cold, as if the cuffs were still there in more then the spirit of the bruises throbbing about my wrists. Odysseus looks to Atlas and he reluctantly stands walking off.
"My guards will watch the whole interaction, do not put your hands on her, do not stand within 1 foot of her bubble and don't make me have to come back here," a little bit of stress was taken off my plate, thanks to his threats; but I almost wished he would have come for me rather than the other mind games he always liked to play. I turned my gaze to my father as the guards encircled us, poised and ready to kill without hesitation. It was like I was more than a bastard out of wedlock for once, something I felt I could get behind.
"Nova, Nova, my sweet-,"
"Shut up Ody. What do you want from me this time? Gonna try and sell me off to another person? What did you say to him and why is he looking at me as if I was the solution to a world of problems bigger than the one we reside in?" His laugh turned dark and disturbing as I found myself being circled. Now instead of a group of protectors, I felt as if I were in an arena facing off against the opponent that had managed to beat me down no matter how smart I became. To think I had ever been a daddy's girl reminds me of how far I think I have come from naivety. Yet it still manages to find me in the worst times.
"You always had your mother's tongue, you know that? Always so disrespectful, so witty! Truly my perfect daughter," the sound of his boots echoed through the room as he circled me. I was too tired for the games he wanted me to play with him today, I just wanted my answers for once.
"Why am I here? If you aren't going to answer any of my other questions at least let me know why I am here," I look up to Odysseus, my eyes drooping in exhaustion as he stops in front of me. Despite being over a foot away I still hoped the guards got him at any moment for even looking at me the way he did. I could only hope for so much though.
"Because he is just like you, my little seer… The only difference is his father is too silly to realize how different they really are. You think the cursed prince was born cursed? Nobody is born cursed, and you are here to give him a lovely 363 days of believing you can heal him. Lead him on like you are so good at, won't you?" my eyes rolled to the back of my head in annoyance.
"You told the cursed prince I could lift the curse? What did he do so badly that caused him a demise like this?" Ody's smile only grew more sinister while our icy gaze clashed with one another, fighting senselessly to see who would look away first as if a single blink would make the tension between us dissipate. Oh, how I hated those eyes…