Prohibited future (1)

Lives are cords that are cut, and wills are eggs that are broken. One is a matter of a second, the other, a lifetime's work.

This was the first time I had taken a pause to talk to my victim. To fool him, by the way.

Usually, I didn't let them express themselves. The only exceptions were when I was extracting information from them, or testing new torture techniques, but I doubt that these practices could be considered a dialogue...

Determined to make my task more difficult, the prince had been refusing to speak to me for several endless minutes. Perhaps he was angry at having all sound taken out of his mouth when I felt like it?

“Please understand that I cannot let you die...”

He gave in to my umpteenth attempt at perseverance, unable to resist contradicting me. “Don't try to justify your selfish decision. I've already come across enough politicians creeps who keep forcing my hand. You were right: I'm just one of their puppets! But I won't be yours too.”

“In our organization, you won't be one. And you will take revenge on whoever mistreated you. My interests are those of the nation, every honest citizen can become my client if he needs to. I offer you the chance to fight injustice on your own. His Highness will ensure them a sound government by eliminating those who pervert it. You must have a list of corrupted names in mind, right?”

“I didn't ask for anything and here I am, having to give up on everything to sell my ministers one by one!”

“I'm sorry they manipulated you.”

What I said sounded like absolute irony knowing that I was manipulating him at that very moment. I could always apologize, this puppet had no way of unmasking me since he couldn’t compare my word with that of others.

I had not saved him for the sake of profit, I had taken him because he would serve as a receptacle for me to shape a new Big Brother. He owed me absolutely nothing, if not the opposite... He would not enjoy greater freedom because I would control his every move. Worse, I would force him to work for me.

His fate would be more desolate than before, but unlike his parents, I would give him enough leeway to believe in a semblance of autonomy and carefree life.

The lies existed between us just because I couldn't admit to him the mistake that had got us into this nonsense. I much preferred to bullshit him with the supposed fact that he would make an excellent partner. There was no better way to gain the trust of strangers than to flatter their egos.

After a bitter silence, my hostage pretended he hadn't heard anything “I'm not going to let you fool me. A prince has to set an example, don't underestimate me, I'll work hard to get my throne back!”

“Didn't you want to die a hero's death two seconds ago? Or are you too afraid of Death?” I challenged him without flinching.

“The evil you inspire is far more ignoble than Death! You are the one who refuses to finish me off, so I see no other solution than to confront you.”

He stood up to me bitterly. It was only a matter of time before he lost all desire to flinch.

“What do you think? We are the Killer Wind, above all other underground organizations! No one, and certainly not you, can stop us! I can decide your sentence with a snap of my finger. However, I recognize that your fate is unjust. Sacrificing your precious life to preserve a false honor upsets me deeply...”

“And the Revolutionaries?” he reacted right away. “They are the only group important enough for Father to consider them a threat.”

“We've fooled them. They may have more resources than we do, but they will never be able to repeat any of our feats!”

Intrigued, the target kept asking me questions to reconstruct the context of his abduction “Could it be that they are using you to kill me? To stage a coup and control the royalty? What were they planning to do with my body?”

“Stop!” I shouted over his incessant chatter. “One more word and you won't be able to hear the sound of your vocal cords for a decade! Don't dare provoke me on this ground.”

His vocal cords had already stopped vibrating, letting out a hoarse sigh. Out of ideas, he clenched his fists until his skin turned white.

How does it feel to be powerless? To not be able to grab his feet? To witness every injustice in the shadows without being able to make a sound?

“It's immediately easier to listen to me, his Highness would have wrinkled his nose if he had gotten agitated again! The identity of our clients is strictly confidential, there's no need to try to learn anything from us.”

It took us a quarter of an hour... I thought as I leaned against the wall.

There was still one unused room in the house, which served as a storage room for Justine's magic equipment and surplus clothes. With a bit of tidying up, it would be perfect for housing him.

“Here's what's next-”

“I didn't accept your deal,” he interrupted.

“Come on, don't be picky, you didn't refuse it, it's the same.”

His lack of protest confirmed what I had said.

“Where was I... Well, yes, you'll be living here from now on, in our custody. And I'm going to rearrange your face. Remember, our dear prince is a dead man!”

The brat suddenly took offense at this announcement.

Nobles... always clinging to their appearances!

“You'll be forced to do it if you have to. Resisting will only make things more unpleasant for you.”

“Don't disfigure me any more than necessary then. I already suffered enough for the day,” he grumbled.

What was he talking about? Disfigure him? How could he know about our signature if he knew nothing about our organization?

My confusion ended when I realized it was a misunderstanding. “I wasn't talking about literally rearranging your face! What an imagination you have here!” I laughed lightly. “It wouldn't be reasonable, especially as I was planning to walk around the town! Instead of killing each other, how about forming an agreement? In case his Highness has the wonderful idea of running away, I'll cast an incantation that guarantees instant death if you get too far away from me. Do you understand?”

Would he try to cross the boundaries I had just set?

I needed to make him understand who was in charge here. So that he would understand his powerlessness and get used to my violence.

“Understood...”

He resigned himself to this terrifying condition, losing a little more of his drive.