A Malice Heart

The following day came too quickly to Malice as he looked at the small bag that lay before him filled with the little things he needed for a single night out of the palace. The weather today was a bit colder than usual, so he made sure that both of them had enough layers for the day in case it got even colder.

Drew walked out of the palace doors wearing her own layers, finally being allowed to wear pants and a shirt rather than a dress. She was covered head to toe, her hair braided and slung across her shoulder.

“The walk shouldn’t be too long, given that it took me only a matter of hours to reach this place,” she tightened the pouch that slung around her waist and looked up at him. “I’m sure His Royal Highness would be able to handle a long hike without his precious carriage, right?”

Drew had offered to take a walk towards the village rather than a carriage or even horses. It’s so they draw less attention from the crowd, allowing them to blend in perfectly.

Malice agreed with her idea and didn’t object, but continued to ignore her constant taunting.

He decided not to bring any guards with him as well, for obvious reasons.

“If you’re expecting me to be your personal protector, forget about it,” said Drew from the look on his face. “I swore not to kill you, but I never said anything about preventing someone else from attempting murder on you.”

“Why would anyone attempt to murder me?” They should have no reason to if none knew that he was their king.

“Everyone in this kingdom is willing to get some blood on their hands if it meant getting clothing and coins. It’s a kill or be killed situation.”

That was why Malice made sure to grab with him as many knives as he could possibly get, tucking them into his sleeves, boots, waist, and thighs. He knew that there was no way Drew would have created an ambush for him, given that she had been stuck in the palace with no way of communicating for many weeks.

He didn’t know how much he could trust this girl who was leading him outside of his own grounds and to what felt like a different world. Drew doesn’t seem like someone who would swear and then break that same promise, given how hard it was for her to force those words out of her mouth. Unless she was acting. Again.

Malice rolled his eyes at the thought as they left the palace walls and began their descent downwards towards the village. He could already hear the sound of talking and screaming as if there was a meetup and a murder being committed at the same time. From somewhere, a baby was crying, from another, there was a donkey that would simply not shut up.

As he turned to Drew, he was surprised to find her acting like all this was normal. There was no hint of worry on her face as they quickly made it to the bottom of the hill on which the palace stood and turned around for a moment, looking at the giant building that is Malice’s home.

The palace looked much darker and lifeless as he looked at it from an outside point of view. It looked abandoned, as if it were left untouched for decades.

“I’m kinda getting deja vu by looking at that thing all the way from here,” perked Drew, turning back around and continuing their walk. She didn’t wait for a reply, probably because she knew she wouldn’t receive one. The bag on her back hopped with every step she took, the assassin not seeming to care as they reached the gates of the village. A giant sign on it read: Welcome to Alverdon Village.

Malice winced at the name, having seen it countless times on his report papers and not caring. Not feeling an ounce of guilt towards what lies within these gates. He felt Drew enforce her arm around his own, intertwining them together as if they were on good terms. It seems like the idea of dragging her king all the way to this stinking village made her happier than getting to go outside the walls of the palace. He’d planned on disconnecting her entirely from society, allowing her to rot within his walls the same way he was destined to, but she just seemed to have too much energy to be restrained to one spot.

As they walked in, Malice’s nose immediately filled with the smell of shit and his ears were damn near ready to explode from all the noise around him. He was ready to turn around and leave this place, planning on never coming back, but Drew only pulled him further in, welcoming him to the place she once called home.

“Given that it’s morning, this is the busy hour where everyone is outside their homes. Well, those that can afford a home,” she pointed towards the old buildings these people called houses. “These are the most expensive ones anyone could afford. What’s so special about them? Nothing. Just the fact that they’re closer to the village gates.”

People around them were fast walking to whatever destination they were headed towards. Mothers were carrying children in both hands, other kids were running with barely any clothes on and also barefoot. Dirt and grime covered everyone, but none seemed to care.

Friends still hugged, couples kissed. They had gotten used to this after years of this torture, torture that he had placed upon them without a second thought.

A young girl came running up to Malice and Drew, looking up at them with glowing, yellow eyes. Her nose was bright red from the cold, her hands bruised and scratched as if an animal had been chewing on them for days.

Malice was ready to walk away, not a care in his heart to spare, but Drew stopped him. “She is your subject. Look at her.”

And so he did, staring right at the girl’s eyes, his own red ones practically glowing. The little girl started crying at the sight of him, running up to hide behind Drew’s leg. Drew only picked her up and attempted to quiet her down by giving her an apple from her bag, one of the few snacks they had brought along.

“Why waste your food on a child who looks like she’ll be dead in a matter of days?” questioned the king, but he only received a cold glare from the assassin, her own eyes challenging him.

“You have no heart to say that in front of a child,” she wiped a tear from the girl’s cheek, kissing her forehead. “She’ll live because you will change your mind.”

Malice didn’t reply. He only looked away and outwards towards the rest of the village, frowning at the sight of it.