Rose Tower

  One minute earlier

  No matter how badly Kimo, my rival for the throne, wishes to be, she’s not me. On nights like this, where we unfortunately have to work together, I always outshine her. One nightmarish construct sends her flying for the wall. I fly forward with one fist, which leads straight to the giant’s nightmare head. It collapses behind the would-be dream thief. I slow my descent and place my freshly manicured feet on the dream thief’s neck. His head bangs against the floor, but he’s still conscious.

  I place an annoyingly bright orb of light right above his face. “Who are you working for?” I ask, frankly a bit bored with the situation.

  “Nobody,” he groans in pain. “I was just looking for something good. I was going to sell the information to any clique that would buy it.”

  “That’s a very high risk for a potentially low reward.”

  “No. High risk, high reward. You lot are well hated.”

  I shrug. He’s not wrong. “But why so quickly? This obviously could have been planned a lot better.”

  “My wife’s in trouble.”

  Ugh, maybe it’s my last dream that makes me sentimental, but I refuse to show him how immensely sad that is. I brighten the light to blind him from my face. I can’t help but frown. Family ties force us to make such awful decisions.

  I toss a white orb into the air to signal to everyone that the issue is resolved and for the usual crew to come pick him up. This includes the mind readers to interrogate, someone to strip him of his powers, the jailer to execute him, and so on.

  “No!” Kimo screeches in my air. “He’s working for somebody. I can force it out of him.” Her eyes refuse to stand still. They bounce around their sockets like a rabies-infected rabbit. Kimo’s gone off the deep end. Again. She looks both insane and aggressive in her bloodred pajama shirt and shorts. Her long hair whips back and forth, as chaotic as her thoughts.

  “There’s nothing you can do that the mind readers can’t. It’s okay. You lost.” I really should stop there. I really shouldn’t push her. I know how she gets when she loses to me at anything.

  “Of course, oh wondrous Rose,” she says, her voice as sweet as candy. “Oh, Mr. Dream Thief,” she sings.

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  I lower the brightness so the dream thief can see her.

  “Do you have a child?” Kimo makes this face, a perfect face of innocence and beauty. This expression makes me not hate her as much and makes the men in the castle swoon.

  The dream thief does not answer. His face does, though.

  “You do!” Kimo yells. “Let’s see what they think about your choice of career. Huh?”

  The dream thief understands, as I do. This is what’s earned Kimo such a high rank in the castle. This is what made her worthy to be a part of the Heirs’ bloodline, the reason she’s survived so long at the court.

  Kimo’s “bloodline” can attack anyone in her victim’s direct bloodline. All she needs is a little blood and a crack of her whip. The queen used Kimo to assassinate a rival on a hiking trip. It looked like they just slipped and fell off the mountain. Restoration used Kimo to kill someone whose injuries didn’t quite finish him off. All it took was a couple of snaps from Kimo’s whip, and he died.

  “Please, no. I’ll stop everything. Look, I’m done.” The screams of the night fall silent. The blue moonlight from the second moon disappears. “I have a girl. She’s done nothing wrong!” the dream thief cries beneath my feet. “Did you hear me? I will confess. I will confess everything! Please put that whip away.”

  Fool. He can stop pleading. Kimo doesn’t care. He dares to grab my ankle. I make the orb above him bigger to sear his face, yet still, he speaks.

  “I needed to do this for my wife… my family. You understand, don’t you? My daughter’s just a girl, like you.”

  “They don’t make girls like me,” I tell him with the sense of satisfaction that I’m telling the truth.

  “Please, but er—Your Majesty.”

  “I don’t go by Your Majesty.”

  “I saw your family in your dreams. They’re ordinary, like my daughter. They aren’t special. My daughter’s just like your sister! She’s just like Dream!”

  She’s just like Dream. The orb shrinks. I cease burning him. Perhaps…

  “Kimo, that’s enough,” I tell her.

  Kimo puts her whip behind her head, ready to crack it.

  I knock the thief unconscious with a stomp on his face. She’s just like Dream…

  Kimo bends her elbow. “Wait until the queen sees what I’ve done!” Kimo screeches.

  “She’s just like Dream,” I whisper.

  Kimo’s whip cracks.

  “Speed of light,” I say and slam my fist into Kimo’s face, sending her flying through walls. I follow her body into the rubble. “Are you all right, Kimo?”

  “All right?” Kimo mocks, the insanity bright in her eyes. “When the queen finds out you struck me to stop the punishment of a thief, you’re going to lose everything. I’m glorious. Oh, and I don’t think it worked.” Her eyes trail to the whip.

  It appears she made contact with the dream thief after all. Attached to the whip is his lower half, the torso and below.

  The queen’s going to kill me.

  Who is Rose- In case you missed it I have a comic based in the same universe. Rose is one of the antagonists in it. Here's a 100% free preview-

  Substack Link- For short stories of fantasy and horror that sometimes involve the characters from here

  https://iifinch.substack.com/

  Reddit Link- short stories here as well but you also get a bit more community.

  https://www.reddit.com/r/Finchink/