IVAN JUNO CASSIUS

I am not a queen because I rule, I rule because I am THE QUEEN.

Birthed in my heart. Alive in my veins…

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The dungeon, the Infernal Keep of Valcresh, The General - a Northern Military Sovereign, Helga of the North- one of the few surviving Divine Priestesses and Elias Demetrius – a distinguished soldier and tactician, were being led towards it.

As they were shoved out of the carriage, four brutal soldiers almost as tall as The General awaited them.

There was not one who didn’t have a scar that was blaring despite their armoured state. It was mostly on their faces and hands and even a person with the worst cataract condition would be able to tell that the scars ran far and deep.

These weren’t ordinary soldiers…these were hard men whose existence centred solely on keeping the dungeon secured.

Then there were the smooth high walls that eclipsed and enclosed them all around. These walls gave no hope whatsoever and were almost impossible to climb. Almost…

The new comers who had been stripped of their weapons, footwear and any irregular piece of clothing that was deemed excess, felt the sand beneath their feet. It wasn’t as hot as the current state of the North and there was somehow comfort in this tiny fact.

‘‘Your hair…release it’’ The burliest of the soldiers said, his gaze transfixed on Helga. Her wrists were shackled but she could lift both hands and pull out the pin that held the entirety of her hair together.

She made no move and instead locked eyes with the soldier, unyielding.

The soldier flashed a crooked smile and the Infernal Keep soldiers and Carriage soldiers immediately knew what was to happen next.

Elias and Helga completely missed it, The General nearly didn’t catch it at all, as the swift blade of the large man slashed above her head, slicing through her silken hair.

Fragments of hair rained down, scattering in uneven lengths around her feet. It barely lasted for a second before a wind blew and sent it away. What was left was her fury, evident in the twitch in her eyes and the taut in her jaw. But the soldier was least concerned about that as his eyes went to the ground. There he found the decorative pin that had been holding her hair up, along with two teeny pins that have no place being in a person’s hair.

He was pleased to know he had not been wrong about her and increasingly gratified to see her hair hacked, with a distinct uneven trim.

‘‘I will never understand how the people of the North can be so filled with stupidity. I will be sure to personally come for you when you’re needed in the arena.

Who knows, my eyes might be the last you see before you join your legendary ancestors’’ He said before throwing a wink at her. The expression of her face made it seem like her hair was standing more on end than it was and the soldiers around burst in a wild laughter.

The General who had been using the ability of his sight to determine where a particular remote noise was coming from, was brought into the now by the gradually radiating heat from Helga’s side.

‘This isn’t the time. She has to contain herself’

He turned slightly to meet Elias’ eyes that were waiting for a confirmation from him..

There was no need for more than that to communicate the situation they could be in very few minutes.

Elias knew he had to do something.

‘‘Are you here to display your authority or carry the command of your King?

Apologies, I forgot that the South doesn’t hold their leadership to very high regard’’ He said with a huge grin. His words and the haughty grin earned him a backhand so sharp and forceful that his lower lip split open.

He ran a tongue across the lip, tasting his own blood.

‘‘I have a special place for you fools’’ The soldier said. They were nudged from behind and they grudgingly began to follow.

Two Infernal Keep soldiers stayed in step with them to ensure order.

The soldier got to descending stairs that led underground and they finally understood the reason there was only a simple outbuilding above.

The noise of the occupants hit their ears before their noses inhaled the rancid smell that was a part of the environment.

Darkness fell on their eyes for the total of one minute before the hands of people struggling to come out from several isolation units came in view.

Iron grills whose quality have not tapered despite how many years had passed, revealed overcrowded tiny spaces occupied by both men and women.

Those pressed closest to the bars had no smiles on their faces- not even a tiny one of mischief. They looked steeled and bitter and in terms of appearances, the new comers seemed like Royals.

They were outright filthy and ragged.

There were crackers hung on the walls that separated every cell from another. They were thick and long and some of them were covered in dried blood.

Behind fifty six cells- twenty three on both sides – the soldier leading them was certain that the fear of the Infernal Keep had gotten to those behind him and he turned around to face them with a huge smile on.

He could see a tiny crack that had penetrated the steel of Helga and Elias’ faces as much as they tried to hide it. But he couldn’t say the same about the other man with them.

It wasn’t just that he couldn’t say the same, he couldn’t say anything at all about the tall but slightly huge man.

Those deemed to be the worst of transgressors usually begin to reconsider their actions when they see the faces of those before them and the impending doom that couldn’t be seen but one would swear, could be touched in this place.

The most vile perpetrators aren’t brought here to be reformed but they are sent because this place it is best at snuffing a person’s hope and squashing a man’s life and spirit.

No one that comes into the Infernal Keep of Valcresh ever leaves the same. You either leave faded or you leave dead.

But the look of disinterest and unemotionality was surprising. This new comer didn’t even appear displeased about everything that has been going on.

‘‘Hey Big boy-” The soldier taunted.

‘‘Do you think your elegant features and structure will prevent you from cowering the next time I come for your head?’’ The soldier asked.

Elias who was marginally behind couldn’t help the snicker that escaped him.

If there was anything that was bringing him any form of positivity despite their failing situation, it was the man who was just referred to as ‘big boy’.

The soldier gnashed his teeth but ignored Elias knowing his environment would school him soon.

‘‘You think you’re all rugged and tenacious.

But you Northern pricks will soon learn. Tell me, what’s your name?’’ the soldier asked.

The respondent- the General- tilted his head like he was calculating something mentally but no word exited his lips.

The soldier laughed mischievously as he glanced at those around to those staring from their cells. They knew that the adamant new comer would soon fall to his knees.

The soldier retrieved one of the crackers on the wall.

‘‘Your name big boy!’’ The soldier urged as he wrapped the hilt around his hand firmly.

One heartbeat…

Two heartbeats… There was no response and he sent the cracker across the tight-lipped man’s neck.

The whip known to be made from rawhide, braided leather and steel slithered around the neck, strangling for a moment before being wretched back, tearing through flesh and causing blood to flow downwards.

But there was not a blink or change in this man’s visage. Those that were closest to the iron grills tried to push their way backward and even the soldiers had to fight their nerves to remain on their feet.

‘Is he dead while standing or what?’ The soldier thought.

‘‘I- I said your name!’’ The soldier screamed, ready to repeat the action again.

He wasn’t willing to lose the idea of being feared to someone he had met in less than the complete tolling of a bell.

‘‘General Ivan Juno Cassius’’ Elias barked angrily from behind, a command in the address of the words.

The soldier paused and smiled but then his smile fell.

‘‘I never asked you.

His name, from his very lips and not you magpie ’’ The soldier raved again, a craze in his eyes.

As he readied the whip again, a junior soldier of the Infernal Keep came running towards him.

The soldier bowed.

‘‘Captain, you have a word from Prince Mael’’

To him, Prince Mael’s orders are like commands from the Seat of Valcresh- demands urgency.

His teeth ground together, a muscle by his temple twitching under the pressure.

And then he continued to lead the new comers towards their special cell. It was the last cell in the Infernal Keep and only had three other occupants in comparison to the others.

The new comers were hustled into the unit and secured in.

‘‘Well, I hope you have a blast’’ He chuckled before turning.

He was two steps away when a gravelled voice spoke up from behind the bars.

The roughened timbre, like that of a soaring storm, bid the soldier’s nervous system to be frozen in place.

Simultaneously chills broke out on his skin, his belly turned queasy and his heart rate had no reasonable pace.

‘‘It’s not Ivan.

Not Juno.

Not Cassius.

It’s Ivan-Juno-Cassius’’

After a pulse, he dared to partly turn and his eyes collided with the greenest orbs he had ever come across. He managed a scoff before he walked away with the two other soldiers that had been following. He tried and failed and tried again to remind himself that he was one of the most dreaded soldiers of Valcresh, the South and he would not be intimidated by a supposed General of the North whose powers can never mean anything until his true ruler is crowned.

And from what anyone knows, this might be never.

But as he and the other soldiers ascended the stairs back to the surface, his consciousness fell short of the words he had just heard and even the persons he had just locked up.

He couldn't remember seeing any one like the Priestess Helga, the solider and tactician- Elias and not even the General- Ivan Juno Cassius.