Chapter 15 - Golden Cage (Patreon)

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I slammed my hands on the baron’s desk. “It doesn’t matter who wins. I will step into that ring and fight whoever does. Even if they’re stronger than me, if I stab their balls, there’s no point in getting married, is there?”

The baron already had his forehead on his desk, groaning. His fingers pressed into his hair like he was trying to squeeze the headache I’d given him out by force.

We’d been fighting for probably thirty minutes.

“Are you threatening to stab a prince of our country in the testicles?” he asked quietly.

“It’s not a threat, it’s a promise.”

The baron lifted his head. He rested his hands before him and judged me with the full weight of fatherhood and exhaustion. “Why are you so difficult?”

“I don’t know. Who could I possibly get that from?” I tapped my chin thoughtfully. “Hey, on a completely unrelated note, I’m thinking about traveling the world and starting my own band of mercenaries. Thoughts?”

He scowled.

“Actually, I’m a Dyad. Maybe I should apply to be a Royal Knight in Camden. You love that idea, don’t you?”

“Enough,” the baron cut in.

“Point made?”

“You act as if I have you trapped in some sort of cage,” said the baron. “You were trained by one of the best swordsmen in the country. I let you have a Divine Treat. You earned it. You’ve earned all your achievements. You’re a Chosen Child, and my only daughter. My only child.” His voice tightened. “I’ve made exception after exception for you. You have more latitude than perhaps any other noblewoman in the entire country.” His eyes softened. “I love you from the bottom of my heart, Scarlet.”

I’ll admit, I didn’t know what to say for a moment there.

“And I will not let someone as capable as you, as important to me as you are, die for no reason at all off on some pointless adventure or as a number in some army,” he said. “It’s one thing to know how to defend yourself. It’s another to throw your life away. I will not let you do that. Not when you can be so much more.”

“Who says I want to throw my life away?” I rebutted immediately.

“Okay.” The baron sank back in his seat. He opened one arm, inviting me to speak. “Then tell me what you want.”

I looked away, suddenly embarrassed. “To help people… kind of… but in a way where I’m not some sort of trophy or doormat. I want to help people because it was my decision, not because I was forced to.”

“And you don’t think you can do that here?” The baron rose from his seat and moved around the desk toward me. “I’ve let you rebel for years. You’re young. It’s healthy. But at some point, you need to grow up. You are smart enough that I know you know this.” His gaze narrowed. “I even let your ‘friends’ keep training you, even after my orders were ignored.”

I flinched. “You knew?”

“Nothing in this castle happens without my knowledge,” he said. “I know of your pond and meadow too. But have I ever said something? Have I ever stopped you from going?”

I shook my head. 

“Admittedly… I over-reacted the day you gained your gifts,” admitted the baron, much to my surprise. “You’ve never given me any real trouble. You’re exceptional and brilliant. Even with your most recent outbursts, you’ve never crossed a certain line.” He closed his eyes and sighed. “You’re a good child. I trust you. I want you to be safe. That’s all I care about.”

I said nothing. In my head, I had flashes of my last family leaving me at a fast food chain all day until the police were called for me. 

“I get your frustrations. I do. You’re intelligent and accomplished. You want to help people? I do that every day. People are fed because of my actions. Criminals are tried because of our knights and justice system,” he said. “The roads exist because of me. Businesses exist because of me. People can sleep peacefully in their beds and wake up the next morning because of decisions I make. And I’m just a baron.”

He grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to look into his eyes and face him fully. There was no malice in him. No cruelty. Just genuine warmth and concern for his daughter.

“As the wife of a prince, you would have the power to help the whole country. You’ve said repeatedly that you want to travel the world. By a prince’s side, you can. You’ll be powerful, influential, important, and safe, Scarlet. Even if you marry Gai, you’d one day be a duchess. Your children would live and want for nothing, ever.”

“So Gai’s actually a duke’s son?” I asked.

“Yes. It was confirmed this morning. He’s Duke Regal’s eldest son.”

“And he’s on a pilgrimage?”

The baron paused. “I was told not to share the circumstances in the letter from his father. You can ask Gai if you wish to know.”

“Not really.”

“What is it you’re opposed to exactly?” asked the baron. “Marriage itself?”

“I mean… I’d prefer to be in love,” I admitted. “But I don’t think that will ever happen. I don’t have it in me.”

“Scarlet…”

“But achieving something by marrying another person feels insulting. I want to accomplish things on my own.”

The baron stared at me. He released my shoulders and turned away, walking back to his desk. With his back to me, he placed his hand on the polished wood. His fingers rapped the surface once, then again.

“We can’t stop the duel. It was fairly requested in keeping with traditional Pantheon etiquette. If I were to try and stop it after witnessing it in my role, especially around the issue of marriage, our family would suffer greatly.” He sat in his chair. He looked exhausted. “But we can prolong an engagement for some time, regardless of the suitor. There is precedent.”

“Really?”

“Yes. But promise me one thing.” He held up a hand. “You will try to see my side of things. Give whoever wins a chance.”

Fuck no.

“…I can agree to that, I suppose,” I lied. 

The baron sighed, relaxing back in his chair. “Thank you.”

“But I want to train and fight freely in the year with whoever I want,” I said. “Even the cadets. That’s fine now, right?”

He looked at me for a long time. “Yes. But be mindful of your station. Do not do anything dangerous. You are not to go on any life-threatening missions. And you must continue to do your noble duties at events.” His eyes narrowed. “Are we clear?”

“Yes. We’re clear. Thank you.” Even though he was allowing me such leeway, his patronizing, restrictive undertones annoyed me. “Can I go now?”

“Yes, you can go.”

I spun around and left the room without another word, slamming the door behind me.

Remi was waiting out there for me. She followed after me as I stormed down the hall. “It sounded like things went well.”

“The duel is still on,” I grumbled. “Not that there was any hope of stopping it.”

“I would have assumed so.”

“But he’s fine with extending my engagement for a while, to whomever it may be,” I said. “I’ve bent everything to my will so far. This engagement will just be another thing I manipulate into benefitting me.”

“Do you think you can?”

I ignored her. “But I need time to figure out how to do that.” I glanced at Remi. “I want to be free to do whatever I want, but without permission, all I’ll ever be is a known runaway to the entire world.” I rubbed my tongue over my lip. “So annoying. It’d be easier if both of them disappeared.”

“Your fiancés?”

I turned away. “No, my parents.”

I heard Remi stop walking behind me. Noticing this, I stopped, too. I peered back at her.

Oh. Never seen that look before.

Remi was probably my best friend. We joked a lot about some pretty terrible shit. But in that moment, her expression was dark, her jaw was tight, and her eyes were cold.

“Do not joke about something like that,” said Remi.

Ah, right. Family issues are touchy for her.

“You’re right. I didn’t mean it. Stupid thing to say.” I turned away. “Sorry.”

“Good.” I heard Remi walking behind me again, her overall mood much brighter.

“It would be nice if they gave up on me, though. Declare me a lost cause and let me do whatever I want.”

“They’ll never do that. And they already kind of let you do whatever you want.”

“…I know.”

“Then what are you going to do?” Remi asked.

“I already told you I don’t know,” I said curtly. “I could run away, but I’d lose too much. This home. The food. My training. The political protection. The social power.”

I rubbed at my hair, frustrated.

“I feel caged, but it’s a gold-plated one with a bunch of amenities,” I admitted. “And besides, I don’t want to hurt anyone just by leaving. My parents are annoying, but they’ve tried to have children before, and I’m the only one who’s survived. There is no one else if something happens to me.”

“So you understand them.”

“I understand why they act like they do.” I looked toward the courtyard ahead. “That doesn’t mean I want to live the life they picked for me.”

•

“Being an Eater is an immense responsibility,” began Nigel. “You will have five opportunities to rank in the top ten of your cadet class and be chosen as an Eater. Five chances to show how exceptional you are, and no more. That is how immense the responsibility is.”

I leaned against the balcony in the training yard where I once watched Nigel, Alexander, and Remi eat their Divine Treats for the very first time.

Below me, Alexander and Nigel were training a fresh crop of young cadets. Neither Talbert nor Van Gallan was anywhere to be seen. Younger knights were expected to help train cadets. Masters weren’t needed for basic conditioning and drills. That left Alexander and Nigel, within a rotation of other Eaters, to herald the task.

Remi casually leaned beside me, looking down. “Poor kids are gonna get crushed.”

“Hmmm, are they? Why?”

“Today is The Humbling. Every cadet class goes through it. Nigel and Alexander are going to fight them all together to show how much stronger the average Eater is against a normal person.” Remi tapped the railing. “Worst ass kicking of my entire life. Worthwhile knowledge that drives the ambitious among them even further toward greatness.”

“All of you will fight Alexander. He will be using his gifts against you. Your goal is for at least one of you to hit him once with a weapon, by any means possible,” said Nigel. “I will preclude myself from this exercise. My powers aren’t really meant for practice.”

To prove his point, Nigel held out his hand. A blast of concentrated smoky fire thundered out of his palm. The blast was so big and wide, it would have easily crippled a dozen people in one shot.

Eaters were few and far between. In a war, they were like fighter jets: all-powerful and untouchable. For the most part.

The cadets all froze. They stared in horror, imagining what would have happened to them if they had stood in front of that blast.

“Let’s go.” Alexander motioned at the cadets in front of him. “Come at me. All at once, please. One of you wins, all of you win.”

The cadets hesitated.

“Or I can start?” Alexander took a step forward.

All the cadets flinched. But they also realized they needed to take the free opening. 

One brave kid charged, and the rest followed.

Alexander lifted one leg and stomped.

The ground shook, and the cadets all wobbled. A few of them fell.

He squared his stance, put his hands down, and lifted up.

Several rocks lifted from the ground, creating holes in the already scourged practice yard.

Alexander pushed forward.

The rocks flew at somewhat fast speeds, peppering the cadets.

They were all down in seconds.

“I can sharpen each one of those to a fine point, just so you know,” said Alexander to the battered and bruised cadets lying on the ground. “What did we learn?”

“If we face an Eater, we’re all gonna die,” said one cadet.

“Correct,” quipped Alexander.

“You won’t always lose, but fighting an Eater is a whole different battle from fighting another person,” said Nigel, stepping in. “Alexander is easily a hundred soldiers on his own. And there are others stronger than him, with far more devastating gifts and control.”

“Like me?” I called down below.

Everyone noticed me for the first time. They looked up.

The cadets suddenly got squeamish and embarrassed.

Nigel didn’t say anything.

Alexander waved. “Looking good! How’d I do?”

“Pretty cool!” I admitted. “What about Eater versus Eater?”

I hopped off the balcony and hit the ground, cracking it. I didn’t even bend my knees. Didn’t feel a thing.

Nigel made a face. “You know we can’t.”

“I got permission,” I said. “Baron said I’m allowed to do whatever I want, as long as I don’t go on dangerous missions or whatever. So training is fair game.”

“She did,” confirmed Remi from above.

“How’d you pull that off?” he asked.

“I’m a goo negotiator.” I held out my hands. Black swords of mana appeared in each one. “What do you say? Put on a show?”

•

“You’ve been doing this for about thirty minutes, Scarlet. Need a break?” suggested Alexander with a hint of awe.

“You shouldn’t worry about me. I could hold this piece of crap up for an hour if I had to,” I strained.

Sweat dripped from my forehead to the massive boulder underneath my feet. My black tendrils lifted it as I stood atop it with Alexander while Nigel remained with the cadets on the ground. The whole rock was about the size of a trampoline. There wasn’t enough space to move, and that was the point.

It was an endurance test Talbert had devised to improve my gifts and control. And it worked.

“Too cocky,” condemned Nigel. He turned away from me to a group of cadets he presided over. “That’s how you get killed. Overestimate your abilities, get cocky, and then you have a blade sticking in your neck.”

“Or you’re just better, and you know it, so you gloat a little,” I suggested instead.

“Don’t tell them that.”

“But it’s true!”

“Very few times is that true.”

“You ready?” asked Alexander. He tossed his giant two-handed sword around in his hands like it was made of paper.

I gritted my teeth. “Sure. Why not?”

“Where did all that confidence from earlier go?” Alexander pointed his blade at me with one hand just to show off. The steel glimmered. “You sure you can keep going?”

“Might as well. Can’t get stronger if you don’t suffer.”

There was a reason I was pushing myself so hard with such odd training, now that I could.

Gifts were trained like muscles because, in a way, that was what they were. Every time I held the boulder up, the strain gathered deep in my core, hot and dense and unpleasant. My dark gift burned from keeping the tendrils solid. My light gift burned in a different place, sharpening my limbs, reinforcing my body, making sure my knees didn’t buckle under me.

Use a gift too much, and the body hurts. Don’t use it enough, and the gift stayed weak. Like any muscle, it needed to be pushed, fueled, and tested in new ways to grow stronger.

Sweat ran down my face. The boulder dipped half an inch before I forced it steady again.

That was the weakness, too. Gifts deteriorated when the body did. No sleep. No food. Poison. Illness. Blood loss. Broken bones. The gift would turn inward, repairing what it could, and its output would suffer for it. It did not make us immortal. I couldn’t grow back an arm if it got cut off. A stab through the heart or enough blood spilled on the ground would kill me like anyone else.

Which meant the general theory for fighting Eaters was simple.

Chip away.

Hurt them until their gifts spent more power keeping them alive than keeping than helping them fight. Hurt them until the living weapon became a person again.

Of course, the positives certainly outweighed the negatives. Our skin, muscles, and organs lasted longer. Our life expectancies were higher than most. We aged like everyone else, but slowly enough that I’d probably look twenty when I was fifty.

Assuming I survived that long.

“You’re stalling,” said Alexander.

I licked the top of my lip as excitement filled my gut. The feeling of battle, of blood being drawn, flooded me with euphoria like nothing else.

“You know, it isn’t good for an engaged woman to spend so much time letting two men poke at her while she licks her lips,” mocked Alexander as he twirled his massive two-handed blade in his right hand.

Damn, he’s so annoyingly strong.

“Listen, Alexander, I’m going to stab you.” My blades lowered to point at his groin. “Then I’m going to turn you into a woman.”

The crowd went “ohhh.”

Alexander winced naturally. “Why do you keep threatening to cut it off?!”

“She’s starting to feel the burn, so she’s lashing out,” explained Nigel.

“Guilty!” I yelled.

“It’s impressive you’ve held the rock up for so long,” allowed Nigel. “Maintaining your tendrils, creating weapons, and activating your light gift in tandem is a testament to your strength.” I could almost hear him smiling. “Because that rock sure does look heavy.”

“You don’t say?!”

“Why don’t we call it for the day? No need to push yourself, Lady Scarlet,” suggested Nigel. He used my formal title in front of his men.

It annoyed the hell out of me.

“How about you stop holding back and fight me, coward! Come on already!” I twirled my blades in both hands like windmills fluttering about my face.

Alexander turned to Nigel. “I don’t care if she’s the baron’s daughter. You’ve got to fuck her up now. She called you a bitch to your face in front of your men.”

“She didn’t call me a bitch. And no, I’m not gonna fuck her up,” groaned Nigel, though he did look more irritated than usual now.

“Oh? You’re a coward? Got it.”

Nigel turned to the cadets. “Continue to watch Lady Scarlet. She may be a noble, but her skills are on par with mine and Alexander’s. Learn from what you’ll see today. Put yourself in tough, creative situations constantly. A blade left in its scabbard starts to rust. And remember, just because official practice ends for the day does not mean you are precluded from improving in your off-hours. It’ll make you better.” He turned back to me. “Now then—”

“You’ll fuck her up?” suggested Alexander.

Nigel sighed. He hopped onto the boulder, adding to my weight. “You go first.”

“Fine then. Guess I gotta make you look good,” remarked Alexander with a sardonic grin.

“Don’t make me look good. Simply try.”

Alexander walked toward me, flipping his blade between his hands. “Way to make everything so serious.”

And so, we began.

Alexander rushed first, crossing the short distance with his massive blade already overhead.

He brought it down.

Nigel moved with him, slipping around Alexander’s side and into my blind spot for a horizontal cut meant to catch me wherever I dodged.

I strengthened my body with light and jumped sideways, twisting in the air until my foot pressed against the flat of Alexander’s descending blade.

His sword lurched off course.

The redirected strike slammed into Nigel’s attack instead.

The cadets erupted below us.

I flipped back and landed with both black blades raised, one above my head and the other guarding my waist. My light cloak vanished as I conserved power. I could feel both gifts burning in different places now, one holding the boulder up beneath us, the other keeping my body fast enough to survive.

Alexander recovered first. His next swing clipped a few strands of my hair as I ducked, then Nigel pressed in from the side, blade flashing.

I jabbed at Alexander’s gut and cut high at his neck. Alexander blocked the lunge. Nigel caught the second strike and drove me back with three sharp swipes before kicking at my chest.

I bent under his boot and snapped my foot up into the underside of his leg. For one instant, I amplified the weight with light.

Nigel flipped back several feet.

Then Alexander swept my standing leg.

I hit the stone hard enough to knock the breath out of me.

Alexander loomed over me, blade raised. “Hello!”

“Hi!”

I kicked backward and rolled away as the flat of his sword cracked down where my stomach had been.

But he had expected me to dodge.

I crossed my blades over my shoulder just in time to catch Nigel’s follow-up strike. The impact rattled my arms.

Alexander tapped his sword against the boulder. Pebbles tore free from the surface and rose with the lift of his blade. Then he pointed, and they shot toward me like buckshot.

I caught them with a dark tendril.

The shards stopped inches from my face.

The boulder dipped.

All three of us staggered.

It had all been too much—holding the platform, making weapons, catching projectiles, and reinforcing my body all at once. It started to tear at me. My core burned, and the stone under us felt impossibly heavy all of a sudden.

A stray pebble sliced my cheek. Blood ran warm down my face before the wound began to close.

So much for taking it easy on the baron’s daughter.

Alexander sent another spray of debris at me. I stopped using dark gifts to catch them. The boulder was unstable enough already. Instead, I pressed forward through the storm, deflecting what I could and letting the rest cut shallow lines across my arms and shoulders.

That was his plan. He did not need to beat me immediately. He only needed to make me spend more power on healing than fighting.

Chip away.

The boulder sank another inch.

Alexander’s rocks ceased the moment I entered sword range. His longsword came down in a brutal chain of strikes: overhead, sweep, diagonal, thrust. 

I parried each one, but every impact rang through my arms like metal striking bone.

Then Nigel appeared in my blind spot again, using one of my own tendrils as cover.

Dammit.

He was going to hit me with the flat. I had no clean way out.

Wait.

Boulder.

I let the platform drop.

Nigel sensed it and jumped, losing the angle of his attack. 

Alexander did not react in time. He had raised his blade too high, and when the boulder dipped beneath him, his own momentum dragged him backward. He hit the stone flat on his back with a bang.

I dropped with the boulder, lifted my swords across my chest, and prepared to strike him before he recovered.

Then Alexander’s gift detonated between us.

BOOOOOOM!

The force hurled us in opposite directions.

I hit the rock, skidded, and lost control of everything. My tendrils vanished. The boulder slammed into the ground, sending shockwaves up my spine.

“Owwwww,” I groaned.

I looked up.

The tip of Nigel’s blade touched under my chin.

“How lovely it is to see you,” I cursed at Nigel.

“Do you concede?” he asked.

“Yes, sir. You win.” I let the dark energy swords dissipate into smoke. “I’m yours to do with as you wish. Again. Please, be gentle, for I’m a fair maiden desperate to please my conqueror,” I said with so much sarcasm it felt like bile coming out of my mouth.

The surrounding cadets chuckled at my comments.

“Please, stop.”

I laughed.

Nigel held out his hand for me to take.

Grasping his palm, I was raised to my feet.

My breath temporarily caught in my throat as I winced from the bruises quickly healing all over my body. Even the cuts on my face were already almost gone.

“Are you okay?” asked Nigel.

“Yes, I’m fine. Sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about. Overall, it was very impressive.”

“It’d be more impressive if I’d won. Gods, I want to beat you one day.” My eyes narrowed in disgust, mostly at myself. I puffed out my cheeks. “I don’t think I’ve ever even beaten you one-on-one, let alone in tandem, now that I think about it. You never use your gift unless you have to, so you’ve never gone all out against me. It’s annoying.”

“It’s not like I want to kill you, Scarlet,” said Nigel in a quiet voice. “I’ve been fighting longer, and I have real combat experience.” His eyes flickered to something behind me. “By the way, Lady Scarlet, you appear to have a visitor.” He jerked his head behind him.

I followed the motion until my gaze landed on Prince Christopher.

The prince stood in his usual white outfit, though this one was slightly modified from the last time I saw him. He had four Royal Knights around him, a much stronger presence than at my birthday party.

He watched us with amusement. Christopher seemed stunned, even thrilled.

How long was he watching?

“One of the two problems in my life,” I whispered.

“If it helps, your other problem just drinks and sleeps all day,” whispered Nigel back. “You should focus your time on who is most likely to affect your future.”

“So I’ve heard.” I sighed. “And you’re right. Why not now?”

I strode away from my friends toward the prince.

“Your Highness.” I stepped forward with one foot, took one back, and curtsied like I was taught. “Excuse the mess and the circumstances. I did not think you would visit me in such conditions.”

I felt a presence behind me and peeked briefly to see that Remi had appeared.

She was a member of the Rangers, a sort of special forces group affiliated with the castle. They answered directly to the baron and were additionally supervised by Master Talbert. Remi worked with them at night and for “special missions,” but she usually acted as my guard during the day. I didn’t know when she slept.

“No problem at all,” said Prince Christopher. “I’m the one surprising you. It would be unfair of me to act otherwise.”

“Oh, you’re surprising me?” I forced a smile. “What’s the surprise?”

“If possible, I’d like to go for a walk.” Prince Christopher held up his hand. His guards all stepped back. He looked at Remi. “Alone. I’ll be very brief.”

“I think I would very much like that. We have a lot to talk about.”

“That we do.”

I nodded to Remi. She studied me for a second, then turned without a word and headed toward the cadets. “Can I beat some of them up? They whispered a lot of crass things and got too comfortable,” she mentioned to Nigel and Alexander.

“Have at it,” allowed Nigel.

“Wonderful.”

“Hmm. She’s interesting.” Christopher cocked his head to the side as he watched the exchange.

“Then maybe you’d rather marry her?”

Prince Christopher chuckled. “No, I don’t think she’d be of much help.”

He walked away to another courtyard.

I slowly followed behind him. “Yet I would be?”

“Absolutely.”

We reached an empty courtyard with a massive fountain and several different kinds of flowers. Birds flew to trees, singing, while butterflies drifted from plant to plant.

“I need your help,” said Prince Christopher.

“And needing my help is why you came all the way to Camden and proposed to me?”

“In a sense.”

“Then what do you want? Maybe I can come up with a different solution that doesn’t involve us getting hitched.”

“Hitched?”

“It’s an expression. Married.”

“Ah. I see.” Christopher kept his hands behind his back and looked into the clouds. “I need to know what kind of person you are. We should spend the day together later this week. I’d like to know more about you and your life. To see what I’m getting into.”

“Ha! Why would I do that?”

“Hmm?”

“Will you allow me to be blunt?” I asked, face devoid of emotions.

“Absolutely.”

“Without repercussions?”

“Sure.”

“I don’t care about you. I don’t want to marry you,” I said bluntly. “You coming here has greatly inconvenienced my life, and I resent the fact that you exist.”

Christopher made a face, but he wasn’t offended. More confused, if anything. 

“Why not?” he asked. “Do you already have a lover?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll repeat the question: why not?”

“I don’t want to marry a prince.”

“But… why?” It was like he couldn’t even compute my logic. “You’d be royalty, wealthier than you are now with the ability to influence the kingdom. I could give you whatever you wanted whenever you wanted. Buildings could be named after you. Businesses. Ships. Whatever you wanted.”

“I don’t want any of that,” I said.

“Then…” He seemed to be at a genuine loss for words. “I don’t understand.”

I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest. “You said you wanted something from me. I don’t want to marry you. The way I see it, you don’t need to know what kind of person I am. I need a reason to care about you.”

I walked past him back to the training yard.

“See you later this week! Can’t wait to talk!” I called as I left the prince alone. “Looking forward to hearing a reason.” I smiled for a brief moment over my shoulder, waving. “If I can help in any other way, please let me know.”

But that was all the bravado I had. 

I didn’t expect to say all that to the Prince, nor act that way. As soon as he gave me permission to speak freely, my mouth started moving before I could think.

I clamped one hand over my mouth, sweat dripping from my forehead. 

Oh, I messed up, didn’t I?

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