To the Shadowsinger | Azriel

Chapter 64: This is real

Raisa couldn't help feeling like a fly on the wall as she watched her mate pick her dying husband up by his throat. She stepped through the broken wall and looked down the hall to see people stepping out of their rooms at the commotion in the hall. It was at Azriel's words and the look on his face that made people decide it wasn't a smart idea to try to help, even if Caius was their king. A male defending his mate wasn't something smart individuals dared to mess with.

"Yes! It was worth it!" Caius spat blood in Azriel's face.

It didn't surprise Raisa at all. His words didn't even sting her, he had never been one to regret his actions. But it was Caius' next words that had Raisa wanting to cover her ears and drone out the accusation.

"She killed the only one I have ever loved!" The raw emotion on Caius' face made her look away.

Azriel didn't seem like he cared. Caius could break down and tell him about his miserable childhood of abuse and sibling rivalry and how when he finally found his happiness, it had been Raisa who destroyed it and Azriel would still rip his throat out with no remorse.

Raisa didn't mean to kill her, it had been an accident, one she thought about every single day. An accident that made her horrified to use her powers to their full extent. An accident that perhaps turned Caius into the monster he was today. But what broke her heart even more was not only did she have to live with knowing she killed the one her husband truly loved but she killed the one she had loved most in this world.

"It was an accident," Raisa sounded like the fearful child she had been on the day it happened. She had been alone and afraid and determined to shove her actions into the back of her mind and forget what she had done. She never spoke about what she did, but Caius knew, the old council knew, even her father had known and hated her for it.

Caius' dark eyes landed on Raisa and pleaded, "I was going to marry her. I loved her."

"I know," Raisa's voice broke. She didn't feel bad for the Caius he was now, she felt bad for the Caius she knew when she was a little girl. The one that everyone loved. Now, that version of him was long gone, so she walked up to the broken male pinned against the wall and said, "But my mother will hate you in the afterlife for what you did to me."

Caius shook his head in denial. "I'm not dying," he used what little strength he had left to try to push Azriel off of him to no avail. "Sinna! Harani! Someone get them!"

Those watching from a distance began to frantically look around for the two females or discuss where they could be. Harani was contracted to the king and queen to save them from any sickness, she could save him from this if she came. She could even save him from the brink of death.

Azriel looked to Raisa for permission to put Caius out of his misery. The venom had turned his whole face a shiny shade of blue, but Raisa was more surprised he had managed to endure the pain so quietly. She knew he was in agony, she could see it in his eyes, see it in the way he set his jaw, yet he didn't cry out.

Raisa gave Azriel a sad smile, "Help me take him back into the bedroom."

At first she thought Azriel was going to fight her on this, he looked so determined to kill Caius, but then he nodded. Caius was too weak to fight back now anyways, his body went limp between the two as they walked him back into the room and placed him on the bed.

"Please," Caius coughed up blood. "Get Harani before it's too late."

"Rai," Azriel said her name like a warning. She ignored him and just watched the slow rise and fall of Caius' chest.

"Does it hurt?" She asked.

Caius nodded, his face twisted in pain. "It hurts so much, Raisa. Please, help."