Navirs are beautiful creatures from the kingdom of Autheria. The men have blond hair, and the women have red hair. They are breathtaking to look at, but deadly when they choose to be.
They possess great strength, incredible speed, making them powerful in both beauty and battle. Only allergies and a good silver sword can kill them, except for old age.
And of course, they had sharp hearing... so sharp they could catch the slightest whisper. Even from a great distance, every sound reached them as if it were spoken right beside their ear. Kaive heard her scream, and desperate edge in her voice, reaching him where he lay on his bed.
"Damn it," Kaive muttered under his breath, anger flickering behind his tone. He pressed his hands over his ears, trying to block out the sound, but it was useless. Her cries pierced through walls. He could hear her begging for mercy.
The room around him suddenly felt smaller. Every muffled sob echoed inside his head until it was all he could hear. He had locked her far from him for a reason, but her voice refused to be confined.
It clung to him like a curse, reminding him of what he'd done and what he was still capable of. And though he tried to steady his breathing, Kaive knew there was no distance great enough to silence her pain from him.
He was punishing her for trying to run. That alone proved his suspicion that she had to be a spy, and very instinct in him screamed that she couldn't be trusted. And just as he'd warned her, he made good on his promise. She was locked away in a dark, windowless room, miles from where he slept, left to face the silence and her own fear.
But her screams tore through the night as if she were right beside him.
"Please… take me out! It's too dark, please!" Her voice echoed desperately.
Kaive turned restlessly on the bed, his jaw tight, his chest heavy with breathing hard. He pressed his palms over his ears, but the sound was loud.
He cursed under his breath, the weight of her cries gnawing at his control. Finally, when he couldn't bear it any longer, he threw off the sheets and stormed out.
In one fluid blur faster than sight, and in the blink of an eye, he stood before the door where she was trapped, her screams still echoing through his mind.
He pushed the door open and stepped inside in a silent movement. In one swift motion, he lifted her into his arms. All Olessia knew was that someone had entered the dark room and carried her away.
Fear tightened her chest because she didn't know if it was someone coming in to rescue her, or more punishment. But before she could even gather her thoughts, she felt softness beneath her. She was lying on a bed.
Her eyes flew open scanning the room, but no one was there. The room was empty, silent except for her quick breaths. Confusion clouded her mind.
"Who could have disobeyed Kaive?" She wondered. No one dared to go against him, yet someone clearly had.
She pushed herself up, her gaze darting around the room recognising this place. It was the same room Dino had brought her to earlier, the same one she had leapt from, jumping through the window and into the water below in her an attempt to escape.
She wiped at her tears, though they refused to stop falling, sliding down her cheeks in endless streams. She had always had a phobia of the dark, he had locked her inside this pitch-black room. The thought made her chest ache.
"He's a beast." She whispered to herself, hatred filled her chest. "How could he do this to me? I hate him."
Exhausted, Olessia lay back on the bed, her sobs softening into broken whimpers.
In his own room, Kaive still heard her every cry. No matter how he tried to shut it out, covering his ears or focusing on other sounds, her cries reached him. It was as though her voice was stitched into the air itself, following him, and haunting him. And he didn't know why.
Slowly, the sound of her sobbing began to fade, replaced by a deep, rhythmic silence. He listened to her heartbeat, then he heard it... steady, and calm. Olessia had finally fallen asleep, and only then did Kaive allow himself to exhale.
He listened to her heartbeat, and for a moment, it felt as if the whole world had gone still. Every sound seemed to pause... no wind, no whisper, no thought. Only the steady rhythm of her heart filling the silence. He didn't even understand why it drew him in so deeply, why that single sound held him the way it did.
When morning came, Kaive went about his usual routine, trying to push the strange calm of the night from his mind. He bathed, dressed, and handled his duties. Yet, even then, something inside him tugged, urging him back to her.
Eventually, he made his way to the room where he had taken Olessia the night before. The bed was empty, a flicker of concern appeared on his face. He turned to leave, but then paused.
There it was... the sound of running water coming from behind the closed bathroom door. That is when he realised that she was inside the bathroom taking a bath. For some reason, the thought made his pulse quicken, though he refused to acknowledge why.
He sat on the bed, crossing one leg over the other, his gaze fixed on the bathroom door. The sound of water stopped, followed by the soft creak of the hinges as the door slowly opened. Steam drifted out, curling through the air.
Then Olessia came out of the bathroom naked, water traced down her bare skin, glistening under the soft light of the room. Her dark damp hair clung to her shoulders, her breaths steady but unguarded, unaware of Kaive presence. For a brief moment, she seemed ethereal.
But the illusion shattered the instant she raised her head. Their eyes met, and hers wide in shock, his dark and unflinching, a silent smirk playing at the corner of his lips.