Kalımıty

Chapter 8: Urges Hidden Inside

Kali leans her head back, enjoying the strong smell of lilac and the warmth of the bath she lays in. Her body aches from a long day of training, her ankles and wrists swollen as they finally rest.

The days have been moving slowly, but she can feel herself growing more comfortable. There are moments that make her forget why she is here, why she is going through what she is. Things have been so much more mellow, even Finn has been easier to be around despite his aggressive sword training.

"What is the purpose?" She asks herself out loud, her eyes still closed as her wet hair drips down the side of the tub. "What is my purpose?" Days spent working on becoming stronger, but she is still unable to summon her own powers. Her mind feels clouded, and her heart is weighed down with a mixture of hopelessness and inadequacy.

To be brought here and given a job, all while never feeling any closer to being able to do it. If she even wants to do it, another question she asks herself on a daily basis.

"Getting attached to the people here, being told I must help them..." She sits up, grabbing the soap beside her as she starts to massage it into her hair. "How can I help people when I doubt that I could even help myself, I can't even help the people in my own kingdom..."

She slides under the water, rubbing the soap from her locks before popping back up for breath. "Kill the king..." She breathes.

"Kill the king, kill the king... But what happens to me afterward?" She leaves the porcelain tub, unplugging the stopper to let the water drain. Grabbing the plush white towel off the counter, she wraps it around her body, leaning back against the bath. "Won't I have to leave? Will I lose the friends that I've made? Lose this home that I'm starting to feel warmth in?"

She sighs, leaning back again at taking a deep breath, the doubt clouding and suffocating her chest. The thought of being forced to leave another kingdom that she calls home is a heavy devastation on her mind.

"Why can't I just live freely..." She moves the towel to her hair, wrapping it up before sliding on a thin top and baggy pants. "Why do I always need to be alone-"

She walks into her bedroom, the last question lingering on her tongue as she gives a small smile. Laying on her bed, shirtless and half asleep is Dakki.

"I suppose I'm never really alone, even if I wanted to be." She ruffles her hair with the fabric, drying it off the best she can as her purple strands fall down into her face. "I'm stuck with this idiot."

"Who is an idiot?" He grins, looking over at her from the side, his chest heaving up and down as he lays comfortably on the mattress.

"Who do you think?" She grins back, walking over to him and sitting beside him, still drying her hair idly as she looks around her starting-to-clutter room. It's covered in herbs and flowers, all being dried and prepared to be used for spells and potions. Fae has been adamant about teaching her about herbalism and how to make her own ingredients. Saying something about how it's detrimental for education.

"I suppose I am an idiot, being away from you for more than a day makes me feel like I'm going to explode." He rolls over, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist as he presses his face into her back. "It's a crime to keep us apart like this, it must make you so exhausted when I'm a distance away."

"It's good practice at least for my powers," she sighs, but she understands what he means. Having been alone with only each other for nine years, it feels impossible to be away from each other for long. She misses him dreadfully.

"Sleeping in that barrack with all those men is a nightmare, I miss being in a bed with you, cuddling to keep warm, no weird noises or snoring." He sighs as well, squeezing her tighter. "I hate it."