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“Cut the shit,” he tells me. “I know you didn’t heed my warning.”
His torso is large in my vision. He crowds me to try to intimidate me.
“Look,” I say, taking a sterner approach and trying to stand up. He moves closer to try to keep me down as I work on the dish cleanser. I back down and stay hunched over, shaking my head. “I don’t really know what your problem is with me. I know we had our differences in the past, but I apologized for that.”
“Oh, you apologized for that,” he says, making light of my claim. “I’m sorry, but your apologies rang as hollow as your dignity. You don’tgetto disfigure me and walk out of it with a stupid apology.”
I chuckle to myself, and immediately he throws me against the machine, my back aching as I’m thrown into steel. No sooner has he done it than the machine sputters to life, cleaning the dishes and returning them magically to our cabinets.
“It’s a miracle,” I shout, in notable pain. “You fixed it!”
“You’ve got no idea how easy you’ve had it,” he tells me through his teeth. “You think Mom and Dad were mean when you were around? You weren’tthere. Try being their first little mishap – the accidental child who could never live up to any of their expectations!”
He sets me back down on the floor and walks toward the door.
“I don’t want to catch you anywhere near Lowtown again,” he says fiercely. “This is your final warning.”
His hand is on the door, preparing his exit.
“You can’t stop me from traveling through the city,” I tell him. “I keep telling you that.”
He stops, his shoulders facing me. He is hunched over, looking at the ground.
“Dish cleanser isn’t really clean if it’s leaking everywhere,” he growls at me.
And I look down to confirm. Puddles of water are magically appearing, leaving the font where the dishes are kept.
Crap.
“I’ve been called back to the city,” he tells me. “Just remember my warning. Stay out of my business and away from my subjects.”
“You’re a guard, not a king,” I spit.
The door opens, and he walks out.
“Tonight? I didn’t do that for you. I did that for Mom,” he tells me. “We’re working through some stuff, and we’re finally getting to a good place. But the next time I see you in Lowtown, I’m killing you myself.”
He leaves my field of vision, and I am alone with the flooding dish cleanser.
I scoff, kicking it with my foot, and the spell stops working.
Must be a problem with the seal, I think.
There’s no way I’m heeding his idle threats. He can’t keep me away from Brielle.
He threatens to kill me, as though he’s even capable of it. The only power he holds is over the guards in the city. He’s grown weak over time.
He has to know that in a fight, I would easily outmaneuver him, sliding my dagger cleanly through his heart.
“Sorry, Mother,” I say, returning to the eating room. “I got the dishes cleaned, but the spell malfunctioned.”
She smiles warmly at me. It’s a contrast that I’m still not used to. It seems you grow more affectionate toward your children when they’re out of the house and threatening to disappear.
“Was that Kaisax I saw leaving?” she asked me.
I sit back down at the table, knowing that I’d still rather be with Brielle.
“He had to leave and attend to some business,” I say, picking up some baked dae. “He says he’s sorry he can’t stay longer.”
