You can see stars thru cracks in the rock. You have to. I cannot imagine a city built by and for us where you could not. They twinkle and shine from above, illuminating the carved city just enough to orient yourself comfortably. And, for the nights where the stars hide; Echolocation will do just fine. There is no need for candles here. Fire is a human crutch.

  Children giggle as they whiz past you. There is no need to hide them here. Adults watch from the windows, sighing in content as the channeled airflow plays with their fur. When the sun rises, they will gather and exchange stories, free of worry they will ever be silenced or forgotten. Rainwater drips into meandering streams; seeking their own path thru the world, free from channels and irrigation systems. I close my eyes and listen to the gentle dipping.

  I wake up. The dripping continues. The smell of iron lies thick in the air. Someone is chewing. I spit towards them. “Ew” A new voice. A familiar one chimes in: “Oh! Look who’s awake.”

  I heave myself up. Everything aches.

  “AND WH-“ That’s as far as I get before a kick to the stomach topples me over.

  “HAHAAH! Damn that was WEAK! Did they send a chil-“

  A second kick; harder this time. I vomit. There’s a lot of blood mixed in. I can taste it. They’re killing you! “OH, FUCK YOU! You’ve done worse, MOMMY!”

  “Wha-?“

  The door creaks.

  A kick.

  “Stop this at once!”, Daira barks.

  “We apologize young master. We didn’t hear you approach. Otherwise-”

  “Take that thing off her face!”

  “Of course, master”

  The world is flooded with blinding light. I flinch and instinctively try to adjust my eyes. The mark on my back glows and pulsates; my pupils snap back. Dumb girl.

  It takes an eternity until I can make out the dimly lit chambre. Daira has sat down in Niilan’s chair, the two servants kneeling before them. “You may leave”, they say.

  “The master instructed us to-”

  “Go”

  Apologizes mumbling they shuffle out of the room.

  “Look at you ordering people around! You will make a fine master once the old one CHOKES on his self-obsession!”, I say.

  They look down: “I am sorry… It hurts seeing you like this…”

  “It hurts YOU?! Want to change places then?!”

  “I tried to talk to him. Really, I did… But he’s convinced there is no salvaging you. I tried to tell father you didn’t mean to-”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  “FATHER now, is it?”

  “He has taken this very hard as well. In hardship family must stick together.”

  “HAHAHAAHAH”

  My laughter fills the chambre for a long time. Silence replaces it eventually and still they do not speak.

  “Are you here to free me?”, I finally ask.

  “No. But-”

  “THEN GET OUT!”

  “I am here because I want to know how you did it. How did you turn into a phoenix?

  “THAT’S WHY YOURE HERE?!”

  “You have transformed into a creature of myth! Do you know how many have tried and failed to do this before?”

  “FUCK! OFF!” I hurl myself against the shackles.

  They rear back so fast they almost fall of the chair. There’s a tremor in their voice as they speak: “This isn’t you…”

  “OH BUT IT IS! Come and check like your father!”

  “I… I thought, maybe if I took you, he would stay away…”

  “How GENEROUS!”

  “I never touched you!”

  “STARTING TO HAVE REGRETS?!”

  “No! I would never! I-”

  HA! “HAHAAHAHA”, erupts from my chest. The sound is manic, even to my ears. I’m laughing so hard I struggle to breath. Suffocating.Laughter changes to pleas, though no less manic. A hundred hands cover my body, caressing where they should not, pulling off and pinning down. “NO! GET OFF! I-”

  “Njra, I’m not doing anything. I would NEVER do-!”

  My skin is crawling. I’m shaking. Suffocating.

  “You’re here. Noone is touching you. I want you to listen to me. Breath in. Breath out. And again. Good”

  “-”

  “I didn’t know this would- I am sorry.”

  “How-”, I try again, “How did you know what to do?”

  “It is what worked for her”

  I press my head against the frigid stone wall so hard it hurts. And then some more: “Go”

  “What I said before. It’s the truth. Even if you may not belief me.”

  “Want to guess, HOW MANY FUCKING TIMES I’ve heard this before?!”

  “I am sorry”

  “I bet you are!”

  I look up to see unblinking eyes. He has brought them because they like to see dolls tremble, and he likes to see them smile.

  Daira is babbling words I do not care to understand. Whatever meaning they used to hold, has been washed away by an inky river and orphaned memories.

  To beg does nothing. And so I don’t. Only twice I tried it; The day he had dragged frail limbs and skin not yet littered with scars into his chambre and drowned her in sheets too soft. And when, for the first time, he did not. When unfamiliar, gold-stained hands had grabbed her instead.

  A door falls shut.

  It had taken a long time to find what worked when begging does not; To wrap doll strings tight enough to not only move me but him as well; To make him believe he did not want to share a bond that so surly existed. It took longer still for money to not tempt, for the children’s blood soaking the sand to not be my fault.

  All those stings, the work of years, severed with one attack. I wish the rage would let me care.