REWRITTEN 3/28/19

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Lia was still gazing over the roses when Odile and Odette rushed to her side, each grabbing a shoulder in excitement.

"Did you hear? The king requested your presence! This is so special and important, whatever you did must have really pleased him. You are the only one to accompany him on his stroll this morning."

"Oh, this is so wonderful!" Odile and Odette let out matching squeals of joy and looked at Lia expectantly. Lia sat in the same spot still staring straight forward.

"What's wrong? Did he... hurt you?" Odile quietly asked. Lia shook her head. If only it had been something physical then she wouldn't be feeling the way she was. Lord Xantho had in fact done something much worse. He had reminded her how powerless and at everyone's mercy she was in Aether. Every djinn was so much stronger and faster than her and Xantho, Lia squeezed her eyes shut in terror. He had her right where he wanted her. In his hands, unable to escape, becoming ever more entangled in the webs he laid out.

Odette had grabbed Lia's hand and began guiding her up the stairs.

"What happened?" asked Bronn, as they passed by his post and he saw Lia's listless face.

"I don't know," Odile whispered quietly. "She hasn't told us anything, but I think it has something to do with Xantho as I saw him pass by here not long ago."

"That man," Bronn's large hands tightening on the hilt of his sword in anger. "She does everything to avoid him and still he seeks her out. I fear for her. It seems the chase gives him some sort of sick thrill."

"Silence!" Odette looked on both sides of the hallway before she continued. "You know the maids are his eyes and ears, you must be more careful! Now we'll be on our way. Good day, Bronn." He took his helmet off as he crouched down to her level and for the first time, Lia could clearly see his deeply tanned skin and the small horns that peaked out from the top of his shortly cropped hair. If she hadn't been so overcome, she would've commented on it. The tiny horns were a cute touch on the oversized guard.

"Good day. Hang in there, L" Bronn replied as he looked at her softly, calling Lia by her pet name. Lia didn't respond and Odette led her by the hand down the hall and away from her no longer safe haven.

Once back in her room, Odile slammed the doors shut and turned to Lia, slapping her on the face. Lia's mouth formed a surprised O and she glared at Odile.

"Haha, there she is!" laughed Odette. Lia took her slightly muddy notebook from Odile's hands and wrote 'Are you insane??'

"No, but you needed to pull your head out of your arse and I couldn't think of a better way to do it. I don't know what happened to you, and if you don't want to talk about it that's fine, but you and I have a job to do. I have to make you look good, and you need to meet with Lord Xantho in," she looked at the clock, "less than an hour now."

Lia sighed in exasperation, annoyed that Odile was right. If she didn't pull herself together, she would have a lot more problems later.

"And you must wear your formal attire on your outing."

'Noooo!' mouthed Lia dramatically as she flopped onto the bed. But there was no escaping her fate. A short while later she stood in front of the large mirror in her wardrobe in midnight blue blouse with full sleeves and billowing pants. However since it was formal, the attire was made of fine fabric that shimmered as if it were made of crushed gems. She also wore a small cap with a veil that obscured her face, since it was a tradition for concubines to cover their faces when attending public functions. To complete the outfit, she also had to wear gold earrings and neck bands that were heavy and uncomfortable, as well as have her long, curly hair painfully braided into the popular styles worn by noblewomen.

"You look beautiful!" cooed Odette. Lia just rolled her eyes, walking out of the doors Odile was holding open to meet the curious eyes of her fellow concubines her were mingling out in the hall. She could see the surprise in their eyes as they took in her clothes and realized that she was going to be spending time with Lord Xantho.

"Hey!" Megan barked as she walked towards her, an annoyed expression on her face. "Why are you dressed in formal? Are you meeting with Lord Xantho?"

Lia nodded and a look of betrayal and anger marred Megan's beautiful features. "So much for not having any interest in him."

"That's right Ms. Purity." Abby sauntered over and Lia felt her hackles rise, sensing an impending fight. Abby gently stroked a large emerald necklace that had no doubt been gifted to her and complemented her eyes perfectly. "Looks like your high and mighty act won't fool anyone anymore. What exactly did you do to get one on one time with him?"

Lia held her hand out and knowing what she wanted, Odile gave her her notebook and ink pen. 'Perhaps it was my charming personality and intellect. Believe it or not Abby, sex is not the answer to everything.' Tearing her paper out of her notebook and smacking it into Abby's chest as she walked by, Lia didn't look back as she descended the stairs. As soon as they were out of earshot, Odile held her hand out for a high five.

"That was incredible, I didn't know you had that in you!" Lia just smiled graciously at the praise, although it quickly melted away as she saw Lord Xantho's expectant face at the bottom of the staircase.

"You came!" he exclaimed, wrapping her in a tight hug as if they were friends or lovers. Lia didn't return it but he didn't seem to notice.

"Shall we?" he said, holding out an arm for Lia. Reluctantly, she grabbed it and together they exited the castle with a small group of guards surrounding them. Lia was slightly comforted to see that Bronn was one of the guards who came along, appreciating the familiar face. Two young men began opening the outer gates of the castle and Lia stepped through them into Ordonn for the first time. Lia breathed in deeply, only to start coughing immediately.

"I should've warned you about the smell," Xantho said, wrinkling his nose at the unsavory scent. Lia looked around for the source and found it quickly: the homeless who crowded near the front of the imposing castle gates begging for food, water, and money. Noticing him, the already loud denizens began begging even louder.

"Please your highness! Some food or money!" they cried, crawling closer and fearless in the face of the swords the guards pointed at them. Lia was appalled at the apparent poverty so close to the castle. What would the rest of the city be like? One of the many brave homeless somehow managed to avoid a sword and broke through the guards, grabbing Lia's pant. The man looked up, the desperation evident in his eyes. His threadbare shirt did nothing to hide his jutting bones and there were two evident lumps on his backs. Wings? Could the man be part dragon?

Even though Lia was taking in his appearance, the way the man sprang at her shocked her and she couldn't stop her physical reaction. "Please Mistress!", he sorrowfully wailed, his bloodshot eyes even more jarring in his sunken skin. He looked drugged out and insane, which was a shame since the short amount of time she saw his face revealed that he had once been very handsome. Lia yelped and jumped in surprise. An ugly expression crossed Xantho's face when he saw the man's hand on Lia's pant. Lia's breath caught in her lungs. And it wasn't just her. The loud, clamoring crowd silenced to a hush, as they realized that he had done something taboo. Time seemed to come to a stop and a sense of impending doom began to climb up her spine.

His lips trembled with fury and his eyes glared daggers into the homeless man.

"Scum." he spat with such venom that the man quickly let go.

"Mercy, your highness. Mercy!" His scrawny frame shook as he bowed continuously, not realizing that his cries fell on deaf ears. The flip in Xantho had been switched and a raging king now stood in his place, so different from the sleazy man she knew.

"Put him to death!" Lord Xantho ordered, his face twisted into a red, spitting mask. "Scum who think that they can touch me or my property must quickly learn that it is against the law!" 2 guards immediately broke away from the protective shell surrounding Lia and Xantho and roughly grabbed the homeless man's arms.

"Mercy!" the man sobbed, already being dragged towards the castle for his execution.

Knowing she didn't have enough time to write something out, Lia decided to act. Letting go of Lord Xantho's arm she rushed in front of the two guards and held her hands out for them to stop. Looks of surprise crossed their faces, but they halted as she outranked them. The guards looked desperately between Xantho and Lia, and all around them, people stopped whatever they were doing to gather around and see what would happen.

Realizing she had the floor, Lia felt nervous as she reached into her ever-present satchel and pulled out her notebook. '2nd chance?' She tore the paper out and showed it to Xantho, her arms slightly shaking in fear. After all, she had indirectly stopped a direct order from him, the king.

"Oh Opal," Xantho shook his head, his mask softening into a more palatable expression. Lia on the other hand, bristled upon hearing him address her by her fake name. "You have such purity and goodness inside your heart. That's what I love about you." Lia felt incredibly confused, not liking the direction Xantho was going in. He began walking towards her, talking as if pacifying an angry child.

'Please let him go. He is just hungry and in need of food. We have a lot of food in the castle.' she wrote, underlining the first sentence twice. Xantho finally reached where she stood in front of the man, and cupped her face in his hands. He looked deep in her eyes, and Lia felt embarrassed at the strangely intimate moment he had forced her into in front of everyone.

"It would please you wouldn't it?" Lia nodded vigorously, hoping her feelings could come across. She could fake her feelings for a minute if it saved that djinn's life.

"In that case, I'm sorry." Lia blinked in surprise, not understanding what he meant. Releasing a hand from her face, Xantho held a fist out to the man and yanked upwards. Lia saw brown magic swirling around his fist and had a sick feeling in her gut. She looked up at the homeless man, just in time to see a spike of the dusty earth beneath their feet rise from the sandy ground to impale the man from his back and come out his front, dripping with red. Lia quickly looked down, just in time to see blood splattered all over the ground and ended just in front of her feet. Awful wretching noises came in front of her from the man's last breaths and Lia didn't look up once as her heart pounded in her chest, feeling more like a coward than she ever had in her life. She fell to her knees, blood soaking into the rich fabric as she looked at the gruesome scene in horror. All around, people had similar reactions, throwing up, screaming, and running away. He just killed a man, Lia thought miserably, numb with shock. And he doesn't seem to care at all. Small rivulets of blood continued flowing towards her, and Lia felt bile rise as they drew closer.

"Help her up." Xantho ordered. Lia felt someone help her rise to her feet and tug her away from the mess that had been made of the man. Lia averted her eyes from the impaled corpse, not wanting to look at it again. From the brief moment she had looked up, his dead eyes seemed to look at her accusingly and his mouth wide open, as if he were yelling at her.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Xantho said calmly. "But such insubordination in my kingdom will simply not be tolerated." Begging for food was considered insubordination? Lia backed a step away from the monster before her.

"Take my arm, Opal, we haven't even reached the marketplace yet." Xantho's business as usual tone rankled Lia. It was incredibly clear that what he had done was commonplace, and mentally he had already moved on.

"And you two, make sure this is cleaned up by the time I get back."

"Yes, your highness." The original two guards who were supposed to drag the poor man away once again detached themselves from the group and headed back to the castle. Lia watched the whole interaction with wide eyes, not quite believing what she was seeing. Tears welled up in her eyes at the injustice that had been done to the beggar.

'You killed him!' she angrily mouthed at Xantho, forgetting her lack of voice. 'You just murdered an innocent man!' Her hands balled into fists and she had to fight the urge to pummel them on his chest.

"I'm sorry," Xantho laughed heartily, "I can't understand anything you're saying and you look so silly!" He bent over in laughter. Lia had had enough. Even though she didn't know her way around the rest of the city outside of the castle, all she knew was that she had to get away from Xantho. Turning on her heel, Lia sprinted away into the city as tears ran down her face.

"Opal!" screamed Lord Xantho, no longer laughing anymore. "Return at once!"

"Mistress!" Bronn was already hot on her heels, his pounding footsteps getting louder and louder.

If Lia made a list of the top 10 stupidest things she had ever done in her life, this would take the cake, right after somehow getting herself kidnapped into a fantasy world. She had no idea where she was or where she was running. She had no friends in the foreign city. Xantho was still roaring behind her, and with each step, it dawned on Lia that if she was caught, she would probably be sentenced to death just like that homeless man.

Her eyes were roaming wildly around the city, gauging where to flee next while admiring the capital, Ordonn, from the ground for the first time. The most she had ever seen of the city was from her large bedroom windows, and even then from far away, it looked more like a toy city. She had never had much desire to go into the city, as that required permission from Xantho, permission in the form of sexual affections. She still gazed at the twinkling lights for hours with a candle beside her the exact same way she used to look out from her dorm window.

Lia had competitively played tennis, so she had good stamina, but months of minimal workout in the castle took their toll. Each breath already forced itself painfully in and out as she charged in a straight line away from the Golden Monstrosity. Hope was a funny thing. She was halfway across the grand courtyard in front of the castle, ignoring the gasps of the crowd around her when she felt it bloom in her chest. Could she maybe escape? Could she somehow find Rhiannon and get him to send her back through a mirror? But like the short lifespan of a flower it all died when a firm arm wrapped around her midsection and pulled her to the armor-plated chest of Bronn. She was caught.

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