Breaking The Balance

Breaking The Balance - Outcast

Jordan's POV

The silence in the room was deafening, the layers of tension and undisguised fury surrounding me and almost choking me as my mind whirled. What could I say in response to that? They clearly for some twisted reason hated my lady and in my agreement of their statement I could be putting myself in more danger but another part of my brain remembered how much my lady had done for me over the years and how she had never given up on me, so why should I give up on her? It was a question of how I wanted to start out in this land, whether I wanted to be true to myself and risk potentially my life time and time again or whether I wanted to try and sneak my way into their good graces and uncover this town's secrets.

As my mind searched for the right answer, my gaze moved upwards into the rafters of the large hall. I hadn't noticed it before, but there was a shape in the corner of the rafters staring down at me. I blinked and took a double take; it was the figure of a young man. He had tousled brown hair and bright blue eyes, with a rather slender form and wore simple brown clothes, causing his rather pale skin to stand out in the low light. I saw a flicker of movement to the side of him and on focusing my vision; I noticed a pair of beautiful purple wings fluttering behind him, seemingly attached to the nerves in his back. I was awestruck and my stare moved to meet the eyes of this youth, who was staring at me with an expression of hope in his eyes – as if he was awaiting my answer to the King's question but feared that I might not be on his side. My mind immediately put the pieces together, he wanted me to admit to being a follower of Ianite despite the danger it would put me in, yet he was afraid to show his hope to the King in case it revealed some great secret of his. Furrowing my eyebrows, I shoved the strange young man to the back of my mind and faced the King, my voice strong once more.

"Yes, I am a follower of Lady Ianite. In the realm, we came from I was her champion and I am proud of that. I will worship her till the day I die."

The piercing glares that followed sent a shudder down my spine but I held firm. They looked in my eyes for what felt like an age, their fists unconsciously tightening into fists and fury burning in their very souls like I had murdered their entire family. I heard a quiet gasp above me but I didn't move my eyes from the King's, not wanting to seem weak and also not wanting to give away his position. I knew the young lad would find me later; it was just a matter of time. I went to stand up, pushing my legs out of my chair and turning to walk towards the door when a firm hand grasped my shoulder and I was spun around to face the cold fury of the men. Their tone was full of venom and malice, aimed towards me despite the fact they had no clue what I was or what I'd been through.

"You are not welcome in this town. If I find you across the threshold of this town without my explicit permission then I will have you thrown into a jail cell and left there to rot. Give you a taste of pain for once. Your Lady is a murderess and doesn't deserve to walk this ground never mind be a goddess, but you wouldn't understand because I bet you've never lost anyone in your entire happy little life. Wake up and smell the roses Jordan, otherwise, you will not survive."

A blast of pain and cold fury flowed through my veins for some unknown reason, the cruel insults aimed at my lady being fuelled by some unknown pain that was seizing my heart and squeezing it in a vice like grip. My fists clenched and I pulled my shoulder out of Lieutenant Al's grasp, deliberately being rough and hearing him cuss at the sharp pain that was hopefully lancing through his hand. I stared at the King for a moment, feeling my burning gaze fill with pain and anger as it seemed to burn through where he was standing. Meeting my gaze for a second, he stepped backwards in fear of me – shuffling behind the Lieutenant as I stormed out of the fancy hall.

I walked straight out of the town, ignoring Martha's shouts and began to break into a run, just wanting to get away and to try and understand what the hell was going on in my mind. Feet pounding against the hard ground and my arms pumping, I just let go of everything – letting my feet carry me to a new place, not wanting to face my friends or even to stop to pick my way carefully through thorns and branches, letting them cut into my skin as I tore through them. My vision began to blur after a while as tears flooded them, the world around me swimming as pain and loss ripped through me like the blade of a sword through my chest. I sank to my knees and allowed the sobs to wrack my chest, rocking back and forth as the pain enveloped me. Images of a woman, visions of pain and a constant flash of darkness filled my vision over and over again, none of it making any sense yet bringing waves upon waves of sadness and depression into my mind.