The Next Ender Dragon book II: Accepting Change

Chapter 23: Clouded Mind

Nathan's p.o.v

    The ice kingdom has changed...
The once welcoming area became a dictator ruled district. The night sky just made the place look empty. You could feel the sadness from the forest as if it seeped into the bark from the kingdom itself. It was as if the moon and stars didn't even wanna shine over the walls.
"Savion...what happened?" I asked quietly with my new voice.
"Vilkas happened. Hush Nathan," he pursed his lips together under his finger, shushing me as we drove up to the gates. Savion stopped before we pulled up.
"You remember the plan correct?" He looked back at me as his friend pulled up.
"Go disguised as Nathan. Follow you into the castle since Nathan works under you to protect the princess. Blah blah blah be reunited with my girl," I laid back in my seat and brushed my hair out of my face. He sighed and shook his head out of annoyance.
    We approached the gate and was stopped by a large man.
"ID please and step out of the vehicle,"he said with a low, rough voice.
    One by one we all stepped out the vehicle and handed him out Identification. We were instructed to stand on a white line, shoulder to shoulder to prepare our DNA scan. Woah wait DNA?
    The car was driven around the kingdom and out of our sight. I stood at attention along with Savion's men as a machine came over, scanning our bodies as if we were robots undergoing inspection.
    I stared at the forest in front of me, not moving like a British solider, then the machine had its turn scanning me. It scanned until it got to my eyes, then it stopped.
    The large man stepped up to me and looked into my bright purple eyes with such precision and thought it bothered me a bit. Not because of who I was, but because I knew he was through with his search, I felt like he was reading my soul, seeing the wrong, the murders, the screams, the torture hidden in my eyes. 
    He broke his glare and looked at Savion with a raised eyebrow and as if Savion knew what he was asking he nodded back at the man's glare.
The large gates unlocked and slowly started opening for us.
"Oh and here," Savion spoke as he gave the man an Ender eye. The man placed it in his pocket and nodded. We all turned as Savion barked orders and marched into the city. My soul felt afraid.
    I felt as if the dragon inside of me had curled into a ball and retreated to the farthest part of the void.
    This place was not a family friendly place. The only people out at night were soldiers. People closed their blinds and locked their doors here. Cameras were everywhere. Observing us as if the simplest mistake would lead to a world of being reeducation and pain. The streetlights couldn't light up the darkness and fear that was so visibly lurking through the souls and every aspect of the whole place.
    We stopped at the doors of the castle and split apart. I stayed with Savion as we were saluted and had the doors opened for us.
The inside of the castle remained untouched as if he didn't want to change a thing, or was begged not to.
    It made my heart hurt to have all those happy memories of life and love flash back all at once, only to have them compared to the now. I wanted to shed a tear or two, but I remain calm, I must be Nathan, not Hex.
    My mind was so lost. I kept taking mental pictures of everything and matching them to memories. The faded, cloudy memories suddenly becoming clearer with every step I made. Small flash backs of walking the exact hallway, walking the exact stairs, the pictures, the paint, the trim, the windows....even the smell. Even though fear clouded my nostrils as the people emanated it like it was a natural smell, I could still smell the hint of pastry that her room always let off. The closer we got the Stronger the smell, but I caught a whiff of something else.
    We were outside of her door and I heard it. The sounds of a bed being rocked back and forth, but only followed with the sounds of a grunting man, but not the happy female. I could sense pleasure, guilt, shame, pride, want, and sadness all wrapped into a small amount of sounds. My mind was taken over by all the different smells. It Clouded my senses and made my heart pump a new emotion, nervousness.
    How badly he has changed everything, what if he broke the will of my dear? I guess I wasn't focused because Savion nudged my shoulder. He could sense how bad my mind was overwhelmed.
"Breathe Hex," he whispered in my ear. Then the sounds stopped. My ears picked up the sounds of bare footsteps on a wooden floor, the shuffle of clothes, and a second pair walking from wood flooring to tile.
    The door opened to reveal a shirtless Vilkas zipping up the fly of his pants with a lit cigarette sticking out of his mouth. He looked up at Savion and I and punched my arm, "bet you wish you could get some aye Nathan?" He walked away laughing and huffing smoke.
    Savion waited for him to leave and watched the cameras. I looked at the lenses as they shifted from normal ones to Ender cameras for a sec then back to normal.
    Savion smacked my back and laughed and brought me close for a bro hug.
"Alright so the cameras are shifted to not detect any of your Ender for your stay here. Vilkas shouldn't be able to find out. There are no cameras in her room. I'm sorry that the first time you get reunited with her and this is what happens. I would've killed that bastard a long time ago for hurting my sister's mistress," he whispered softly and quickly in my ear and broke the hug. I was gonna ask where he got that Ender eye from, but He pushed me into her room and shut the door behind me.
    I didn't know what to do. I was frozen as soon as I heard the click of the door behind me. I was paralyzed in the room, I felt safe yet worried.
    Soft crying was heard through the sounds of a shower as my heart pounded in my chest. I swallowed all my fear and made my way to the bathroom. I kept walking till I jumped and vanished into a puff of purple smoke when I heard her turn off the shower.
    I ended up under her bed as she stepped out and started putting on lotions and such, brushing her teeth and her hair before getting dressed in my flannel and turning off her lights.
    She opened her balcony door and stood outside. I took a deep breath and quietly made my way across her floor.
    My mind couldn't process what was happening. I slowly stood and froze a few feet behind my angel  watching as she was hunched over the edge, leaning on the railing and staring at the stars.
"I'm so sorry Hex," she sighed and covered her wet eyes with the palms of her hands.
"Sorry? What do you have to be sorry for?" I said. She jumped, surprised when my voice hit her ears. Oh god I said that out loud! I wasn't supposed to let her hear my voice!
"Hex?"She spun around quickly as I disappeared into smoke again and back to the door. She looked around the room and sighed.
"Princess are you alright?" I asked sounding like a concerned Nathan.
"I just....nevermind. I guess I was just hearing things," she stood there hugging herself and looking towards the ground as she sighed and turned to the forest below her outside of the balcony.
    I followed her onto the balcony and stood beside her.
"Are you thinking about her?" I asked not making eye contact as she looked at me.
"Why would you care? She is dead and that's all that matters to you," she huffed and lumbered back into the room, leaving me there.
"She isn't dead," I looked into her eyes when she shot a glare at me. Her face of frustration, anger, and sadness melted once she caught view of my bright purple eyes shining in the darkness of her room.
"She isn't huh? If she isn't then why hasn't she come to rescue us all from Vilkas?" She walked up to me and stood, looking up into my eyes.
"Being dead and being trapped are two different things. Maybe she is stuck."
"Stuck?" She raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
"I mean once you enter The End the only way to get out is death or killing the Enderdragon. If she is the Enderdragon she can't kill herself in there, she'd automatically heal. And if she automatically started healing she couldn't have died.
    She'd have to have an open portal and a way out. Maybe she just hasn't had it yet," I was getting scared from her questions. She backed up.
"Okay. The plains kingdom had recently begun testing on the End Portal. Afterwards a massacre had taken place.  All that was found was the bloody clothing of a large amount of people and a broken End Portal. Could she have broken out of there?"
"Well uh..." She stopped me.
"Savion is the leader of your rebellion am I correct and he had just went out to check out the commotion at a hidden camp and has returned with you...a man that wasn't sent out with him before...suddenly comes back with him?"
Oh Notch,"I um uh..." She walked up to me and got close.
"And all of a sudden you question the fact if I miss the woman I watched get killed in front of me, or from a person who shouldn't know any information of that type about The End...she would be healed and living,"
"Look I can uh..."
"So that would mean Hex is alive and would do anything to come see me, even if it meant cutting her long hair and disguising herself as a solider to sneak in with her little brother and see her once soon to be wife. She could've broken free and did all of that to see me," she was now kissing distance from my face. She knew everything I did and unraveled the entire plan...oh Notch why?
    I stood in silence and stared at the ground.
"Any more questions?" I sighed and looked away from her gaze that broke into a smile and a soft giggle.
"Just one. Why hasn't my fiancé kissed her bride yet?"