D'Eat'h Bi-Choco Lot

A group of challenges issued by the great UfoAuthor!

PROMPT:

Title: D'Eat'h Bi-choco Lot
Genre: SciFi/Fantasy
Setting: don't care
Conflict: revenge
Characters: at least one non-human
Venue:  Your pages. 

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Arietta darted down the sloping hills that held her house high above the others, bounding over the low spots that tried to twist her ankles. Her caramel curls flapped like a cape as her Mary Jane's carried her to the noisy stream bank. 

"Ollyollyoxenfree!" She called, cupping her hands to form a makeshift megaphone. Her sweet soprano reverberated off the trees for one long minute before she began raising her palms to call again.

"Free the oxen, Ollie!" 

Arietta couldn't stop the huge grin that lit her face, nimble feet hopping from stone to sandbar to cross the feeble barrier. "Kyler, I didn't think you'd make it!"

He beamed, stuffing his sun-browned hands into the back pockets of his trousers. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

To a short, nine-year-old girl, Kyler was a /man./ He was wiry, just as most fourteen-year-old boys are, and towered almost a foot over her diminutive four-foot-eleven stature. She glowed as he reached out to ruffle her caramel hair.

"Why didn't you think I was coming?"

Embarrassed, Arietta scuffled the dirt with her toe and avoided his eyes. "I thought you'd be bored with me by now. I thought... y'know, you'd find someone else while you were away."

Warm fingers tucked themselves beneath her chin, coaxing her to look him in the eye. She kept her gaze fixed obstinately downward, her face flushing a fair shade of pink. 

"C'mon, Ari, look at me."

Hesitant, she lifted her shy, green-gray eyes to meet his. "I could never be bored with you." The warmth in his cocoa-and-honey stare was almost palpable. The tiny girl's cheeks flamed as Kyler tousled her curls again. "Where's my hug?"

She giggled, wrapping her skinny arms around his firm waist. Almost lazily, he reciprocated, folding his arms around her tiny frame and resting his chin atop her head.

"Geez, girl! Did you get shorter in the past six months?"

"No," she huffed, jabbing him in the side, "You're just a monster!"

He laughed, a crisp rumble that vibrated through Kyler's chest and along Arietta's skin. "Always so serious!" He let his wiry arms unwind, dropping his palms onto her narrow shoulders. Their eyes locked for a split second before she looked away, nervously tugging on a curl as she stepped out of his embrace. 

"So, what--?"

"I have--"

They both broke off as they realized they had spoken over the other.

"Ladies first." Kyler bowed dramatically, eliciting a giggle from his friend.

"W-well, what are we doing today?"

A huge smile stretched his face, pushing the apples of his cheeks even higher as rummaged about in his pocket. "I brought you a present."

Arietta blinked in surprise. "Oh, but, Ky--"

His blindingly white teeth flashed in reassurance as he offered her a foil-wrapped candy. "Happy Fifth-Year-of-Coming-Here Anniversary!" 

"Oh, wow, chocolate! Thank you so much, Ky," she gushed, gingerly plucking the drop from his palm.

"Wait."

Arietta froze, the unwrapped chocolate halfway to her mouth. Deftly, he plucked it from her fingertips and, holding her eyes, he bit it in two. Kyler chuckled as intense, startled colour flooded her cheeks, giving the rough edge of the drop a thoughtless swipe with his tongue before offering it again.

"T-thanks," she murmured, reaching her fingers out to take it. 

Kyler's grin stretched impossibly wider, jerking it back. "Open up."

A flush burned from her neck to her hairline as she obeyed, letting her mouth fall open. The sweet candy greeted her tongue, and she sighed contently, rolling it around her mouth with relish. She hadn't had chocolate in months. 

"Good-bye, love," Kyler whispered, his tenor growling right in her ear before she collapsed.

- - - 

/Year: 2063/

The throbbing pulse of the club's raucous music was almost too much for Lane. Grimacing, he covered his ears. /I'll never understand why humans like this noise./ As quickly as he could, he wove through the tightly packed mobs that dotted the walls. Luckily, the song that shook the old warehouse's framework was popular, so more people were on the enormous dance floor than off it.

Lane managed to make it across the floor in eight minutes and forty-two seconds. /New personal best,/ he mused, slipping into Her quarters. 

The Queen of Midnight sat among her advisors, listening with faux interest as Martine proposed yet another dull idea for managing planned lycanthropy. She ran her sharp fingers through her snow-white hair, her ruby eyes unfocused as Martine sucked in a huge breath to continue his rant.

"Sorry I'm late, Your Grace" Lane announced, loudly interrupting and pawing at his dark auburn hair in nervous anticipation.

Her face lit with genuine excitement. "Lane, darling!" She jumped to her feet and waltzed over to embrace him. "I haven't seen you since the last moon. How have you been?" 

He shot her a triumphant grin. "Not as good as you'll be."

"Oh?" She cocked a white eyebrow. "Do tell, love."

"We found him."

Everyone froze, except for Martine, who frowned deeply. "Found who?" He snapped, obviously disgruntled at the interruption.

The Queen's eyes were bright with malicious excitement. "The Marker."

- - - 

It took over an hour to have everything arranged for the Marker's inquisition, and the Queen was humming with excitement. 

"Everything set?" She demanded, staring into Lane's eyes with fierce interest that sent a shudder down his spine. 

"Yes, Your Grace."

She clapped her hands together gleefully. "Excellent. Have him brought forward, if you would be so kind?"

The young wolf sprang into action. "Yes, my lady." Lane hurried to the door, knocking twice to signal the guards. 

With ceremonially artful force, the door was flung open, the hooded prisoner dragged between two brick-like Royal Guards. He was settled into the Chair of Inquiry, the heavy chains and harsh leather bands restraining him from every angle. 

"Ready, Your Grace?" A middle-aged water nymph asked, cocking her salt-and-peppered head to the side..

Her bright eyes were firmly affixed on the hooded figure in the chair. "I am. Proceed."

"This is the Official Inquiry of the one called 'The Marker,'" Lane announced, clearing his throat nervously. "Our Lady, Mademoiselle Iris Youngblood, will lead, Are you ready to begin, Your Grace?"

She gave one firm nod. "I am. Remove the blind."

A low swear echoed off the walls as the hood was roughly cast aside. A man with brunette curls sat squinting against the sudden exposure to light.

"Hello again, Kyler," the Queen murmured, her smile bone-chillingly cold.

A grim grin flickered across his pained face. "I see you're doing well, Arietta."

Her chin jerked up, a flicker of hatred exploding behind her eyes. "Lane, clear the room, if you'd please."

The boy blinked. "Your Grace?"

"I'd like to speak to my murd--Marker. Privately."

Everyone scattered, a frighteningly sadistic cant of her lips as the door sealed with his fate.

Reviews

[Ufi Auttorri ~ UfoAutho..]

Wow!! Well, that was different! Short, well-written and potent. Subtle too while adhering to the letter of the requirements. So little in the way of descriptive violence but so much room left for the reader to imagine. Only a fly spec of typo poo as well. Most excellent, Emma! His Ufiness is greatly pleased. :o)

WHY? HOW? WHAT?

- Why was poor Arietta done away with by the smooth talking Kyler. Especially at such a tender young age? When was this foul deed done?
- How did Arietta come to be again?
- What will be the fate of (unaged?) Kyler?

Oh, the anguish of it all! {wail!} To leave readers hanging out to dry like so much wet laundry! {wail!}

{tick, tock, tick, tock ... }

[Emma Lee-Riviera]

I'll (probably) continue/ expand on it another time... Blood Slave is going to be my focus!! That, and your wonderful prompts, of course. ^_^/