Glass Rose

Chapter 5B

"Darling, you're going to have to go a little faster if you'd like to keep up." The man from the ball frowned as he snuck a glance at her and their distance.

Laera had been running after him at full speed. Her ribs ached, pinching and twisting her stomach, as her body begged to stop. Breaths came in pants that swallowed the air around her.

"Or, just maybe, you can slow down a bit," she spat out. Wind rushed against her ear.

His laughter rang deeply through the air as he ducked back under another tree.

"Why are you here?" Laera wasn't in the mood for teasing at the moment, and the more she wondered about him, the more she wanted to ask.

"Why do you care?" His tone was sharp, but calm. Wealthy, she deducted. Maybe nobility. The only people she had met with the ability to keep their voice that controlled were always connected to a throne.

"You're running. What from?" The silver-haired man avoided Laera's gaze, instead slowing his pace and slipping off his shoes, exposing long deep scratches along the back of his legs. Small unrecognizable emblems dotted the sleeves of his shirt, which was lined with an expensive material from the looks of it. "Job? Family?"

The silence between them stretched for even longer. She had been able to catch up now and trailed close behind. He didn't bother to look back, though the movement of his shoulders and hesitation in his back reassured her he was listening.

"...How did you get those scars?" From what she could see, they were everywhere. Down his neck, down his legs, on his arms. His body was adorned in the faint brown lines.

His deep chuckle was bone-chilling, like a dagger piercing through the air. The new response excited Laera, as she shut down her thoughts and committed her mind to his words. "Same way you got yours."

Laera froze. No one should have found out about the whips. It was a drastic measure, held only for her and Kris. The Queen made sure even the Captain was not allowed access to the section. The healers swore on blood oaths not to tell. Regardless, she quickly fixed her composure, put on a small grin, and forced out a retort. "What do you mean?"

"Healers don't fix everything, princess."

Their eyes locked. His glare seemed lifeless and dull, charcoal-colored eyes piercing into hers. He was taller than her for sure, and maybe taller than the Captain, who she prayed had not come back yet. The sunlight poking through the leaf canopy above created spotted patterns on his hair.

He gave off a refined aura, with his posture being tightly wrapped up, and his outfit definitely being more expensive than a regular pair of shirts and pants. A small lake stretched into the background around him, the light green water lapping at the sand, as the stranger slowly started backing into the waves.

More silence, and more eye contact, filled the room around them. Laera had followed, narrowing the gap between them and finding herself ankle-deep in the water. He was omly a couple steps away before halting, allowing her to come even closer.

She was hesitating, undoubtedly. Danger signals screamed in every direction at her, but Laera had made up her mind almost immediately after he sent a smug glance her way. Her hand glided down to the dagger as her soaked shoes pressed forward.

"No more questions? Really?" The man smirked, using his feet to splash water in her direction.

"Just one," She admitted. She had made it so far forward. His head was angled downwards and she could see the slight uneasy shuffling of his eyes hidden beneath the cold smile he presented. In a slice, her dagger was up near his chest, but he didn't move, didn't flinch.

The only sign of change in his demeanor was the clenching in his jawline as his smile grew.

Laera drew in a breath, the weight of the dagger shifting in her hand as her body shook with nerves. Be stronger.

"What were you doing at the castle?"

His brows furrowed in response as his smirk fell. "Tch...you seriously haven't put it together yet?"

Laera shifted, gripping the sword tighter.

"There's more than one tunnel to the catacombs, you know. Should've crawled on the floor rather than beaten up the wall. That's okay though, we'll work through those mistakes. My, I took every measure to make that entrance grand enough for you to notice. I even left you gifts! Oh, Flower, don't tell me you didn't get them!"

Thoughts overwhelmed her head, working through his words bit by bit.

Seeing her expression, he let out a growl. "Those damn glass roses were too expensive for some young nothing to take them!"

"You..." She hadn't bothered to bring the rose with her. It would sooner distract her with the memories than do any good. Her voice softened as her head pounded from his confession. "You took Kris."

"See, I knew you'd figure it out!" His hands flew up in victory as he beamed at her. Disgust and confusion rolled down her tongue, icy needles ran down her spine. The soaked shoes and pants were wrapped around her knees.

"See, Andromeda was betting on you being just a pretty naive little thing, but I just knew you were smart!" The man kept rambling on. Laera felt like she was going to hurl. "Attending court meetings like you were? You had to have at least a little intuition."

She couldn't match his smile and could barely meet his eyes. It felt like her chest was crushing against her back with every inhale. Her weight was cement in the water.

"Maybe a little tweaking here and there. Definitely some more training in war-related areas, but after?" He took a step towards her, the sword a hair away from his neck, chuckling a bit to himself.

"You're going to be perfect, Laera."

She slashed at his throat.