A Word a Day

Day Eleven: Storm

        Caldo stood out on the balcony, frowning severely at the dark clouds swirling viciously overhead. The sky was little more than a great dark mass, and he had a sneaking suspicion he knew why. Everyone in the palace was tense, and he knew it was only a matter of time before he guards arrived to usher him away from the foul weather and the visitors it brought upon them. Or, more specifically, to usher him away from her.

        Hell is cold. That was the lesson he had been taught when he was still a child. Hell is cold, and the devil is colder. The winds arefierce, but Satan is fiercer. The air is cold, but the queen is colder. The devil is Satan. Satan is queen. The queen is the devil. Beware heer wrath, beware her heart of ice. Never let her find you.

        The wind began to pick up, tousling his flaming red hair and inspiring goosebumps to rise from his tan skin. His red cloak billowed around him, pulling back to reveal the white and tan garments worn beneath. Yet his golden circlet remained unmoved from its perch upon his head. Likewise his golden eyes did not waver as he continued staring outward, anticipating the coming storm.

        "Your Majesty!" a deep voice flew to him on the wind. Caldo calmly turned around to face a hoarde of guards, all dressed in their red and gold uniforms, looking upon him sternly. The man who had spoken stood a little ways in front of the others, and Caldo recognized him as his brother's chief guard.

        "Yes? Whatever is it?"

        Caldo watched as the guard's face flashed with irritation, the emotion quickly disappearing just as quick as it had appeared. "Young Prince, you must come with us. The king requests you be taken to the safe location immeadiately.

        The king. Caldo frowned at those words. Not that he didn't like the king; in fact, he liked him very much, even looking up to him in most aspects. But it bothered him to hear such a formal term, as though the being bearing that title was not a person, was not his older brother. Mind, Rainn became distant with him after the death of him father, and Caldo was considerably closer to their middle brother, Suma, but all the same, Caldo would have loved to hear his brother be referred to as a person and not just the authority. Perhaps he was being unreasonable, even if he didnt think so.

        "Your Majesty?"

        Caldo sighed and walked in from the balcony, closing the glass doors behind him. "Yes, yes; I'm coming," he assured them with an impatient wave of his hand. "Lead the way."

        And lead the way they did.

        Caldo found himself almost wandering aimlessly down the corridors, as though the guards hadn't the slightest clue as to where they were supposed to be taking him. It didn't take long for him to tune out completely, content to listen to the porttraits rattle and to watch the torches dwindle slightly before rising back up again in new birth. Subconciously, Caldo tugged his cloak arund him, lifting his hood to experience whatever shelter it could provide.

        All of a sudden, their party stopped, causing Caldo to practically run into the guard standing directly in front of him. Stepping away and blushing like mad, Caldo put his head down, rising again only when the alarming sound of metal-on-metal prompted him to do so. He looked up in panic to find the guards with their weapons out, peering into the darkness tensely.

        "What's going on?" he asked no one in particular, only to be hushed by almost all of the soldiers. Frowning deeply, Caldo complied, resisting the urge to squint his eyes shut.

        He wasn't trained for this. He wasn't supposed to have to deal with death and bloodshed. He wasn't supposed to have to put up with war and turmoil. He was supposed to remain sheltered, the way he liked it, until his twenty-first birthday, which was still four years off. Mother had wanted him to be protected from the cruel world, her baby, her third son, and Father had obliged before they both passed away. This wasn't right; they wouldn't like this in the slightest.

        Caldo reached out to tap a guard on the shoulder. "Excuse me, but--"

        The guard promptly hushed him, not even looking his way. And that was when Caldo heard it.

        The laugh.

        It was an eerie, chiling sound that rebounded through the halls and set ice crystals to root in the heart of all men. The air was suddenly far colder, and Caldo could have sworn that icicles were forming on the portraits and ceiling alike. Frost began to coat the walls and floor until he was too scared to move a muscle. And then, finally, the torches darkened, leaving the party in complete and utter darkness.

        Caldo dared not speak a word. There was someone else in here besides his brother's men; what if the wrong person heard him? He was of the royal Somerset family, and he knew very well that was enough to place a flashing target upon his broad forehead. Maybe, in this darkness, he stood a chance. But then again, he thought uneasily, maybe they'd just kill him along with the others.

        He stood stock-still and silent for what seemed like hours on end, hoping against hope, praying desperately that he would make it out of this situation in one piece. And his prayers were answered.

        His prayers were answered in the most sick and twisted way imagineable.

        A clammy hand fastened on his shoulder, causing him to cry out in shock and fear. "Hush," a feminine voice hissed in a manner that Caldo felt compelled to comply. Unfortunately, the woman must not have been satisfied, for she slid a freezing hand over his mouth. "'If you want to live, foolish prince, you must do exactly what I say. Understand?"

        Swallowing a lump in his throat, Caldo nodded vigorously. "Good," the woman seemed to sigh. "Count your blessings; you are the only living man in this hall, and you are mine. You will do whatever I say or you'll be disposed of. Got it?"

        Feeling tears beginning to well in his eyes, Caldo nodded, whimpering behind the woman's hand.

        "Good," the woman purred. "Now, let's get you back to Hell."