BLUE VENOM

Sixteen

A guard was instantly blocking my path, flaming blue spear out.

"Back", he said in bad human language and I stumbled backwards, but my eyes shot up to Kain.

Where were the others? A new thought crossed me. What had they done to them?

I studied Kain. His black hair hung into his face and his light blue eyes looked tired. He had noticed me though, and was staring like I was a mirage. He didn't seem to crouch or look otherwise crippled so I hoped that they hadn't cut any limbs off. I mean, I would have understood if they did. I had been tempted to do so a few times myself.

I couldn't help but grin at him and he seemed to stand up straighter. Then his eyes went to Joon.

"Is that your friend?", asked Joon.

"Yes", I said. "Well... We go to the same school. Come from the same planet. But I can't see the others" I looked around the room to make sure I was seeing everything correctly.

The room looked icy. All white, frosty columns and these blue flies shooting out of squares to light up the room. There were a lot of mirrors and a lot of open doors leading into long halls.

I started to wonder wether they really would just let us walk out of here without complaints.

Joon stood before the prince on his throne. "You have something that we would like to get back", he said straightforwardly.

Jain looked uninterested. He barely glanced at us. "Take him", he said in a cold tone, before Joon even had pulled out the scroll.

Joon and I exchanged a glance, me in confusion.

"Where is the rest of them?", I asked. "Ty? Desiree?"

"The rest of your friends is dead", said Jain.

Silence fell over the place.

I stumbled backwards. "Wh-what?"

My head snapped around to Kain. His blue eyes met mine and that was, what had confused me so much about his appearance; he didn't just seem tired - Kain never looked tired. There was a certain gloominess over his features. Like he had seen things.

I didn't think. I was so fast, that not even the guards could react in time and stop me from reaching the throne. I ran forward and grabbed the Oh so dignified prince by his sleeves, boring my nails into his arms. "What the hell have you done?!", I barked into his face and he looked up at me unimpressed.

The guards were already all around me, but they looked confused as to what they should do with me - wether they should just pluck me of the princes arm and risk him getting hurt.

"Get her off me", Jain said dryly.

"You..!" I grabbed him more firmly, as guards grabbed my own arms and tried to pull me off him.

"Girl", said one of them in a gruff voice. "Let go or we will have to use the flame on you" A spear with fiery blue flame came dangerously close to my chest. It exuded surprisingly - ice.

The blazing frost distracted me and they grabbed me andpulled me back avoid few steps - them a couple ateos more just to be safe. Joon was already in their grasp, struggling.

On his throne, Jain sighed and flicked his sleeves, like he was flicking my dust off of them. Like a fly had just disturbed his elegant silence. He got up, gracefully, and folded his hands on his back, apparently a royal trait. He walked up to me, studying me out of absolutely unemotional and cutting ice blue eyes. While the first knight Kor had seemed like he was boiling under the surface, like it took nothing to get under his thick skin, this one was the esact opposite. It seemed like it was impossible to get anywhere past that shockingly arctic facade.

"I didn't do anything", he said in his silky voice. His dark blond hair shimmered under the incoming daylight. I don't even know where the light flooded in.

The prince turned to my tear streaked face, looking hard as porcelaine.

"Your friends tried to flee and got killed by a certain purple tree that you ignorant lot wouldn't know anything about. It was their own fault. That one saved himself" He pointed up to Kain, who flinched and aveetwd his eyes. "Tried to help your friends as well, but you know, in the end his survival instincts kicked in and he made sure to save his own skin. I was pondering what to do with him."

I stared at him and couldn't believe how emotionless he was, talking about all of this. In fact, he recited it like it was a rather annoying incident.

Next to me, Joon had been silent but now he spoke up. "We have royally signed papers to get back any human held captive inside theae Syren walls. You guys know you have no business captivating innocent people from earth."

"That's where you are wrong" Jain stared him down and I could see Joon twitch under Jains glacial pokerface.

"Why would I be wrong? I'm here on royal orders!"

"We are very much allowed to hold captives. I'm talking about the part of the contract that explicitly states that we can and I cite: "Sustain and question anybody who leads us to the assumption that he, she or it may be dangerous to our livelihood or existence." He turned. "Just as these humans showed up, so did dead Lifelings."

"But that's nonsense", said Joon. "They are random teens from earth. They know nothing about hunting and killing your magical goddess priest pet creatures or whatever. They just got dropped here bybthere government."

"And you didn't ask yourself why? They might be criminals, no?"

"What? No..." Joon glanced at me, then corrected himself and his stance. "No"

Jain looked at him like he was a slab of dirt in a pot of mud. "And you know that how? Since you've known this person a day? Who knows why they were sent here and what they were sent to do"

"No you jerk", I spat at him, finally tired of listening to their banter. "We really are here accidentally. And now you better leave Kain and me go before you break your scared peace treaty."

Jain turned to me, staring at me. A very thin lipped smile played around his elegant lipsm "You're one, earth girl, to talk about peace. You came here and know nothing. You broke the treaty the second you laid hands on me."

My eyes shot to Joon and he looked uncomfortable. "She didn't know", he said

"Well, maybe you should have told her", said Jain plainly.

"As it is. I can let go the boy." He barely goanced into Jains direction, face full of disdain. Then he looked back at me, the lines of his face mixing with something else. An ungoid feeling poured out jnside of my stomach."But I can't let go this one. She came here under royal orders and she broke the treaty by personally attacking and laying hands on me. You are very well aware, Joon Lesgarde, that I cannot possibly let her make even just ome step out of this palace now that disresoect has been shown. She needs to stay here as my prisoner and you can go back and bring the surviving boy to your people the Black Knives."