POV. Archie.
Everything hurt.
The scalp, the jaw, even the pride: that little piece of dignity that always refuses to die even though everything else is already in ruins.
I woke up with the taste of iron in my mouth and a stabbing pain in my ribs. He had spent hours, perhaps days—or weeks, or lifetimes—with his arms tied behind his back, a wet sack over his head, and his dry mouth under the gag.
Something was beating in my temple like an out-of-tune drum. He was tied up. Dirty. And trembling.
Stank. On horseback, in stale sweat, in fermented fear. Myself.
The rough fabric of the jacket covered my head. The sound of a door resounded like thunder. And then, they dragged me away again. I heard boots. Echoes. Murmured voices. Some tense, others excited.
Someone pushed me and I fell to my knees on a cold marble floor. A metallic bang was heard. Armor? Guards?
And then... silence.
A shrill voice announced with forced drama:
"Your Majesty!" As promised... The Eclipse Sorcerer.
The sack was suddenly taken from me, and a blinding light cut my eyes like blades.
The light blinded me.
I blinked through tears until my eyes managed to focus... to the ghost.
On the throne, surrounded by resplendent knights and curtains so thin that they seemed to be made of mist, was an angel.
A brilliant man was watching me from the top of the throne. White hair fell on his forehead like freshly fallen snow. His gray eyes were bottled storms. His smile... that smile. Curved, dangerous. Like a predator that just remembered that it is hungry.
He was not a ghost.
Worse.
He was a prince... and looked at me as if he already knew what my soul would taste like.
The prince raised an eyebrow and then stood up. His cloak fluttered as if he had a will of his own. He took a couple of steps, theatrical, marked. The whole room seemed to lean toward him.
"Is that you?" He asked in a clear voice, so comforting that for a moment I forgot that I had the power to decide whether I would die or not. Are you the eclipse sage? Or just another crazy man with jars?
I tried to answer, but the gag wouldn't let me. I stammered. I complained like a trapped mouse. The prince let out a slight laugh and snapped his fingers.
Two guards released me.
The leather of the ties slipped from my wrists. My skin was burning. Blood was buzzing.
"I'm not... "I am not a wise man, Your Highness," I said in a trembling voice. Not a sorcerer.
"Were you born under an October eclipse?"
"Yes. But that doesn't make me a sorcerer. I'm just... a scientist. Poorly dressed, poorly fed and with even worse luck.
The prince descended from the throne like an actor ready to steal the scene.
His boots resonated with exaggerated elegance. He circled me, analyzing me as if I were a creature in a jar.
"Scientist, eh?" He smiled, walking in circles around me, his arms crossed behind his back. My kingdom is suffering, it is dying. An invisible plague swallows our people. My father was the last to fall. I don't want to see more people do it.
He stopped in front of me, offered me a hand, and when I didn't react, he crouched down as if he were my older brother in a school play.
"I will forgive you all your past sins, my dear... Archie, right? You have no family, no friends, no place to go; from what they told me," I nodded, trembling. You will have freedom, unlimited resources and hot food... in exchange for your loyalty.
"What is it... what I am supposed to do here? I stammered.
"Make a cure... and I will build you a tower of gold. Fails... and pray that the rats don't like your taste.
My legs tried to flee without me.
"I... Try. I promise.
Kai clapped once.
"Magnificent!" You will be granted a workspace and a personal merchant. I want a cure, Archie. Or a masterpiece. Something that history remembers.
"Thank you, your majesty..." I tried to stand up, failed, and staggered like a newborn drunk.
A soft laugh erupted from the top of the room.
"Mother, little sister?" Kai said, turning to the women watching from the top of the steps. Where would our illustrious guest be most comfortable?
A young woman — with a sharp smile and bright eyes — was the first to respond.
"Near your tower," she said sarcastically. That way, if he goes crazy, you'll be the first to know.
I opened my eyes with reflected panic.
I froze. I waited for the reprimand. The scream. The punishment.
Is this how they spoke with the future king? Weren't they afraid of him? I braced myself for the sound of punishment...
But instead, I heard a melodramatic, delicious, non-rancorous laugh.
"That one!" That's why I'll wear a crown and you won't! He blew him an exaggerated kiss with his fingers. Then he turned to the queen. Mommy, what do you say?
The queen spoke for the first time, her voice soft as petals, but so firm that it silenced the echo.
"I recommend the old winter garden," he said, in a voice of ancient calm. It is contaminated, yes. But it would be a good place to start with the manufacturing of our future.
Kai smiled with all his teeth, and for a moment I wished I hadn't been released. The prince turned to me with the smile of a child about to set fire to a beehive.
"Perfect. An enchanted laboratory for our enchanting sage. Archie... Your lab is waiting for you.
I wasn't even ready to stand up straight. But I nodded. What else could I do?
"Y-yes... majesty.
Then I knew.
I had not escaped my captors.
He had only changed cages.
And this one had windows.