Your life for my freedom
1652 Words
Namiko’s POV
Stone walls pressed in, damp and ancient, sealing me in with nothing but stale air and the echo of my own thoughts. Days had blurred into nights, and the shadows whispered accusations I couldn’t try to even fight. I hadn’t seen a map. I had never touched a locket. But it didn’t matter, no one cared for the truth when it came from the mouth of someone like me.
A liar and a threat.
The guards came at dusk.
“His Majesty has granted your request,” one of them muttered, not looking at me. His nose wrinkled as if my presence offended him.
I stood on legs that barely remembered how to work. My wrists throbbed where the shackles had bruised them. My feet dragged as they led me through the stone corridors, up and up until the scent of ash, pine, and storm met me like a blow to the chest.
Less than an hour later, I was dragged back through the halls of the palace. Not chained, but not free either. The guards flanked me like I was a weapon ready to detonate.
The throne chamber dominated the whole place again but colder than before.
Caspian stood near the obsidian hearth, black coat open at the throat. He stood in the center of the throne, The hall was empty except for the two guards posted at the entrance, and the weight of his presence, unmovable, unreadable, and definitely unkind.
I fell to my knees the moment I crossed the threshold.
“My King,” I whispered, my voice cracking.
He said nothing. The silence stretched, almost as brittle as glass.
“I. . . I asked for this audience because I have no other way to prove my innocence,” I began. “I have not seen the map, and I have also not seen the locket. I have no one to vouch for me. And I know what that looks like, what it means.” Even you. . .
He circled me like a predator assessing prey. “It means you’re a liar, it means you are not to be trusted.”
“I’m not.”
“Then you’re incompetent. Which is worse.”
I swallowed the sting. “I didn’t come to defend myself. I came to ask you to let me go.”
That made him stop.
The air shifted. Slowly, he turned to face me, expression unreadable. “Let you go? You must have a death wish”
“Yes,” I said, forcing the words past my parched lips. “Release me from the dungeon. Release me from your pack, away from this kingdom. I will leave, and I will never come back.”
His voice was a low snarl. “You begged me not to send you away.”
I flinched. “That was before. Before you thought I was here to add damage to you. Before the court branded me a traitor. Before I realized there’s no path forward here. Before I realize they will never see me as one here.”
“You think I’m merciful?” he asked coldly. “You think I grant favors to traitors now?”
“No. But I think you’re practical.” My voice shook. “And I know something now about the poison in your system”
Of course, I know, I have thought about this many times, but saying it now is different.
I stepped forward with all the courage I could muster and held up the vial. “You’re dying.”
He didn’t blink. “I’m aware.” He doesn't deny it. I didn't know it would affect me this much but I don't like the way he now looks at me. He was once kind to me, only me.
“You think I’m the cause. I’m not. But I am the cure.”
Silence. He watched me like I was a phantom that wouldn’t fade.
I nodded. “My blood neutralizes the toxins” I am not sure if I should bring Astrid into this, I will, only if its necessary.
His jaw clenched. But he doesn't appear surprised, or he is just hiding his expressions too well. “With that?” pointing at the vial I held in my hands.
He didn’t move, but I felt the room darken. “Explain. Carefully.”
I lifted my eyes, trembling. “It’s not just in your bloodstream. It’s in your essence. That’s why no healer can purge it completely.
His eyes narrowed, jaw ticking.
I pressed my hand to the stone floor. “I’ve been in that dungeon, trying to understand. Trying to reach what you are through the bond we accidentally forged. That night you took me. . . ” My voice faltered. “I felt something.
“You just need a few drops of my blood in your blood, and your body will finish the rest.” I should make it clear that he needs only a few drops, how else do I spell it that he doesn't need to kill me to get my blood?
“You want me to believe your blood will save me,” he said slowly. “After all this time?.”
“Yes,” I said, voice firm. “Because I have nothing else to offer except the cure I have always promised you. And I’m not here to plead. I’m here to trade.” Since you will not believe me anyway.
Caspian stepped forward. “You dare make demands?”
“Only one,” I whispered. “Please let me go.”
His expression cracked, just a little and I see loathing, but it doesn't really matter anymore. “You’re asking for your freedom. How dare you!”
“In exchange for your life.” I met his eyes. “It seems fair.” He is the king! What if even him can't make this happen?
He stared at me for a long, brutal moment. Then he snatched the vial from my hand, uncorked it, and swallowed the drop as if testing if I was lying.
The effect was immediate.
His eyes rolled back. He staggered. His chest heaved, and then he let out a low, primal growl that shook the chamber.
Power pulsed around him like a second heartbeat.
Then silence.
He straightened and rolled his robe to his shoulders, his wounds began to heal, his breath steadied and the color I didn't think he lost started to return to his face.
And his gaze, when it landed on me again, was sharper than ever.
“And then what?” Caspian murmured. “You ride into the night and vanish like a ghost?”
“Yes,” I said. “If you will allow it.”
Silence.
Then he stepped forward, closing the distance between us. One hand reached out and grasped my chin. His touch was deceptively soft, but the steel beneath it was unmistakable.
“You begged me to protect you,” he whispered. “You told me I was the only one between you and death. You told me you’d give me heirs. And you want me to let you go”
“I meant it,” I said through clenched teeth. “But things have changed. You don’t trust me. You look at me like something you wish you would destroy.”
“Because maybe I should have destroyed you,” he said, his voice ice-cold.
Tears stung behind my eyes, but I refused to look away.
“Then let me go, Caspian,” I whispered. “If I mean nothing to you, then there’s no reason to keep me.”
His fingers tightened. “You don’t get to twist this around.” a show of emotion.
“I’m not,” I said. “I’m begging for my life without asking for a place in it.”
He released me with a shove, and I hit the ground hard. Pain bloomed through my ribs, but I didn’t cry out. He stood above me, silent, breathing hard.
The chamber held its breath.
For a moment, I thought he might hold me, say something soft. Or say just thank you for saving his life” Am I too greedy to wish that?
Instead, he just stepped back.
His voice was like ice breaking.
“It’s done.”
I nodded weakly. “Yes.”
He turned away from me, pacing once before facing me again.
“You will leave the kingdom now,” he said. “You will take nothing. No escort, no food, no coin. You will vanish.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Yes, my king.”
“And if I ever see you again,” he said, voice cutting, “if your scent crosses my border, I will treat you as the enemy you claim not to be.”
Tears slid down my cheeks, but I didn’t wipe them away.
“Understood.”
He didn’t offer help. He didn’t look back. And to God! I miss him! I thought I had a future here. With him.
The guards returned, wordless, and led me from the chamber as though I were still shackled. The heavy doors shut behind me, sealing him inside like a tomb.
As they marched me toward the gate, I realized something strange.
I was not safe anymore. In his pack or out his pack! Now my step father might take me back.
I only hope that he believes that I am no longer all be.
Caspian, I want to think I saw hurt in his eyes when I had healed him. Because in doing so, I had severed the last thing tying me to this kingdom.
To him.
The pack gates opened. The night air met my face like a baptism.
I stepped into the darkness.
And I didn’t look back, my fate is now in my hands, mine only.
- Writer
