Sully had not woken up yet. I was worried about her, although Rose told me repeatedly that there was nothing to worry about.It had been one day since we departed the port. I was not as worried as before.House Star was not that far from House Silverclaw. But we were first going to Yelenad where Sully’s mother was born and raised. From Yelenad, we would go come back to this kingdom, just through a different way. No one would expect us to do it, at least, that was what Rose said. But what if someone thought like her?“I didn’t know Demian was nice to her. I mean, she said so before, but I always thought she was lying. Do you think she might have something wrong with her like those girls who stay with the men who hurt them?” Rose asked. We rarely went out of our cabins. If we had to talk, we would go to each other’s cabins. Mostly, we met up in Sully’s cabin. According to Rose, it was better to stay inside so no one could see our face. Our food was delivered to our cabins, so we did not
I felt nauseous. I vomited twice within the last three hours.I had woken up four hours ago in the middle of the night. I freaked out, forgetting that I was in the ship. I remembered quickly enough so I did not end up screaming.For some reason, perhaps by sensing something, Leo entered my cabin. He hugged me as soon as he saw me up and we sat there like that.When we pulled apart, he touched my face and kissed me on the forehead.“I will get you something to eat,” he said. I nodded.I got up slowly while he went to fetch some food for me. There was clean water in a jug in my cabin on the bedside table. The bedside table creaked when I touched it as if it would break down if I as much as held it.I picked up the jug and carried it outside. I cleaned my mouth and splashed water on my face. It was ice-cold.“You woke,” Rose said.“You lied to me,” I said calmly. My throat hurt. I needed to drink water.“That was necessary, Sully. I will get you back to your parents and that’s all matter
She was gone. Sully was gone.“How did she escape? And where the fuck is Rose?” Father yelled. I returned before Father. For some reason, I had a bad feeling about that night. When I returned, I discovered my wife gone. Then, I found out that even Rose was mission. So was the alchemist and Sully’s friend Leo.“That alchemist and your wife were having an affair,” Luke told me. “They left and took Rose with them. They left a note as well.”I had read that note. I suspected it was Rose who wrote that note. Rose could mimic the handwriting of others.The note read that if we hunted them, they would kill Rose.But the fact was that Luke was lying. Perhaps he was on in the plan. What I did not understand was why Rose and Luke would even be on this plan and why Rose left with them.“Find them!” Father yelled at his men. “Find all of them! I will teach that girl a lesson!”“Father, she is my wife. I can take care of her,” I said.“No. Not you. She needs to see what it is like to escape from A
I threw up a few times more. Rose was concerned because she had the suspicion that I was pregnant.“If I am, I will get rid of it. But I don’t think I am,” I said.“Did you even take the potion I gave you?” she asked.“Of course. I wouldn’t dare miss it in case… Listen, I don’t feel funny in my tummy. I just am nauseous all the time. Pregnant women feel nauseous in the morning mostly, but I feel nauseous morning, noon and night. All the time. It’s the ship.”“Anyhow, you need to see a doctor as soon as we reach Yelenad. Do you think your grandfather will let us stay there for a few days?” Rose asked.“I think so. He was always nice to me, although he never liked Father,” I said. It was because Father had extramarital relationships. Mother said that her father was protective of her all the time. He did not take the news of Father’s affairs very well. He urged Mother to break off their marriage, but Mother did not listen. I had asked Mother about this. She never answered.We would reach
I was still not pregnant. We had been trying a lot, but it was to no avail. Something was wrong with me for sure.Rezef did not say anything, but I knew he was disappointed. I could see it in the look of his eyes. He looked at me like I was a disappointment. He must want Sully. He must compare me with her.A few days ago, the news spread that Sully escaped. Rezef must be happy to have Sully back. He might even want to marry her once she was back, casting me aside like everyone.I did not hate my half-sister. As a matter of fact, I was glad that she escaped from those demons. I wished her safe return. But I hoped she would not try to take my place away.No, Sully was not like that. She would not do it.‘But do you? Do you truly know her? Can you see what goes on in the deepest part of her head? Can you hear her thoughts? What if she wants to steal your husband? What if she wants to take back what’s hers? After all, you are a replacement only. If the original comes back, you will be cas
Sully escaped. God listened to me. I had prayed so many times and finally, he listened.Even Mother came out of her chamber after a long time and told me that she wanted to pray too. So, I brought her to the temple with me so we could pray.Sully took a ship, I heard from Father. Father believed she would go to Yelenad first so the Silverclaws would not be able to stop her on the roads.“That was smart,” Father had said. “That girl always has been witty.”What I did not understand was how she managed to escape.It seemed almost impossible considering how secure the estate of House Silverclaw was.“It’s Rose,” Jace had said. “Rose planned this.”Father did not like that much. “I still don’t trust this Rose. She is a Silverclaw, no matter what.”“But she is also a Star,” Jace insisted.I was a little concerned about Jace. He talked about Rose in a suspicious kind of way which made me think that he harbored some deep feelings for that woman. It was not okay. If Rose was just another Silv
My grandfather seemed to have gotten the news of my arrival beforehand because he sent his people to the port with a carriage.The carriage was big, so it was comfortable for all three of us to sit inside without having to bump each other with our elbows. Leo and I sat on one side while Rose sat on our opposite.She had changed into another of her endless collection of white dresses. Her long hair was tied into a braid and she wore her usual pearl earrings and necklace. On her right middle finger was a mother of pearl ring. Her lips were painted red- the exact color of blood.I wore a dark red dress. Rose had brought all the dresses for me and kept them in the ship before Leo and I reached there. Leo had to borrow clothes from the captain which was something he hated.I kept tugging on the bodice of the dress because it was too tight. I was not that slim. Rose probably mistook my body size for hers because all the dresses were too tight. Some of them made me wheeze for breath.“You do
“When you return, what will you do?”I stared at Grandfather, a little surprised to hear such a question. No one had asked me this before. But I had been thinking about it a lot.Grandfather was a tall man with an imposing presence. He had a small white beard which matched the white of his hair. He had brown skin and stern brown eyes.“I do not know,” I said truthfully. “You know my father, my lord. He… he won’t like the fact that I am not a maiden anymore.”“He thinks no man will marry you because you are not a maiden?” he asked and I gave a nod. “That’s such a stupid belief. What’s the value of a maidenhood anyway?”I smiled. “My father wouldn’t understand that.”“Were you raped, child?” he asked.It was something I would be asked many times from now on. Everything depended on my answer.I should tell him that I was raped, that I had been taken against my will. I should tell him that Demian was just like his father and he tortured me, sexually assaulted me.But that would be a huge
I felt a sense of calmness and relief take over me as I entered the familiar chamber once again that I shared with Demian. My eyes wandered over the bed where Demian and I slept and did many thing together, the couch where I would sit with Demian’s head on my lap and ran my fingers through his long straight hair.“It went well, didn’t it?” I said to Demian with a smile.Demian had a strange look on his face. He turned to me and traced the scar on my face with his index finger.“You can pretend very well,” he murmured as if to himself.I gulped. “Demian, I am not pretending with you. Not you. You… are different. I don’t want to be a fake version of me with you,” I said.“Will you truly be yourself? And never lie to me? Never?”“Never,” I said quietly.“Good, because if you lie…”‘If I lie, then what? What will you do? Will you hurt me?’But I did not ask it out loud. Demian was too honest. I did not want to hear the answer. In fact, I felt a hint of fear inside me when I anticipated wh
My arms were aching. My whole body was aching. Still, I stood straight with Demian’s arm around my shoulder possessively in the presence of none other than Alexander Silverclaw.I was not look up into his silver eyes, but I could feel them piercing my skin.“Look at me,” he ordered. And I did.My fingers were trembling. I did not get scared easily, but this man scared me. He made me feel trivial and powerless.Alexander grabbed me by the chin, not too forcefully, yet not gently either.“What happened here?” he asked.“My f-father…,” I mumbled.“Your father? Jade Star did this?”I nodded.Demian had already told Alexander most of the things, but he wanted to hear it from me for some reason.I glanced at Demian who understood what I was trying to do without me having to say a word. He dropped his hand from my shoulder and undid the ribbons on the back. I did not take off the dress, but undid it from the back only. I turned around and showed my bare back to Alexander.“Why did your fathe
During the journey, what Demian and I mostly did was talking. We did not have anything else to do. And when Demian talked, or listened to me, at least, he did not have that look on his face- the look that for some reason, send shivers down my spine.“When did you think that God is not real?” Demian asked. “Your family is very religious, after all. It’s only normal to be brought up to believe in God in that kind of family.”“I suppose it’s when I started to be able to form my own thoughts,” I answered. “Perhaps I was seven or eight, at that time, when I could form thoughts without them being influenced by my environment. I simply did not see the point of praying to a God that did not truly listen. I stopped praying then. Father would force me to go to the temple and I would pretend to pray, but that was just it. I only pretended. It was not real.“What about you? Have you ever wondered whether an entity like God exist?” I asked.Demian shook his head. “I am from a family that is as far
I had never, not in a million years, thought I would get to see my family again. By family, I meant my mother, Selina and Jace. Sierra was in another kingdom. I never thought about seeing her. We were never close, but we were not distant either. I had no intention of ever seeing Father and Kyle again. I did not know what I would do if I saw any of them.I was selfish and I loved myself. I could never bear it when someone hurt me.I sometimes dreamed of shooting an arrow into Father’s chest. I must admit that it felt rather good.Demian and I took a shortcut through the forest. It was dangerous, but Demian was awfully too brave. He said I would be safe if I were with him.“Just physically?” I joked. “Not mentally or psychologically.”He had said nothing, causing me to feel a strange sense of fear when I looked into his silver eyes. Most of the time, Demian was nice. He did not hurt me or said something that would hurt me.But there were times when Demian would look at me in a certain w
The ship reached our kingdom once again. Demian and I got down the ship with our belongings, which were not too many things.First of all, we went to an inn to eat something. I was hungry. Even though the ship was luxurious, the food had not been that good. Besides, I could barely eat anything with the constant movement of the ship.We took our horses and gave them to the son of the innkeeper who would feed the horses and brush them.We were served a beef stew with quite a lot of beef in it and bread to soak it up with. The bread was not stale, fortunately. Demian and I ate slowly, enjoying each bite.After we were done eating, Demian paid the innkeeper while I waited outside.Someone touched my shoulder and I almost screamed.“Selina!” Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around my sister, hugging her tightly. It had been so long since I had last seen her.She was wearing the usual priestess’s attire like she always did since the moment she began devoting her life to God. When we pull
All day long, Mother sat on her balcony and watched ships come and go. I sometimes urged her to take a walk with me in the garden, or down the streets, but she never took me up on my offers. She would smile and say that she was fine where she was.I brought a doctor to take a look at her. The doctor said that Mother should not remain idle all the time. It was making her body weak. She needed to walk at least for an hour each day.Mother did not listen to the doctor, or to me, or to anyone.Jace and I arrived two days ago. These two days, all she did was sit by the window and watch the ships like a little child who was fascinated by it.“My daughter will return in one of those ships,” Mother would say to everyone who went near her.“Sully is not here, Mother. She will not come back,” Jace said many times. We believed that Sully had settled her life somewhere far away and in a quiet place and was never going to come back. It was better that way as long as she was happy wherever she was.
Hearing about Sully’s condition and what Father did to her made me disgusted. At that moment, I hated Father more than I ever hated anyone before. And I pitied my sister. I was worried about her.I knew that Father would be angry about Sully’s lost maidenhood. But I never thought he would take it that far. I never could imagine that he could hurt his own daughter like that.‘You knew he hurt Millie. But you never did anything. You knew about it all. You saw how he slapped her, hit her with a cane and sometimes whipped her. You saw it all, but you acted like a blind man. You acted like you did not see anything. You pretended like you did not know anything just to avoid any kind of confrontation or responsibility,’ a voice inside my head said.But then again, Millie was an illegitimate daughter unlike Sully.‘There is no difference. You know it very well.’I tried to shake the voice out of my head.“Do you think she truly went to another kingdom like Father thinks she did?” Selina asked
This ship was better than the one I took with Leo and Rose before. This one looked much luxurious. The cabin we got was quite big. The bed was meant for two and the sheet and covers were clean.Demian talked to the captain while I looked around our cabin. At least, I did not have to worry about catching skin diseases here, sleeping under the covers.I was truly going back with Demian. There was no turning back now. I had chosen this.Sometimes I wondered what would have happened if I did not want to go back with Demian. Would he have forced me to come with him?I did not know. I did not want to know the answer, lest it should make feel bad. Besides, I knew what kind of person Demian was. He might be better than Alexander, but in the end, they were similar in many ways. I could not expect him to change himself, not after the way he had to grow up. He had to kill his own twin brother. That kind of thing was bound to mess up someone’s conscience. It was a surprise that Demian had not tur
It was raining a bit. Demian brought us two horses which would take us to the port. We were to take a ship back to our kingdom. It would take a long time, but that was okay.The two horses were huge and black. They were not just like big horses. They were monstrous in size and look.“Where did you get them?” I asked.“They look like you brought them from hell,” Lloid said, who was a moderately religious person.“This one is mine,” Demian said, patting the one which was bigger than the other. “I brought him with me.”“On a ship?” I asked.“He did not like it, but that was the only way. I like this horse,” Demian said. Only Demian would bring a horse all the way from another kingdom.“What’s his name?” I asked.“Thunder,” Demian answered.“That’s majestic. He looks majestic,” I murmured. Indeed, Thunder looked like a horse that carried a conqueror on her back.Demian and I started our journey in the afternoon. We did not want anyone to see us, so we waited until it got dark. The port wa