Threads of Emerald

Chains of Death: Chapter 41

Seraphina

The icy cool of the shackles awoke me first, along with a faint drip drip drip as I watched my blood pool on the pristine marble, veins of blood snaking into thin rivulets and pooling at the feet of the two figures who sat side by side on the imposing thrones that cast a long shadow across the length of the room.

I didn't have to look up to see that Orion and Nefta would be perched on the thrones, smugness and loathing etched into their features.

I met the stone-cold face of Nefta, the thin set of her lips, the upturned nose, the hard set of her jaw.

Then I met Orion's face. His features schooled into neutrality, a tinge of pain written across his face as he eyed the drops of blood smattering the well-cleaned floor.

"Oh, you're finally awake!", Nefta rose from her throne, descending the dais and coming to stand in front of where I lay puddled in a heap of desperation and sadness as her silver heel pushed down on my shoulder, pushing me further into the marble floor.

I couldn't breathe. Time had either frozen or had become a string of loose, fuzzy seconds as I kept my eyes trained on Orion's. Those honey pot eyes were dull, as if they'd been doused by murky grey water.

"How ... could ... you", the words came out as a rasp as they drifted onto the sour, acrid tasting wind that swept them to Orion.

"Oh, you have Nyx Blade to thank for that, Seraphina", Nefta turned on her heel, but not before I could grab her heel and send her falling head first into the blood-soaked floor.

Before I could leap to tackle her, my shackles tightened further, my skin searing with a wicked hiss. I tried to scream as the pain of the raging heat threatened to pull me under into a thick stream of unconsciousness, but it became lodged in my throat.

Orion stiffened slightly, gripping the arms of his throne tighter as a look of sorrow flitted across his face. Before they could notice, I sat on my heels and placed the red hot metal against my thigh, cutting a hole in the leathers.

Nefta was on her feet as the searing heat retreated from the shackles, heading for her throne.

"I'm ... sorry", Orion choked out slightly as his eyes scanned the shiny red burns branding my dirty skin.

"Why?", it was the only word I could think of, the only thing that came to my mind as the events came rushing into my mind, flooding those happy memories of Selkie's Cove, of the feel of his warm skin against mine, his hands in my hair. I couldn't help the traitorous tear that slithered down my cheek.

"I lied to you, Seraphina. After Affra left me, I was broken and desperate and foolish. I made a deal with Nyx Blade. She would find Affra and I would owe her a favour", Orion stood from his throne, imposing as his frame towered over the shiny throne room, a fine thread of glittery sunlight weaving and threading through his blonde locks as he made his way over to me and held out his hand.

"She'd given me the Scroll of Stars", Nefta's icy tone chilled me to the marrow of my bones.

I spat at Orion's feet as he continued to extend his hand. Hurt and shock cut through his carefully sculpted features. I didn't care. He'd lied that father was alive. He'd used father's face to trick me into revealing everything. I could never forgive him.

"I was getting desperate. I tried to be nice. I hoped that by bringing you here, I could get some answers out of you. Find out where the stone was hidden. Instead, I thought a mistake had been made. But, Nyx Blade assured me that you were the girl that would release great power into the world once more", Nefta summoned a glass of water from mid-air, her long nails raking against the glass as my blood continued to spill onto the floor.

"I didn't want Orion to be recruited. But, she'd been watching you two. She saw something blossoming between you two", Nefta laughed at that, a witch's cackle that sliced across my skin as her nails continued a circle around the rim of the glass, "So, she called in her debt. Orion was to get your secrets out of you, he was to get you to lead us where we needed to go. And, he succeeded. You didn't suspect a thing. It killed him to do it, but it's either fulfil your debt or die, Kings have been brought to their knees by Nyx Blade. Of course, you know Nyx Blade by another name. Ruri Donhuinn."

"So, once Ash Thindrel tried to rescue you, once she summoned Orion to come and help you, we had an opportunity. It was all Orion's idea. He'd heard the way you spoke about your father at the dinner party, how much love and trust you had. A true bond. So, he used Nyx Blade to glamour a man to look like your father. Then, you spilled everything to him. It wasn't really necessary though. You'd have spilled your soul to him if he'd just fuck you", Nefta's words made me recoil, heat rising in me, not embarrassment but anger.

"Would he not fuck you, Nefta? Too old for him?", I spat at her, attempting to stand, even though Orion stood close to me, "Trust me, if I'd have known what it was like to fuck Orion before, I'd never have spilled my secrets. I'd have lied like I did when I moaned his name as he came inside me."

I managed a laugh. It felt wrong. It felt off. But, I knew this was a game. A dance of words and trickery and deceit.

"So, Sera, tell us how we can get into that cave. Or we'll make you."

Now I truly laughed. A laugh that made even Nefta recoil as I dropped my hands, my knuckles brushing the burned material of my thigh.

"You think I care about living?", I couldn't stop the rush of tears as I stepped back from Orion, as I allowed the tears to join the pool of blood at my feet.

"You think I have anything to live for? You've taken my mother away, my father away. I've lost the love of Ivor. I've lost my home. I didn't want any of this", my voice held steady as I stared deep into Orion's eyes, silver lining them as his back was turned to Nefta.

"I didn't ask for any of this. I don't want any of this. I don't want this, life or whatever state of hell this is", I kept their attention on my eyes as I moved my hands, attempting to look as if my hands were uncomfortable before they could realise what I was doing.

"And, what will you do? You have no weapons. You are to be escorted to the dungeons until you are ready to talk", Nefta looked up to the ceiling, "I will find your twin and I will get answers."

Crius had gotten Aphina to safety. So, before the guards could drag me to the cavernous dungeons, I gripped the emerald green handle of the dagger strapped to my thigh and plunged it into my heart.