| Chapter Eighteen | Spoils of War |

"Jasper," Raiali says as he knocks on her door, clenching his left hand into a fist.  Unclenching.  Clenching.  Unclenching.  Clenching.  "Jasper," he says louder, knocking harder. 

  Clenching.  Unclenching.  Clenching.  Unclenching.  Clenching.  Unclenching.

  "Raiali," Adara says as she opens the door, looking at him with concern.  "Is everything alright?" She asks quietly, watching him walk into the room, not even looking at her.  He set his eyes straight onto the prince.

  "I need you to come with me," he points at the prince, "and I need you to come with me," he points at Adara.  "For the sake of making it through today, I cordially ask that you leave your little friends here," he smiles as he walks over to Adara's dresser, pulling out her black face cover.

  She takes it from his hands, unfolding it slowly.  It has been five years since she has worn the mask.  She never thought she'd wear it again.  Adara brought it slowly to her face, letting it lie over her nose, hooking it around her ears.  It hung over her nose and mouth, leaving her eyes and hair open to the eye.

  "If it were daylight, I would have half-a-mind to leave you here," Raiali says quietly as he holds the door open for the two.  "But seeing as how you both are precious cargo," he sighs, "I figured it would be best not to separate you."

  They both held their tongues as they walk down the hallway — rather than heading to the main entrance, they walk in the opposite direction.  They walk for only a few minutes, stopping in front of a long wooden ladder that was bolted to the wall.  The prince looks up, frowning, thinking of the possibilities of where it could lead to.

  Adara wraps her hands tentatively around the cold wooden rungs, climbing slowly.  Each step made a small ding, echoing quietly.  A shiver ran down her spine as she reached the top, a trapdoor above her.  Reaching up, she unlatches the metal clip and pushes it open.  A gust of wind catches her as she grabs the frame, pulling herself out of the hole and dragging herself onto the roof.

  She crawls back to the opening in the floor, holding a hand down to the prince.  He took it without any hesitation, his warm hand wraps around her much colder one, climbing out of the hole.  Raiali crawls out like an animal on all fours, closing the door behind him.

  It was dark. 

  The moons loom above them, thick and wispy clouds drifting lazily in front of them.  The few stars in their skies provided them with little light, but it was still better than complete darkness.  The darkness allowed for Adara to safely exist outside of the confines of her bedroom.  She thrives in it, basking in its glory.

  "Why have you brought us here?" Adara asks, her voice is quiet and low. 

  "Come with me and I will show you," Raiali says in a hushed tone, getting on all fours and leaping onto the roof of the next building.  Adara smiles and runs across the roof, leaping into the air and rolling as she hits the roof of the next building.  She was quiet as she crouched. 

  The prince was hesitant, but he ran, he jumped and he landed with a thump.  He was a warrior; he was not trained for stealth like they were.  It was alright for him to make some noise, none of the buildings were homes, but enough noise and they could be found.  It was not a matter of if they would be found, it was a matter of when they would be found.

  "It is just up ahead," Raiali calls back to them.

  "If you are wasting our time," Adara warns.

  "I would never," Raiali flashes a smile.

  They continue, jumping from roof to roof.  It was like a dance for Adara.  Leaping from one position to another.  Balancing on her toes when she lands.  Bending and twirling in the air.  It was a dance of the darkness and she did not mind it; she missed it.  When the prince looked at her, although he could not see her face, he saw the smile in her eyes.

  "You are acting like a child," Raiali frowns.

  "I am doing no such thing," she protests.

  "Says the one acting like a child," he laughs.

  He smiles as he stands on the edge of the next building, holding a hand out to her.  She laughs as she runs, leaping into the open air.  It felt good as the wind blew kisses across her face.  Raiali grabs her hand with his, the other hand wraps around her back as he pulls her onto the roof.

  "What is that?" Adara asks quietly.

  She pulls away from him as he helps the prince and walks across the roof, stopping in front of a large white raven that stood perched on the top of a brick chimney.  Its feathers were ruffled on its chest, specks of dark blood decorated its body.  Tight in its talons was a small scroll, blood splattered onto the white paper.

  "How is it here?" Adara stares at the bird.

  "I was hoping you would know," he sighs.

  "I have never seen anything like it," she says.

  Raiali took Adara's upper-arm, pulling her away from the white raven.  All across his face was concern written in all capital letters.  Years ago, he never would have thought of lying a hand in her, but, now she was different.  She was warmer. 

  "What could it mean?" Adara asks quietly.

  "I fear whatever it is it is not good," he sighs.

  As Adara went to speak, she watched the prince hold his palm out to the white raven.  It steps onto his hand delicately, making soft cooing noises.  She watches him take the scroll gently from the bird, letting it step back onto the chimney.  It squawks and flaps its wings, rubbing its cheek gently against the prince's finger. 

  He takes the small golden ribbon and peels it from the scroll.  He could not help but notice the tremor in his hands as he let the gold land on the floor of the roof.  An unsettling silence fell over them as the prince unravels the paper.

   There was silence — the prince's eyes skim slowly over each word, every detail.  He felt as though someone was hugging him so tightly that he could not breathe, his chest rises and falls rapidly.  His hand clenches into a fist, balling the scroll up, his jew tightens as he stares numbly at the white raven.

  "No," he whispers as he struggles to fight the anger that began to well-up inside of him.  He felt tears threaten him, angering him further.  "No," he growls as he punches the brick, over and over again, launching his own attack on it until he just simply stops, his breathing was loud and full of emotion.

  Adara and Raiali stand side-by-side, watching the prince stand, seething with hate.  His eyes were cold, and Adara took half-a-step backwards.  He looked just like he did the night he took her captive, beside the fire, full of rage.  She licked her lips nervously, grateful that they could not witness it.

  "What's wrong?" Adara asks.

  "Your people," the prince growls in a low and gravelly voice, unnatural in nature.  "All they know how to do is take," he hisses as he lets the paper slip from his fingertips.  Before she could speak, he walked across the roof and jumped off.  Raiali pulls away from Adara's side, grabbing the ledge and looking down, but he did not see him. 

  He vanished.

  Adara does not chase after him, she instead walks to where he dropped the letter.  She sits down and takes the paper into her hands, unfolding the wrinkles, trying to smoothen it out.  It was dark, but the moons were still bright enough for her to read the black script.

  Dearest brother,

  I write to you with the heaviest of hearts.

  We are being attacked by glass infantry.

  I fear mother and father have perished.

  Lupios and I are unscathed for now.

  I fear we will not be alive for much longer.

Their weapons kill with thick black goo.

  Please be safe and do not fret.

  I love you regardless of what happens.

  Sincerely,

  Your Sister Aehlsy Oros.

  Adara sits quietly on the floor of the roof, pressing one hand onto her face, the other hand held the paper tightly by her side.  She shakes her head slowly.  No.  They were too late.  Her king has already begun his assault on the golden lands.  The prince surely blames himself — he was the one who helped to revive the bells of war.

  She blames herself.

  If they had not been captured by Tal'anga, they would not be so far behind in their mission.  They would have already marched into Xarenth and killed her king.  The kingdoms would be united into one and perhaps, perhaps, a sliver of peace could lay over the lands.  But they were captured because of her, and they lost time because of her.

  Ahe had not imagined that her king would have had time to attack yet, that he would do it where so many innocents resided.  It was her fault that the prince's entire family was in danger, or worse, dead.  So she blames herself.  She was the reason for the prince's suffering.  All of his pain was her own fault.

  It is my fault.

  "We have to find him," Adara says quietly as she rises to her feet, not meeting Raiali's eyes.

  "Right," Raiali nods as he jumps off of the roof, sliding down the side of the building.

  Adara stuffs the scroll into her pocket, leaping off of the building.  She twists in the air and lands on her hands, vaulting onto her own two feet.  She has to find the prince.  He only puts himself in more danger by running to places where no human has been before.  That worried her greatly.

  "Where might he go?" Raiali asks silently, standing in front of her as a couple drunken men with women around their arms stagger by.  Raiali wraps his arms around Adara and leans close as though he were kissing her, earning loud cheers from the men who then paid them no attention.

  "He is a violent drinker," Adara murmurs, imagining him sitting in the corner of a bar and drinking until he could not stand.  She feared what he might be capable of doing in his drunken state.  Violent and ruthless.  Cruel and vile.

  "So we will check the bars," Raiali says quietly as he turns and walks in the direction from which the drunken men had come.  Adara follows close behind.  There were only four bars in the entirety of Bal'Sol, and they were relatively close to one another.  Their feet were silent on the ground as the wind began to pick up.  A sand storm was coming.

  They did not have to say it.  They each knew that they had to hurry.  They were running out of time quickly.  Once the storm was upon them, they would have to hide inside.  The prince could very well be trapped outside in the middle of the storm and fall dead to its unholy wrath.

  And so they run to each bar, looking in the windows and scouring for their lost prince.  He was not there.  He was not in any of the bars.  A part of her felt both blessed and cursed by this.  It was good that he refrained from drinking, but she still had no clue as to where he was.

  "Maybe he went back to the camp?" Raiali asks, looking back from where they had come.

  "No," Adara shakes her head, "He would not risk taking his anger out on our people."

  "So we go back and wait for him to blow off his steam," Raiali shrugs, glancing down at her.

  "If he dies I die," Adara warns, looking down at her feet, fists clenched at her sides.

  Raiali grits his teeth and says, "where might he have gone?"  It angered him to a new extreme.  Her life was tethered onto the prince's.  It was a cruel trick.  He would not think that on his worst enemy.  If he perished, she would be killed.  It was up to him to keep that from happening.

  She was drawing a blank — he hasn't been to many places in Bal'Sol.  He would not have a clue where anything was.  "Wait," she whispers, "I know where he went."  She raises her eyes and begins running down the sandy road as the wind whips at her clothes.  He was a bigger fool than she thought.

  The inn.  It was the only place that he has been to.  The only place that he has a reason to be at.  The only place that he can feel justified in letting out his anger.  And for that, she knew she had to stop him.  She would be the one to get revenge, not him.  She did not care how angry he was, the innkeeper was hers.

  They run through alleyway after alleyway and street after street until they stood in front of the metal and wooden building.  The thought of going inside made her skin crawl, but she knew he was inside.  The sand around their feet began to shift, rising into the air.  The storm was there, they had no choice now.  She had to pray she was right about the prince being there.

  Together, they march up the stairs and she allows for Raiali to knock on the door.  She watches the door open, the small goblin maid from before stood there with a smile on her face.  The prince must have the innkeeper if the maid was the one tending to the door. 

  "Come in, come in," the goblin woman smiles, "feel free to stay until the storm has passed."

  Adara and Raiali nod their heads, Raiali whispers a thanks as the women turns around and waddles back to the front desk.  While the women was preoccupied, Adara took Raiali's hand and took him down the stairs.  Once they reached the last step, Adara was taken over by fear, the fright was visible in her emerald green eyes.

  The walk down the hallway was silent and suspenseful, full of fear and anger and curiosity.  Adara steps to the side and watches as Raiali balls his hand into a fist, bringing it down on the knob, breaking it off of the door.  Adara pushes the door open, staring at the sight before them.

  The innkeeper was tied to the bed, just as she was.  He had a gag tied around his mouth and the prince stood brooding beside the bed.  He was startled by their arrival, but he had expected it.  Adara closes the door and lets Raiali guard it, his back and foot pressed firmly against it.

  "All my people know how to do is take?" Adara asks quietly.  "Is this what you truly think considering what your people have done?" She asks again, "Considering what your people have taken from me?"

  "Adara," he sighs, "that is not what I meant."

  "How dare you come after him," Adara says calmly, anger radiates from her small body.  "How dare you come after him when he is not yours to have," she continues, "he is mine."

  "There will be time to avenge your family when we defeat my king," Adara does not give him a chance to speak.  "I can avenge myself, so do not try to take that chance from me," she warns.  He was hers to kill, and so only she could do it.

  The prince is silent, taking his sword from the bed and walking past Adara and into the hallway with Raiali, closing the door behind him.  He knew she was right, but still he wanted more than anything to snap the mans' neck.  Then it was just Adara and the innkeeper.  The silence was unbearable, but not for her this time.  For him. 

  "I do hope he did not hurt you badly," Adara whispers as she takes the gag from his mouth, looking at the swelling bruises on his face.  She watches as a grin creeps onto his face, a laugh slips from his lips.

  "I never loved using someone as much as I loved using you," the innkeeper growls.  "And after this the only way I will keep silent about you and your friends is if you let me do it all over again," he cackles.

  Adara raises her fist and punches him in the jaw, blood flies from his mouth onto the sheets beside his head.  She laughed at his groans of pain.  "Now," she smiles, "you can not say anything at all if you are dead, and I do love that option much more."

  His skin went pale as his eyes went wide, screaming for someone to help him.  She just smiled, "No one can hear you," she laughed, "no one is coming to save you."  She climbs on top of him, running her hands down his toned chest.

  "Please don't," the innkeeper begs as she takes out one of her twin daggers.  She grins as she pushes the knife beneath one of his fingernails, ripping his nail from where it belonged.  His screams were sweet music to her ears.  She kept going until he had no more nails on his fingers, and he was nothing more than a sobbing mess.  She was not done.

  "Shut your mouth before I shut it for you," she hisses, unclipping her bracelet from her wrist, she pulls it taught and presses it against his throat.  He struggles to breathe, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.  His eyes bugged out of his skull, his face turning purple and blue.  He was fighting for his life.

  She pulls it off of him, wrapping it back around her wrist in one swift move.  His eyes were red and blood leaked from a long cut across his neck.  He gasped for air, but he found it harder and harder to do so.  It was pathetic.

  "I am not finished yet," Adara smacks him across the face.  She could remember how he touched her, how violent he was.  She would repay him ten-fold.  She took her dagger and begun to drag it down his chest and stomach.  His screams had begun to fade into low groans.  She gave him a mark for every place he touched her. 

  "Please," he croaks, his eyes drift shut.

  "You ignored my pleads of mercy," she leans close, grabbing his hair and arching his neck painfully.  "How do you expect me to give you the very thing that you denied me?" She asks as she brings her blade to his skull, carving his flesh.  She continued until blood drips down his face, and a "J" is branded unto him.

  "You marked me with your disgusting filth," Adara hisses, "so I find it only fair that I mark you with my own brand."  She laughs as she throws his head down onto the bed beneath him.

  "You," the innkeeper croaks, "you will not violate me?" He asks as she crawls off of him. 

  She smiles, "No," she laughs.  She readjusts the mask covering her lower face.  She grins, "I do not find pleasure in the total suffering of others," she whispers, "Besides, why would I violate a pig such as yourself?" She cackles.

  "I suppose that in a way I grant you a form of mercy," Adara sighs, "I fear I have finished with you, as no amount of torture can cure you of your wickedness."  She smiles though at the look of relief.  "So my friends will finish you for me, because I can not waste my precious time on the likes of pure waste," she says.

  She walks to the door and opens it, walking down the hallway with her head high and her blades that dripped with blood being tucked in her harnesses.  "Beast," Adara says in a hushed tone, "take care of this mess for me."  As she climbs the stairs, she felt the power radiating from her blades.  She was Jasper.

  The prince watches in horror as Raiali throws his hands towards the ground, long metallic claws take the place of his fingers.  He almost ran as the innkeeper screams as his flesh was ripped apart, his bones shattering, until he was nothing but bloody shreds of what he once was.

  I am Jasper.

  Adara kicks open the front doors and walks into the darkness, the sand soaring around her.  She does not feel it.  She is numb as she walks down the lonely roads, not looking back towards that metal and wooden inn with large glass windows.