Page 79 of The General's Captive
But when I heard his groan of frustration I opened my eyes and told him in a cheery tone, “Just kidding.”
And well, his face was a picture because he tried to look stern. Although, I was starting to notice his little quirks, even in this form. Like the way the sides of his deep-set eyes crinkled slightly, and his big lips twitched as he fought a grin. And it was soon my turn to fight one, as I watched him try and squeeze his way out of the space, after nodding to the bathroom, telling me,
“I will leave you to do your girly shit.”
I would have commented on this, but he was already gone and no longer making the place feel like a dollhouse. I evenchuckled to myself when I heard his back crack from outside while I was inside the bathroom. One I was happy to see, other than being slightly dusty, it was relatively clean. The water left in the toilet had yellowed after all this time, but I had unfortunately used far worse in the last three years.
I looked at myself in the mirror, giving my head a shake at the mess of my hair, making quick work of gathering it all back up again into its usual ponytail. I then grabbed what was left of my bottle of water out of my bag, half of which had been consumed on my way here last night. I then used my finger to clean my teeth and popped a mint in my mouth before walking out of there, after completing my ‘girly shit’.
“Tell me, how is me taking a pee something you class as girly shit?” I asked.
He grinned down at me before saying, “Nice hair. Now let’s go.”
I rolled my eyes but didn’t comment as he swept me back up into his arms, not even asking if I was okay to walk. As for my hip, the night’s sleep had certainly helped. However, I also knew it would unlikely last because I foresaw some running in my future if Riley refused to leave me behind.
My mind was still conflicted as to what I was going to do, because I knew the temptation to go with him would likely win in the end. Although the part of my mind that told me I was being selfish continued to battle against it.
“You’re very quiet this morning? Are you worried about The General?” Aster asked, jarring me from my warring thoughts.
“No… yes… I don’t know. I guess I’m more worried for Riley,” I confessed, and instead of mocking me for it like The General would have, he nodded.
“I can take you to him first, if you like?” he offered, making my eyes widen in shock.
“You would do that?” I asked, astounded.
“Yes, just to give you piece of mind. Then I will take you to The General and once he gives the order to release your friend, then I will see to it personally.”
I was blown away by his kindness, which just made my guilt double.
“That’s… well, it’s really good of you, Aster,” I praised, and he shrugged his shoulders like it was nothing.
“No, I mean it. You don’t know what that would mean to me. Thank you,” I said again, and this time he gifted me soft eyes before saying a gentle,
“You’re welcome, Alex.”
A sentiment I knew he would not be feeling for long.
Not when now, it no longer felt like I was deceiving a bodyguard…
But more like betraying a friend.
Walking down the Old Penitentiary Road in the arms of a ten-foot Minotaur wouldn’t have been my first guess as to how I would arrive here. My plan had been to drive close enough before leaving Riley’s truck somewhere out of sight before sneaking in.
As for now, well this wasn’t exactly what I would call inconspicuous. I even found myself tensing at the few Myths we passed, which were all clearly different to what I had been used to seeing.
The dark myths had made the world seem like a nightmare, but this was more like entering something out of an enchanted fairy tale. The creatures were beautiful and majestic without the darkness clinging to them. The sun gleaming off feathers, golden fur, and glittering scales of whatever creature we passed. And not a single one of them looked at all shocked to see Aster carrying a human in his arms.
Did they think he had just found another human to take prisoner? Because we were clearly headed that way… To a prison that had obviously once been a tourist attraction before the Rift. It likely hadn’t been used as a prison by humans for decades. That was before The General got his hands on it.
The pale-yellow stone blocks made up most of the buildings, as well as the wall that surrounded the whole site. The scenic, sand-colored mountains in the distance contradicted what the building used to stand for. How could something that used to house some of the most evilest people in this state be surrounded by such beauty? And now it most likely only held the innocent. Those collected by The General and his army of people, that had gone missing over the years. Yet I still didn’tknow why. I had tried to get this out of Aster a few times, but he would always answer in the same way…
“The General will explain, I am sure.”
This seemed to be his answer for most things, as if he was under strict instructions not to discuss anything with me.
As for the prison, we continued on the road that wrapped around to the other side. The direction he took quickly made me wonder why we were not yet heading toward the entrance and inside the main walls.
“Where are we going, I thought we were going inside the prison?”
