The Dragon's Kiss

"Argh! Why?!"

Kel groaned as hot metal bit her ankle painfully.

How many times had it been now? She thought her entire foot would burn off at this rate.

"But what else can I do?" she sighed glumly, grasping the now-cooled chain that had been haphazardly thrown to the ground.

The thick links stretched from the wall near her bed to the bulky cuff around one of her ankles. It was long enough to reach everywhere in the room and adjoining washroom but prevented her from leaving.

She'd been trying to escape for a while now, but her powers just weren't cooperating.

At first, despite how hard she tried, she couldn't produce any flames. The part of her chest that was usually filled with searing prickles had felt cold and hollow.

Is this what normal people feel like all the time? She'd wondered, shivering at the eerie chill.

The last few attempts however, resulted in her power exploding in large, uncontrollable bursts which always seemed to find their way directly to her ankle (without the metal so much as bending under the heat).

I'm a fool, Kel chided herself. Why didn't I run away when I had the chance?

She slumped back against her bed.

If she was being completely honest with herself, curiosity had gotten the better of her. As she followed Marcus and her other old comrades through the forest toward her old home country, all kinds of questions swam through her mind.

However, now that she'd learned the answers, she wished she had never wondered in the first place.

Even though she'd been dragged straight to this room after her brief meeting with the new king, she had a pretty good idea of what had happened to Mevani.

Leif, who was devastated by his uncle Barclay's death, rose up and took the throne from the previous king in an act of vengeance. His father, Sir Arden, was still alive as far as Kel knew, and as the most famous knight in the country, gathering support would be fairly simple.

But no matter how deep a father's love for his son stretched, why would an esteemed knight like Sir Arden, who'd sworn an oath of undying loyalty to the crown, help a young boy commit treason?

Kel understood how it happened and when it all played out, but she just couldn't figure out why.

Why did Leif react so drastically, and why did people support him?

But more than that..

Why wasn't her fire working?!

She'd practiced for months in Tael. All the things she learned how to do and the precision she could do them with made her believe she'd finally begun to harness her true potential.

Apparently, she had been mistaken.

Especially now, it seemed she knew nothing about her power.

"Why does everything always have to be so complicated," Kel huffed, gripping a nearby pillow and tossing to the ground.

Unprecedented trouble with her powers? Check.

Being held hostage by a madman for a strange reason with no idea of when or how to escape? Check.

Ugh.

Why did it feel like the unpleasant events in her life were repeating themselves over and over?

If history really was repeating itself, she knew all she could do now was sit and wait for Calix to save the day with some random scheme he had been planning the entire time. But something in her gut told her that wasn't the case this time.

Creeeak.

In the midst of her brooding, the door to the room opened to reveal Leif's unsettling smile.

Aside from the chain, that was the other horrible thing about this room. The young crazed tyrant could come and go as he pleased.

"Is the shackle bothering you?" Leif asked, immediately noticing the red spots that extended beyond the cuff around Kel's ankle.

"I'm fine, Your Highness," Kel answered curtly, tucking her legs underneath her.

"Not even a bow," Leif clicked his tongue. "You really don't respect me at all, do you?"

"I find it hard to respect people who imprison me," Kel muttered in response.

"Is that why my men found you prancing around with the Serin's dogs then?" the boy quipped. "Because you don't respect that crazy emperor at all?"

Who's calling who crazy? Kel retorted silently.

Besides, Calix hadn't really imprisoned her. Well, in the beginning he did, but-

"Anyway," Leif continued, "I can move your chain to the other leg... or take it off completely."

Kel ignored him, turning her gaze to the single tiny window carved into the room's stone walls.

Maybe it would be better to agree to Leif's terms and play along for a little while, and then find a way to escape? Or, at least, send a message to Calix?

"... Why me?" she spoke, eyes still glued to the window.

"Because you're the only one who understands me, Kel," Leif spoke bitterly. "You've already lost everything, just like me."

Lost everything?

Yes, for a while, Kel had felt that way.

She couldn't say that she never dreamed of going back to the time she had lost--the carefree days filled with Dash and Adriell, but she knew that wasn't possible. Going back to the past now, would she even be happy there anymore? Now that she knew what the future would hold?

"These people, Kel, I can hardly close my eyes at night!" Leif's voice grew desperate. "If they'd turn so quickly on the old man, what's to stop them from turning on me?"

Kel snorted. At least Leif still had some sense of reality.

"And what makes you think I wouldn't do the same?" Kel finally turned to face Leif.

His pale eyes were round and glowing, like a child.

"I know you! I can trust you! Especially now that we have a common ene-"

"You don't know me," Kel said quietly. "And I don't think I know you anymore either."

"I know you've changed! You're probably so much stronger now," Leif went on unfazed. "I'm stronger now too!"

But he wasn't stronger. Unlike the lighthearted kid in Kel's memories, the boy in front of her was full of cracks, on the verge of shattering.

She could see now why he was so set on having her by his side. In all the commotion within his mind and heart, the doubt he harbored against himself and everyone around him, he wanted a friend.

No, he was desperate for one.