Infant

The horse raced through the crowded streets of the town. If the beast were going any slower, Gemma's unsettling feeling would have grown twice-fold, as all eyes were fixed on their king and the girl riding with him.

One such pair, hidden beneath the hood of a cloak, narrowed tracing after them before slipping into the shadows of the tall brick buildings.

Kimimela turned, heading back into the large stone building when her eyes landed on the hooded figure retreating into the shadows. It hadn't crossed her mind that a spy would be lurking around the town upon Leviathan's return, but it also didn't come as a surprise.

More and more of them seemed to be springing since the last 'curtain,' like vermins that ran rampant in the streets. They were troublesome, only adding more work to Kimimela's load and needed to be dealt with.

She reached a hand behind her back and swiftly moved towards the alley where the figure had disappeared. Once Kimimela stepped into the darkness, she was met with the stench of the city's excrement.

'Oh, how this once magnificent city has taken such a disastrous shift.' Kimimela thought to herself while bringing a sleeve to her face. One thing she hadn't missed in her days away from this place was the city's stench that grew over the years.

It had become somewhat… depressing, but it was where Kimimela called home since her banishment from her own kingdom, and she would defend it with her life.

The hooded figure was not to be found. Still, Kimimela wasn't ignorant of the spies' ways and kept moving her feet along the dampened ground. Her eyes expertly dissect every inch of the darkness.

A smirk formed behind her sleeve, passing by an opening between two buildings.

"Looking for me Princess?" came a low voice from behind as the hooded figure placed a silver dagger against the pale flesh of her throat.

"Royal guard turned spy? Now how did this come about?" Kimimela pondered in sarcasm, and the figure pushed the dagger further into her flesh.

"A traitor like you does not warrant the knowledge of the faes."

Kimimela's smirk turned to a toothy smile upon their words meant to belittle her.

"Traitor, huh? Tell me, how is my dear father since our last brief encounter?"

The figure's nostrils flared in rage. Sensing their anger, Kimimela took advantage and pushed back against the figure, spinning her body in one swift motion as lengths of her hair fell to the ground.

The hand she had placed behind her back now held a gold-like dagger beneath the figure's exposed jaw.

"Don't you know, it is improper to not look your company in the eye while conversing with them." Kimimela taunted, slipping her hand under the figure's hood to let it fall behind them.

A look of disappointment covered her face, and she scoffed, "You are just an infant. Since when did they recruit tipless children to serve in his royal regime? Tell me, boy, how old are you?." Kimimela asked, running a finger across the young man's ear while still pressing the tip of her dagger against his jaw.

The ends of his blonde hair hung over his eyes. However, Kimimela could still see the shock his bright green orbs held at her sudden movements, which disheartened her severally.

Long ago, they had stripped most of the fae army from her father, the fae king, and now he was using the newly come of age to spy and fight against them without the proper training.

Externally she was smirking at the young man but internally. A fight had begun, whether to kill him here and now or give him a chance to redeem himself since he knew no better.

Her father and his ideal way of thinking changed so much that he had become a stranger to Kimimela. It made her heartache for her people, seeing the lengths the man was willing to go to in the name of vengeance.

The young man in front of her was proof of just how bad things had grown. To think he was willing to sacrifice his life without knowing the truth lit a fire in Kimimela's soul that she thought had burned out years ago.

She took no pride in killing her own kind. It was always out of defense, and if they only knew how many tears she shed after every kill then maybe, they wouldn't have looked at her as a traitor. What traitor would cry while killing their own kind?

Because of this, her fire dimed to the point only smoke rose from the ashes of her soul. Still, the person in front of her seemed to ignite the embers hidden within the ashes.

Although she would never admit it to anyone, the raging fire frightened her.

Letting the smile fall from her face, she asked him once more.

"How old are you?"

The shock in his eyes had long since passed as he glared at her, making Kimimela narrow her gaze on him.

"You have gone so long without seeing your own kind that you do not recognize me at all." His words were not a question but a statement, and Kimimela's brows pulled together.

"And why should I recognize you?"

"It doesn't make a difference, if you're going to execute me, now does it?"

"Who said I was going to execute you?" Kimimela questioned.

"Many of your own kind have come to this land and have not returned. Only you and Leviathan have the kind of skill and power that it takes to end a fae's life. A demon like him would not retain a spy unless it was for information, even then he would not keep them for very long as the ones before me have no knowledge of use to him."

His confession made her leery. Why would a spy make it seem they had knowledge worth her or Leviathan's time?

He was right though, they would not keep the spies very long as they held nothing of use to them. Most of the time, they would kill them on sight. Still, how things seemed to be going in the opposite direction than they were presumed to. Kimimela took his words as a sign, even if they were not meant to be.

A smirk formed on her face as she made the decision on what to do with him, "seem's today you will find out just how long we are willing to hold onto a spy, infant."

With the blunt end of the dagger, Kimimela slammed it against his skull. The young fae was never a match in strength to her. He would need to undergo years of physical discipline to keep up with her movements. So, Kimimela only found it right to render him unconscious rather than hurt his pride.

Kimimela may be considered a traitor by her own people, but she would not hesitate to let their pride shine. Although she despised their king, Kimimela was very proud of where she came from and thought it wrong to belittle another fae whose pride shined as bright as her own.

Sheathing the dagger behind her back, Kimimela knelt beside the unconscious young fae. His blonde locks that concealed his face earlier now settled at the sides.

Once Kimimela saw the scar running along his cheek, her eyes widened in shock, and she scampered back to the other side of the alley.

Her head snapped in every direction as if she were searching for something or someone. When her eyes landed back on the body of the young man, disbelief and concern washed over her.

"Your… You are supposed to be… dead."

The words left her lips but sounded foreign, as if they had not come from her at all.

The sound of a woman laughing along with the drunken slur from a man pulled Kimimela to her senses, and she darted towards the young man, placing a shaky hand on his shoulder. She closed her eyes. The pair vanished from the alleyway just as the woman round the cornering, pulling the inebriated man with her.

When Kimimela opened her eyes again, she was hit with the frigid wind of the mountains as it circled around them like a frozen whirlpool.

The sound of her heart beating wildly in her ears almost deafened the howl the winds of the forgotten lands produced.

Here is where Kimimela would find the reapers.

She would ask them about the girl.

And then, she would ask them to hide and protect the person she brought with her from Leviathan.

It would be a dangerous move on her part, hiding the young fae from Leviathan. Still, if he had been reborn, then Kimimela needed to learn why before she could bring him back to the kingdom. Otherwise, the demon king would not hesitate to rip him limb from limb.

Indeed, the young fae would find out just how long they could hold onto a spy.