68 A Benevolent King
Waking up feeling as haggard as ever, Walton pushed himself off the bed. His head was spinning and making its rounds.
"Awake?" A lady voice asked, gentle as ever.
Walton turned his head and stared at her. "Where's Lithia Argenetia?" He asked immediately.
"Safe and sound. No worries. And I didn't bring you here to harm you." With a flick of her fingers, a scroll was brought over with a cold gust of wind. "Senior Commander Walton Oakslain."
Walton looked at the lady and held his two hands together with his leg on the bed. "What do you need?"
Aurora smiled happily. "Your service and Lithia's service. You do know that she was on a.. 'vacation' right? And she passed that time limit already. She needs to get back to the magic Tower."
Suddenly, a long murmur of frustration was heard behind the door. And the sound of soft cackling of boots dominate the silent room. A man in his twenties fixed his sword that was tied neatly on his waist.
His dark purple eyes locked onto Walton with distaste. And looked at his mother. "Should've brought the brown hair kid instead." He said out loud.
"Owen." Aurora tapped on the table with her long fingernails. "It's not that big of a concern. I believe that kids should bond together."
In a state of confusion, Walton stood up and was surprised to feel that his leg had suddenly gone numb. "What do you think you're doing?"
Aurora smiled and tilted her head. "I have orders from my king. And I shall bring Lithia back to her post with all possible methods. A crime committed in this period is nothing but a mere cause for a better cause." She stood up, her white dress flowed down to her shoes.
She waved her hand up and pulled out the white stick that tied her bun together. And one soft swing, a blurred image of a black jaguar leaped out of it and it's large body slammed onto the white walls.
It stained the walls red upon contact. The black jaguar struggled to get on its feet. It's blue eyes faint with life. It attempted to charge but felt it's red back legs chained back by something heavy.
"Lithia has awoken hours ago. If she had not come back here, who knows when she'd just snap dead." Her true intent couldn't be hidden behind her kind eyes anymore. Neither did her smile help.
"There was no need for you to do this." Walton stated, standing still and tall despite being cornered. He felt his sweat bead dripping down his neck.
Aurora rolled her eyes and set her hands on the table. It was neatly packed with bottles of concoctions, syringes and questionable ingredients.
"What's the fun in just begging her on my knees? And besides, my dignity can't get me down that low. And neither can my hatred." Aurora pushed the tab on the syringe.
Owen stood there, still like a statue. His watchful eyes darted around the room but he stayed inactive towards the scene that was about to unfold.
"Ahh I honestly wished I'd brought Claude. He looks so adorable. I wonder how Lithia would react to him in pain." Aurora sighed, tapping loudly on the table. "Well, they'll come sooner or later."
Aurora pressed onto the syringe once more, happy to see it working. "Don't worry, it won't be too harsh. Just enough to scare her and satisfy me. The main meal is her grandson."
Luar growled in a low tone and managed to crawl all the way over in a protective stance in front of Walton. Mist floating in the air.
"It's futile." Aurora stated, flicking her finger to her son.
Owen who was on guard, reacted as fast as light and without a word of instruction, he walked over and with his shiny polished boots, he pulled his leg back and landed a harsh kick right in the abdomen of the jaguar.
It winced in pain, the kick added another injury to its body. But it growled louder in retaliation. With its head slammed on the wall repeatedly, it's body slid down the wall, unmoving.
"Enough." Walton commanded, glaring at the boy who was repeatedly abusing the animal.
The temperature dipped progressively. Simultaneously, ice grew on the walls and flakes flickered in the air.
The side of her lips twisted upwards, her blood red lips pouting open. She walked over to Walton and stabbed the syringe into his neck.
Without being able to struggle whatsoever, Walton stood there and accepted the jab. His eyes kept on the unconscious jaguar. He scrunched up his face to fight the pain. His eyes almost popped out of his sockets from glaring at the lady.
"Oh my. What a gentleman." Aurora gushed, covering her mouth. "Owen."
Hearing his name, almost like a dog, Owen rushed over and grabbed onto the hair of Walton and slammed it on the ground. Using his other available hand, he pulled out his sword.
It created a soft whisper as it scraped against his pants. Owen raised it upwards and stabbed it down right into the arm and made sure it went through with one push.
"Continue that. I'll bring her in." Aurora said, walking towards a closet in the room. But instead of it being filled with clothes, it was the view to a jail room. It's rusty bars stood crooked.
And inside sat, Lithia Argenetia, hands cuffed and body sprawled. She wore a white long dress that was stained with a mash of brown and red.
"Is this how you treat your elders?" Lithia stated.
"I'm sorry! I had to. And it's also an order from my king for your betrayal. He treasures his magicians but in return, he is rather harsh in his punishments." Aurora reasoned, holding back a smile.
Owen pulled back the blade and went at it again, completely ignoring the commotion around him. He had to follow orders, otherwise he would be deemed useless.
Everytime he stabbed into the body, the muscles on the body seemed to have been made of steel for a second. It was difficult to jab it in for that split moment. It was concerning.
And soon after, it healed slowly due to the shot his mother gave.
He could hear something faint in the background, yelling something along the lines of 'stop' and 'sorry'.
This went on for what seemed like hours on end for the victims.
Suddenly, Aurora waved her hand up and the whole room erupted into a melody of sounds. And it changed in color.
"That should be it. Stop, Owen." Aurora said, holding an orb preciously inside the palm of her hands.
Lithia's throat was tired from all the screaming till she couldn't mutter another word. A taste of metal stung her tongue.
With a gentle look like before, Aurora opened the jail door. "Did I scare you? Oh my, I seemed to have gone too far. But it had to be done, I'm sorry. The king is rather anxious about this, that's why it had to be done in such a cruel way."
If eyes could kill, Lithia's would have. Her proud sunken eyes were now filled with hatred.
Just before Aurora unchained Lithia from her imprisonment, she stopped.
"You will come back to your post, right? And you will not speak of the matters from before. Ever. The king is benevolent enough to excuse your betrayal, so you must understand."
"You wretched woman. Do your years of knowledge not grant you a single grain of conscience?"
Aurora felt her hands freeze up, ice spreading across Lithia's neck like a wildfire. "I treated you like a role model. Do not push matters that far and accept your fate like you did just now. Please. We're at our limit."
The room fell silent.
"What a fool."
In the back of her mind, Lithia knew she was the fool for staying here for so long. This kingdom was messed up the moment it was created. No redemption could be granted without a sacrifice of a lifetime.
