A trade was made.A fair exchange. Belladonna in place of what Alaris desired the most, his freedom.After all the time they had spent together, his desires never changed, no compassion ever made its way to his determined heart, he never swayed. Belladonna had watched chains snap to the ground, heavy metals clanking against the red glowing floor. She still couldn't see him, which meant that whatever freedom he had received from Thanatou wasn't complete. There was only so much that Thanatou could do then, after all, he wasn't the one that caged him here in the first place. This meant that Alaris had been a spirit all along, his body must be somewhere else, and the strength of her mind had never been the problem. Also, this had better be a plan to get the sunflower!Alaris would never leave her here? There was a Bloodoath between them, she was his true freedom and that was why he always came back for her.She held onto that though and spoke. "You made to me a Bloodoath."If this wa
They suddenly stood up, and pulled her to her feet. Then the door to the room pushed open and Thanatou came in. He was just as scary as he had been in the hall."I have made a trade with your Gifter," his voice made her skin crawl with fear. She shouldn't be here. His words reminded her of Alaris and hatred made her throat hurt, fogged her sight with angry tears. She heard Thanatou taking in a deep breath. Maybe they could really smell feelings after all. Weird. She hated all of them. "And now, I shall make a trade with you, for fairness."Something was off, his words didn't align with the movement of his lips. It looked like he was making clicking sounds, something similar to what she had heard before they had been pulled down here through the red water. It was strange that they sounded like words to her. Strange that she could understand them. There was certainly some magic here doing that work. In a second, her necklace was ripped away from her, the loosened grip around
((Note - Alaris is still in Belladonna's body, so please have that in mind anytime he comes up in the story for now. Also, please note that every other person sees him as Belladonna)). Alaris had woken up in Belladonna's body with a jolt. Just as she had told him, she had fallen asleep in the hallway. It didn't take him long to find out where her dear King was.He was still laying down on the floor in the Special room, his body cold. Alaris smirked.This fucking bastard!He could feel the maddening urge to kill him. Unable to control his anger, he delivered a kick to the King's leg.Eli coughed, slowly regaining consciousness.That didn't please Alaris.He needed him out cold a little longer. Eli's movements on the floor were weak and disoriented, and even though he was staring right at Alaris, he couldn't see him. A sick smile played on Alaris' lips at the stupid King's helplessness. His misery was pleasing him, and as much as he would love to stay all night and entertain himself
Weakness had descended upon Eli as he rode the dragon into the raining night sky, massive leathery wings flapping in the air, lightning flashing and thunder clapping a distance further away from them. It was taking more than he could give to control the beast, but his death was nothing compared to what would befall him if he didn't find his Donna tonight. If he didn't find her---His grip tightened upon Belladonna's scarf that was tight in his grip as he held the reins of the dragon. Cold slammed into him, rain drenching him, as well as his blood that ran down his nostril from underneath his mask. The pain felt dull compared to his heartache and the self-blame going on in his mind.He must find her. There was no if. There was no maybe. He must find her. Alive. ________The castle walls had a lot of ears and mouths. It didn't take much time for the news of the Bride's sudden disappearance to spread. Already, some people had known about it in the market and the way the guards
With bleeding and aching toes, the second dance came to an end. Slowly Belladonna was approaching the crowd, she could hear their cheering as she moved closer to the third door. The females that had danced with her during the second dance gave her something to drink, just like one of the females that had cheered and danced with her around the red fire, in the first room, had done. The liquid was tasteless and thick but Belladonna took it all in one gulp, feeling ready for the third dance, ecstatic to sacrifice her life for the Thanis and fulfill her destiny. "To the third," the female said, taking her hand and giving it to the set of females that had come to accompany her for the third dance. The three females lead her through the third door, Belladonna could already see the fire far across the distance, the iced walls glowing red from it. Suddenly, the door they had come in through slammed shut, and the females that had led her in, started singing. The dance had begun.The hea
Belladonna landed on her face and it ached terribly. Sand made its way into her mouth as she fought to stand on her feet, ignoring the pain in her toes as she searched for Alaris amongst the many floating statues on the surface of the water, under the red sky and the pouring rain. Her eyes caught something else though, the shadows moving quickly around the statues and heading for--- her!Belladonna's hand sprung up to the sunflower that still rested on her chest. For a moment, she thought they couldn't come for her, the Thanatou had freely given her the necklace after all, until she remembered that she was the "thing" that had been stolen.Belladonna looked down, discovering that the beach was slowly turning into a shade of red. The soldiers were also coming closer to the shore, running into the invisible wall that stayed between the red river and Me'k.Lightning flashed just in time for Belladonna to realize that the wall had sustained a crack, like a cracked glass. Her throat tigh
It was a busy night in the King's chambers when they got back to the Castle. The Physicians rushed around to take care of unconscious Belladonna and Eli was forced to take care of the cut on the back of his head, as he paced around the room, his legs aching strangely. When they were done and they had her stabilized, they told him that they couldn't really predict when she would wake up. "It might take a day, three days, or even a week." One of them had said. That didn't sound like good news to Eli.At all. When they left, he cleaned her up, wiping the paint on her chest away and cleaning the blood off her body.Something one of the female physicians had offered to do but he had rejected for many reasons. Some being that he wanted to know how much damage had been done to her. There were so many recent cuts on her body. It was devasting to know that she had kept all this from him.Heartbreaking that it had even happened at all. In the silence of their room, Eli inspected the cut
The knocking shot Eli awake. He was grateful for it, until it continued. He checked Belladonna to see if she was alright and awake. She seemed to be alright, but she certainly wasn't awake.Maybe she would wake up in a few hours then, or maybe tomorrow, or---The knock again. Ah, by Ignas, who was this?!With a frown, Eli found his mask and slipped off the robe. The person on the other side must have a lot of nerves to be disturbing him this early in the morning. He dashed to the door and swung it open, ready to deal with whoever it was accordingly, with punishment included for them not to ever do this again. Except that this person was Kestra and she had brought with her an elixir for his health."Your Majesty." She greeted him with haste, revealing that there was still so much she had to say. "You are back." She stared blankly in his direction and the reminder of her blindness hurt him, as he, yet again, blamed himself for that too.Kestra was always sacrificing so much for
“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