Dread fills me. I am in the palace of the Enduar King.No. Tears spring up, and my memories start to flood back into me so quickly that my mind protests. It's as if something is slicing through my head, waging a war of grief.
"What have you done to me?" I demand, my cheeks wet from desperation and rage.
"I—we have healed you," the king replies.
I look down at my chest to find a glowing red-orange gem nestled into the skin. The skin is entirely healed, but the sight is grotesque. It is the only thing worse than the brands the princes had placed there years ago. My fingers trace tentatively across the foreign object, but I can’t bring myself to tear it out.
"You were near death when I found you."
"Where is Mikal?" I try to move, but the burning in my chest stops me. The singing is so loud that I can hardly hear. I struggle to calm myself. I had escaped to go find him, and was attacked. I was bleeding to death in the snow when...
The king. I had thought it was Mikal, but the king came to save me. The heat on my chest, and the song surrounding my body takes advantage of the momentary pause in my thoughts. I grab the King's hand and bring it close to my face, instinctively knowing that his closeness would soothe the pain in my soul.
The King's blue skin is so smooth and warm to the touch. To my surprise, he gently strokes the back of my hand with his thumb, the singing intensifying, wrapping me in warmth and comfort that I haven't felt in so long.
Mine,I say.
The word makes me freeze, and I remember myself. I shove away his hand as if it's burned me and scrambled to the cover of my bed. As far away from him as I can.
I look at him and then the woman. She frowns as she gazes at me, as if she's ashamed. Good. She should feel ashamed of stealing me.
"What have you done to me,demonios?" I spit out.
The woman doesn't budge, but the king moves closer.
“I have been speaking with your people, and I know you believe we are flesh-eating trolls. We are not dangerous to you, merely our enemies. We were saving your life."
I spit at him and hiss. He knows my language, somehow. No one speaks human dialects but humans. I'm shaken deep in my soul, trying to fight this crystal. It wants to control me, to subject me to him. I will never let that happen.
"So you keep saying. How do you know my name?" Another piece of me he shouldn't be allowed to have.
"I—"
The stone in my chest warms again as he steps closer. I panic. This stone wants to control me. I throw my hands up. "Get out!" I screech.
The king recoils at my outburst, his eyes wide with surprise. The singing grows louder, almost deafening, as if it's trying to compete with my rage. But I won't let it control me.
"I said get out!" I scream again, lunging towards the king. He steps back, but I can see the flicker of something in his eyes. Anger? Disappointment? It's hard to tell.
"We will leave you to rest." The woman speaks softly as if trying to calm me down. But I won't be calmed. Not by them.
"Don't come back,” I growl. They exchange looks but back away.
As soon as they leave, I curl up in my bed, clutching at the gem in my chest. It's pulsing with a bright light, trying to take over my body. But I won't let it. I will find a way to get rid of it, to free myself from their control.
But as I lay there, exhausted and in pain, I can't help but note this is the second time they’ve saved me. The song turns sad, and I feel the warmth of the king's embrace, the safety I felt when he held me.
I shove that moment away and return to my brother. This attempt to escape failed, but I learn from my mistakes. I can try again. I cling to hope fiercely and start to count, drowning out the dangerous melody coming from my chest.
Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco…3
1 Damn it.
2 I love you.
3 One, two, three, four, five…
PartTwo