340 RTYY 337 - A New Prison Cell

Nevertheless, even though he had steeled his heart and made his mind, Snow still refused to look at the outside world again. Not that he was afraid of what he might see. By now he had a pretty good idea of what had happened in that place. But there was no need to imprint any more of those horrible images on his mind. ZaiWin seemed to be thinking the same, by the way he kept holding his head against his chest. Even though he wasn't really pressing him down, his hold on him was still strong enough to allow Snow to understand that he wouldn't be able to move even if he wanted to. Well, he didn't have to worry, Snow thought, willingly leaning against him. He had no intentions to look outside anyway. He felt a lot better like this, surrounded by darkness, wrapped in his warmth, breathing in the familiar scent of ZaiWin's body.

Only when the rattling sound of the cart changed, becoming louder and echoing, did ZaiWin finally release him. They had entered some place, Snow realized, straightening his back, blinking his sight into focus since it was much dimmer in there. A tunnel?, he wondered, looking at the stone walls surrounding them. More than a few crystal-burners had been placed on the walls to light their way. And, even though from where he sat he could not see it, by the sound the cart was making, the ceiling mustn't be too high.

Looking back at ZaiWin, he found him staring fixedly outside as well, his expression a blank mask as if he couldn't care less. Only his bright-blue eyes betrayed his true state of mind, the cold hardness he had seen in him when they had first met at that Fortress clinging to him like an armor.

When the cart finally stopped, Snow was both eager to finally leave that small confined space, and apprehensive at the thought of what would inevitably follow. He had been praying they'd reach their destination as fast as possible, so that they could finally understand the meaning of it all, and safely plan their escape. But now that they were finally there, he couldn't help fearing what those people might truly want from him. Had they really gone through all that trouble just so some guy named InnArg could meet him?

RyuXin approached the cart with a smile on his face.

"We're finally here. You can come out now."

Snow did as he was told, scooting to the end of the cart that RyuXin happily opened for him. But the moment he noticed that ZaiWin was following close behind, he immediately frowned, his dark eyes staring coldly at the other man.

"Not you! You're nothing but a slave, here!"

Snow immediately halted. It still angered him, hearing others talk about ZaiWin like that. But he was not going to waste time or energy actually acting upon it. Sitting with his legs dangling outside, he stared coldly at RyuXin.

"What?"

Snow didn't move an inch, didn't say a word either. RyuXin should know by now, he hoped. There was no way he was going anywhere without ZaiWin.

"Come! I'll take you to your room. You'll be able to take a warm bath and get some rest. I'm sure you're tired from the long trip."

Again, Snow didn't move, simply sitting there, simply looking at the other boy.

"Stop being so needy!" HuaQin chided him, both hands on her waist, a critical expression on her face. "You know he'll rather sleep inside that cart than leave that delicious-looking man behind," she declared, grabbing the wooden bars of the cart to lean closer to ZaiWin. Raking a hungry gaze over his body, she licked her lips and smiled. "I wonder if you're really as tasty as you look," she sighed.

Snow wanted to kill her right there, where she stood! He wanted it so badly that his heart was threatening to break out of his chest like a shot arrow and stab her itself! Still, he forced himself to remain impassive and serene. He knew that ZaiWin, waiting behind him, was doing the same. Ignore them. Let them speak. It didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was making absolutely clear that they were not going to be willingly separated.

"Even if he wanted to, he can't," RimJan added, approaching the other two, looking up at Snow with those large, disturbing black eyes. "You can all see that golden glow, right? I'm guessing that Snow can't be too far away from him, or he won't be able to keep it up."

"What about it? What does it do, anyway?" RyuXin asked, clearly annoyed by the fact that RimJan seemed to be on Snow's side, and the little girl lightly tilted her head to one side, watching them closely.

"That I can't really tell …"

How come?, Snow wondered, easily hiding his surprise from his face. Even ZaiWin and the others had known what his golden arrays did. The more he heard them speak, the more he found it hard to believe that they were actually Tien'Elhar like him. If he hadn't personally seen RimJan's daitai he would have never believed it.

"It doesn't matter," MaoHan decided, standing beside them with his arms crossed. "If they want to stick together, let them. I'll just lock the both of them in the same prison cell."

Snow could live with that, he thought, finally jumping from the cart.

RyuXin gapped in shock and disbelief.

Snow waited until ZaiWin had also exited the cart and only then turned to follow MaoHan to that new prison cell of his.

"Brother MaoHan! Are you really going to lock him up as well?" RyuXin demanded, sounding incredulous, and MaoHan simply shrugged without so much as turning back to look at him.

"I don't really care. I just want to be done with this and finally get some well-deserved rest. If sleeping on a hard-cold floor is what he wants, I don't mind indulging him at all," he simply replied and, without another word or command, started to lead them down the dark corridor.

Passing by him, Snow couldn't help glance sideways at YunZen, still tied to his horse. He couldn't see his face all too well, but he looked more dead than alive, his skin grayish, his discolored lips parted. It sent a scary shiver running down his spine.

Even though no one had told them to do so, the children quickly climbed down from the cart and followed them as well. Snow could clearly hear the sound of their quickened footsteps as they tried to keep up with them. He didn't know if this was their normal behavior, following MaoHan wherever he might go. Or if he had somehow ordered them to tag along with his powers of control. All those people outside, wearing collars … Were all of them like the little ones? Did they all have those dark veins flowing through their bodies? Wouldn't that mean that they could all be easily controlled by the man walking in front of him?

Looking unexpectedly calm and at home, MaoHan led them through an arched passageway that led to yet another, a lot narrower, dark corridor. One that, a few yards in, opened to a wider circular area, surrounded by five heavy-looking metallic doors.

The man who had probably been keeping watch over them, quickly made his way to one of the doors and, lowering his head, opened it up for them. He too wore one of those smooth collars without an opening lock at the front, so not a qinrien.

Stepping to one side, MaoHan allowed Snow to look inside the small room on the other side.

"Are you sure you want to stay here?"

Snow didn't hesitate, didn't even glanced at him, simply walking into the prison cell, followed by a dangerously obedient ZaiWin.

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Author's Note: Finally arrived at the lion's den *sigh* 😔

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