Staring at Elizabeth's wolfish grin, Camrin's heavy, frozen heart sinks to her stomach. Out of everyone to find her, the girl who kicked her face in, who turned her brain into liquid, who enjoys seeing people in pain, is who appears. Uncertain with Elizabeth's reaction, she stays silent, taking in her outfit. The same performative armor covers her hands and shoulders, though the metal on this seems to be stronger. Her outfit is entirely blue, long blonde hair dusted with some sort of powder. Gleaming rings adorn both her hands, containing within them something more powerful than meets the eye.
~ Well if it isn't our obedient dog. How did you end up here?
Camrin's brain shatters into a million pieces with the sudden intrusion. Elizabeth bents down.
"Aww, Camrin. You seem about to freeze to death. But we can't let that happen, can we? You're the only one under my power hold."
Without a gentle bone in her body, Elizabeth lifts the dirty Camrin, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, and drags her forward. Being this close to danger, the girl's eyes stay open, suddenly aware of the very real sword at her side. Fortunately, they didn't have to walk for long. The knight drops the girl onto the hard ground with no warning, ring glinting with deep blue light. Suddenly a door plasters itself on the ground. Camrin blinks, sure the cold is making her hallucinate. But no, the door remains there, glowing with an unnatural blinding light.
"The court is holding a ball to celebrate the victory of the royal family. We wouldn't want you to miss out." Dying, the girl gets a new dose of courage.
"Really? It's been weeks since you imprisoned me. I'm surprised you're still partying until now."
"You've got quiet the mouth for being the weakest of the three. And besides, dog, we do as we wish. We'll have to postpone the talk about your escape for now. But since you're already here," Elizabeth's sharp smile grows as she snatches Camrin's arm, nails digging into skin, "I'll introduce your masters to you."
Without another word, they're being dragging into the door, the same sick feeling crawling up Camrin's spine as she curls in on herself. A second feels like a century. Before Camrin can curse every single qestin that has ever decided to bare children, she's thrown out from the void, right into a stone pillar.
CRACKKKKK
God, this is the second time she's broken her nose in two months. With tears pricking her eyes, Camrin whirls to look at her surroundings, and of course, she happens to be in the middle of a ball room. With everyone looking at her. In a thin dress and a bloody nose.
The rage that sputters out of her doesn't have times to transform into words before she's face to face with the Princes of Eshika. God damn, why couldn't she be transported in an empty room or something. Camrin turns to the princess, hand still holding her bloody nose, eyes filled with the drunken feeling of death.
And laughs
Like a maniac. She bows mockingly, not acknowledging the fact that Elizabeth must have fried her brain out of her to be acting like this. But at death, you act the same way you lived: with stupidity, in Camrin's case. Hey, what did they expect from a college student anyway.
"Good Evening, Master. I've been ordered to watch over this party. You know, for good luck and everything, considering the fact that I'm one of the humans you have to sacrifice. Sort of weird how we can save your species. Want to expand on that for a second?" The princess sneers, ordering guards to restrain the crazed girl within seconds of her talking. Still, Camrin continues.
"What a wonderful celebration. God, everyone here looks like they're made out of gold and magic. Why wasn't I invited?" Camrin pouts innocently. "I thought I was your favorite human to torture. But its ok, you know I feel my body defrosting already. The air is perfect here, like a breath of life-"
She's cut off with a shove from the back, forcing her head to the ground. In front of her, she sees three pairs of expensive shoes. She's on a stage of sorts, golden pearl adorn two thrones. Camrin lets out a bitter laugh.
"It seems I'm special enough to be taken right to the King and Queen's feet," she mutters. The whispers behind her accelerate in volume, like bees buzzing near their hive. And this is their hive. She is the intruder, though she never asked to be. The guards holding her head down let go. One, out of respect for their King which is obvious with the bow they give while backing off. Second, they think she has enough sense to understand that she's outnumbered and just behave for a little.
Camrin lasts all of five seconds before she foolishly forces herself upright to glare at the King. Unfortunately for her, the Queen decides to stand up to address the growing crowd at the exact same time and before Cam can even process the action, the inevitable happens.
SLAM
Camrin's head collides with the Queen's chin. The Princess, the King, Adam in the corner, Elizabeth, the knights, even Lila in the shadows, suddenly everyone is a statue. The panic that seizes the girl in that moment dooms her most of all.
"Oops. Sorry. Was an accident." And then she tries to run. It's futile to try, even Camrin should know that, but nothing registers inside her head. Not the fact that she is at the very front of the room and will have to pass the entire mile of it before getting to the door, nor the fact that the doors are magicked and switch at any moment. Still, there was no confirmation whether someone actually could control what doors switched or if it was randomized, blown even out of the control of the royal family.
So she runs. Courtiers gasp and dramatically get pushed away. Swords are drawn, held solidly in the arms of trained soldiers. Camrin tries desperately to push through. To get away, away. But she was just a knock away from death and her strength falters enough for the guards to twist her arms, for the advisors to hit her with canes, for Elizabeth to shatter any hope of her escape
~STOOOOOPPPP
In a fit of rage, Camrin tries to maintain eye contact with Elizabeth, to declare her resistance, but the pain becomes unbearable. Quickly, she curls in on her body as much as the guards will allow. She sits there heaving, wondering why neither Lila nor Stacey got this special connection with Elizabeth. Is she the only one doomed to stay tied to this cursed place?
Something wet and sticky slides past her nose. Snot probably. Tears, perhaps? When the slicky red liquid finally drops to the pearly white ground, Camrin realizes its blood. Not surprising considering her nose was just broken; running must have made it worse. As Elizabeth walks slowly down to her, she stares down at the fallen drops of blood. The contrast is so dizzying. The deepest of reds against the purest of whites. Every cell in her body locks into place as the drop slowly, slowly sinks into the floor, wiped clean of existence with magic. That's what they'll do to me, she thinks, they'll absorb my very soul.
Camrin finally looks up, only to immediately get slammed down with the force of Elizabeth's slap.
"YOU HAVE DISGRACED THIS CELEBERTATION WITH YOUR PRESENCE. YOU HAVE SPILLED ROYAL BLOOD WITH YOUR IGNORANCE. YOU HAVE CURSED THE LAND OF ESHIKA WITH YOUR FILITHLY RED BLOOD." She turns to the crowd now, their support surging higher and higher.
"MY PEOPLE. WHAT DO WE SAY ABOUT THE RED BLOOD OF HUMANS!"
"VIOLENCE AND HATRED. VIOLENCE AND HATRED. VIOLENCE AND HATRED."
The voices grow and it takes Camrin a second to realize that she's been dragged to a balcony a room wide, hundreds of feet in the air. The commonfolk are pushing against the gates, screaming, glaring at a figure they can't even see and know nothing about. She turns away from them then, the little ants she can barely distinguish, away from the people so similar from her, just different species. She turns back to see the ladies watching the show. So elegant and gentle, just to like this type of violence. The knight so loyal and protective just to watch with eager anticipation. The guards shove her face down again, but not before Camrin spots the Queen. Not before she sees the single drop of tiny blood at her lips from the collision. Not before she sees its deep blue tint. Just like their magic.
Camrin almost collapses. Red. They hate red. Suddenly, nothing matters anymore. The exhaustion and starvation of the last few days hit her like a train and her body clenches. Her head explodes, and her heart quivers. Distantly she hears the King's booming voice announcing her punishment, shoes digging into her hands until she feels the bones grind to dust. Nothing matters. No pain. Not if she doesn't live.
[Camrin! CAMRIN!] Is that Lilith's voice? It has a unique desperation to it. She shouldn't be upset; everything will be fine now. She'll finally leave.
[What have you done, my human, what have you done?] Sobs echo in her head, but where are they coming from? They overlap. The kind voice, the hateful one, and the booming one. They collide and mix inside her head until she can't tell one from the other.
Finally, her punishments start. Vaguely, she knows her back is being exposed, that the whip rains down, that the people cheer, that the ladies dance. She vaguely hears it and she vaguely feels something digging into her back, again and again, many, many times, she couldn't keep count. But the voices in her head drag her down and the red blood that oozes out of her back simply leaks back into the tiles, maybe falls down a hundred feet to the people below, but they still cheer. Like her body didn't work tirelessly to make that blood. To protect her with its red cells.
She can't feel her hand, the right one, her dominant one, the one crushed under someone's boot. Who, who is it? Then her body is forcefully lifted using her hair and the people scream. So much noise. The last thing Cam picks up on is a girl's familiar tone.
"This is a warning to everybody against the House of Eshika, human or qestin, that if you defy us, this is your ending." The roar drowns out even the sound of her weak breathing, but for some unknown reason, Camrin fights to stay conscious for one second longer.
"IF YOU DEFY US, YOU WILL CRY TEARS OF BLOOD!"