ALEISTER “ What’s wrong? ” I ask the Healer after he steps away from her. Earlier, when I was done wiping her body clean, she just fainted into my arms. This made me sure she was only pretending to be strong and not in pain when in reality, she is seriously hurt. “ The Princess is weak because of the blood loss. After some rest, she will recover fast. ” The Healer informs nervously, his gaze flickering towards Draven. “ That’s it? ” I cock my brow. “ Yes, My King. Princess will make it. ” He nods hurriedly. I can detect the fear in his eyes. He is wary of me, like all others in this kingdom. But I have never bothered to care about it before like I am doing right now. “ You can leave. ” I try to sound soft but my voice remains stoic and cold. The Healer gathers his stuff and rushes towards the door. Draven steps aside to give him way when he pauses suddenly. He turns to me. “ My King… ” Noticing the reluctance in his posture, I look at him. “ What is it? ” “ I don’t know i
ALEISTER For longer than a painful moment, he stares into my eyes. It reminds me of the times when I had to repeat the same words to him during our childhood when the fear of someone coming to take our lives was more real and kept us restless in our personal hell. It was known to the Kingdom that the spare Princes were born to die. The present King could kill them anytime and the newly crowned King would surely kill them to uphold tradition. The people would rejoice in their blood, and humiliate them until their last burial rites. That truth was proudly told to us to prepare us for our fate like sacrificial lambs. What did we do back then? First, we hated our father for not changing the laws. Then, we hated our mothers for giving birth to us even after knowing our future. Then, we hated ourselves because we couldn’t do anything but remain in our cages like animals and wait for death to approach. But we are free now, no? Why can’t this fear just cease to exist now? If I ha
AVERYI yawn and stretch my arms above my head. My side aches but the pain is not as bad as before. After smacking my lips a few times, I snuggle into my pillow. My hands pat the surface under me. It’s a little hard.I must be sleeping on the floor again. I huff, and shift my legs over the…Wait a moment.What is this hard thing between my legs? And why do I seem to be straddling…Slowly, I pull my head back and open my eyes to look down. Aleister stares back, his eyes narrowed dangerously. And what are those black spots under his eyes? Dark circles?I nod. I am still asleep or the blood loss brought about this hallucination. I put my head back and close my eyes. “ Keep rubbing yourself over me. You are used to it by now. ” The body rumbles under me, the vibrations resonating in every inch of me. The ache between my legs grows. I clench my fingers.Why does a hallucination feel this real?Slowly, I pick up my head again and take him in. His head is propped over his folded arms as h
AVERY “ Where do you think you are going? ” Draven grunts, blocking my way outside my room. “ Aleister said I can go out. ” I reply. “ Shouldn’t you rest after getting stabbed? ” He points to my side. “ I didn’t know you cared about me so much. ” I move past him and straighten my back to look unbothered. “ As if I will ever care about you. ” I hear him mumble but don’t reply. It’s surprising enough to find him standing guard outside my door. It seems he is taking his role too seriously. I hum to myself. Doesn’t sound like a bad thing. “ I remember telling you that you shouldn’t go there. ” He follows behind me closely. “ And you thought I would listen to that? ” I say, rounding the corner and walking down the corridor that leads to where the King’s women seem to mingle during the day. “ What are you planning, Avery? ” He sighs. “ I don’t need to tell you. ” My eyes sparkle when I catch sight of a familiar face. When Lovetta sees me, she squeals and runs inside the open door
AVERY “ Princess. ” Her smile widens when she finds me looking at her. “ Agrona. ” I nod, calming the beats of my heart. “ Was she kissing Draven? ” One of the girls behind Agrona turns to others and says in a hushed voice. My heart almost stops beating. “ Mind your fucking tongue if you don’t want me to rip it out of your mouth! ” Draven growls from behind me before I can say anything. “ Calm down, Draven. Tracy doesn’t know what she is talking about. ” Agrona says politely and glances at the girls from over her shoulder. “ right, Tracy? You will not want to cause any misunderstanding between the Princess and the King, will you? ” “ No, Agrona. I didn’t mean it that way. ” The girl bows her head apologetically. I clench my hands by my side. I don’t have any doubt that Agrona will use this against me later. But why do I care? It’s not like I care about what Aleister thinks of me. “ Agrona. ” I smile enthusiastically and end the distance between us. She tries to maintain a swe
AVERY “ I never said I would tell you anything, Princess. ” She picks up the cup again. I huff, leaning back on the couch. She is a hard nut to crack. “ So it means we can’t work together. ” I nod after pondering over it for a second. “ There are some things that only Leister can tell you, Princess and I won’t take that away from him but when you are done…and you want to leave… ” She trails off and frowns. “ You will help me find a way out? ” I stroke the back of my hand with my fingers as I wait for an answer. “ I will point out the way. ” She agrees at last. “ I won’t help you but I will tell you where you should head. After that, everything will be up to you. ” “ That’s fine by me. ” I clasp my hands together. “ but I won’t leave alone. I will take my helper, Renee with me. ” “ I don’t mind. ” Her soft eyes land on my hands before she looks up. “ but if you get caught at that time, Princess, you should pray that you die before Leister finds out. ” I shudder. Just the way sh
AVERY It doesn’t take me long to realize that I am no longer in the confines of the castle walls, but drowning in the black lake I saw on my way in. Until my head remains above the water, I have belief that Aleister will be able to feel me in time and come to save me. But when my face dunks underwater, I lose that belief quickly. I hold my breath, writhing around to free myself of the ropes. The pathetic lack of strength in my limbs angers me, then horrifies me. I can feel the patch loosening on the wound in my back. I shake worse than before, moving around in the water, trying to see something in the pitch black. In the cold water, the warmth of my blood tricking down my side makes my head spin. Shortly after, I am out of breath. The pressure behind my eyes, and under my jaw increases so much that my mouth almost opens in the water to suck in a desperate breath. In my silent attempts to break free, I sense a slight brush of scales on my ankle. My heart hammers in my chest, due t
ALEISTER~A little while earlier…“ What’s wrong with you? ” Draven yells. The pen drops from my fingers as an intense pain erupts in my chest. I place my hands on the edges of my desk and stand up before squeezing my eyes shut. “ Leister— ”“ Where is Avery? ” I grunt, still reeling with the mind-numbing agony.It feels like someone is trying to carve my heart out of my chest. “ I left her with Agrona. Why? Is something wrong with her? ” He asks worriedly and comes to my side.‘ Did Dustin feel the same when he was drowning? ’ Her sad voice sounds in my head.Shocked, I push myself straight and look down. What’s wrong with her?The pain spreads to my throat as if something is trying to claw at my windpipe, cutting off my air supply.‘ If only Aleister had not taken my strength and tried to render me helpless… ’ She whimpers again in my head before her words drown behind the piercing pain.A force pulls me out of the office and pushes me in the direction of the Lake. She is in pain