Mare

You're a weapon, and weapons do not weep

Chapter Music: Something to Lose

I slouch in the chair as I pick at my plate of food. At this point is honestly just being moved in circles with my fork rather than being eaten. When the red maid came in with food in tow, she had kept her eyes low and didn't speak a word. Not that she was allowed to anyway, reds servants aren't allowed to talk to their superiors. But, I wasn't a silver princess anymore. Just a fallen red girl. 

My eyes flick around the room, looking for a fault in my cage. It's reinforced with silent stone, a familiar word from my studies with Julian Jacos. He is the closest thing I had to a friend during my time at the palace before my world went to hell. It turns off one's abilities, he had said, like a switch.

Julian had experienced silent stone first hand when he was thrown into Corros Prison. When he emerged after several months under the stone's effects he was weak, barely able to use his own singer ability- or walk for that matter. A dead man walking, but he did survive it.

The stone was, no doubt, put in place to hold me. Who else would Maven need to hold at the palace? But to get this much silent stone would have taken months. Until we meet again. That's what he wrote on each note he sent to me on the bodies of murdered reds. He knew that I would get back to him. One way or another. That royal shit.

In my time as his betrothed, he saw more of me than I showed everyone. Learned my strengths, but also my weaknesses. After chasing after me for so many months in exile, he knew that the only way he'd get me was if he had the people I loved. Once again my heart has failed me. Love does nothing but hurt.

The walls were a graying white, and only some furniture decorates the room. A couch, a table, some chairs, a mirror, lamps, and a bed. When my eyes fall on the bed, I feel the familiar twist of my stomach. A white box sits on the end of it, already opened from when I looked inside this morning. Hanging out of the box was a red dress. The color of blood. It was too expensive to fit my role as a prisoner, and so its darker purpose plagues me. Maven didn't keep me alive because I was undeserving of death. He intends to use me.

When I look back down at my plate, my knuckles have gone white as they clench around my knife and fork. With a swing, the knife digs into the wall. With another, the fork joins it.

I turn my head away from the thrown silverware, and I'm met with the mirror. With a shaking hand, I pull on the collar of my shirt, revealing a ragged M burned into my skin. I stare at it for a long time, until I hear footsteps approaching my door. I barely have enough time to pull my collar back into place and sit back down when the doors open and Maven walks in.

His eyes land on the silverware, still poking out of the wall. I think I see a smirk.

"Target Practice?" He asks, no longer hiding his amusement.

"Whatever reason you gave me that dress, I will not be doing it for you."

"Hmm," He says as he sits across from me, letting his fingers drum across the table, "Are you sure about that?"

"Quite."

"Well, that's too bad. Now, I assume that since a Skonos healer came in last night you are mobile again?" If he's bothered by my threats he doesn't show it. He only seems mildly amused.

"Yes."

"Good. Let's take a walk."

"Do I have a choice?" I say as I cross my arms tightly.

"No, now let's go." He stands up, I do the same. He leads me to the door, and he gives a quick knock. A guard steps in, by the white colors emblazoned on his shoulder he's in the Arven house. A silencer. In his palms are two silver bands and he walks towards me.

"Your hands." He says, but he wastes no time in waiting for me to comply. He's already grabbing at my wrists and attaching the bands.

"They're silent stone manacles," Maven notes, " A precaution."

"Charming," I bite out. Maven leads the way out, the guards follow behind us. It takes one too many turns down the twisting hallways to realize where we were going: the throne room.

Our footsteps echo through the hallway of Whitefire Palace. We pass various members of the high houses. Each time we pass, one of the many lords and ladies, whispers follow. I can hear one of them say, "It's her!" Out of the corner of my eye, I see a woman of House Merandus pull her child with white, spiraling curls closer to her. The child clutches onto a doll with a deep blue dress and porcelain face. I killed one of their members only a few days ago and broadcast it across Norta. Queen Elara, Maven's mother.

The colors they wear blare into my vision and remind me of my lessons with Lady Blonos. Blue and red for Iral, Green and Gold for Welle, Brown and Red for Rhambos. She spent hours drilling me, turning me into Mareena Titanos, the lost silver princess who would have wed the prince. I wonder if she would have been disappointed in the lady I have become. I'll never know. When Cal and I were sent to the Bowl of Bones to die Elara and Maven killed anyone who even suspected I was not the silver princess I claimed to be.

We turn down the hallway that leads to the large, cathedral doors that take you to the throne room. The hallway is vacant, allowing a small echo in each step we take. When we reach the doors Maven stops and looks towards me, and then the guards. "Wait outside of the doors. Don't let anyone in," He says. He has the voice of a king, deep and demanding, but somehow he is still just a lonely boy with nothing but his crown for company.

He set his cool gaze on me and gestures for me to follow him as he walks in. The first thing I see is his throne, a mangled piece of stone and iron, and inside I feel my heart drop.