The heavy gates of the underground dungeon swung open, the voice of a man as he yelled for his life echoed in the silence, the sound of boots against thundering against the ground accompaning it. "Your Majesty! Please, don't do this. I will change. I will no longer have my revenge! I am wrong, I accept!" His plea fell on deaf ears, as he cried more and more yet got dragged into the dark place that promised him nothing but more misery than he could ever fathom. This place of doom smelt of roasted flesh, and the air felt still with lifelessness. If death had a certain aura, a certain presence, it would be this one. "I shouldn't have killed my own bastard! He is like a son to me. How dare I take his life for something he had no control over. Let me serve you your Majesty, or let me rot in your dungeon. Anything but this." The dragging continued and he tried harder this time. "I will no longer kill my daughter. It doesn't matter how her father is!" When it seemed like his confession o
Aniya wanted to blame this midnight walk around the castle on Arlo but her son was very gentle and he hardly disturbed her sleep or demanded anything out of the ordinary needs of a baby. What had kept her up though was the beauty of this place. Everything looked so expensive and glamorous. The garden was a wonder, the fountain breathtaking and the hallways downstairs was filled with golden statues. Golden. They must be really expensive. Royalty must be wonderful.She patted her sleeping son gently on his back, a smile plastered on her face as she walked around. Her sister must be living a great life. The clicking of someone's approaching heels made her look behind her. It was the icy lady with silver eyes that almost made her freeze in fear, but her desperation to make the best use of this possible once in a lifetime opportunity pushed her forward and made her approach the lady despite her thundering heart. "My Lady, it is such a---" She bypassed her immediately, heading for
"I mean he saved your life."Belladonna frowned at the sudden emphasis.Why was she trying to get her to go to that room so bad?"You must want to see him, I know he is unconscious at the moment but still, the man that saved your life...""My deepest and greatest gratitude. Please, express them to him when he wakes up." Belladonna cut her off, already fed up of her rambling and to think that back in that past, she always tried to make time for it. Even had sleepless nights listening to her talk on and on about things that didn't matter so much. Not tonight. She was far too stressed about everything going on and she would be a fool to allow more stress into her night with this conversation.Aniya frowned. This was not the Belladonna she knew. What happened to her?"So you do not---""Yes, I don't want to see him. I am already doing the best I can, ain't her? Taking care of your child while you take care of him." She paused, patting the baby on his back as she watched the smile on An
The ringing sound in her ear was resounding and farmilar. Belladonna hated that. She clenched her fists by her sides and turned to her mother who stared right back at her with a scorn, asking her with her eyes 'what will you do?', positive that no harm would come to her."Careful." The words pushed through her teeth and it seemed, for a second, that she wasn't even the one saying it, or maybe the anger had taken so much control over her, that it was now the one speaking. "Another and you might lose your hand."Isa blinked, losing her footing in this stare down for a second, before she quickly recollected her and scoffed. She Instead opted to roll up the sleeves of her gown, showing her muscled arms as she spoke. "Is that a threat?"That action wasn't new to Belladonna, that was what she always did anytime she had the whip with that, anytime she was ready to use more than just the wipe if she felt like it. The memory felt so close to the forefront of her mind, that she could rememb
"The General is right outside this door. We can start right now and have him drag you to the dungeon or have him execute you. Save you from the troubles of seeing your unwanted 'product' ascend the throne." She paused and added with a bitter smile, watching how Isa's eyes went cold the more she spoke. "Rescue you from bowing to her. I wouldn't want you to hurt your back with all that stressful process, mother."Isa lost it right there. "I should have killed you the moment I gave birth to you! I should have strangled that tiny little neck of yours, I should have pressed a pillow over your head and seized the breath from that small nose, I should have stuffed the life right out of you a long time ago.""You could have!" No matter how many times she had already been told that she was unwanted by her mother, hearing it again always hurt. "You could have done all that so why didn't you?!" All the pity Belladonna would usually have towards her mother for the traumatic thing she had to ex
The next day had been really busy. First, a set of maids had come into Belladonna's room to clean it up. There wasn't much to do though and their presence had reminded about her maid, Belladonna had asked Anok if he knew anything about what was going on in the Castle recently.He had told her that the maid committed suicide, and it seemed there was someone she had been reporting to before that. "The King is out to find the culprit, Milady. Put your mind at ease, he will find whosoever is behind this."Belladonna had offered Anok a smile but it was unconvincing, even when he had added that the King was the one who instructed him to keep her updated while he was absent or the the fact that he had been here by her door last night, before he had to leave in a hurry because of the interrupting event."And Head Kuftan?" Belladonna asked, as they walked along the hallway, and down the stairs. "Do you know anything about what is going on with him? As the King informed you to tell me anythin
Belladonna's heart had thundered in fear as she felt herself slip down to the ground, her head feeling strangely too heavy for her to carry, as she wondered if the whole baby missing thing was all a set up to pull her away from Anok, by the people who were after her life.If this was just one of their missions. If they had used Aniya and her baby for that, or if Aniya was simply one of them too.Wondered if her parents had even left in the first place, or maybe they had not and this was one of their plans. If this was the people trying to kill her or her parents. But what difference would it make anyways.They were both after her life. Isa had made her intentions pretty clear. Belladonna had reached down for her heels, feeling the action taking a toll on her, as she observed the bare feet at her eye level, one that moved around frantically."I'm sorry---" she knew that shaky voice. That voice that always made her feel sick to her stomach. "I didn't mean to hurt you, I--- just want
He sat down on the bed, leaning towards her face, as his lips brushed lightly against hers and he grabbed her arms to further his assault.Disgust crawled underneath her skin and she clenched her fists, once again, an action she didn't make it all the way through. "I want to tell you something." She whispered and he frowned, pulling away to look back at her and make sure she wasn't hatching any crazy plans in her head. "I am doing this for us. You know that, right?" He asked, brushing his hand through his golden, curly hair. She nodded slowly, trying to fight the pain she could still feel from her throbbing head. Lytio's lips stretched into a small smile and he leaned down to hear what she had to say. "He will kill you." Her whisper was faint and his frown deepened, as he pulled away again. "I will do anything for us to be together. I don't care about the consequences."Her heart raced.He was obsessed and it didn't seem like she could stall him any longer, she had to attack him
“What is this?” Ny'ka asked, racing up to her feet.“The Stones of Prophecy. I already told you,” Ka'el replied, rising to his feet too. He groaned a little, his ribs hurting from the force that had tossed him aside.The stones had suddenly fallen to the ground, scattered; they were still glowing though. “I mean, what do they do?“I don't know!” There was a bit of panic in his voice, then he started to mumble to himself as he fell on his knees and started trying to collect the stones. “The King believes his daughter is in the Rebellion, and there are rumors of the Heir; he thinks they are working together.” He stopped and stared up at Ny'ka who watched him with a frown on her face. “That is why the Moon and the Sun came up in the sky because she is really here? But you said it didn't happen here, that it was from another Realm. It is from another realm, right? It isn’t true, Is it?”Ny'ka tried to grab one of the stones from Ka'el but it held it away from her. “Is his daughter truly
Then she felt like she was drowning and her words vanished from her lips. It felt like she was right in the lake and above it at the same time, hovering over the water and looking at the drowning child, while the drowning child looked back at her, struggling. Then she was finally in the baby and she could see Xinora floating over her as she felt herself dying in the baby — felt the baby dying. She saw Xinora stare right at her mother, who froze immediately like she had seen a ghost - it was what she looked like anyway, what she seemed to be. Then Belladonna felt the presence slam right into her immediately. Xinora had vanished and was now inside her as one being, the moment of her almost death creating the perfect space for Xinora to fit in. But just as Xinora had merged into her, she dissolved into the back of her mind like a mere pest fighting against a strong host. Her mother pulled her out of the water, her gaze blank and cold. Without a word, she wrapped her in a piece of clo
Trigger warning: Dealing with rape aftermath (from victim’s perspective) on page, and baby drowning on page. _________Belladonna paced the room. Two nights have passed since Alaris and her had discussed about Xinora. The Rebellion was healing, and she had sought out Ny'ka to help her with creating portals; although she knew that it might not work, just as it hadn't been working, but that was just how unpromising Channeling had been, and it had worked eventually. That wasn't the problem though. The thing was that Ny'ka was nowhere to be found. It didn't take long for her to figure out where she was.She was with Ka'el, most likely inquiring about their recent failure.Alaris had confirmed her suspicion, and here she was, in the room, trying not to drive herself mad with every single possibility that was crossing her mind.The Priest had drawn a tattoo on the top part of her chest, a little distance from her neck. He had smeared it with the blood of an animal, chanted some things th
Ny'ka went to Ka'el that night as the Heir had ordered, only to find out that he was with someone. Tsiri?What?What was she doing here? Why was she here? How long has she known about Ka'el? How did she get here?Why was she here?By Ina, what had she told him?!The White glow of the crescent moon above glimmered down on them through the shadows of the scanty leaves of the tall trees around them. The smile on Tsiri’s face was plain for Ny'ka to see, just as obvious as the doubt that dotted Ka’el’s eyes. What had she told him?!“Is it true?” Ka'el asked, his fist tightening around the small bag he had in his hand. She wondered what was in that bag but his next words made her aware of the greater problem she had before her. “Are you just fooling me?” He asked as his free hand anchored around Tsiri’s waist, making her smile widen. Disappointment flashed in Ny'ka's eyes and she frowned, blatantly ignoring Tsiri. “Fooling you? What nonsense are you talking about? And why are you with o
“Nightshade, do you have any memories of Jyris?”He was crouching in front of her. This room suddenly felt too small. Where was the air of ease?“No, except that he healed my ankle, gave me that gold ring that you tossed away and he was at the table with the King. Nothing else. I’m trying to but I don't remember anything else.” She wouldn't tell him about the strange feeling of familiarity she had when she had first seen him. That would be too dangerous. “You were in her dreams even when you weren't in captivity. So can you just go into people's dreams? Can you still do that?”“No. Her dream was the only one I could get into without being in captivity. But My freedom does come at a price. It was hard to lure the brides with my soul, and certainly, I prefer this freedom to that.”“Did killing her hurt you? Since the gems are supposed to be a pair.”“I struck her stomach.”“Why didn't you strike her in the heart or behead?”“I wanted to behead her and take her heart as my own; a litt
He heaved a sigh and sat next to her. “Well, it was after being King. I think the wars I had fought strengthened the connection with my gem; the lives I had taken fed it, and I dreamt of Xinora — well, she dreamt of me. It was the first time I would be in anyone's dreams.”Belladonna nodded, taking a mental note of that. “She was crying and lonely, and because the Gem perceived its master to be distressed, it sought a connection and found me. Xinora was terrified when we met; I was confused, too; it was strange. But then, I realized who she was and why I was there. At that time, I really wanted to come back here, to Vestros, but I knew it wasn’t time, I wasn't powerful enough back then.” He paused, before he continued. “The White King would kill me easily, but being in her dreams was like fate being on my side. She was the only weapon that could be used to kill me—”The only weapon?“Wait. Only a Bearer can kill a Bearer?”“Yes.” “So,” she turned to him squarely so she wouldn't mi
“And you didn't tell me? Why?”“It was over two centuries ago.” He stood up. “She stayed dead during those times, why would I think anything would come out of her now?”Belladonna said nothing and Alaris continued. “With you, I believed she had already been replaced. A new Master, her time was over, gone. The gems will always have their masters, I have discovered. At first, I was worried, but then you proved to be more than one with a mere link.”“I had visions of her. I told you everything.”He shrugged. “I thought it was just her lingering presence since she was the one who was connected to the gem before you. They are just mere visions, they don't suggest a powerful presence to get bothered about.”“You must be joking,” she stated, flabbergasted. “I had dreams of her every time and nothing ever really happened as a result,” he replied with a dismissive tone.“You know that is not true.”“Nothing “real” ever really happened.”With a realization, she stood up. “You are doing it aga
It felt compelling to desire more, it felt right… yet it didn't.Alaris pulled away being the first one to snap back from the spark pulling them together. “I’m sorry, I shouldn't have done that.” He was gone in a flash, leaving her flustered. She couldn't think; the foreign and overpowering feeling was a driving force that sent her out of the room to go after him. She did, reaching the surface, however, and feeling the warm glow of the moon on her skin. Something else seemed to have possessed her, and she went towards the lake instead, strangely seeking the comforting feeling of the water and the floating relief. The reflection of the full moon was cast over the still water and the trees seemed to create a path for her. She walked into the water as a shadow warrior emerged from behind her; the only one of Alaris' shadow warriors that wasn't killed. It swiftly moved into the water, reaching out to pull her back but she turned sharply to it. “Go Back!” She ordered, her voice a gr
Breathing heavily, he turned back to her. “I’m sorry— I just— I was afraid that you’ll shift—”“I have been terrified that this day would come but I thought I was stronger, as strong as I was in your Realm. I knew I would be lacking the moment I saw that annoying thing healing your ankle with his flames,” he laughed, the sound dry of humour as he swept his hand over his hair, pushing it back. “At that moment, I knew there were many things that I lacked, many skills, so many things. I might have been a King there but here, I am like a child. I’m not better than any of those dragon shifters. I’m useless.” “You are not.”With a huff, he sat down next to her, feeling exhausted. “My pretense to know what I am doing can no longer save me. I’m fighting a lost war, Nightshade and you can see it.”He turned to her, to find her shaking her head. “Don't lie to me.”“I’m not.”“Alaris—”“Don't try to inspire me, it won't work.” “I wasn't trying to inspire you, I just want to tell you how disap