Page 6

The Prisoner

I…saw it happen.

Through the bars, through the prison, through the eyes that were once mine but now belong to another. Her hand, touching him where he did not want to be touched.

His expression before I was shoved away from the scene and further into the cell that holds me.

I know his face well. Once, I studied it as if it were a wise man’s book and I a knowledge-hungry pupil. I know that when Rui is happy, his lips pull upward in a smirk that lacks its usual sharp edges. I know that when he is displeased, his visage becomes stone itself save for the blue fire that crackles in his eyes. I know that when he is anxious, his brows knit together and the muscles in his jaw pulse.

And I know that when Empress Moon touched him like that, when she laid out her terms, he was…scared. Scared that she would take it farther. Scared that he would have no choice but to agree. To be forced to agree.

I draw my knees to my chest and swallow hard.

I hate him, for what he did to Eunbi. Bringing my sister to a bloodbath—to her death—

C R A C K.

I hate him. More than I ever have. More than I ever thought I could. But when I saw that, I-I felt something. I was choking on it. On rage. Terror. And lo—

And something else, something I cannot possibly admit to myself. A shameful emotion, one that I should no longer feel.

Did he agree? I wonder, burying my face in my hands, trying to shove down a blooming panic. I was shoved away before I could see, before I could know what happened. Was he—was he pressured into sleeping with that foul empress?

My lower lip trembles as I drag myself to my feet on shaking legs and make my way back toward the bars. The Aglyeong stands there, as it always does, tilting its egg-like head as I press my face against the cold, rusted metal, focusing on connecting to the Prophecy’s eyes.

Beyond this cell is the mind. I know that as firmly as I know that my sister, my little sister, is dead. Yet it does not look like a mind. It looks like a dungeon, cold and dark and made of unforgiving stone. I am in the deepest recesses of my own consciousness, lost. I have not tried to escape. I do not know if I could, even if I wanted to. Even if this creature was not constantly guarding my cell and whispering how it would so very like to eat me.

Yet if I press my forehead against the cold bars of the jail and stare through the rungs, letting my eyes un-focus, I can see through the Prophecy’s gaze. Until she senses me and flings me away like I am nothing but a speck of grime.

“What are you even doing?” snaps the Aglyeong, sounding both annoyed and hungry . “Are you trying to see him? The Dokkaebi who brought Eunbi one step closer to death? To you ?”

I ignore it. It doesn’t like that. The thing takes a dangerous step closer. And another. “Your existence was like a bad-luck charm, you know. A curse. The Prophecy didn’t turn you into a monster. You were always wicked. You were always worthless .”

My throat works. If what it said was false, perhaps I could let its words dissolve into the background. Yet everything it says is true. Horrifically and undeniably true.

The Aglyeong leans close to the bars and grins, its jagged mouth appearing across its face. I cannot see past it, cannot find Rui.

I cannot find Rui. I-I cannot…

“Am I upsetting you? Why don’t you come out and show me how angry you are?” As it laughs at me, obstructing my view, a familiar rage overtakes me. The same sort of rage that flooded my veins as I stormed Sunpo’s palace and brought Konrarnd Kalmin to his knees. Before I even know what I am doing, I am launching myself at it, scratching its bloated fingers where they curl around the cell’s bars with my own, a frenzy of fury, of tooth and nail.

For a moment, I think that the Aglyeong is frightened of me. It lurches away, hissing in agony. And as my vision begins to clear, I see why. Breathing hard, I stare down at the clumpy, dark blood crusting my fingernails.

I scratched it. It bled.

It can bleed.

I…can make it bleed.

My fingers shake, tremors wracking them as the Aglyeong hisses. Nausea swirls inside my stomach as I stare at my nails.

So much blood on my hands. So very much.

“See how quickly you revert to violence?” it sneers, clearly attempting to recover its bravado, cradling its wounded hand. “You are an atrocity, a creature of destruction and disaster. You always have been.”

“I love who she once was.” Rui’s words echo back to me, husky with pain. How could he ever have loved me? How could he have believed I was worthy of that love?

C R A C K.

As I sway, my legs collapse beneath me, for I am suddenly too spent to stand. Instead, I bury my face in my knees and bite my lip hard enough to taste blood that in here, still somehow runs red. Yet as the Aglyeong laughs, a traitorous part of me still longs to reach for the Dokkaebi I once loved.

And another part of me, a small part made of fury and fire, quietly tucks away the knowledge that I can make this demon bleed.

…

I try to see Eunbi again.

Of course I do.

If there is even the slightest chance that the visions in my dreams are true—if there’s even the slightest chance that she can see me—I have to know. I have…I have to confess to being the monster I am, to assure her that I am locked away, in a place where I will never hurt anybody I love again.

Yet every time I begin to drift off, the Aglyeong—still furiously cradling its injured hand—rattles the bars of my cage with its other, jerking me out of whatever fitful doze I have been able to find. Filling my ears with merciless taunts.

Emphasizing how delicious of a meal I would be.

On the cold floor of my cell, I close my eyes and see only darkness.