His heart stopped. Or at least for a second, before the traitorous thing started beating again. It was the only thing he could hear, filling the silence as the realization struck down on him like the sharpest knife ever forged.

This could not be true.

Blind.

The words echoed in his head like an endless cave.

"No," He whispered and let himself fall onto the floor, kneeling in the middle of his room. He was blind.

"No!" He roared and pounded the old floorboards with his fists. "NO!"

What had she done to him?

- She had taken his sight, because he simply would not look at her. He was now doomed to a world of darkness for the rest of his life, because of his own stupidity.

He screamed into the room, not caring that the guards and everyone else could hear him. He knew somewhere in the castle, Yridessa was laughing at him, rejoicing by her victory and his misery.

He kept screaming until his lungs were empty and every last shred of pain was gone. He then stayed on the floor and breathed, listening to his own breath, as his only comfort.

"Why," His mouth suddenly formed the word. Who was he talking to? God?

- Doubtful. He had not talked with God since his last outburst, after he found out he was locked in a life as a sex slave. God had not talked to him either. He had forgotten about him, or maybe he did not care about him anymore.

"Why?" He repeated and looked into the ceiling, only he could not. "What have I done to deserve this?" He asked the lord above and clenched his fists. "Why do you bring so much agony?"

Suddenly all of his angered turned towards his Godly father.

"Why!" He roared and punched the wall, only to feel his knuckles crack and maybe break. He did not care. "Have I not always served my masters well?" He felt his body start shaking with pure anger. "Tell me! Answer me, you ignorant fool!" He screamed at the heavens. He was not surprised when the only answer he got was silence.

"If we are children of God, then you are a poor father," He whispered and sunk to his hands. "You have never given me any help, or provided me with a guardian angel. Where are you now that I need you?"

He slowly crawled his way to the wall and sat up against it. It was so dark in this new world of his. He was literally only seeing darkness in his path now. It was crushing him, almost killing him, knowing this darkness would never go away.

He closed his eyes, knowing it would not make a difference. But at least this way he could pretend it was night, and he was only dreaming.

Darkness.

The sound of his own breath grew louder, in the quiet room and now that he could not see, it seemed almost deafening.

He had faced many darknesses in his life, but never like this before. This darkness was everlasting and it would never end.

In the faint distant he could hear the same old bird tweeting. Funny how he suddenly did not mind its sweet comforting chirping, now that all he saw was black. He could even hear tiny sounds of grasshoppers sawing their monotone song.

Actually, he could hear the flaps of the birds, flying in the air. He could hear faint voices in the vast distance, though he could not make out their words. And now that he thought about it, he could smell breakfast being cooked somewhere in the castle.

It was amazing how many things he picked up on, now that he could no longer see for himself. His other senses took over and created a painting in his head. As abstract as it may be, he could still see it.

All of his other senses spoke to him now when his eyes could not. Every taste, smell, sound and sensation exploded. There were small signs all around him, subtle indicators that told him what he needed to know. And funnily now that he could not see, it all became so clear.

Caydrick slowly opened his eyes, as a path started to open for him. All he needed to do was to train his other senses. He had to learn how to compensate, to see without seeing.

And just like that, an plan was born.

Caydrick arose from his seated position against the wall, but kept one hand on it. Slowly, he started walking around his room, tracing his hand along the stone surface. He walked around several times, until he learned every curve and contour, every corner and edge of his room.

If he could learn that, then what were the limits? With practice and time, who knew what he could be able to do?

Yridessa might have thought she had taken a vital ability from him, but Caydrick now realized it could be the greatest gift of them all. He no longer had to witness the horrors of the world, he was forced to be a part of. He could make his own images now. And with so much time to kill, locked in the basement, he now had something to do.

And Yridessa would never find out. She had given him a secret weapon, and she would never know, until it was too late.

-*-

"Wake up Cage. Tis' morning."

Caydrick opened his eyes out of old habit and was surprised when he felt himself lying on his own low quality sheets. He was still in his cell, so what was Yridessa doing here?

Immediately he tried to sit up - only to fail, because of restrains, which turned out to be shackles. He could feel the cold metal clasp around his wrists and ankles.

"Forgive me for my precautions, but a Queen can never be to careful." Yridessa chuckled, and he heard her heels tap against the old floorboards of his room.

He closed his eyes but followed the sound of her steps with his ears. "What are you doing here?" He growled.

"I came to see how my slave was doing. You seem fine. Tell me, do you like what I am wearing today?" She teased, and stroked his arm with a cold finger.

He instantly jerked by her touch, which felt a hundred times more vile now that his senses had heightened. "Even if I still could see, I would say you are wearing a lovely shade of bîtch."

A low chuckled emerged from her lips, "How is your new state of life treating you? Is it as black as they say it is?"

"Not as black as your heart."

Yridessa chuckled again, "Oh Cage, I'm pleased to see your current state has not taken away your sense of humor. I do enjoy your spite."

He heard her heels tap against the floor again, as she walked around him, to the foot of the bed. He noticed how he with the sound of her tapping, he could determine just how far away she was. Each tap sounded different, depending on how far away or close she was.

"Well, I just came to check up on you. I hope the shackles did not mislead you into thinking you would get lucky," She chuckled and grabbed the pillars of his bed. He could tell by the tiny vibration the bed made, from when her hands curled around them. His new senses were amazing.

"I shall leave you to mourn then," She continued, when Caydrick did not reply. "I will see you later for our afternoon session."

She knocked three times on the door, which was then opened immediately after. Her footsteps disappeared into hall, where it changed character as it met the marble floor. It then faded away as she walked down the corridor and back to the ground level.

Even after the door shut, he could still faintly hear her footsteps. He could hear the guards move outside, whenever their coat of mail jingled. He could hear everything he wanted.

And Yridessa's heels had given him a new idea. An idea that could be a game changer.

-*-

Drop drop drop.

It had rained that peaceful morning. The last drops of water was dripping off the Palace roof and landing on the cobblestones around the ground.

Drop drop drop.

Caydrick listened to the sound as he sat in the far corner of his room, furthest away from his window. The droplets kept falling and he kept listening.

Drop drop drop.

Each sound from the droplets echoed throughout his room, ricocheting across his furniture, giving off individual sounds as the sound barrier hit each item.

Drop... Drop... Drop.

The sun was drying up the rain. Soon he would no longer have the rain to practice with. Then he would have to do it himself.

He listened to the rain for a few more minutes until the sound eventually stopped. Now it was his turn.

He made a soft clicking noise with his tongue, almost the same sound you used to get a horse in motion. Only shorter and with half a second's pause. Each sound did the same as the rain. It expanded his vision and gave him an image in his head about his room.

Each noise sounded different against various items. Depending on its mass, height, width, texture and material, it made a different sound. With the help of these clicks, he could use the echo to determine exactly what was what.

And because of that, a new world had formed in his head. Every time he moved, he clicked his tongue to find out when to stop. He moved with ease, because he always knew exactly where everything was. Just because of a clicking sound.

So simple.

And all thanks to Yridessa.

She still had no idea of his new talent. She still thought he was disabled because of his inability to see. Little did she know that he saw everything.

Well, everything except for a way out. He had wondered for long time how to escape. He had no idea how to. The guards were always armed outside his door, and he had used the element of surprise so many times, they no longer fell for it, when he tried to jump them. What were all of his abilities and secret knowledge for if he could not use them? If he could not get out?

In the meanwhile, he kept training, so when the day finally came, he was ready for his grand escape. Ready to kill the bîtch that ruined his life.

-*-

The silence of the castle informed him it was close to dinner time. Everyone was eating and so most of the castle was quiet, deserted. The silence was almost killing him.

Day in and day out he sat in his cell. The Queen's visits continued and were on a more daily basis now so, more than ever. He suspected she working new things, things that spiked her mood and hunger for him. And Caydrick's constant struggling kept her perked.

- Though lately he had not been struggling much.

Caydrick was fading into nothing. He had though he would be out of there by now, but his nightmare continued. He hated when the guards glared at him, he could feel their mocking eyes upon him, every time they came to fetch him for the Queen's pleasure. This has caused him to dig up his old gift from the Chinese Emperor, and put on the so called shades, which shielded his dead eyes from their glares. It was perhaps not the most genius solution, but so what? The shades did their purpose and shielded his eyes - as he once remembered reading on that piece of paper, many years ago. It seemed like a different life.

He had so many times found it hard to recognize himself in the mirror, when he in his past had glanced at himself. Now that he no longer had the privilege to do so, he found himself loosing the last pieces of his soul to the darkness he lived in. Right now, his future looked just as bright as his vision. Would he ever get a future? Or would his present be his future forever?

He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard footsteps coming from the hall. It was dinner time, and his meal was about to be delivered by the usual slave, J. Not a slave Caydrick had known during his own time as a slave, but a new one, who Yridessa perhaps had enslaved for this sole purpose alone.

Caydrick sighed and leaned his head against the wall.

The key in the locks wrestled and finally the door opened.

"Two minutes," One of the guards spat at the slave. He then heard a push, and the slave scrambled trough the door, which was then slammed behind him. For safety reasons of course; Caydrick had often tried to escape during food deliveries, but had eventually stopped when it had ended up in punishment for the slave. Yridessa knew he had a soft spot for them, so she made sure to blame them if anything went wrong down in his cell.

But as the slave entered, Caydrick instantly caught a whiff of him. This was not J, his usual food deliverer. This slave's body odor was different, almost... Familiar, in an indescribable way.

For a moment, Caydrick felt the new slave just stare at him. He was obviously speechless, this being the first time he was laying eyes on the Queen's pet.

But then he spoke and the whole world stopped.

"My God... What have they done to you, brother?"

A wave of emotions flooded Caydrick, emotions he though he no longer possessed. He heard three quick strides across the floor, before he felt Moteith drop onto his knees, ditching his tray of food on the floor.

"Brother," Moteith croaked. His voice had changed over the years, it had gotten deeper, and Caydrick could sense he had grown too, "I cannot believe it."

"Mo..." Caydrick replied hoarsely, "You are..." He did not even know what to say. What do you say after so long and so much misery?

"Caydrick..." Mo whispered and suddenly Caydrick felt his hand on his shoulder, "What have she done to you?"

"What are you doing here?" Caydrick whispered and frowned worriedly, "You are..."

"I am the replacement for J," Moteith informed him, "When I heard about what had become of you, I knew I had to do something."

"Mo..."

"So the first opportunity I got, I made sure that J would mess up his daily work," Moteith continued in a rush, "I loosened the handle on his bucket, and made him drop his water all over the floor. I am not proud of what I did, but it needed doing," Mo said, a cringe to his voice. "I then volunteered to do his job for the rest of the day, and I knew a part of his job was to bring you food and so here I am," He finished.

"Mo..." Caydrick's voice cracked. He sunk his head and shook it slightly, "I cannot believe... You still... I cannot believe you did that for me."

"You are my brother, remember?" Moteith reminded him, "We promised we would always be, and that we would meet again."

Caydrick sighed and pressed his lips together, "It is too late for me, Mo. I have nothing left in this world to live for."

"Yes you do, Cay," Mo said and squeezed his shoulder, "You still have a chance. You need to eat this bread."

"I have no appetite."

"I know, but Caydrick - you need to eat this bread," Moteith emphasized.

Caydrick frowned and suddenly he heard Moteith shuffle with the tray. He picked up the bread and placed it in his hand.

"Eat it, Cay," He told.

Caydrick knew something was up. He took the bread in both hands and gave it a squeeze.

And then felt something hard inside it. Something stern. Something metal.

A dagger.

"Mo!" Caydrick exclaimed silently, "How did you--"

"You have someone else who cares about you, other than me," Mo said briefly, "That is all I can say. Now eat the bread and... And do whatever you want with it," Mo said and Caydrick could hear a shakiness to his voice, "Whatever that be, I know I will see you again. On the other side, if not in this life."

He could not believe it. Moteith had smuggled a weapon to him, and he had done so, so Caydrick may free himself, however he so chose to.

"Moteith, I..."

"I know you are blind," Mo whispered, "I found out the minute I walked in. Now listen, I do not have more time," Mo said, "I know you are capable of more than any other, so try. Promise me you will try to break free, before you do anything... Rash. If anyone can break out of this godforsaken Palace, it is you."

"I will come back for you," Caydrick swore and took a grab at his arm, when he was about to leave, "I promise you."

"Do not worry about me," Moteith assured him, "I will be fine here, now eat the bread. You will need the strength."

Caydrick gave him a nod, before he released him. Moteith then scrambled to the door and knocked on it for the guards to open. They did so, and he was alone again.

His heart was still thumping fast in his chest, after this short meeting with his old friend. Moteith had awoken him and given him a reason to continue. He had a chance to break free now. And nobody - not even the Queen herself -would ever be able to stop him.

His life begun now.