Collection of Older Works

Faethfully Yours: Chapter Thirty

Silence. It sweltered and expanded with every breath. Ivan had said nothing after telling me of the attack on the Temple of Souls. He never even met my eyes. He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t sad. He just was. Of all emotions, the indifference plaguing him was the worse. His unresponsiveness bled with a silent and dark anticipation that made breathing around him impossible.

I didn’t know what to say, how to act…where to look, so I stayed by his side taking part in the silence, the warmth of his body throwing me into a pit of ice as we walked down the dark hall, weaving in and out of the torch lights.

The air was heavy with the scent of darkness, aflame with despair. With every step down the dusty corridor my fear grew. I was frightened. I was frightened for Her Grace, for her life. I feared for the Temple servants and all the blood that was being shed. I was frightened for Ivan. With each breath, he seemed to fall deeper, further into his mind. He was so deep in the blackness, I don’t know if he even knew I was standing beside him.

That was what scared me most of all. I was frightened for myself. In the terrible fire that was our lives, I was the only light. Would I shine bright enough to find a way out for us? Would I be able to keep him from that dark place again and make it all better? Would I lose him again somehow and be unable to get him back?

Yes, I was scared. I was the only light and it was a lonely feeling.

Evenly spaced, the quiet padding of our feet echoed with a strange finality as we entered council. We found more silence there save for the crackling of the torches.  The Essences sat so still on their thrones they could have gone unnoticed. The hooded Fae behind them were but blanketed statues. They didn’t argue, they didn’t slam their fists…it was hard to believe there was anything beneath the ocean of black and blue robes.

I didn’t like the silence. I wanted their jewelry to tinkle when they slammed their fists. I wanted His Black Essence to roar at me. Chaos. I wanted chaos. It had become my norm, letting me know that the world was still moving, that actions carried consequence and that there were things still left to fight for. The silence there was so loud, we could have just as well stopped existing. 

Hand in hand, Ivan and I stood before the Essences.

“We were summoned, my lords.” Ivan spoke first, his voice unnaturally polite. Half bowing to each Essence, Ivan’s icy hand clenched mine tightly.  He meant for me to bow as well.  Dozens of veiled faces looked to me with their obscure eyes, waiting for me to bow. I stared back at them because truthfully they would be waiting for a long, long time.

Straightening, Ivan didn’t look at me but his invisible glacial stare bore into me disapprovingly. Disrespect or not, I would bow to no one, especially not their Essences after what I was put through.

A bitter sound exploded from his Black Essence, reverberating through the silence. It was a dark, mocking laugh whose lingering notes bounced off the walls.

“Are you refusing to bow to me, Halfling? You fool,” he said slowly, his laugh simmering into a low growl. Tearing off his hood, he roared, “I can make you kneel!”

Blinding light shot through every corner in the room, filling every ounce with black glamour. I gasped, my body jerking in pain. Twisting violently, my stomach tightened, my knees buckling from beneath me. Like a hologram, his Black Essence shifted erratically, my eyes unable to focus on him. His porcelain skin shifted from sheer to solid to liquid all at once, his hair changing color in waves. His eyes followed the same pattern, blazing with fire and ice. A sharp pain tore through the center of my head, my brain being pulled in four different directions. I bit my tongue to keep from screaming as the image of him lashed the back of my eyes. Forcing my eyes closed, I lowered my head. I couldn’t look at him any longer or I would explode, I was sure of it.