Eyebrows raised, arms crossed, and clearly skeptical: this is the sight that greeted me when I finally looked at Ifira, not a single ounce of amusement was present on her expression as she stared at me down, and her index finger was tapping her forearm with impatience.

  Her pupils moved, I don't know where, they just did, it made me flinch. That seemed to amuse her, because of course it did. My heart raced when she smirked, the ugly mockery hiding behind it didn't even register for me, I was too scared.

  "Flattery won't get you anywhere." She says, voice dull. The sharpened edge she had earlier somehow disappeared, leaving behind frosty words that made my muscles tense up. Refusing to move. "Why did you start with something like that? You sound like some kind of sycophant, it irks me that you had the gall to try your ways with me the second that we meet."

  W-what? I have no idea what she's talking about!

  Those words refused to leave my lips, instead I just gulped. Nodding... Was a mistake, I hastily shook my head, "that's not what I mean!.. t! There's a T at the end and..." I paused, sighing, what's the point of this? I can't possibly believe that I can lie to Ifira can I? "Sorry."

  Energy drained from my body the moment that single word came out, my shoulders stopped tensing up, my lungs slowed down, and my back felt so exhausted that it bent forward. My mind is reeling, literally, a small headache comes over me as the adrenaline fades. The dull ache pissed me off like it always does, yet I can't lash out even if I wanted to, the words just die the moment my eyes land on the noble girl in front of me.

  "I'm scared of you, Ifira." A soft voice enters my ears, it held no strength. I recognize it as mine. I looked down, shame and vulnerability, oh how I've missed you. "You're a noble, and the daughter of this territory's ruler, a single word from your mouth can kill me, if you want it, I will literally get killed. How can I not flatter you if that's the case?"

  Patience was never my thing, but it came to me during times like this, where I'm just too tired to do anything but sit back. Everything that makes up my existence is well aware that the thing in front of me is something I can't fight, and in the face of that, I can try to fight back, and it pushing back just slaps me in the face with the harsh reality of my situation.

  What else can I do other than give up?

  Warmth takes hold of my face, it crawls across both sides of my cheek. Fingers, I say to myself, Ifira is extending her fingers, they stop just short of my jawline and they hook themselves to it, I couldn't resist when my head got lifted and was forced to meet Ifira's eyes.

  Autumn has passed, it's gone now, snow is piling all around us. Staring into such beautiful brown eyes made it seem like they no longer exist, that there's a giant circle around us full of warmth, where the snow has melted, giving way to not just pavement, but also blooming plantlife. I could almost feel the calm breeze of autumn as I stood here, immobile.

  "Good. How much courage did it take for you to be honest, hm?" Her smile was warm, the giggle that followed was incredibly cute. I avert my eyes, am I seriously falling for a child?

  With a deep breath, I calm myself. The thought of having feelings for a kid despite being an adult has somehow melted the frost in my heart, the heat rushes through my veins, removing the slurry that has started to fill them.

  "A lot." I admit, my tone much calmer, the slight amount of conviction present in them is barely audible however. "You have no idea how scared I am of you, I know who you are, Ifira, and I know you're not someone I can just mess with."

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  And that's true, I know Ifira more than she possibly knows herself. I've seen her future, what she can do, and what she has done to get to that point. The villainess before me is a kid who has done a lot of cruel things in the name of pettiness. The older Ifira doesn't grow out of this state, she is still petty, still arrogant, only with more power.

  "Do you? How quaint." She laughs, her words feel a lot more mature than they're supposed to be, it makes my hair stand on end. "And, pray tell, how much do you know about me exactly?"

  "A lot. I can't say all of them though, you won't believe me." She lets me go and I walk back by several steps. "Thank you, I hated that. A lot."

  "You are spineless." She spat. "How can you do that and then act like this? You're scared of telling me my own rumors? You think I'm that weak?"

  "No!" I glared at her. "I know more than just rumors! I know a lot about you!"

  "Please, like you would possess something like that." She scoffs, the sound airy and full of arrogance. "No information that we don't want escapes our house, the ones that do? The ones you hear? Those are things I cannot catch, things my mother and siblings throw out."

  She was suddenly in front of me, her speed out matching mine in several leagues. What level is she? How?.. I claw at her hands in a vain attempt to pry them off my throat, my breathing is ragged, tears are on my eyes, threatening to fall, I'm going to break, I can't!—

  Her grip starts to clamp down, slow at first, the movement of her fingers deliberately torturous. It picks up pace and my clawing turns desperate, tears start to fall, I start kicking at her but it doesn't work.

  "P-please!"

  "No, no," she was grinning now, all manic and full of glee. She knows she can kill me without consequence, "you don't have the right to beg, you have run my patience thin and now you must pay, shouldn't you? In the end, all of you are the same."

  "You're-" my voice stops, the air has left my lungs, my chest starts to burn, I am now a fish out of water, mouth opening and closing desperately.

  Black. It's on the edge of my vision, I can feel my consciousness fading, my head starts to hurt, I can't think...

  I inhale. More out of reflex than anything else, every other breath I take is very much the same, they say that when you think about breathing, you start doing it manually. My body refuses to give me that luxury, it's outright forcing me to take in air for fear of dying.

  "I'm what? Answer me peasant, and make sure that it is not the rumors surrounding my existence, it better be profound, and I need to feel something from it." My lungs collapse against the weight that was suddenly pressed on my back, Ifira's foot? Is she stepping on me? "Why are you laughing hm? I too am amused, I won't be for long, so you better start talking."

  Dying isn't part of my plans so I start thinking of what to say, but what can I realistically throw out here?

  My mind churns trying to come up with something but the panic and adrenaline makes it harder to think, the pressure on my back builds and I hear the words I never wanted to hear.

  "You better start talking, I'm gonna count to ten okay?"

  "You have a perfect vessel!" It came out of nowhere, and also not really. This is the first fact I tell her because it's the most prominent one I know.

  "What does that mean?" The pressure lessens, then it goes back. "Tell me."

  "Your body is made to handle magic, it can get anything from the system and you will never be corrupted. By anything." A groan escapes my mouth instead of a gasp, she doesn't look like she believes me!

  "How did I get this?"

  "I don't know!" I genuinely say. "How am I supposed to know that?!" That's never part of the goddamn lore! "You think I do?!"

  "No." She finally releases me. "Stand up."

  How can there be something that's more powerful than a command? I'm not sure, but Ifira isn't using mind control, my body just moved on its own when she told me to do something. "W-what do you want with me now?"

  "Nothing, you can go." She says, holding no amusement, warmth, or love in her voice. "Go back to your family's store, I'm sure they've been waiting for you."

  My blood turns to ice, I glare at her, wand raised. "I'll burn down everything if you lay so much as a hand on them,"

  She raised an eyebrow and a genuine smile grew on her face, "I won't. Not unless you give me a reason at least." I don't lower my wand. "You don't scare me, put that down."

  I reluctantly did so and walked away.