It was too easy to get her to the cave spring, despite her vocal and physical resistance. Belladonna could feel the quick and effortless sway of Eli's step as they went further and lower in the cave. Before she knew it, she was chest-deep in cold blue water. The images of the night she almost drowned flashed before her eyes and for a second, panic blazed in her mind like wildfire, but he was there, holding her to himself and keeping her upper body above the water, and against him - her back pressed to his chest, his firm hand anchored around her waist and his voice whispering comforting words. "Look at me. I am right here with you. You are not alone." His gruff voice commanded and she obeyed instinctively. Her head rested on his chest, the wetness of his shirt damping her very short hair, while her electric blue orbs found peace in his brown ones. For that moment, her mind felt peace and all she could hear was the gentle trickling of the water as they moved, and a low gush of it
"Deceive." The word slipped past her lips and her hands reached to his, trying to pull them away. "Stop saying these words to me. Stop getting into my head. Stop deceiving me!" She snapped and he let her go. Her heart was racing, her breathing loud. The light of the moon and the glowing blue gems that lined the cave, reflected in the water and bounced on the cave walls."Are you in doubt of my affections? Let me prove--""No. I am in doubt of mine and you will stop interfering with these manipulative lines of yours. Stop getting into my head, let me think. I have to do this alone.""Manipulative?" That word stung. "Donna, I play no games with my sincere words. Yes, my past puts me in the wrong light but do not shut me away in such a cruel way. Give me a chance. I know I do not deserve it but please be merciful.""There is it again! I---" she pulled her hands over her ears and yelled, and the cave echoed back her voice. Finally, she stopped and tears streamed down her cheeks. When sh
The intruder finally threw off her hood, and her eyes went wide with the naked woman who stood some distance in front of her. "Who are you?" Belladonna's question echoed lowly through the cave. Before the woman could respond though, a sword was levelled against her neck, it was so sharp she could see her reflection and the eyes of her likely killer, even with the din blue light of the cave. She froze in fear of the blade dipping any further. "Answer her," Eli commanded. He was shirtless, his pants were dry and his hair didn't look as wet as it did earlier. Eli quickly glanced at Belladonna to ensure that she wasn't harmed, his heart skipped a beat at seeing her naked state, the effect it left in his veins would require another bath tonight."I came here with my sons," her voice trembled. The woman was probably in her late fifties, she was a small chubby woman but Eli still treated her like a threat.It was better this way than to underestimate her. "I saw them and I have taken car
"My greatest apologies for causing your family pain." It was Eli apologizing this time. Tamina blinked her tears away, waving a dismissive hand in the air as her sons resigned to a brief moment of sadness. "We were all fooled. What is done is done. The right thing to seek now is the way forward." She clapped. "Boys, let us be on our way now. Help the travellers with their things. We use the backdoor, do not forget the ones we are avoiding." Her sons started getting to work. Done, they all started their short journey to Kami's family house. Now realizing they had left their carriage behind, Eli walked behind Belladonna like her shadow, if she were to be tired from exhaustion, he would be there to help."Boys, do not tell your wives of this."Were they all living in the same house with their wives?"What? That is impossible! Kristi knows everything I know." Braided beards yelled, as they moved around the trees. "Can you, for once, keep a secret?" Baldy jabbed. "It is going to be ha
Belladonna didn't want to panic, she didn't know what abilities the ghosts brides that lived in her head had. Could they read minds? Her thoughts? What about all the conversations she had been having? Had they heard them all? Could they hear them right now?Most of the time, to get a response from them, she usually had to ask them in her head, then, they would respond.So, maybe they could not. "Kami used to hate her room so much," Tamina's voice interrupted Belladonna's train of thought, her attention was divided. She tried to see if Kami would respond to anything her mother was saying but from her side, there was only silence. "She said it felt too much like her brothers'. It is so hard to train a girl child when you only have one, even harder when you already have seven sons before her. You just forget you know, and have to relearn." Still silence. Maybe they really couldn't hear them. Maybe the door situation was just a pure coincidence and not a trap. Convinced that she
With Kami now in control of Belladonna's body, she led her mother to a hidden passage in the wall of her room that led to the roof. At first, Tamina had been very confused, but soon enough she was able to understand what was going on, and as any person would wish in that situation, she wished she could spend longer time with her daughter. They spent heartfelt moments together, talking about how they had missed each other and how they wanted each other to be happy. Kami made her mother promise her that she would tell her father and her brothers to be happy too. They talked about a lot of things, her brothers and their families. For the things she had missed out on, her mother did well to fill her in. Then they danced to the rhythm of the piano that floated to their ears from downstairs, as the gentle breeze carried it around them."Mother," she said with tears in her eyes and a real smile on her face. "What, Kami?""I must leave now." Her action was jerky and when she snapped her
Alaris had sat at the edge of the bed, planting his arms behind him to support his weight, it almost looked like there wasn't a single thought behind his eyes as he looked at her bored, as if he was tired of her always doing this. "She isn't a bride, her soul wasn't prepared like the others. She can't have such privilege or she would have used it." "But---""The witch is not stupid, Nightshade. She would have used it." "Well--""Come on," he rose, cupping her head in the palms of his warm hands, "No one resurrects from a dragon's flames. The witch is gone, you have nothing to fear. If she could have that opportunity, she would have used it.""My fear is not unreasonable," Belladonna stated, looking up at him. He hummed, with a little shrug and a smile played on his lips. "Well, since one of your ghosty friends has tried to possess your minds, I think the rest will try to do the same. We must find a way to block it. Make your mind strong, mortal." He ended, flicking his finger aga
The window broke and Alaris slipped into her mind, effortlessly through the space. The images of a drowning child flashed in her mind, it felt like a memory that wasn't even hers.It was all so fast. "Is she awake? Is she--am I late---" the voice made her snap back to herself and she pulled away from Alaris immediately. Her gaze snapped to the door of the study to see Eli looking at them... at her with the most hurtful look in his brown eyes.His chest was rising and falling, it seemed like he had ran here."Donna---? I," his expression became guarded as he looked from Alaris to her. With a surrender and a hardened look, he said, "Excuse me."Belladonna took in a breath she didn't know she was holding when Eli left the door, she could hear his boot hit the floor of the hallway as he turned away. Instinctively, she headed to the door to go after him.This made no sense. The kiss was a mistake, one she didn't willingly partake in, and she owed Eli nothing yet she felt like she had to
“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