Aleneo laughed. It bubbled out of him until he was hunched over as much as he could be with his arms restrained. He laughed until his insides hurt and tears were streaming down his face. Even when he couldn't get a breath in, he laughed some more because what he was hearing was mortifying, absurd, and too real.
"Are you done?" Alette pushed the blade under Aleneo's chin. He stopped laughing to look up at her.
All the laughter drained from his face. He glared at her, a swell of hatred taking over him. He'd never been this angry at her before. All his life he'd adored her. She'd been his best friend, someone he could always count on to have his side no matter what. And yet, she was the first one to throw him to the wolves.
"What is my name?"
Alette rolled her eyes. "Your name? What is it with your nonsensical questions?"
Aleneo moved closer on his knees. He didn't get far, his arms feeling like they were going to pop out of their sockets.
"Before you took me! What was my name?" Because it wasn't Aleneo. Alette had named him after her.
She'd stripped him of everything when he was brought here. Now they said he was dumb to think he was one of them? They were the ones that had forced him to live as a fairy.
She shoved the blade into his neck. The tip pricked his skin and drew blood. "I don't know and I don't care!"
She moved like she was going to slit his throat, but Tilen pulled her back. She pulled herself together, brushing a few loose strands of hair back from her face and gave Erebus the sword back.
"Do it and then we can prepare his body."
Alette turned her back to them all. She walked away and back to her throne. Tilen waited for Erebus to strike. Aleneo was waiting too. He found Erebus's eyes. There was no more pleading on his part. He was past that. All that was in him was boiling rage. Sprinkled in was a lust for revenge that was embedding itself into the depths of his soul.
Erebus rose the sword. The metal glinted in the chandelier lights. And as the sword hovered above him, Aleneo saw the moment Erebus thought twice. It was a split second, but it was a second that went on for a lifetime to Aleneo.
Thoughts dashed through his mind at rapid speed. And that hesitation was all he needed to figure out an escape plan.
He swiveled on his bottom and used his legs to knock the guards off their feet. One of them fell on top of Aleneo, directly under the oncoming blade. The sword sliced through the guard's neck, severing his head from his body.
Blood spurted over the floor and Aleneo. He rolled the man's body off of him. He jumped to his feet and sprinted for the stairs leading up to the balconies.
"For fuck's sake! Stop him!"
Tilen's booming voice echoed through the ball room. Aleneo's bare feet slapped against the stone flooring. He picked up the skirts and fled as fast as he could. He was winded by the time he reached the top of the stairs. He glanced down and swallowed his breath when he saw Erebus charging toward him with a dark look on his face.
He looked forward again and leapt toward the balcony doors. He threw them open. The frigid cold air hit him, but he didn't have time to be stunned. He ran to the ledge and threw his legs over before he could change his mind. He grappled onto the stone walls, his fingers and toes aching as he scaled the wall down.
He made it half way before he lost his foot and started falling. He back slammed into the ground and he was lost for breath. He stared wide-eyed up at the balcony. He saw a figure look over the edge before they disappeared.
He only had a few minutes before guards would come for him. Even though half of his body was still paralyzed from the fall, he crawled on his hands and knees into the garden.
The snow made it hard to see where he was going and made it even harder for him to move. His hands and feet were completely numb, but he continued to push forward. He wasn't going to die tonight.
He managed to get to his feet and pick up speed. He reached the center of the garden when he heard shouting, meaning the guards at the front had been alerted and Erebus was no doubt on his way.
The garden was made up of three large sections. The first two sections at the front of the garden housed only flowers and small vegetables. The third section was a series of overarching trellises that were covered with large fruits and vegetation. The snow had covered it all which meant the trellises provided enough shelter for him to mask himself.
His red dress was easy to spot in the white snow, but if he went through the trellises he would be hidden for the time being.
He ran through the tunnels of trellises at top speed. He wanted to warm his hands up, but he couldn't for a second let the skirts down or he would trip on them. He clenched his fingers and gritted his teeth to fight off the sharp coldness. He ignored the thoughts of frostbite as he made it to the end of the garden.
He plunged ahead, praying that he was far ahead that spotting him now wouldn't matter.
But the snowstorm was only getting worse. The snow in the fields before the forest was a feet high. His knees buckled as he lost his strength. He pushed himself up on shaky arms.
"Aleneo!"
His head whipped to the right as heard Cephus's voice through the howling wind. He couldn't open his mouth. His lips were sealed together and even if he could part them, his chattering teeth would make it difficult to speak.
Cephus rode through the snow on a small brown horse. He made his way to Aleneo and when he was right in front of him, he jumped off.
Cephus asked no questions as he gathered Aleneo into his arms and helped him onto the horse. He jumped on behind Aleneo.
The warmth of Cephus melted some of the cold. Aleneo leaned into the heat and shivered violently.
"Thank you," he croaked.
Cephus grunted as he turned the horse and dashed off. The snow proved difficult to ride through, but somehow the tiny horse was making it.
Aleneo slumped forward. He tried to hold on but it proved to be difficult with his fingers still frozen. Cephus held him up while steering the small horse away from the forest and away from the castle.
Shouts came from the back entrance of the garden. Aleneo went rigid as he listened closely. He only heard the pants of Cephus in his ear and the hooves of the horse dashing through the snow.
The dark night sky appeared above them like a black hole. Aleneo stared up at it without a thought. He was lulled into a peaceful state. There was only a little worry in the back of his mind, but it was mostly dampened. He felt safe with Cephus and relieved that he was getting further and further away from the castle that had once been his safe haven.
Aleneo was awake but not fully. He was jostled more alert when the horse stopped abruptly and sent him forward. Cephus had been holding him the entire time so he wasn't braced for the sudden jerk forward. Cephus tightened his grip just enough that Aleneo didn't fly completely off.
The large red dress had given warmth to Aleneo's bottom halve but his top half was more exposed than he was used to. The cold storm around them whipped at his naked chest and arms. The skin had been exposed to the elements for so long that he didn't know if he would ever be truly recovered when they made it to safety.
"W-What's-s-s—" He could barely say the word through his chattering teeth.
Cephus didn't answer as he looked out into the darkness ahead of them. He didn't seem afraid though or even apprehensive. He looked out into the darkness as if he were waiting for something.
Or someone.
Aleneo began looking too. He didn't know Cephus had contacts outside of the castle. He didn't even know Cephus could leave the grounds without permission.
He expected to see someone dressed in civilian clothing. However, as the figures in the darkness starting coming in pairs, growing in number, he noticed that they looked an awful lot like Hinythians.
"C-Cep-phus..."
Aleneo grabbed Cephus's arm and attempted to push it off his waist. Cephus tightened his grip, holding Aleneo harder against his chest.
Cephus still didn't answer.
Panicked lodged in the back of Aleneo's throat. His heart pounded in his ears. The storm hadn't settled one bit. It was growing stronger now, threatening to bury them alive with how much snow was falling. The Hinythians were not deterred. They powered on across the distance that separated them like demons crossing from the other side of Hell.
The closer they got, the window of Aleneo's freedom got smaller.
Aleneo rapidly went through scenarios in his head. He sprung into action, grabbing the knife he knew Cephus kept on his side. He fumbled with it, almost dropping it into the snow. Before Cephus could grab it from him, he slammed the blade as deep as he could into Cephus's thigh.
Cephus screamed out and let go of Aleneo. The horse took off into a sprint, running in a diagonal away from the Hinythians and into the snowy unknown scape. Aleneo fell off the horse and down into the snow. The fabric of the dress got caught around the saddle, dragging Aleneo across the ground with the horse.
Aleneo was smothered by brutal cold snow that sent his body into shock. He gasped for breath as his whole body seized as he was dragged through what felt like ice water. He stretched his arms out and tried to grab onto any of the underbrush. When that didn't work, he pulled himself slightly upright and started yanking at the dress.
Cephus grabbed onto the horse's reigns and was choking the horse. But the horse was so spooked that even though it was being choked it didn't stop.
Cephus kicked at the horse which only made it more scared and to continue to run. He also had a bundle of the red fabric so that Aleneo couldn't get away.
With a silent prayer, Aleneo started tearing at the silky fabric with his fingernails. The fabric started to fray just when he was losing his ability to move his fingers at all. They were a dark blue and the fingernails began to chip away as well. Still, Aleneo clawed at the dress because his life depended on it.
He'd rather lose his hands and feet to hypothermia than be dismembered by the Hinythian soldiers.
He tore the dress down to a couple threads and went Cephus jerked his hand holding the other end of the dress to pull Aleneo up, the rest of it severed.
Aleneo was dropped. The speed at which he'd been dragged sent him rolling down a slope of snow. He twisted and floundered to get upright, but he couldn't catch his balance and would fall back down.
He eventually slowed to a stop at the bottom of the hill. Covered in snow, he laid there, heavily breathing as he listened for hooves and the jingle of armor. There was none. Where he'd fallen was quiet except for the howling wind.
Too weak to get up, he let his eyes close, promising it would only be for a brief moment.
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