Illuminating the Dark Prince

The Dungeon

I tried to compose myself and keep it together the best I could. After learning that our child, firstly existed, and secondly was ill-fated, I'd been acting as calmly as I could to not stress Lucilia out any more than this shitty situation already was... But holy fuck was it hard to resist bashing my head against the wall like a madman.

You traitorous lying sack of shit! You led me to believe that you actually cared for her!... I silently bared my teeth in aggression... It was you who played with my fears and emotions and convinced me to deceive both her and Azathoth! To come out this way and then take her here to Tenveriel! This was your plan all along, wasn't it!?

"Yes, it was." It sinisterly cooed. "...And... I also ensured the conception of my next vessel. Your shadows weren't doing their job while you mindlessly indulged in the sweetness of her blood like the monster you are..."

My jaw fell open in a silent hiss. The memory of when it had stabbed my head while I was intimate with Lucilia back on the mountain flashed through my mind. I furiously clenched my fists, yet I was mindful as to not rattle the chains... You ensured that I impregnated her? So this was literally all your doing!? My gaze shifted to Lucilia's sweet but downcast face, and I comfortingly rubbed my leg against hers... I'm going to fucking kill you!

"...But only your death can kill me." It laughed and laughed and laughed, the sound wicked and loathsome as it echoed throughout my tormented mind.

"Valarendrik?" Lucilia's soft sniffly voice pulled me from my murderous and chaotic thoughts.

The rage and hatred scrawled across my face was quickly erased by a tender look of compassion as I glanced over at her. "Yes, Lucilia?" I calmly replied. 

"I'm pregnant." It seemed as though she needed to say the words out loud to herself more than to me, but I attentively listened anyway. The scent of her fear grew tenfold as she spoke, and I could hear her heartbeat rapidly picking up speed. 

Sorrow gnawed away at my heart and I greatly wished that this could have been a happy moment for us. "I know." I sucked in a useless breath of the sickening stale air, then felt even more terrible knowing that she had no choice but to breathe in that putrid stench. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. Had I known, I never would have brought you here."

The chains rattled while she shook her head, causing her golden hair to gently tumble over her teary face. Little salty droplets dripped from her rosy-pink nose and splashed onto the floor. "No, it's not your fault. Neither of us knew. And if anything, I'm to blame for not suspecting that this might be the case considering all the weird symptoms I've been experiencing lately."

I would have ripped my hair out in frustration had my hands not been shackled. I could not allow her to blame herself for my mistakes. "No, I must take full responsibility for all of this." 

"...Yet if you tell her the truth, she'll know that you raped her." The crown sniggered. 

I furrowed my brows and glared down at the slimy stone floor, truly thinking over what the crown had just said. The more I detangled my own thoughts from its poison web of lies, the more ridiculous it all sounded. Yet fear and apprehension still coiled around my spirit, constricting my will to come clean to her. 

I breathlessly sighed while turning to face her. She might hate me for the rest of her life, but she deserved the full truth. She was beloved to me and soon to be the mother of my child, hopefully, and I would withhold no verities from her any longer. I would use my better judgment and take complete responsibility for my dishonorable actions, no matter the consequences. In my soul, I knew that I was not a deceitful and malevolent creature like the crown, and I would follow my own wisdom and intuition from now on.