The Crimson Night

Alyssane's heavy eyes opened to a brush of cold air on her feverish skin. She blinked, disoriented, her surroundings were a blur of shadows and hazy light.

'I can't see…' 

She let out a trembling breath and that was all she could manage. Her body felt heavy with a deep-seated ache and exhaustion.

'What is wrong with me?'

"Don't move," A low and deep voice sounded too close to her.

Dread clawed in her throat as she fought to focus, to see the face behind her voice, but she could hardly see anything, and her heart raced with fear as she tried to get away but all that did was make her strained breaths come out in short rugged gasps.

"Who... who are you?" she managed a whisper.

He said nothing but she heard him kneel in front of her, his fingers grazed her chin, tilting her head back slightly. 

She tried to resist. The slightest touch sent a flare of burning pain across her skin. A heavy, breathy gasp escaped her lips, "Stop," she whispered.

He pressed a metal flask against her lips, "Drink." 

There was a strange familiarity to his deep husky voice that sent a wave of confusion through her foggy mind, a chilling rush through her heart. 

She hesitated for a moment, her eyes trying to see through the blurry darkness, but her throat was so dry she did not care whether it was a medicine or a poison.

Alyssane closed her eyes and as the cool water flowed from the flask, a wave of relief washed over her, soothing the burning ache in her throat with each swallow.

Her reluctance drowned away as she touched the flask with both her hands and swallowed the water with an eagerness that bordered desperation, half of it trickled down her lips.

She could not care.

But he suddenly took away the flask, "You will choke."

Slowly, Alyssane opened her eyes, her weary gaze resting on him. She could not see clearly, that deep somewhat rough voice made her realize who he was causing a rush of cold running down her spine.

Her heartbeats faltered.

"Can you walk?" Kazmun asked.

"I think so…" She whispered.

Alyssane placed a hand against the wall, and Kazmun silently took her other hand to help her get up. His firm touch around her made a sudden heaviness settle in her heart.

But she said nothing as he walked her out of the darkness, into the soft lights of a chamber. A huge part of the wall had been broken.

Alyssane faintly recalled hearing his voice before she had fainted. 

The chamber must be his room. It was fairly large, with a few partitions for the bed, the sitting area, and another room covered with curtains.

"How…" Alyssane frowned after a moment, "How did you find me?"

Kazmun glanced at her, there was an unreadable shadow in his eyes as he answered, "I heard you."

She blinked in confusion.

No one was supposed to hear her, but she brushed away her doubts. How else would he find her? 

Kazmun eased her onto his bed. 

Alyssane was not sure what to say, or where to begin, he must be expecting her to explain the situation. But before her thoughts could wander too far, she froze.

He leaned closer, there was a raw darkness in his deep blue eyes as he lightly touched the bruise around her neck, "Who did this?"

'He seems… angry.'

But more distracting was how his half-unbuttoned white shirt revealed more of his bare chest when he leaned.

Alyssane let out a shaky breathing, feeling a surge of emotions that she could not name but the world suddenly felt too silent―tense.

"A knight," she inched away from his touch, forcing her voice to be still as she held Kazmun's gaze, "I thought you would know."

She was left completely confined when her body had barely healed, deprived of basic needs, and then shoved into a suffocating tunnel. 

When the knights patrolled every corner of Pearl Manor, how could have they not known what was happening to her? The situation clearly meant they did not care what happened to her.

"I did not," Kazmun frowned but as he as his gaze lingered on the bruise around her neck, the unspoken pain behind her eyes, he realized what might have happened. 

Kazmun ran a hand through his hair, and then a cold laugh escaped his lips, 'Those little bastards.'

Alyssane nervously shifted on the bed, feeling unsure whether she should feel safe or more dangered.

But then he looked at her, there was a touch of softness to his cruelly intimidating voice, "Are you hungry?"

She nodded, unable to meet his eyes again.

"What else do you need?" he asked.

Alyssane hesitated, wondering if that was a real question or if he wanted her to know her last wish. 

"A physician, perhaps?" Kazmun offered as poured himself a glass of wine filled to the rim and then his voice lowered as he glanced back at her bruise, "Or someone's head?"

She glanced at him, 'He is serious…'

Frowning at her silence, Kazmun sat in a nearby chair with an air of effortless authority. The shadows of the dim room fell over his ocean-blue eyes that stared straight into her soul.

"Tell me everything."

.

.

Alyssane licked the soup from her lips.

She was left alone after Kazmun listened to all she had to tell. He did not speak much, and the weight of his frightening silence made her wish she had at least left out Johanna's name.

But it was too late by then.

Soon after Kazmun left, an anxious maid with her head bowed served Alyssane a warm meal and left with a hurried pace.

It was half an hour ago.

Kazmun did not return, and Alyssane was not sure if she should leave his room. Where else would she go? 

'Where do I stand?'

"I feel exhausted…" Alyssane murmured as an hour passed and Kazmun still did not return. The food and water has made her feel better.

But her mind still craved undisturbed sleep, some moments of peace where she did not have to worry. It was impossible to do so there.

"What are you doing here?"

A sharp voice startled Alyssane out of her thoughts. 

Madame Juan was standing in the doorway, her face was pale white, but her gaze twisted into a bitter rage, "Answer me!"

Standing next to her was her only son, and dearest guard Gavin who seemed equally shocked but unusually silent, he narrowed his eyes.

A cold fear curled inside Alyssane's stomach as tried to fight against the heavy memories haunting her mind, Madame Juan's scheme for her murder, Gavin's voice in her head when he refused to spare her.

"How can I stop? I have not heard your bones break yet."

Alyssane was frozen in her place, her distant eyes unable to move from the two but she forced herself to speak even as her voice came too low, "Where else did you expect me? Dead in those tunnels?"

Madame Juan's eyes widened.

She did not respond right away but then forced her lips into a smile, "So, you realized what was happening. It changes nothing"

Gavin scoffed and walked towards Alyssane, his eyes were half sleepy but his voice dripped with malice, "I should have killed you that night."

There was nowhere to run, Alyssane tried to move away but he roughly grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him with a vicious swiftness, 

"You thought you would be safe here?" Gavin's voice was a low growl, filled with contempt.

"Let go of me!" 

"You're irritating me now."

Alyssane tried to break free, fighting his iron-like grip as his fingers dug into her skin. But all it did was make Gavin angrier, he roughly shoved her against the table, sending a flare of pain through her body.

The plates clamored onto the ground and shattered. Alyssane staggered onto her knees, her breaths heavy.

Gavin smiled grabbing her hand, "You can't do much now, can you?"

But his smile fades as a pair of footsteps enter the room, bringing forth a heavy silence that falls like a shroud, disturbed only by the sharp sound of a dragging sword.

Alyssane's heart hammered in her chest as she slowly released her hold on a steak knife. Her eyes remained on Gavin.

His expressions darkened as he watched Kazmun's approach, his grip on Alyssane tightening with each passing moment. 

Kazmun paused, and there was a flicker of silver as he sliced his sword through Gavin's hand in a swift motion.