Young Writers Society

Ky curled in a little ball next to the bed. Her back was pressed against the wall, arms tightly wrapped around her abdomen, trying to calm the pain that throbbed through her body. He’d allowed her to clean up the mess before getting dressed, but there was nothing to absorb the tears that soaked her face.

Sobs racked her shoulders for what felt like an eternity, before they leveled off to heavy shuddering breaths. Her throat was raw. Her entire body felt swollen and sore and… dirty. She didn’t have the words to begin to describe how violated she felt; how exposed; how used.

“Sounds like you’re about done sniveling.”

Ky looked up fearfully as Aleth stood from his desk across the room and strode towards her. It felt like hours had passed between him finally letting her up from the bed and now, but it was hard to say if it’d been more than a few minutes.

“Now it’s time for some answers.” He stood over her, crossing his arms as he looked down on her. “Because I’ve certainly got questions.”

Ky pulled her arms even more tightly around herself, trying to still the trembling. This time she didn’t avert her gaze as she stared back at him. Anger rivaled the fear and pain pounding through her body. She desperately wanted to spring up and sprint from the room – but he’d slammed her into the wall the first time she tried that, and threatened to throw her straight through the wall if she tried it again. It was certain hyperbole, but she was too sore to cross him again just then. She waited in horrified silence to see what was to come.

He sat on the edge of the bed, just in front of her, and crossed his arms again. He cocked an eyebrow. “That was quite the interesting turn of events, mm? Although I suppose my secret probably didn’t surprise you as much as yours surprised me.”

Ky took a deep breath, his condescending tone fueling the anger. “I thought you knew my secret from the start.”

“Oh, no, no, don’t misunderstand me, Ky,” Aleth said, smirking. “I knew one of your secrets, but by no means did I suspect this. This is far more priceless than anything I could have imagined.”

Ky glared at him. “Then why?”

“See, now that’s where this all gets interesting,” Aleth answered. “The simplest ‘why’ I suppose is that you caught my eye in the courtyard, looking all around when you clearly knew you shouldn’t. That’s not too much out of the ordinary, of course, but I noticed you’re a cutie, and thought I’d see what it would take to bed you.”

Ky cringed. The way he talked about it so casually – as if he hadn’t just violated the deepest parts of her. It was disgusting. And it still hurt so very badly.

“So, you know. I started with the basics, a bit of small talk, try to see how you’d respond,” Aleth said. “No servant likes it when I speak to him. It’s understandable, being nervous about interaction with a noble. But you weren’t just nervous, you were downright suspicious. Made me wonder what it is that you had to be suspicious about me finding out.”

Ky frowned at him.

“I mean, obviously my questions aren’t as innocent as they seem,” Aleth said. “And most stable boys aren’t clever enough to realize that, so when I find one who is intelligent enough to be wary of me, I start poking to see if I can find something I can work with. Yours I found right off… Kyber Ruirac… I thought it was a strange name for a mountain boy. People from the mountains don’t have a last name, do they, Ky?”

The bottom fell out of Ky’s stomach as she stared at him in a horrified silence.

“So why would a stable boy invent a last name for himself?” Aleth mused. “To blend in, most likely, but why? Because he didn’t want to answer questions? Because he wanted to fit in? Hard to say.”

Ky swallowed hard. The very thing she thought would protect her and help her maintain her assumed identity had led to her downfall. People from the mountains never asked her for a surname; people who asked for a surname never thought twice about her being from the mountains. And then there was Aleth.

“But then I saw you reading my letters.”

Ky closed her eyes, frustrated. She was so stupid.

“Oh, yes. You played a good game, pretending that you couldn’t read, looking at the crests, sure,” Aleth said. “But you can’t lie to me, Ky. My vocation is talking to people and figuring out when they’re lying to me.”

Ky wished, for the millionth time that hour, that she could disappear.

“But that made me curious. How could a stable boy learn how to read?” Aleth continued. “I’d appreciate some help on that one…”

Ky opened her eyes. Aleth was looking at her expectantly over the rims of his glasses. She took a shaky breath, defeated. “My father was a merchant before he settled in our sector. He taught me.”

“You learned before you left him?” he asked skeptically. “At the age of twelve?”

“It’s not that complicated,” Ky spat.

“No,” Aleth agreed. “But I imagine pulling off a false sex for two years would be complicated. How’d you manage that one?”

Ky was silent for a long moment, shrugging. “Carefully.”

“Well, yes, I’d imagine so,” Aleth agreed sarcastically. “But how about you try a more informative answer?”

“What do you want me to say?” Ky snapped, defensive. “I play the part well. You didn’t suspect me yourself, until you happened upon it by accident as you raped me.”

“Tsk, such harsh language, Ky,” Aleth said, waving a hand dismissively. “Think of it as me teaching you how to have fun.”

“Nothing about that was fun.”

“Oh, I disagree, Ky. This is the most fun I’ve had in months.”

Ky shuddered.

Aleth looked down at his watch. “I suppose we’re running out of time here, huh? Alright. Let me tell you what, Ky. Here’s how this is going to work. You’re going to get up now and go back to your stable and pretend like nothing happened here.”

Aleth stood up and stepped forward to loom over her a moment, then bent and grabbed her arm and swiftly hauled her to her feet. He gave her a push towards the door. “And if you tell anyone our secret, I’ll make sure everyone hears about yours.”

Ky stumbled forward towards the door, pain stabbing through her abdomen with each step she took. She glanced back at Aleth fearfully, to see if he was following, but he’d turned back towards the desk. She opened the door, glancing back once more to ensure he wouldn’t pounce on her again, and then gratefully stepped out into the hallway.

Ky started running the instant the door closed behind her. She put her head down and sprinted through the halls as fast as she could, blinded by the tears that sprang to her eyes once again. She ran into someone, hard, half-way down the stairs.

“Ky, whoa!” Alcan put his hands on her shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

Ky ripped herself away from him and kept running. She sniffed, trying to slow the snot that poured freely from her nose, as she pushed open the castle door leading outside. She kept running as hard as she could, ignoring the burning in her lungs.

She ran the only place she knew where to go: the stable. She grabbed the ladder to the hay loft and quickly ascended, scrambling over the bales that were stacked high along the inner edge of the area. She scrambled next to the wall, under the sloping roof. Her foot slipped, tossing her down on her belly. It was the final straw.

The force on her stomach made her gag, and a moment later she was retching so hard her entire body trembled. She gurgled on the mucus still trickling down the back of her throat, and pushed herself back, until her shoulders were resting against the wall behind her, pile of vomit off to her right.

She looked up as she saw a pair of feet come into view. Alcan was crouched next to her, kerchief in his hand, brow worried as he looked at her uncertainly. He held out the scrap of cloth. She took it and wiped her face, and he sat down on her left.

Suddenly she dropped the rag and threw her arms around him tightly. He hesitated a moment, tensing. Her grasp never relented. So what if he felt the binding through her tunic? She’d be dead in a matter of hours anyway. The game was up.

Alcan slowly wrapped his arm around her shoulders, returning the embrace. “It’ll be okay. You’re fine; I’ve got you.”

Ky choked on a fresh sob that racked her body. He held her tight, humming a low melody, swaying slightly as he rubbed her back. They sat together a long while, until Ky’s breathing slowly returned to normal. She gradually sat back, grateful that Alcan left his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

“What happened?” Alcan asked gently.

“Aleth is strong…” Ky picked at the hem of her tunic, lowering her head to rest it on his chest. “And… he likes boys.”

“Oh, Ky…” Alcan hesitated. “He didn’t…?”

Ky inhaled sharply, sniffling, and snuggled closer to his chest. She forced herself to take a deep breath. “He did. And he… he figured out something about me… something that I haven’t told anyone. And if he decides to tell anyone…”

Ky trailed off, chest constricting once again.

Alcan hugged her tighter. “I’m so sorry, Ky, that’s absolutely terrible.”

Ky nodded.

Alcan was silent for a long moment. “What is it that he figured out?”

Ky hesitated. Even telling Alcan felt so wrong. And yet, she knew that he deserved to hear it from her – not the king, at her execution, and certainly not from Aleth. They’d been friends for years. Revealing her own lie was the least she could do.

“You’re going to hate me,” she murmured, voice barely audible.

“No, I’m not.”

“Even if you find out I’ve been lying to you from the moment we met?”

“We’re friends, Ky,” he answered, stroking her hair. “Nothing you say is ever going to change that. I swear.”

“Even if I said that I’m not actually a boy?” she swallowed. “That I’m really a girl?”

“Even then.”

Ky sat up, looking at him suspiciously. “Really?”

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”

“How is that not a big deal?” she asked incredulously, shocked at his nonchalance. “It doesn’t surprise you at all?”

“I mean… I kind of suspected it.” He shrugged again. “I hear tales that this strong-willed little girl from the Mountains stabbed the Lieutenant. And then she mysteriously disappears from the harem, right about the time that Rifkin brought me a strong-willed little boy from the Mountains to help out in the stables… and then you were always weird about us sharing a room, making me leave before you’d get changed, and what not…”

Ky gaped at him. “So, you’ve known from the start?”

“I mean… yeah.”

She suddenly began to doubt everything she’d thought she knew. Maybe she didn’t play her part that well, after all, if another stable boy had managed to piece together what had happened so easily. “Why didn’t you turn me in?”

“I told you, Ky,” Alcan said. “We’re friends.”