Prisoner

Daphne stood up as fast as she can, but she was not fast enough to stop the Northern King.

But much to her surprise, instead of pouring the cup of water over the prisoner's head to force him awake, the Northern King held the cup by the prisoner's chapped lips.

It had to be poisoned. There was no way that this was a simple gesture of kindness. That was the only thought that crossed Daphne's mind as she watched the prisoner slowly drink the liquid.

"Princess, are you satisfied now?" The Northern King said aloud. "I brought the prisoner water like you had previously requested."

Confused, Daphne wondered when she had ever said those words.

"I couldn't bear with the thought of you feeding another man water though, so I hope you don't mind that I stole the credit for your well intentions. You're truly too kind to everyone, even a scoundrel like this one."

If not for his harsh words, Daphne would have thought herself to be hallucinating.

It took her a moment to see the Northern King's intentions.

He was making it easier for her to approach the assassin and ask for an antidote.

"Please leave now. I'll ask if I need anything else."

He left again, and the coldness returned.

"Are you feeling better now?"

There was only silence. Save for the slight movement of his chest as he breathed, it was almost like she was in a room with a corpse.

"Your brother had told me to save you."

She thought back to the young assassin's confused gaze and then his resolution.

"You want to make it out of here alive to see him again, don't you?"

Daphne didn't know the true relationship between the two, but she could only shoot darts in the dark. Luckily, it seemed that they had landed at the right mark.

"You...talked to him? Is he well?"

The voice was ghostly, a slight lisp to his speech. There were no remains of his former sharpness, his words dry and low. She thought back to how firmly he declared that he would kill the Northern King. The comparison was almost alien.

As he opened his mouth a bit more, she found the cause of his new speech impediment. His two front teeth had been knocked out from his gums, and there seemed to be more gaps towards the back of his mouth.

"They...they did all of this to you?"

He responded with a small nod.

"I also want him dead."

The image of the crow branded onto Akira flashed across her bloodshot eyes.

"I want to help you to make it happen, but you'll have to be truthful with me."

He was silent, and she waited for something to kindle in his glossed eyes.

"You said that you talked to him? Is he well?" He asked again, unwilling to let go of the fact that she had spoken to the small assassin.

"I told him to run away, but before he did, he ensured that I would try my best to save you."

She gestured to her mouth and then her stomach.

"And as I previously told him, I will try to save you. We are two grasshoppers strung onto the same string after all."

The assassin only smiled bitterly, grimacing as the movement tore at healing scars on his cheeks.

"How am I, a lowly prisoner, bound to the same fate as you, Your Highness? Last time I checked, you're the Northern King's beloved consort."

"You have the antidote to my life." She responded truthfully, every word ringing through the empty prison cell. "If you die, I will die alongside you since there is no other cure for this poison that your brother had fed me. But on the other side, if I die, then you too will rot away in this hell."

A dry cackle sounded, first a small chuckle but then erupting into a pang of throaty laughter. His laughter soon turned into a choked cough, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Then I guess I'll have Your Highness as company on my way to hell."

"But you won't die. I'll make sure the Northern King keeps you alive and well." She gestured to the bowl of honey, dipping her finger into the oozing liquid before bringing it up to the light. The shadows from the flames cast interesting shapes across the shimmery surface. "Not well, I suppose. But you will be alive. On my death bed, I'll make the Northern King promise to keep you alive and unwell."

She smiled coldly. If she had seen herself in the mirror at that moment, she would have realized how similar this smile was to that of the Northern King's.

The man suddenly tried to stand up, but the shackles on the chair forced him to remain seated.

"You're no better than the cursed barbarian!" He screamed, thrashing in the chair. As he did so, his wounds reopened, and fresh blood seeped out. "You witch! You're the perfect match for the black-hearted Northern King!"

Daphne bit the inside of her cheeks, trying to keep her cool. He did not just compare her to the man she hated more than anything in the world.

"Do you wonder why you failed your mission?" She stood up, forcing herself to stand as best as her weak body would allow. Towering above the prisoner, she could see the appeal of hovering over someone and looking down at them.

He glared back. "I must have struck the wrong place. I should have trained harder and more carefully."

"It's because you didn't know what you were fighting against."

She leaned closer and dropped her voice.

Glancing around, she made sure that the Northern King and his cronies were not perched outside.

"Did no one ever tell you? The Northern King cannot die."