Cassie's tale

The P.O.V of an interesting little story,this is a teaser consisting of only the P.O.V of one character which is Cassie, this isn't the actual story.

Cassie

  Tik Tok around the clock days pass by, and the sun slips by. Over and over the sun will go, what day is it I will never know.  Years had passed, there was no sunlight, and there was no sound; rarely. Titled crazy yet once upon a time I was what many called normal, now I have nothing but knowledge and secrets, oh so many secrets. Do You know the value of a name? The value of a place and a time. The value of legends numbers and smiles - rumors and lies they're all different kinds of values and those who possess them have all the real power. 

From the age of fourteen Cassie had been locked away from the world in the Kings dungeon. the bars that held her there were all but two years away from crumbling into dust. The only light that she had was the dying torch, just close enough to keep her away from being in complete darkness. Often times she kept her eyes closed, over time she realized that there was more to see in the world if you looked into the world without your eyes. Ignorance was bliss, but wisdom was power. 

Echo of voices began to grow louder, and stomping began to spill down the stairs; chains of steel armour clashing against each other as they swayed in all directions.  " -Well that's not what I heard . . ." the one voices of the two of the king's men were rusty and old, he were past the age of retirement; the king had no cares when it came to the age of an old man, if they had a beating heart and all four limbs, through his eyes the were as young as a newly knighted village boy; oblivious to his oaths and the danger he was to truly face in his battles. 
"That's what the king said, I swear upon the safety of Eden," this voice was much younger, much more juvenille; you didn't have to be a genius to know that you should never swear upon the kingdom of Eden. You could have looked upon the villages and asked anyone who lived within Eden, none of them would say, but it was an unspoken fact that no one really ruled Eden, but Eden. 

Cassie didn't need to see that the older man became nervous over his words. Slowly they came closer, Cassie's head turned away, even though she did not physically see them, she didn't feel like having anyone stare straight into her face.  

"Now this is your first day so we are giving you something a little easier to do. All you have to do is watch her -" the old man's arm came up and aimed its finger in Cassie's direction. "She's an entertaining gal to speak with, but don't let her get into your head," the old man's voice became husk and low, as if he didn't want her to hear him warning the new meat for her to play with. "What do you mean?" There was no response, within seconds the spiraling foot steps maid it's way up the stairs. Cassie kept on moving her head to the spread of his feet reaching each step; her bobbing slowed down as he became tired mid way, and then stopped when she could no longer hear. 

Nothing was said, there was nothing but the screaming of the iron chair against the floor as the young knight continued to rock it on one of the four legs it had. Cassie found herself gripping two bars with her head pressed against them; her eyes still tightly sealed. As the time went on and she grew bored of the same sound she opened her mouth. 

"Tik tok, tik tok -" her voice was a low hushed tone. She knew that the boy was looking at her, chills crawled down his spin and pierced his neck as her voice continued on through the echoing walls of the dungeon that had been her home for so many years. 
"The arms go round and round, days have come and days have gone, but I often make no sound-" She paused and breathed heavily.
"Year by year my mind went mad, and now secrets feed me - names and date, secrets  and tales are the only things that build me." Slowly she made her voice come down to a whimper plead, as if she grew said, thinking of what she was saying. the boy's squealing rocking chair had stopped, and now there was nothing but her voice in the air. 

A grin grew across her face, she had his attention, now she was read - Cassie sighed as if she was bored, and slowly continues on with her words.
"Names and games, Names and games - Secrets will always fool you. Names and games, Names and games - Tales will overrule you." She didn't flinch when the chair fell to the floor as the boy came up closer to her, his hands were cold from the cold stone and air as he proceed to touch your face. 

"Why do you keep you eyes closed?" he said this to her as if they were on a casual meeting. 

"You ask why something is closed, when the real question should be why must everything be opened.  When an eye is open it cannot see, but when your vision is closed your senses are exposed, allowing you to see beyond the expectations we have for sight." This time when she smiled she made sure to show her teeth, it still stunted her that they hadn't all rotted away yet. 

"What?" his voice was slight more distant as he strained his neck back in uncertainty. 
Cassie waved her finger in the air slyly and nodded her head from side to side in disagreement. 

"What isn't a question, it's confusion, and confusion is stupidity-" Her mouth was still open ready to say her next lines, but then she managed to veer away from her train of thought to ask something of much more value. "What is your name?" 

She could hear the smacking of his tongue against his lips. "My name is Xavier." he would have said his full name, but he had remembered that he didn't know who she was. Cassie placed one of her long fingers against his cheek, drawing blood from him with her thick yellow and sharpened fingernails. "What did the king say, what was it that you were never meant to hear?" It was a smart move, as much of ain she was giving him, he didn't move, he only waited for her to finish her carving - don't move, and you won't lose anything, how could you have been so foolish to come this close to her, they all say she's a ma woman, how was this in anyway a good idea? serves you right you idiot. 
It was now Xavier's turn to smile despite the permanent scarring on the side of his cheek.

"Open your eyes," it was more of a command than a request. Despite his tone, Cassie began to remove her grip from the bar, and the other from the flailing skin hanging from the side of his face.  She used each had to cover one eye, a large smirk showing from in between her two angled hands.

"Are you read to scream and jump and cry, as I show you my mysterious eyes?"  There was a slight mocking tone in her voice, but she knew that the boy wouldn't hear it. 

Xavier heart began to beat as he waited to see what he dread to be disturbing and beyond what evil he had ever seen in another human being. 

"Boo!"

He flinched, and stared, both of Cassie's hands on the side of her face as if the were the shutter to a window, his face was in disbelief and annoyance because she knew he saw nothing but a normal set of deep brown eyes that once upon a time many had the bravery to call beautiful, before she was imprisoned, and before she was labeled as mad, insane- evil. 

"What in the Bloody -"

She began to nod her head again, and he stopped immediately to hear what she was going to come up with next. Don't let her get in my head.
Cassie smiled.

"Too late," Her voice was in a pointing tone, both disappointed and entertained with her new toy.  

"What do you mean by that?" Xaviers voice was gain back its confidence, and he manage to move back out of her reach,; his hand pressing against his check to stop the bleed and num the stinging.

"Don't let her in my head the boy though in fear, but it's too late that chance has passed when you came to me right here," her finger pointed to where he was just sitting; nothing but a drop of blood left there to  prove his presence so close to her. She got up, using her feet to twirl around as she sang her twisted words to him. "Don't let her in my head the bough though out in fear, but if I am her and I can hear then that time has passed and left, it's too late I'm in you head what the village knight do?"  Her voice came to the highest not she could reach as she twirled on last time and landed back where she started. Xavier just stared, she could tell that he was beginning to reconsider his choice in joining the Kings men. 

"I said nothing," There was no strength in his voice. 

Cassie allowed him to think of what she had said, as she waited she began to carve his name on her wall of names, some crossed out, others underlined. Once he realized what she was carving out he stopped to see. 
It took her no time at all to carve out his name (years of practice had that effect of perfection). Then with one swift movement, she drew a line in the center of his name. His eyes widened, and the color from his face had vanished. 

"What! what the hell does that mean?"  his voice was loud, and the walls began to mimic him and fade away as it traveled further on through the dungeon walls.  

She smiled again, she knew that she had won,  she stopped, the rock still pressed against the wall, and the end of the line that was drawn across his name. her hand snapped open, and the rock tumbled to the ground scraping the wall as it rotated through the air.  She hoped closer to the bars, hopping on her two legs and squatted down, she put her finger through the bar and bent it continuously until he came closer to her. 

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; a secret for a secret it's all the same thing, now the only thing in your way i the soul question: are you willing?" 

Xavier looked between the wall with his name, and her dark brown eyes.  "What do you mean?"

"If you do not understand the words I speak then you don't deserve to know what you seek." She giggled at the end, this was the most fun she had in years, many of the mean knew how to understand her way of speaking, this boy was fresh new meat.  It took him some time, his mouth began to part as he mouthed out over and over again what she was saying; in pride his eyes gleamed. 

"The king, you want to know of the king?" if he had spoken any louder the king himself could have heard him.  She tilted her head, she din't think that she need to answer what was obvious to them both. 
After some time she just nodded her head and began to smile. He came closer to her and she gave him his ear. 
The secret  that she was receiving went through her like a cleans. she was more than happy at that point, her body growing more confident,and her mind racing with excitement as she memorized every word and every tone of her voice. As he paused and gulped in between each word she knew that he was telling the truth, and to the wrong person he could lose his head for spreading the truth too far - but is ignorance had overruled him. 

Once the secret was done he turned his head to look at her, bu t their faces were still just as close to each other as they were when he was whispering secrets to her. 
sweet began to pour down the side of his face. 

It was beyond his surprise - Cassies hand had pushed him away and quickly she had the neck of his armour and pulled him against the bars that held her captive. Xavier was a weak boy, and the armour did nothing but weigh him down. The shock took away any chance of him fighting back against her, Cassies grip didn't weaken.  She held up a sharpened stone up against his neck, she knew it was too close to his neck; for that he began to grow still. 

"Your name is crossed because death is upon you. Very soon you will die unless I decide to save you.  Obey and pray, Obey and Pray; soon that will be the only truth of you.  Obey my ways, and pray each day, and death won't overrule you."

Xavier's mouth opened, but before something could come out from his lips, the old man's mumbling voice began to spiral down to them. 

"Hey newborn, I've got you some grub and ale." 

Xavier looked at her, Cassie nodded her head saying no, and put a finger over her lips to shush him, and then pushed him away. 

Both of them had began to speak to one another; Xaviers voice slowly trickling out of shock and fear, the old man could hear it, but ignored it, he still remembered  the first time he had to watch over her, his hand rubbed over the cut across his cheek.

Cassie hunched herself facing the farthest corner. 

"Cassie - we have you some food too." 

She ignored them, and they didn't bother to say it again, they sat it down close to the bars, they were never aloud to open the doors to her everlasting cage. 
Cassie smiled as she played with the rusting old keys finally in her hand. Ignorance is bliss.
 

Cassie 

The breath of inhaling and exhaling from Cassie's nose was the only thing that could be heard within the dungeon, the rest of the still, moist air was silence. Crouched down with her knees up against her chest, she rocked back and forth thinking about that key safely hidden away in a small cubby block with a mud coated rock, no one could notice it unless they knew it was there in the first place.  

Key's are hidden, my plan is safe - the East of Eden was always at stake, on by one it will all fall, it's time to count down and escape it all, 1350, 1349, too fast - Day 342.  Tik Tok, Tik Tok the clock goes round and round, three, two, one, three, two, one getting ready for the countdown.

In her head she continued to repeat her thoughts over and over as she chanted mumbles of gibberish underneath her breath into her knees.  Within a swift movement she stopped her rocking, her head no aimed at the stairs, someone was coming, the door was far, but the hooks were rust as they screamed out rusting blood and were painfully opened and closed.  She rose to her feet, slowly walking toward the bars to grip them and press her face against them. 

She put her ear out to the other side of the bar, listening to see who her visitor was this time, her lips spread and parted, not one, but two - two at a time, each step light - these are two females of mine, no, no,no these are new names, new faces and new secrets to gain. 

The hushed whispers were alarmed and jumpy, one was trying to sound brave and calm, the other was filled with excitement but was speckled with doubt.  As they came closer, Cassie grew more excited, there was a long skirt, white with a dark pink trim on the bottom, the other skirt was a light blue with black thread swirled into wind like designs.  A minute or two passed of both of them going back and forth between going closer to Cassie's cage and going back up the stairs were their safety was guaranteed.  

"Time is flying, and more people are dying - will you come forth or not?" She looked at what she could see of the two girls. "Are you coming, or are you going back up, up, up, the stairs?"  Cassie's crackling voice traveled up to them, she could her a muffled shriek. 

"Hush, you don't want her to know you're frightened; she can smell it from a mile away, and will use it against you."  The voice was familiar, but no face or name came to mind, she knew only that these two were both of royal blood. 

"If I can smell from a mile away, then what is the point? You're less than a mile away, yet you still stay far away, come closer royal bloods since i can smell your fear anyways." The said nothing, they hushed to each other, she could only hear the occasional 'no,why,how,when' nothing was of any value.

"Tik, tok, tik, tok - round and round and round it goes, when time will run out  . . . only I really know."  She tilted her head from side to side, over and over again until they made up their mind.

Slowly one of the girls came up to her, with one hand out to keep the other girl behind her, neither of them blinked as they looked at her; the crazy woman who lived in a cage.  

"We would-" the girl in white with a head of black hair had begun to speak as she came closer and closer to her, speaking as she walked ha distracted her from the distance that she was shortening between them and Cassie. 

"No, no, no - that's not how this works, you're going to need to do a little bit of work." She smiled as confusion crossed both of their faces.

"We know of a secret, but we want you tell us the whole story of it, I am your princess . . . "  Slowly the girl with black hair came to a stop in the middle of her speech that she had worked so hard to master beyond perfection.  The more she stared into her eyes the more fear trembled into her, she knew that she was losing control.

"Sit down," Cassie voice was nothing but a whisper, her hand flowed in the overall area of where two chairs sat empty.  In fear that she might do something, despite her being behind bars  both of them were convince that she would manage to pull something off if they pissed her off enough, which was good on their part - they had no idea how much power she really had. 

"I know why you came here, I've been waiting for you," She didn't know for a damn second that the two royals would come visit her, but with their state Cassie could have told them that they were sister, and they would believe it.  Round and round and round they go around my finger, just where I want them, this is such a pleasure. 

"What are your names, and which one belongs to which?" She looked between the two of them, until one of them opened their mouths.

Both of the girls looked at each other; looking for approval from one another before they spoke out. 

"My name is Amy," the girl with the black hair bravely spoke out first.

"And my name is Sarah," The girl with the blue dress spoke out second.

The both of them gripped the side of their chairs, refusing to break eye contact with Cassie. 
Cassie just shrugged and stood up to walk around and face the the dingy corner of the two walls. 

"Ok then," her tone was like a mother would speak to a child when she was acting to be disappointed hinting towards them to change their mind.  Both the two girls looked at each other, The girl with black hair stood up from her chair, the other one keeping her behind firm on the seat. 

Poor little souls, both so young - they know nothing when it comes to right,, and wrong.

"You have out names, now give us what we want," She failed to speak out with dignity.  She walked up, but she didn't touch the bars that held Cassie in. 

There was no reply from Cassie - there was nothing but still air; Cassie could hear the sweat begin to fall out of their  pours. 

"Did you hear me? We gave you our names, that was the deal here," Her voice now persistent, with a hint of a  toddler's whine.  The girl flinched when Cassie snapped herself around and leaped back to the bars on in each hand, and screamed out 'YES' directly in front of the girls face, some black spit managing to splatter against the top of the girls lip. 

"That. Was. The . Deal," Her voice now much louder than before, but no where near the levels of yelling. 

" For years, and year I sit in this cage; you'd think the only thing I do is age. Time after time I see the visitors cry, the beg they plead the die, the lie.  Over and over they do it again, I observe and watch now I'm a master on this end - I know your truths I know your lies, I can tell before I have to look in your eyes, now try again or you'll lose your prize," Her eyes grew wider the further on she went into her rhyme, she had no time for fun and games - it was the names she wanted to gain. 

"We aren't -"

"Two wrongs cannot make a right; three? maybe but that doesn't seem right, it's up to you , your turn, your choice - give me the truth, and that's exactly what you'll gain,"  there was a hint of confusion in her face as she nudged it back for a sift second.  This time it was the girls turn to move up from her chair, and find her way to the bars.

"Her name is Alison, and my name is Lucy," Lucy nodded her head vigorously, as if she believed it she nodded hard enough then everything would seem more believable.  Alison turned her head  to Lucy, her face now boiling up in a red tone, without any warning her hand came across Lucy's face, the snapping sound traveling down further through the poor excuse of a hall.
In shock Lucy's mouth opened and her hand came up to aide her flaming cheek. 

"That hurt - what the hell is wrong with you?" Her voice was sweet and innocent, but cassie could see the rage in her eyes. 

Alison made a sarcastic huff of laughter with a crooked smile. "If you're having a hard time with that, then you're going to hate the feeling of death."  She hissed to her, for a moment completely disregarding Cassie's presence. 
A tear managed to escape from Lucy's eyes, she didn't bother to wipe it away. 

"Lucy is what you answer to," before Cassie's sentence was over, Lucy had turned to Cassie; she could tell that she was nervous, this was both the most exciting and terrifying moment of her life. 

"I don't bite, give me your ear, I'll give you the words you want to hear," Cassie's hand came through the bars to cradle her head.  

"You don't need to whisper there's no one else here." Alison's mouth was in a snarl.

"There is you my dear," that one should have been obvious to her. 

"What do you mean?" Her confidence had found her again, her voice was deeper, and her back grew straighter, an her neck taller.

"What I said was no riddle or rhyme, but if you must please - take your time." 

Cassie held her hand out to Lucy, and Lucy place her head in Cassie's arm without bother to look at Alison for approval or apologies. 
Once her ear was close enough to Cassie's lips, the words began to flow out of her - Cassie could see Alison straining to listen, but knew that she could hear nothing. 

Once it was done, Lucy pulled away from Cassie grip slowly, both of her eyes wide, her lip quivering. 

"Remember a trickster will guard his book of tricks with more than his blood, just like a keeper should hold their secrets." 

Alison's face grew with disgust, but Cassie could tell that she was attempting to hide her envy. 

"What did she say?" Alison spoke out to Lucy, she jumped - Cassie knew that she gave her too much to handle, which was exactly what she planned her reaction being; joy was spread throughout her body  as Lucy's reaction came to life.

Lucy nodded her head in disagreement, her hand covering her mouth. 
Cassie went over to her wall, and wrote down both of their names on her wall.

"I can't tell you," She began to sob, and then made her way up the stairs without Alison. 

Alison looked down at her, her jaw showing that she was grinding her teeth.

"What the hell did you tell her?" Alison made her way face to face with the Cassie, the adrenaline eliminating her fears of her.

"I told her the truth, that was the deal," Cassie chuckled. The door slammed and Alison looked up, expecting to be able to see the door more than a floor above her. 

"What did you tell her!" She slammed her hand against the bars, almost as if she was the one behind them.

"Tik tok tik tok," Cassie chimed. 

Hot steam came from Alison's nose  and she stomped off; following Lucy's trail.

"Tik tok tik tok!" Cassie called out to her over and over again, until she heard the door open and slam shut again. 

Key's are hidden, my plan is safe - the East of Eden was always at stake, on by one it will all fall, it's time to count down and escape it all, 1350, 1349, too fast - Day 342.  Tik Tok, Tik Tok the clock goes round and round, three, two, one, three, two, one getting ready for the countdown.
 

Author's Note

Again I apologize for the grammar, this is just raw work, but you are welcome to mention any mistakes if it too distracting.

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

I found no grammar mistakes. Just well written story. I would recommend breaking the story up.Few people will read a long story. I enjoyed the complete story. From the prison, to pub and to the adventure. The story well written and held my attention. I wanted to read more. Create good place and mystery. Thank you for sharing the excellent story.
Coyote