Nightfully ;Azriel

18

Althea hasn't spoken a word since they were bought here. 

She couldn't see anything farther than her hands, only pure darkness. She heard Nesta trying to speak to her through the bars of their cells yet she couldn't manage the words. Althea was lightheaded, she needed water and sleep. She wanted to wake up from this hellish nightmare. Althea wanted nothing more than to turn back time when he first knocked on the door, ignoring him until he finally left their home, out of danger. 

She wanted all this to be over yet every time she closed her eyes all she could see was him. The bracelet on her wrist felt heavy yet she was too ashamed to take it off. 

"Althea?" Elain. "Althea are you okay? Are you hurt?" 

Althea heard that question over 100 times in the past who knows how many days. She probably looked like a mess, the pastel pink dress she fell asleep in was coated with blood, she could tell even through the darkness and her arm hurt from where the glass struck, Althea pulled out the shard not long after they were bought there and she felt the warm liquid run down her arm instantly. It was the consequence of her own actions, she couldn't stop the smile from slipping onto her face before she started laughing, laughing through the pain. 

"Althea?" Nesta. 

Her eyes tried to make out her sisters yet she couldn't even outline their shadows. "They killed him." She croaked out. "Benjamin-" Her voice got stuck in her throat, she heard Elain sob. "They killed him."

They were silent, all three of them aside from Elain's sniffling. 

None of them spoke after that aside from a couple 'are you guys still here?' before they all went silent again. They were most probably going to die there, Nesta's plan to marry them off to wealthy families didn't work, none of them were going to live to see the war come to an end. They were simply, doomed. 

Althea was sleeping when the soldiers barged in holstering her up by her injured forearm, she sucked in a large heap of air as their grips hardened and she felt her wound once again drip with warm blood. She wanted to bathe in it, the warmth.

The soldiers were clad up in armour, their faces covered yet she could make out the vicious glint in their eyes. They enjoyed inflicting pain. The dungeons weren't the only thing clad in darkness, the hallways leading up also had no light, the walls were off white, like the colour of cleaned bones. There were a lot of twists and turns so Althea couldn't even memorise the way they came from. She didn't know how the main characters in books were able to do such things. 

Althea's blood ran cold as four familiar faces appeared, four mortal women amongst the flank of fae men that surrounded them. They stood in front of large doors and Althea was sure that she heard multiple voices chatter from beyond them yet her eyes were trained on them. The four mortal queens. 

Fury revelled from deep inside her, she couldn't hold down the words that slipped from her mouth. "You absolute bitches." She hissed trying to pry her arms away from the soldiers. "You betrayed your people! You call yourselves our queens?" 

The old croon looked down at her with a sinister smile before nodding at one of the soldiers, a sting pulsed through her cheeks as the soldiers hand connected with her face sending her to the floor. Althea blinked away the stars unable to fight as they started to gag the three of them. 

"You will be on your best behaviour." The old croon patted her head as if she was some sort of animal before the doors flung open, inviting them into the filled room. 

Althea took in everything, she took in the familiar group from the night court before her eyes slipped onto an unfamiliar blond and a ginger with one golden eye. And lastly she took in the big cauldron that sat mightily on three legs besides a middle aged man with a silver crown around his brow.