The Immortal Prince ✔️

12

Word Count: 1537

~Vaela

Adria's aged hands are searing hot as they clasp either side of my face.

My gaze focuses on her one milky eye, before my vision goes cloudy, and I'm staring into an ivory mist. I jolt back, but her sharp fingernails dig into my skin, holding me in place.

"Calm girl. Accept the process." Her raspy voice sounds distant, puncturing the void I have been plunged into. Anxiety swells in my chest, my throat tightening, but I still, splaying my sweaty hands out over my thighs.

"I see a lot of uncertainty in your future." Her faint voice drifts through in waves.

"Do you find a way out of this?" It's Hale speaking now.

"Shh. Let me explore."

The mist shrouding my vision suddenly turns to acid, my head burning to the point of unbearable pain. Somewhere in the distance, I can feel hot tears running down my face, my breathing rapidly increasing with my panic.

And then it's gone.

Adria releases me from her clutches, and the mist dissipates, and I can see again. Lurching forward, I clutch either side of my head, gasping as I rock myself back and forth. The pain eddies away slowly, leaving me a quivering shell of myself.

"Vae, you okay?" Hale is out of his seat in a moment, but is promptly swatted back by the Gaze Reader.

"Get back, Pureblood," she demands, unbothered by the power he could potentially unleash upon her.

Hale seems reluctant to accept her dismissal. "She's hurt."

His eyes burn as he studies me, gaze tracing the tears that glide slowly down my cheeks. His fingers are rolled up into fists, as he holds himself back, arms stiff, shoulder's rigid.

For a Sin, his empathy is overwhelming. The wince on his face suggests watching me experience pain is causing his own.

"Gaze Reading is taxing on mortals. She will be fine," Adria grumbles, opening the thick book once discarded on the floor, beginning to scribble incoherently within it. Her brow is furrowed, aged skin creased.

"What's that look?" I ask warily.

"There is nothing, about whether you can become immortal again," she announces, once she had finished jotting down her results. She slams the book shut, dust billowing out, which I fan my hand through irritably.

"Seriously?"

"It appears to be barred by magic. This is a very unfamiliar territory, I don't think the wisest of Gaze Readers could navigate this." She gets up, shuffling over the creaking floorboards.

Hale stands also, looking between Adria and I. "How do we stop her from dying in the meantime?"

"It's simple, in theory," she mumbles, shoving the book violently back onto the shelf.

"Tell me," I demand.

"You must find your mate, forge a strong bond with them. That way, part of them can carry the strain of this magic and relieve you of what, as a mortal, is making you ill." She waves her hand as she speaks, golden jewellery glistening.

I stiffen. Forge a strong bond?

"I...I don't know who my mate is," I tell her. She should know, she scoured through my mind.

Adria turns, looking thoughtful. "Then I would hurry in finding them."

Great. How helpful.

"A mate bond is not just something you can find. You have to stumble across it in a fated way." I've waited far too many years to find my mate, wanting it since I was a young girl.