Chapter 86 - EIGHTY SIX: Deadly

"Nngh," Kel grunted sleepily as a gentle hand caressed her cheek.

The faint chirping of birds grew louder as her senses slowly woke up. 

Was she back in her bed? She couldn't remember leaving Soren's room or falling asleep. Had that girl, Alaia, escorted her back?

"You're awake?"

It was Soren's voice.

Kel's eyes flew open. What was that man doing in her room?

In contrast to Kel's panic, the man in question was seated calmly on the edge of the bed, watching her intently.

"What are you doing here?" she asked groggily, propping herself up on her elbows.

The man smiled and shook his head. "Where else would I be?"

Huh? What did that mean?

Yawning, Kel briefly scanned her surroundings, her eyes finally landing on the silver cage next to the bed. Two brightly-colored birds were perched next to each other, but something was off.

They weren't blue.

"This..!" Kel jolted up, taking a closer look at the room.

The sofa, table and chairs all looked exactly like the ones she'd first woken up to in Subterra. But, shouldn't the chairs and table be closer to the bed? 

Those weren't the only furnishings out of place. Everything in the room was laid out differently from hers.

It wasn't her room after all.

"Did you forget?" Soren placed his hand on top of Kel's as her gaze bounced around erratically. "You fell asleep here last night."

"I-I fell asleep?" Kel stammered.

There's no way that was true. How could a trained soldier, who'd spent more than a lifetime's worth of night duty, fall asleep randomly?

"You," she accused, pointing an angry finger toward Soren. "What did you do?"

"What do you take me for?!" Soren exclaimed. "I didn't touch you except to move you to the bed, I swear!"

"That's not what I meant!" Kel blushed. "But now that you mention it, I definitely wouldn't put something like that past you!"

She whipped the blanket off to check her body. Except for her shoes, the rest of her clothing seemed untouched. 

"Ha. Is your opinion of me that low?" Soren huffed defensively. 

"You drugged me not too long ago!" Kel snapped back. "It would be weirder if I didn't have a low opinion of you."

"Ok, just listen, Princess," Soren sighed, rubbing his forehead. "You fell asleep on your own, honest to goodness, so I put you in bed and let you sleep."

"There's no chance I would let my guard down like that," Kel grumbled, crossing her arms.

Putting his hands up in frustration, Soren insisted, "It's the truth!"

Kel ignored him, convinced she would never do something so foolish as falling asleep in front of the enemy.

They argued back and forth until Soren lunged toward Kel, slamming his hand against the headboard of the bed.

"Look here, Your Highness. Either you aren't as wary of me as you thought," he growled, "or you're more exhausted than you realized. Neither of those are my fault."

"Well, whose fault is it that I'm here in the first place," Kel muttered, pursing her lips.

The man's body loomed over hers, dangerously close. She almost wished she hadn't rashly ripped the blanket off herself so it could act as a barrier between them now.

"That's quite an attitude for someone in this position," Soren smirked. "Aren't you scared?"

Kel gulped, trying to avoid looking at the way the man's shirt hung from his body, revealing all the muscles in his abdomen. 

"You said you wouldn't do anything to me," she replied calmly, praying the loud thumping of her heart wouldn't betray her nerves.

"Oh, so now you believe me?" he teased, stooping lower until his nose brushed against her cheek.

"S-stop," Kel's voice cracked.

"Tell me. Did you play with the emperor like this too?" he whispered.

"No," Kel gulped, squirming at the feeling of his shirt touching her collarbones. "Not like this."

"Really? That's good then," Soren's tone lightened once again as he sat back up.

Kel also quickly pushed herself up and worked her way to the edge of the bed. It was too dangerous to be in this position with Soren. He'd claimed he wouldn't do anything, but his promises were worth less than dirt as far as Kel was concerned.

"Still, I find it rather remarkable that he could resist you for so long," Soren smiled. "That's so like him. Never takes his eyes off the prize."

"Resist who!" Kel retorted. "And keep your hands off me, you creep."

She batted at his hand that was already reaching for her hair.

After another short argument, wherein Kel finally convinced Soren to reveal the location of her shoes, she stomped to the door.

Her mind was still reeling from all his teasing and rapid mood swings. She needed to get away.

Even as she reached for the door handle, though, she knew it was futile. She could go back to her room or try to lose herself in the stretches of this underground city, but nothing could truly get her away from Soren.

Trapped here in Subterra, she was entirely at his mercy. She would be dragged to his side when he called for her, and nobody would stop him from doing anything he wanted with her.

Locked in the grasp of a rational ruler was dangerous, but to be confined to the bidding of a madman was something else.

Deadly.

"Um, Soren?" Kel turned around slowly, taking a deep breath. 

"Oh my, have you ever called me by name before?" the man grinned, still seated on the bed. "I'm getting butterflies."

Brushing off his banter, Kel continued. "Lila told me about the person The Yellow Marguerite is looking for, and I don't think I'm it."

She waited for Soren to reply, awkwardly fiddling with her fingers as she stared at the floor.

"No, I'm certain I'm not," she went on, "so please let me go."

"How foolish."

The man's voice was dark and angry.

"You're not the one?" he sneered. "Even I could be the one! If only I had what you have!"

He leapt to his feet, thundering across the room toward Kel.

I've made a mistake! Kel thought to herself, wincing.

"I told you before, right," Soren demanded, stopping just in front of Kel. "I want this. I want it so badly that I wish it was mine!"

Angrily, he grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her head toward him. 

"Please stop," Kel grunted, bracing herself against his wrist.

"You're not the one?!" he repeated again, his voice growing louder. 

"I'm not!" Kel declared firmly, working to wrench her hair free from his fist.

Is this how she was going to die? Beaten to death by Soren's explosive anger?

Even if she screamed for help, she knew nobody would come. Her only choice was to get the man to calm down.

"Please.. you're hurting me," she whimpered. 

Tears already stung at the corners of her eyes thanks to Soren's incessant pulling on her hair, adding to her pitifulness. 

Soren took the bait, and, with a huff, he threw her against the door, turning his back. Kel gripped her throbbing scalp, watching the man's broad shoulders rise and fall as he panted. 

".. I could sit in the sun until I rot," he whispered, "and my hair would never be golden. So what right do you have to say such things?"

"But Lila said something about the dragon's power, not just my hair," Kel explained timidly. 

She was playing with fire to continue arguing with him, especially in this state, but it didn't matter. This may be her only chance to convince him to set her free.

"Dragon's power? That garbage means nothing," Soren snorted. "Though, I wondered to myself if it could possibly be true when I saw how your body reacted to the moonstone."

"The moonstone…" Kel echoed. 

She recalled the first time they met and he handed her the stone. His actions were confusing then, but he was definitely intrigued with her reaction to the gem. Later on, they met again and he used a moonstone pendant against her. Even the emperor had admonished her not to touch that stone in particular.

"It's an ancient test," Soren explained before she could ask what it all meant. "Our ancestors claimed it would find the true heir or something like that."

"... Do you think it worked?" Kel asked softly.

"Who cares what I think," Soren shrugged, turning back to face Kel. "As long as these people believe it worked and that you're the chosen one or whatever."

Kel studied his face, trying to make sense of his words. He was the supposed leader of this place, so why did he refer to them so bitterly as 'these people'.

"You don't believe in the legend of Halrad and his heirs?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"How could I believe in 'the one true heir'," Soren snorted, "when someone without a single strand of golden hair used Subterra's power to take the empire for himself."

"W-what do you mean?" Kel hesitated.

"If my dear brother has taught me anything," Soren narrowed his eyes, "it's that the best way to gain power is by taking advantage of naïve believers."