Would You Like This to be a Date?

“Oi, watch the sword!” I yelled at the guards chasing me. A blade swished inches from my backside as I sprinted down the streets of Zaren. The bag of stolen food weighed me down, but I was still faster. I banked right, the metallic clunking of fallen guards echoing behind me.

“Thief! Stop by order of the Queen!” one of them roared. I kept running towards the pier where I could hide. It was always the same thing: steal, run, hide. In Zaren, if you weren’t “Gifted” with magic, you did what you needed to survive. There were three kingdoms in Elysium: Aurora, Zaren, and Hallen. The former was the best place for the magicless, but none had ever gotten through the border. Hallen was a kingdom of darkness and destruction, and Zaren wasn’t far behind. However, Queen Amarah was slightly less cruel than King Cain of Hallen.

A guard caught me and threw me to the ground. I winced but stood, sword drawn. Six guards corralled me. I’d never been caught before. Something was wrong. There were never so many guards during daylight, and these six seemed to know exactly where I was going. It reeked of a trap, but no one knew my routes.

“Fellas, this is a huge misunderstanding.” I threw my satchel as a peace offering.

The one in front of me kicked it away. “Silence. Your presence is requested at the castle.”

“And would that be a friendly visit or a dungeony visit?” He rolled his eyes and two guards grabbed me from behind. I squirmed, but they were twice my size. With a sack over my head, I was dragged to the Iron Queen’s castle.

They dumped me in a chair, tying my wrists to the armrests. A guard removed the sack from my head, and I growled angrily. I’d expected a dungeon, but I sat in front of a feast. Fruits, cheeses, meats, and freshly baked breads made my mouth water. A bottle of wine stood in the middle accompanied by two delicate glasses. I’d never seen so much food - at least not fresh food. I reached for the bread, but my wrists just tugged on the rope. With a sigh of defeat, I looked around. I sat in a study, a massive library to my left and a roaring fireplace to the right. Above it was the Zaren flag: velvety black with a scarlet rose emblem. The flames bathed the room in warmth, but it felt more suffocating than cozy. Someone stood on the balcony in front of me. They wore blue and gold robes, the dying sunlight cloaking them in shadows.

“Good, you’re here. I was worried the food would grow cold,” the woman said.

“You know, if you wanted a date with me, you could have just asked,” I taunted. She responded with a melodic laugh, sweet as a lullaby. Then she turned and I felt the blood drain from my face. In front of me stood Princess Darya of Zaren. She pulled her hood down, wavy blonde hair tumbling across her shoulders. The glow of the fireplace bathed her tan skin in golden light. I felt small under the sea-green of her eyes, their pull subtle yet demanding like the coiling of waves. She smiled at me, her gaze sparkling with curiosity and playfulness.

“Would you like this to be a date?”

I shook my head. “Respectfully, your Highness, no. I don’t think the queen would be pleased with such an arrangement.” Disappointment flashed across her features, quickly enough I could have told myself it was a trick of the light.

The people told rumors of her beauty and power, unmatched by the queen herself, though no one had ever seen more than a portrait of Princess Darya. The portrait seemed downright degrading now. She was a mystery, even her father remained unknown. The Iron Queen, Amarah, ruled Zaren alone - harsh and unjust. The princess forced a smile.

“Well, Kazandra, there are many things my mother and I don’t exactly agree on,” she replied curtly and sat across from me. Her movements were as graceful as a dancer’s, yet something about her felt dangerous.

I scowled, “It’s just Kaz, and how do you know my name?”

She removed her robe and threw it over the chair, revealing a simple white shirt and black riding pants. A thick golden chain hung around her neck. The pendant was a trident with a beautiful blue gemstone. I inspected it for a moment, and the princess hid the pendant back in her shirt. I looked away, embarrassed, but not before catching the smirk pulling at her lips.

“In that case, it’s just Darya. I know your name because you’re the so-called Golden Thief of Zaren. Uncatchable for the past seven years,” despite the accusation, her tone was light. She might have even been impressed.

“And how did they catch me this time?”

She grinned and tapped the pendant, “They had help.” I rolled my eyes, pulling at my restraints in annoyance. Of course, she’d used magic. “I apologize for my guards being so brusque. Here,” she swiped her hands and the ropes fell away. I rubbed my wrists.

“Right, well I’m still alive, so what can I do for you Princess?” Darya contemplated me. The intensity of her eyes made me uncomfortable, but I didn’t look away. She leaned forward, scanning over every inch of me. Then she smiled, like she’d found the answer to an unspoken question.

“Do you like wine? I’m quite fond of a good Merlot,” she poured the dark liquid into both glasses and handed one to me. “We can discuss and eat at the same time.” I wanted to turn her down, to refuse anything coming from the royal family, but I couldn’t. My last meal had been an apple and stale bread two days ago, and I didn’t know when I’d eat again. I kept my eyes on the princess, picking up a piece of meat and bread. She smiled encouragingly and I nibbled the bread. The food seemed safe to eat, so I reached for the wine glass. I ignored how she blushed when our fingers touched.

“You didn’t answer my question." I sipped the wine, but I’d never had it before. The strong woodsy taste caught me by surprise, and I made a face. The princess laughed at that, so I put the glass down and glared at her. Her smile melted into a pout.

“You’re upset. Why?”

“Well, you did kidnap me and tie me to a chair.” She tilted her head to the side, lovely blonde hair falling loosely. Not that I noticed.

“It’s more than that. I can see it in your eyes. You hate me,” the words sounded soft and dejected. Why would a princess care what a thief thought? Something annoyingly close to guilt washed over me. “Why do you hate me?”

I leaned back in the chair and examined her. She looked nothing like her mother. The queen was ghostly pale with jet black hair, features severe and hostile. Darya wasn’t like that. She seemed kinder, her magic curious and warm. But it was still magic. Magic that divided all the people of Zaren and Hallen, our homes run by the “Gifted” while the “Broken” were left to survive how they could. Magic took my mother from me.

“I hate all magic. Have you not looked past that lovely garden of yours? We, the ‘Broken’ as you call us, starve, hurt, and die because we’re not deemed important enough to care for. We’re hunted down for doing what we must to survive. And you? You watch it all from this pretty little castle.” I spoke quietly and slowly; venomous words that could’ve gotten me executed on the spot. I didn’t care, I wanted them to sting... but then why did I wince when Darya’s sea-green eyes dimmed with hurt? I couldn’t take the words back. They were true.

Darya took a shaky breath and nodded. She tentatively reached across the table for my hand. I didn’t retract it but made a fist that dissuaded further contact. Her fingers stopped inches from my knuckles, close enough that I could feel their warmth. Part of me thought I could feel the sadness rolling off her. It made me angry.

“I understand. I do see it, you know.” I scoffed. Darya continued, “And I want to help. I don’t agree with the way my mother rules, or the way we’ve built Elysium. Even Aurora needlessly divides its people, championing magic users. I want our people to be equals, but in order to do that… I need your help.”

“How can I possibly help you?”

Darya showed me her wrist. She was marked with a black torch and key in a circle. It was the mark of Hecate. I stood so fast my knee slammed against the table.

“You’re cursed! By the Gods… how - no one has seen a mark like that in centuries,” I whispered. Fear thickened like poison in my chest. Darya got up slowly, her hands out in an appeasing gesture, like I was the one she should be worried about.

“I know. I’m not the only one. The royals of Aurora are also marked… but none in Hallen.” Her eyes searched mine, willing me to understand. She needed my help because there was only one kingdom evil enough to do this. The very kingdom I’d narrowly escaped from.

I inched back from the table, ready to bolt. Darya didn’t look like she would stop me. “No. You’re crazy. I’m not going back,” I hated how my voice trembled.

“Kaz please … you’re the only one who knows how to enter and escape safely.” Her eyes turned glassy. I wrapped my arms around myself. Images of a cruel dark kingdom clawed at my mind. I saw the banners, blood red with a golden lightning bolt in the middle. I saw the king standing in front of my mother, tendrils of darkness coiling around her. He turned my mother into a Shadow creature.

“Why? You don’t even know if Hallen is behind this!” I shouted.

“Kaz, who else is powerful enough? You know King Cain. He’s twisted and greedy. With the rest of the royals in Elysium gone, there would be no one to stop his dark magic. He could take over the entire country, plunging all of us into Hades on Earth.” She was right. Cain was brutal and powerful, more than Queen Amarah. He was a descendant of Zeus himself.

I felt sick. The mark on Darya’s wrist was a death sentence. She had a few weeks at most if she didn’t break it. Of course, Cain had done it, but how? How had he even managed to recreate Hecate’s Curse after five hundred years? The Gods themselves had destroyed all knowledge on how to make it.

“I - I can’t. I barely made it out of there,” I whispered. Sometimes at night I could still hear my mother screaming: KAZ RUN!

Darya reached out like she wanted to comfort me, but I flinched away. “I’m sorry, but you’re the only one who can help me. We can save Zaren and the rest of Elysium. You may make your demands: gold, power, anything. I’m begging you. Help me.” She was afraid, alone, and right. We had to break the curse and stop Cain… and only I knew how to get to him.

“Fine. I help you; you do something about Zaren. You make our people equals, and I never see you again.” She deflated at that last part.

“I suppose I really can’t count this as a courting?” I glared at her, but she wasn’t joking. It didn’t matter how beautiful and powerful Princess Darya was, her people had taken my mother. Darya picked up on my hostility and nodded sullenly. “Fair. Help me save our home.”