BLUE VENOM

Twenty

Someone brought me a bowl with a porridge-like essence in it. I stirred the wooden spoon and gulped down the last of the dry paste.

Somebody bumped against the wall in the cell next to mine.

Shocked, I jumped. I hadn't noticed that anybody was in there before. When I got up on my tippy toes to peek over the wall into the bordering cell, the knocking stopped but It couldnt make out what or who was in there.

I flinched, when somebody opened the door. Keys were jingling and the chain fell down against the bars.

A gruff looking Syren Warrior in blue toga and armour beckoned towards the hall. "You. Washroom", he said in their weird sing-song accent. Then he grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like am insult.

Finally.

I nodded and quickly made my way over to the exit, knocking over the porridge bowl. The tall warrior rolled his eyes and atretched out an arm to point down the hall. "No tricks", he said.

I didn't feel like trying anything, even though he kept a distance to me while walking. As I got out of the cell I glanced back into the dark of the cell next to mine but the cell door was too far on the right and the wall was blocking the view into the cell.

"Who's in there?', I asked the warrior, not really expecting an answer. He looked at me with a blank face and waited for me to move. I guess no answers for me.

As we were walking down the narrow, half dark halls, for the first time, I got a good look at the corridors around my cell.

A coat of dust was on the glistening, alabaster like walls. Far above us was a tiny window with four panels, too small to crawl through it. It let in a sheen of eerie light.

Gruff warrior led me through another corridor with meaning plank floors, down three muddy steps and into a long room that reminded me of a roman public bath, with rectangular white stone tubs and smaller basins for feet or the face.

"Chew the mints"

"What?"

The warrior left, slamming the door behind me and I could hear the lock turning.

Still, I didn't know how safe I was from anybody coming in here while I washed up.

I shrugged of my discomfort - I really had to get washed up - and discarded my clothes. I got into one of the big tubs and let the water run in. Soon, hot steam filled the air and I let myself soak, using the clumpy beige soap bars to covery inch of my body in the thick cream.

There were simple white robes and clean underwear prepared on a stool. So they held me in a dirty cell but they were still classy enough to not let me rot. There was a simplistic wooden toothbrush and a bowl of sage like looking leaves. I smelled at them. Minty. So that's what the warrior meant. I cautiously put one leave between my lips and sharp,inty taste instantly filled my entire mouth, the second my teeth scratched the epidermis. It was like toothpaste.

When I was finished, I knocked at the door and the gruff guard let me out. He led me back to my cell, locked it and disappeared upstairs.

I leaned back on my bench and groaned.

Could none of them even tell me what they needed dme for or how long I would have to sit here?

A few more hours passed and an another maid with whitish hair brought me more porridge.

"Thanks", I said, when she pushed it under the ceel door.

"Do you know how long I have to stay here?"

She shook her head and walked out of the door. Right after she left, Kor came walking into the cell and watched her leave for good, before he approached.

"Hey", he said, grabbing the cell bars. "How are we feeling this bright day?"

I glared at him. "What do you think?"

"You washed up"

"They let me wash up. Points for humanity... Oh, wait...."

He smiled wryly. "You won't be in here for long."

This pricked my ears. I stood up. "Oh yeah? What do you know?"

"I told Jain that you brought a rare human disease that can actually spread to the Syren. Which is also why they let you wash up. He can't kill you because that would definitely be a treaty breach. But he won't want you to be around the palace."

I stared at him. He wore another neat black button down and pants today. His hair fell half long over his face and his dark eyes had the same glint.

"Wait", I said. "A. Why would your brother think you know things that he doesn't. B. Why would you do this? And C. Where would I go?"

His smile deepened, eyes taking on an almost joyful glint now. His face came closer to the bars, his already low tone lowering even more. "You would be coming with me."