I knock on the door, my breath hitched in my throat.
The note is crumpled in my hand, but I brought it nonetheless. I'm here less out of necessity, and more out of curiosity. Vaia summoned me to her quarters with a quickly written note, containing nothing but a few words. I'm frightened she's here to pummel me over the head for being in her brothers company, or rip the clothes from my body and claim them as hers.
As much as Vaia is not my favourite person in this place, she does have a beautiful quarter all to herself, that I find myself envying. From rich wooden floors sweeping up to pale wallpaper, the place is furnished neatly with a few rugs, furniture and most impressively, hand-built, carved bookshelves laden with an endless supply of books.
Of all the things I've done in the past week, this is my biggest lapse in judgment.Still, I've snuck my way through the hallways, night having falling at it's latest hour; right at midnight. I could be walking into a trap, into a plot for Marek to try our escape so he can resume what his original plan was. Killing my Tani. Yet still, with one tentative foot in front of the other, I slip out through the empty kitchen downstairs, and outside.Taius's demand echoes throughout my head, as I wrap my jacket tightly around my limbs, inwardly cursing my foolishness for coming out here. 
Jessa.I'm writing to let you know I'm safe. I have no doubt me leaving abruptly in the night troubled you, but know everything is okay.I have a job now, a better one. You'll never believe it, but I'm working for a King. I wish you and Fran could get a job too. I miss you two. Anyways, I hope you're doing well, and if you wish to write back, then send it to this address.Akara.
I don't look over my shoulder until I've weaved through a few streets and emerged back onto the main road further into town.Marek will be following me...I know he is. I just have to get back to Elan as soon as possible. I doubt Marek will appear when I with someone else, since he hasn't done so before, and as Kailor's personal guard, Marek may be intimidated by Elan. Although I doubt it. I can imagine how a stand-off between those Summoner's would go.No one takes much notice of me as I walk down the cobblestone streets, pulling my hood up over my head some more. Everyone here is going ab
Where Marek is being held isn't exactly pleasant.Shadows guide me down a hallway bathed in smooth concrete, the dim lights above me doing little to ease my anxiousness. Despite it being a holding cell at the edge of Taius's property, it was easy to access. The Guards simply watched me, as I ran, distraught to the entrance, as if they knew their was little point in stopping me.The Nobles had quickly retired to their rooms after the incident. Taius couldn't stop me, as I ran out to where Marek is being held.&n
Dusk has turned to night, moonlight bleeding in through my gauzy curtains.I haven't been able to find sleep. My mind is clouded with the events of the day; of Tai and the Nobles and their lethal boredom. But Marek takes the top spot for why I can't sleep. His eyes, deep and threatening, bluer than the ocean, and colder than ice. He wouldn't have killed me today, even if Evolet held a knife to his throat herself.A thought glides into my mind, persistent as ever.
I stare at my desk, laden with items.First, I eye Tai's attempt at an apology. A blank book, with a variety of pencils, coloured and not, accompanied with a few other bits of stationary. All of this is vaguely familiar, but not something I've dabbled deeply into. He knows I have no skills, so I'm assuming this is his way of giving me the option to experiment.I'm not going to pretend like it doesn't pique my interest. Later.&nb
Marek and I sit under a glistening beam of moonlight, enjoying the cool grasp of the night.Meeting out here, at the back of this manor, has been keeping me sane, and honestly, I believe Marek shares the sentiment. We come out here to practice my skills, to continue to develop my ability to fight, to defend myself. But tonight, we just sit, eating pastries I wrapped in a cloth and stole from the kitchen."I don't know whether it was brave or stupid for you do to that," I murmur, wiping crumbs from my lower lip.
The pencil shudders between my fingertips.The stark white of the page frames each uncontrolled line and faintly erased mark. I'm not sure what to think, what to feel. Instead of staring at the page, I eye my bare ring finger. I've been proposed to; I am a pawn in a dangerous game between two royals.I want to be angry at Tai, but I don't know what to think. I'm more confused than anything, considering I haven't spoken to him since about his intentions.He wants to kill his father. Is he crazy?Never mind the strang