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His hands, bleeding and raw, stayed tied, tightly behind his back; his ankles looked as though the skin was brutally torn away to the bone He half laughed at the idea of restraints at all, he was too weak to eon

Outside his roo of a stately walk, and knehat the next few moments would be like He wanted to be afraid, he wanted to cringe in anticipation, he wanted to feel so, even fear

But no e in the neck Not even his blood stirred He was an enition

The old, wooden door opened, creaking at its hinges, pushing the loose straw that lay indiscriminately across the floor, towards the wall In walked his captor, his tyrant, his king He towered over the boy, his crooked crown glinting in the sunlight The blessed light now tainted with evil and glaring in his eyes

The king stood staring down at the boy, a sinister s his lips and his hard, blue eyes satisfied with victory The boy's stomach lurched and the fear that he had been desperate for onlyhands began to treainst their restraints and he vowed to hi had happened to her, he would ic or no

"Cheer up, dear boy," the king commanded, "the cavalry has arrived"

"What have you done with her," the boy growled Even bound and weak, he was stillwith her yet," the king sether in pure certainty, sure of his i win "She has finally realized that she cannot win, and she has come to make the trade Your freedom for hers"

"She has told you this?" the boy asked, not believing even a breath that was exhaled from the oppressor

"Why else would she be here?" the king snapped, sto his prisoner's answer

"I wouldn't know," the boy stared at the ground, refusing the king's dehly doubt it's to rescueyou," he scoffed through a strained voice that struggled to reach above a whisper

"Hreed, more easily than the boy trusted "At any rate, we know she is here, and we know exactly how to bait her out Guards!" the king commanded, and the door opened i h the door, olowered at the prisoner, hoping their king called them in for one reason alone

"Make sure he looks nice and pretty for our guests," the king ordered, before turning on his heel and leaving the room

----

I shot up in the darkness, bu at everything aroundscrea from my mouth and clasped my hands firmly across my lips to silence the in the car too long

I tried to hold still, to put the pieces together, but they were fleeing This dream was more vivid, more cohesive than any of the others There was more to it than fear, more to it than pain There wereaway before I could put theainst ed the electricity through ic to one, lost in the subconscious world I still shared with Avalon

Avalon

He was here

In India

The details of the dreahthtmare left an impression In the moments where my mind drifted, where the subconscious took hold, I was back with Avalon, seeing through his eyes, feeling through his senses And the only explanation for the new vividness had to be that ere closer together He had to be here