I lift my head up, straining my neck to gaze upon his tall features. “Serene… and who are you?”
“Prince Florian.”
He squats down to where our eyes are now level. His shimmer, like nothing I have ever seen before. Tones of ember orange with a kiss of a golden-brown tint and on his left eye, a scar-like marking into the cornea. I am taken aback by the uniqueness as I pull my body back, trying to be as far away as I can
He smirks and lets out a soft chuckle.
“Have you seen something you don’t like?” His eyebrow arches up as his face remains with an amused, slight grin.
“Your eyes?” I hesitate to speak.
“Where are you from, Serene?” He ignores my words, instead confidently placing his palms on either side of me and leaning in close.Too close.
“Where are you from?” he demands, his voice a deep growl.
I swallow, feeling the knot that has been growing inside my throat sink down to the pit of my stomach. Heat flushes up my neck and to my cheeks. This feeling isn’t from the tormenting heat from the air here, but nerves that have now taken full control over my body.
“Seattle?” My tone peaks as I am concerned he might not know where Seattle is.
His eyebrows pull together as his head slowly tilts. With the slight, subtle movement, his golden hair sways just a tad to reveal the markings down the back of his neck. “Now…” He pauses. “What is a Seattle?”
I laugh a little. “Seattle? It’s in Washington?” He’s silent, but his eyes roam as if looking for the answer in this room.
“What is… a Washington?” he questions again.
“Where the hell am I?” I counter back.
“You are in the realm of Azure.” He leans closer to my face, where I now can see all the details in his eyes. It’s as if small ember sparks dance within them, like a galaxy through his eyes, reminding me of the stones. “How did you get here, Serene?”
“What the hell is Azure?” I yell back at him. Now I am panicking.
“Hmmm…” he mumbles out as he pushes off of the cot. He casually walks over to the wall with the claw marks and glides his hands over the indentations. He focuses on the path of his hands only, never glancing my way.
The silence is torturing.
Where the hell is Azure?
I have never heard of this place before. Not in history books or present time, and I fear I am lost for good. That, or I have genuinely gone mad.
I need to wake up. Wake up, Serene!
He pauses, placing his hands behind his back and perfectly propping his shoulder blades. His jaw is sharp and his lips moveas he thinks, but then he looks over my way, eyes trailing slowly up and down my body.
“What?” I hiss at him, my eyes narrowed into slits.
“Just contemplating if I should leave you here with the others or take you with me.” He doesn’t blink, eyes darkening. “They might want a tasty snack if you smell good to them. You don’t smell like the others here, which means, I know you are not one of them.”
I don’t smell like the others?My throat is tightening. It’s getting harder to swallow. My lips rub against my teeth as I force myself to stay calm. I don’t want to stay here alone with the noises that I heard before.
“What lies in the other rooms?” I force the words out, but my voice trembles. Do I really want the answer?
His corner lip arches up as he silently laughs. “Would you like to stay and find out or…” he sluggishly walks back over and stares down at me with one arched eyebrow, “come with me to the Kingdom of Eekatia and speak your truth of who you are and why you are here, miss Serene? The battle games are starting soon anyway, I need to return.”
What the hell is a battle game?
I contemplate staying in this room to wonder if I will eventually wake up from this nightmare, but my curiosity about what if, has me wanting to follow him.What if this is real?What if Tilly made it here?
“Have you met another stranger before me?” Maybe Tilly spoke with Prince Florian too.
