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"Ah.." he smirked. "So this is what you were hiding from me."

Oh no.

Realistically, Kel was certain the emperor could take down Soren in an instant if he was discovered. There was nothing to worry about, but still her racing pulse and trembling fingers betrayed her nerves. The rapid pounding of her heart against her rib cage was so loud she was convinced Soren could hear it from where he was standing.

"Tsk," Soren clicked his tongue, squatting down in front of whatever had caught his eye. "Is this some kind of foolish trick on your part?"

"T.. Trick??" Kel stammered.

Had he not discovered the Dragon Emperor after all? Those probably wouldn\'t be his choice of words if he had.

"I must admit.." Soren glanced over at Kel, a devilish grin spreading across his face, "I never expected you to be so savage."

Just enough of his face was visible over the bed that Kel could see him lick his lips.

"Somehow, I find it very.. alluring," he smirked, rising back to his feet.

At his words, there was a sudden thud somewhere behind Kel. She turned slowly around to see the lone wardrobe standing in the corner. A nearly tangible black cloud of aura had gathered around it.

"So that\'s where he is…" she whispered to herself.

Soren followed her gaze, his smile dropping momentarily as he eyed the closet.

"I see you have more than one secret in here," he remarked coldly, taking a step toward the wardrobe.

"Eek! No! I mean, uh-" Kel dashed over to him, blocking his path.

"I don\'t have any secrets to hide from y-Gasp!!"

She stopped, throwing her hand over her mouth as her eyes caught a tiny splatter of blood clinging to the bottom of the silver birdcage next to her bed. Surely this hadn\'t been there earlier, right?

Hesitantly, she followed the trail of blood up to its end only to find one of the magnificent bluebirds lying in a heap on the cage floor, its feathers dyed scarlet by its own blood.

The other bird was perched next to it, not making a sound as it ruffled the blood-soaked feathers with its beak.

Kel finally understood what Soren was talking about--why he called her a savage.

"I didn\'t.. I couldn\'t.." she whimpered, reaching toward the cage.

Another horrifying realization dawned on her as her fingers made contact with the cool metal bars.

The only other person who\'d been in this room--who had the chance to commit this savagery--was the emperor.

Swallowing, she retracted her hand. If she didn\'t want the emperor to be caught, would she have to take the blame for this?

"It\'s not your fault," Soren sighed, catching Kel\'s wrist and pulling her back from the cage.

"What do you mean?" Kel replied nervously. "Who else\'s fault could it be?"

Gripping her shoulders lightly, Soren turned her body to the side and sat her down on the bed.

"Calm down," he soothed. "I was just having a bit of fun teasing you. I didn\'t realize it\'d make you this upset."

"Then!" Kel looked up, frantically searching his glinting hazel eyes for a hint. "It was you who did this?"

"No. Not me," Soren shook his head. "But it does happen from time to time, unfortunately."

Wait. Was he saying that some bird-murdering freak occasionally broke into people\'s rooms and viciously slaughtered their birds? Did such a person really live down here in Subterra?

"Look closer," Soren said softly, motioning toward the cage.

Despite her repulsion at the thought of seeing the gruesome scene again, Kel obediently turned her gaze back to the glistening cage.

Everything was the same, the red-stained floor and lifeless heap of feathers. Like before, the other bird was nuzzling its fallen friend.

Wait.

Wasn\'t it pushing a little too violently to be called \'nuzzling\'?

Her mouth gaping in horror, Kel watched as the bird ripped chunks of flesh out of its companion\'s corpse. When the creature noticed her attention, it blinked a few times and tilted its head before going back to its previous nauseating activity.

"It\'s such a beautiful specimen," Soren murmured, observing the tiny bird. "It\'s feathers shimmer even stained with blood."

"Why is it doing that?" Kel gulped, unable to tear her eyes away from the tiny murder scene.

"That\'s the thing about beautiful, delicate creatures," Soren continued. "If you lock them away like this, at some point they will go positively, beautifully mad."

Beautifully mad? It was a disgusting term but somehow fit the situation Kel was witnessing.

"T-then why have two together like this?" she stuttered, wincing as the bird took a particularly large bloody chunk out of its friend.

"It keeps them sane for much longer," Soren explained. "However, it also means one of them will eventually meet a very sorry end."

"That\'s disgusting," Kel shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Well, if not this, then they\'d each rip themselves to shreds," Soren went on, his focus still glued to the birdcage. "This way, at least one can survive, living on its madness."

Finally able to look away, Kel turned her gaze to her feet, grimacing as she tried to swallow the hot bile in her throat.

Those birds would have both been happy and free up on the surface. They could spend their whole lives together, chirping happily and zooming between trees. If only they hadn\'t been locked in this cage. If only they hadn\'t spent their lives underground.

"That\'s just how it goes," Soren\'s voice hardened, "when you spend your life stuck in a gilded cage."

Could the same thing apply to people, Kel wondered, sneaking a glance at Soren. Was the reason this man was also \'positively, beautifully mad\' because he\'d been trapped down here for so long?

"I wonder if they were lovers," the man went on darkly.

"Or if they were brothers."