Olessia had long learned that silence was easier than sympathy. Her parents had died in the great fire that swallowed half the village, a night burned into every memory she owned. Her grandfather had taken her in afterward, teaching her how to live with what remained. But he too was gone now.
He always used to tell her stories about the Kingdom of Aurethia. Olessia, sitting cross-legged by the hearth or under the mango tree, would always interrupt halfway through, shaking her head. "Grandpa, it doesn't exist. It's a myth," she would say, every single time, and he would just smile.
Life after him was quiet, simple, predictable, and a little too empty. She rose with the sun, fetched water from the well, and spent her hours working, mending clothes, or helping neighbors in the village.
But now she was really here, and the same pendant necklace her grandfather had given her was the reason. It had glowed when her blood touched it, pulling her out of her home and into this strange, impossible world. She still couldn't wrap her mind around it. How could she even begin to explain that to him... the man sitting across from her, whose mere presence made the air feel suffocating?
Kaive sat opposite her with his expression unreadable. His golden eyes studied her with unnerving precision, tracing her from head to toe.
Olessia swallowed hard, trying not to fidget under that piercing gaze. It felt like he could see right straight into her racing heart.
"What does he want from me?" she wondered.
If she told him the truth that she came through a pendant soaked in her own blood, he'd probably have her executed for witchcraft.
So she sat there in silence, praying he couldn't see her fears.
"Tell me," Kaive said. "Why is your hair black?" His voice came after the silence.
Olessia's breath caught, but she managed to lift her chin. "Because that's how I was born," she said simply, though her voice trembled slightly at the end of her sentence.
Kaive stared at her as if she'd just spoken a language he didn't understand. His jaw tightened, and his golden eyes narrowing over her. Then, with a slow shake of his head, he muttered, "Impossible."
Her brows furrowed. "Excuse me?"
He leaned back in his chair, his expression hard as stone. "No one is born like that here, not in Aurethia. Black hair does not exist in our bloodline... it cannot."
She sighed, brushing her fingers through her dark hair. "Then how do you explain it?" she asked softly, trying not to sound defensive.
"I get it," she continued before he could answer. "Men and women here only have red or blonde hair, right? But where I come from, it's different. We have all sorts of colors... brown, brunette, black. Name it."
Kaive's expression twisted like she'd just spoken in tongues. His lips parted, and his brows furrowed in disbelief.
"Brown and bru… what?" he echoed, like the words themselves offended him.
"Brunette," she repeated, a faint smile tugging at her lips. "It's just another shade of brown."
He stared at her like she'd lost her mind. For a second, she wondered if she really had. Everything here was so strange, these people, their flawless beauty.
The silence stretched between them. Kaive finally looked away, but not before she caught that flicker of curiosity in his eyes.
"And you think I'm going to believe that?" Kaive finally said, his tone almost loud. "You must take me for a fool, to think a normal person could have brown hair, or whatever strange name you call it."
His jaw tightened. "You don't understand where you are. Lies aren't taken lightly in Autheria."
"Okay. I just need to go, please," she said, her voice sounding strained. Exhaustion weighed her down, and her stomach clenched with hunger, and her throat burned from dryness.
Kaive stared at her like she'd grown two heads. His gaze was daring.
"Go?" he repeated, disbelief dripping from his tone. "You think I'm going to let a spy walk out of here freely?" His voice turned cold, every word from his mouth edge with accusation. It made her heart skipped.
"A spy?" she echoed, blinking fast. "This is insane! I'm not a spy!" Her frustration burst out before she could stop it. "I don't even know where here is!"
But Kaive didn't budge. His eyes were watching her every move as if she were some dangerous creature. She could see it now... he didn't believe a single word she said.
"This is ridiculous," she muttered under her breath, shaking her head.
"Dino!" Kaive shouted in with a voice that rumbled like thunder.
The door flung open instantly, Dino entered. He bowed slightly, awaiting orders.
Then Kaive turned to her, his gaze locking with hers so intensely it made her blood run cold. The air in the space changed with lots of danger Olessia could feel.
Olessia swore she could feel his stare clawing into her soul. He didn't even need to raise his voice, because it seemed his calmness was far more terrifying.
"You're going to confess sooner or later, black-haired," he said, leaning back in his chair with an effortless sort of arrogance.
The title black-haired rolled off his tongue making it sound to Olessia like an insult, like her very existence offended him. He crossed one leg over the other, perfectly composed, watching her as if she were some puzzle he fully intended to break apart piece by piece.
"Until then," he continued, his tone dropping lower, "you are welcome to be my prisoner."
Her stomach sank by the word prisoner, it made her heart began to beat fast, she could hear the sound in her ears.
"Take her back to the prison," Kaive said at last to Dino, sounding serious, and leaving no room for unseriousness.
Olessia's eyes flew wide. "No, please... " she started, but it was useless.
Dino's expression didn't even flicker. He stepped forward, already gripping her arm, and she realized with fear that this man truly m
eant every word. He was sending her back to that stinking, hellish place.