Indecent Folks

The guard dragged me again, but I walked faster to see what Lauren was talking about. My heart pounded in every step. To have them locked me up, I slowly believed that something terrible just happened. "Let her walk on her own," Lauren told the guard when we turned into a dim-lit hallway.

The guard pulled the door to our right, revealing a room with a prison cell. My shoulders dropped when I saw Rougan sitting on the floor while his back rested on the wall. They had his hands shackled with a pair of steel cuffs. "What did you do to him?" I whispered.

His hair was messy, and he didn't have an upper garment on, exposing the dirt and sweat all over his body and face. There was a table with jars and herbs in one corner, and sitting on a chair was Paige. "Leave," she ordered the guard. I ran towards the steel bars and kneeled on the floor. "Rougan. What did they do?"

He opened his eyes and gave me a grim look. His mouth hung open before he laughed in his hoarse voice. "If I get out of here, I'll kill you," he mumbled.

My shoulders dropped as I watched him in confusion. "Rougan."

He stopped laughing, but tears filled his eyes. He gave me an apologetic gaze while he shook his head. "I'm sorry."

I turned to Paige and Lauren, but my eyes landed on Sawyer, who just entered the room. "What have you done to him?" I asked. My hands were trembling in anger.

Paige rolled her eyes before smirking at me. "Bold of you to ask."

"What did we do to you, Paige?"

Lauren crossed her arms as she leaned against the wall. "When are you going to stop talking like that, Dani? You're just making yourself look like a fool despite your..." She looked at me from head to toe. "Just so you know—" "That's enough," Sawyer cut in.

"Just so you know, Dani," Lauren continued anyway. "This is your fault, so look at him very well and put it in your rotting brain that this is your doing."

I turned to Rougan. He was panting as he stared blankly at the ceiling. "Is he sick? Why does he look weak?"

"We injected Cryle in his blood to make him weak," Paige replied.

I gripped onto the bars and bit my lower lip. I've never been more disturbed as I looked at Rougan right now. He isn't supposed to be like this, but I did this to him? "How do I stop this?"

"Listen carefully, Dani," said Paige behind me. A quiet pause filled the room before she spoke again. "Every kingmage that lived through the past centuries has what the books call the tri-power. One of them is that she can choose one ally that she can control or hex in witches' terms. This ally will be loyal to her at all costs and come to her rescue whenever she needs it. Do you have any idea who have you hexed, Dani?" My shoulders dropped as I stared at Rougan. I have only known him for a while, but I believe he isn't the one who can easily be controlled nor tamed. He's a wild wave. "One particular thing about being a kingmage's ally is that he will lose his free will along the way. You made him hurt his fellow Sunkens to protect you," Paige blurted.

I shook my head while a sharp pain travelled from my chest to every part of my body. So that's why it was easy for him to hurt his men because I hexed him? "I...I didn't mean to."

"Oh, that we know. Your oblivion bought us more time to find how to break the hex," Paige informed me. "For more than a week, he tried to battle it. That's why sometimes he's mad at you and sometimes guilty. He did his best to cling to the last strip of his free will. Could you imagine the torture, Dani? He was looking for you all day because he's your ally, but the real him was resenting you at the same time."

My heart shivered at the thought and I couldn't even hold the bar any longer as my hands fell onto my lap. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" None of them responded, so I shot a look at Paige behind me. "Why?"

She sighed and crossed her arms. "Eydis made her daughters into kingmages so they could protect themselves. They were inherently good, but the succeeding ones were not. They turned out wicked. So if we told you right away, you might have used him against us. Against his people."

"I won't! You should've trusted me!"

"Why would we?" She chuckled sarcastically. "An outsider like you just walked in here and hexed, out of all your options in this village, the vampire leader. It was Rougan who told us to play along, but stay vigilant as well."

Our memories in his bedroom flash in my mind, but I could no longer feel joy. He was playing all along. Tears trickled down my cheeks when that realization hit me. I turned to him as my chest pounded in pain, but I am sure that he had it worse. "I'm sorry. I didn't know," I whispered.

He turned to me while he gave me a sweet smile. "The honour is mine, Lady Jones."

Even the way he called me broke my heart, so I looked away. This isn't him. I only forced this on him. Every vein prickled from the pain. I don't even know his true character because everything he did and said to me was just the result of me hexing him.

"We found a way, Dani," Sawyer informed me, prompting me to wipe my tears as I turned to him. "Let him be himself. It's time to let him go," he said.

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"Dani," Paige called. "A kingmage's loyalty can provide protection. No matter how wicked she can be, she can protect someone or a whole village in that case. That explains the dome."

I blinked and looked away. "I didn't even know how that happened."

"It happened because you wanted to protect us," she declared. "No matter how awful your reputation was, you somehow proved us otherwise. We could not lock you up any longer, and I believe Sawyer already told you why. But one more thing is, once other creatures or clan find out that there's a living kingmage here, they will come for you, and that would lead to an impending casualty for us," she added.

I sighed, trying to take in everything she said. My hands were trembling, and my head felt like it was going to explode any minute. I have so many questions, but I don't know how do I put them into words. With a heavy heart, I stared at Rougan's helpless face. "You don't deserve this misery."

"Look at me, Dani," Paige called me again as she gently held my arm and sat on her heels. "Here's the Sapper," she showed me a vial. "Once you let go of him, you can have this, and you can leave."

"Everything is new to me. I don't know anything. I don't know how to do this-"I sobbed in fear.

"Without breaking the hex, he will forever be your ally. Even if you leave, he will come for you, and he will not stop until he finds you, Dani. I beg of you, don't take him away from us," she pleaded. "You must give his identity back. Let him drink your blood like how a vampire would."

"Like how a vampire would?"

She gently nodded. My eyes darted on the floor as shivers travelled down my spine.

"If you won't, we have to follow his order," Paige whispered.

"And that is?"

"We have to stop his suffering...and kill him."

My shoulder dropped along with my hope to stop this. The amount of pain in my chest just tripled while fear swallowed me whole. I turned to Rougan and gripped onto the bars, shaking my head. "You can't kill him."

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"Then do everything you can," Paige mumbled before I heard them leaving the room. When the door closed, the lamp illuminated the place entirely. My trembling hands reached for the cell's door, prompting Rougan to look at me. He gently shook his head. "Don't come near me. You might get hurt."

I gripped onto the door's handle, forcing myself to stop, but I couldn't sit here any longer while he was trying to battle the hex. I entered the cell and kneeled between his thighs. "I'm so sorry," I cried, pulling him for an embrace. "I didn't know. I promise. I have no idea what I was doing to you."

"It's my honour to be chosen," he whispered while he wrapped his arms around my waist.

I cried harder at his words because they don't feel real. None of this was real. What have I done? I slowly pulled away and laid my hands on his shoulders. His eyes looked hopeful, and it just broke my heart more. Maybe that was the real him, hoping that I let him go. "Being with me must have felt like a prison-"I bit my lower lip to keep myself from sobbing. "But ever since I lost everything in my life, I've never felt safer in your arms. You freed me from despair, and yet I became your cage."

"You must give his identity back. Let him drink your blood like how a vampire would."

"Like how a vampire would," I whispered, leaning my forehead against his. "I'm leaving, Rougan. Don't think of me ever again." My heart pounded as I pulled his face closer to my neck. "No, no," he pulled away, but I cupped his face. "It's okay. I'll be fine," I whispered.

"Why would you leave me?" he asked.

Tears trickled down my cheeks as I stared into his eyes. "Because I am trouble," I replied, pulling him closer again. My entire body trembled when his cold lips touched my skin. He hugged me tighter until I felt his teeth piercing into my neck. I groaned in pain, but I held onto his nape and cried myself to death. "I'm so sorry," I whispered.

My body ached, and I could feel my arms numbing as he sucked my blood. Every vein in my body prickled as he breathed heavily on my skin. He pulled away and suddenly grabbed my neck to pin me against the wall. "Rougan," I said under my breath.

He kneeled over me and looked into my face like he just met me for the first time. "Adeline Jones," he mumbled, glaring at me. "Good time is over."

"It's you..." I whispered as I stared into his eyes. Every part of my body ached from the pain, but I took my time to look at him. "I'm sorry," I apologized once more. My blood crawled down my chest as I did my best to breathe until I stopped fighting and let my arms fall onto the ground, closing my eyes.

I could still feel his heavy breathing until he gently rubbed his thumb against my neck. I jolted in pain while he held my nape and gently laid my head against the wall.