The Selection of Prince Asher

ASHER

YEAR FIVE

The creaking of the gate echoed through the night. Apart from their footsteps, it was the only sound in the courtyard. The house ahead of them looked haunted in the moonlight and if they hadn't already been through hell, they would have been the slightest bit frightened.

The first man stepped up and knocked on the front door. Then he stepped back and waited with his brother.

The door was opened slowly, the butler motioning them in. They entered quietly, softly, cautiously.

Following the staff member down the halls of the mansion, the brothers were silent. They didn't dare speak while in the company of someone who was probably being paid to spy on them.

They were escorted to a sitting room and left there alone.

"I don't know if I can do this for much longer, Trav."

He glanced at his brother, "You have to."

The desperation and anguish was written all over his face, "Trav, it's slowly eating away at me. Every minute we spend here, I feel more of myself being chipped away." He met his brother's gaze, "And there wasn't much to chip away at to begin with."

Trav laid a hand on his brother's shoulder, "It's almost over. We'll be able to go home."

He pulled away from him and turned his gaze to the floor, "There is no home for me anymore."

"You don't believe that." Trav answered, lowing his voice to just above a whisper, "You will always have a home, Ash."

Ash's gaze clouded, "I believe that. I can't go home. They wouldn't recognize me."

Trav's face hardened but he didn't have a chance to answer. The door to the sitting room swung open and in walked their employer. The brothers stood, each knowing that the next few minutes would decide their future. It would decide how much more of their souls they would have to sell. It would decide everything.

YEAR TWO

There was nothing worse than listening to him scream. I couldn't do anything to stop it unless I wanted to scream with him. And he would kill me if I did anything to stop them.

And so I listened. To the screams. To the groans of pain. Knowing that he wanted me to stay away. Knowing that he blamed himself. Knowing that he felt like these punishments were something he deserved.

Finally the screams stopped. I stood and moved away from the door. They would barge in with their guns and demand it anyway. Then they would deposit the body on the ground in front of me.

Within minutes, the door was kicked in. "Dida alhayit! Dida alhayit!" They swarmed the room, dragging his body in with them. Still barking at me, they made quick work of securing the shackle to his ankle. The hard cool metal looked almost polished against the dusty and bloody skin. I swallowed my own vomit at the sight of him.

"Dida alhayit!" With a final yell at me, they left. I fell to my knees next to him and rolled him to his back, wincing at the amount of blood on his face.

"Head wounds always bleed easier." He mumbled in Romanian, "Don't worry, frate."

"I was just concerned because you have such a pretty face,"I joked, answering him in Romanian, "I'd hate to see it ruined."

He laughed, and then coughed. My chest tightened as he spit out blood on the dusty floor. I needed him to stay alive. He couldn't keep getting beat like he was. They would kill him one day.

"You worry too much, frate. I can see it in your eyes."

"I just wish you wouldn't fight them so much." I answered, leaning back, "They will kill you."

"I know." He tried to push himself up, "But I have to keep attention off you. The doamnă watches you too much."

"The doamnă will watch me regardless of what you do, Trav. You have to stop trying to protect me and start protecting yourself. We are equals now. I am no longer who I once was." I folded my arms over my chest, "We are frate, are we not?"

Trav's lips lifted, "Da, frate."

"Frate." I answered.