A HEART AS DARK AS MINE caos caliban x oc

Queendom (edited)

I cast my glance towards the throne. It's funny, because in that moment it occurred to me that Abigail had two sisters. Selene and Dorcas. Three identical girls, parted at birth and separated each into a different realm. Looking up at Selene now it was impossible to ignore. Of course Abigail had reminded me of her. Sisters. For a moment my mind wandered to telling Abigail about her sisters. About the life I would be able to give her with Dorcas and the coven. She could live with my aunties, sleep in my old room, be free of Hell. I would tell her about Selene, all the adventures we had before it all went wrong. Before things turned rotten. And then I realised that if Selene was here she would have no intention of letting me live. I would never tell Abigail. I would never see my Aunties again. I would die with this ring on my finger. I would die an object. A concubine rather than a queen. A rotten, fallen, bad thing. And the angels would tell my story as a way to warn their children to follow the rules. "You wouldn't want to end up like foolish little Seraphina now, would you?"

My body would stay here and the dust would settle and Abigail would still be in my room clutching her cross and all of this would be erased. I would just be another of Hell's many fallen. Queen for a short moment.

This was the end.

"I'm sorry, this is the only way, Sera. Sera I'm sorry-" Sabrina.

My sisters face was pale with guilt or regret or something in between, and Selene ran her slender fingers through my sisters white hair the way she once had with me.

"It's okay, Sabrina." She said softly, "This is how you save the world."

"You're working with- her?" I tried to disguise the cracks in my voice, but it was impossible when I could hear my heart shattering into a thousand pieces. "You know what she is, Sabrina. You know what she did to me."

Tears slipped down her cheeks, black with smears of the mascara I used to borrow from her. The thing that used to be ours. Ruined. Just like us.

"I'm not here to finish what we started, Sera." Selene drawled. "I'm here to fix what you ruined."

Another Angel, a tall male with tan skin and dark eyes gave me a disapproving once-over. "Where is your husband?" He asked, gaze settling on my blood stained ring.

As if on cue, the doors opened once more and all heads turned.

Caliban strode into the throne room, eyes wide, settling on me. He saw my fear. He felt it too. His ring finger was dripping blood along the marble floor, and my eyes widened in shock. A ring identical to mine had been embedded into his skin. I felt mine pulse as he drew closer.

You're my equal, even if this court treats you otherwise.

His voice. In my head.

Can you... hear me?

Of course. That is the point. Even now I could hear his sarcasm, but I could also hear the fear he attempted to mask.

"What is the meaning of this?" He commanded with a mask of confidence I found it impossible to obtain. But I could feel his nerves beneath it, his fear mixing with my own,

"We offer you a choice." Sabrina said shakily. "Abdicate. Give your throne to me, or, or-"

All of a sudden, my body fell limp. Selene prowled towards me, my figure lifting into the air with some strange magic as she did so. She smiled a wicked grin, bending down to my ear.

"This is your punishment. You get to watch him chose the throne over you. You get to finally see that you don't matter."

My body dropped to the ground, and I tried to scream down that invisible bond, I tried to cling to it like a lifeline but the wall that had severed my mind from his was adamant and unyielding.

She grabbed me by the hair, forcing my head back and raising a spear to my throat. The spear of Longinus.

She was going to kill me. He was going to chose the throne. I was going to die.

Please I tired to scream. Please.

Caliban flexed his jaw, running a hand though his curls as his eyes flicked to me. For a moment I thought he might have heard my pleas.

Selene knew the throne was the purpose of his creation. She knew. This a carefully orchestrated plan designed to hurt me more than any blades or whips or flames ever could.

"Sera." He said. "I want Sera. The thrones yours."

Selene dropped me. I saw her smile falter, her eyes go wide. Just for a split second. It was enough for that mental wall to come crashing down.

I want you. He said. I was stupid not to see that. I've wanted you since that first dream and I will want you until the last.

If I could have moved I think I would have cried. But feeling was starting to come back now, my skin alive with a fiery tingle.

"The infernal crown will crush you." Caliban warned. "And if it does not then your guilt will."

"I'm sorry." Sabrina choked out. "I'm trying to save people."

I pushed myself to sit, quickly regaining control over my limbs.

"Don't be." I said, voice cracking with the strain of moving to stand. "Don't shy away from that bad things you do." All of a sudden I let out a manic laugh at the irony of it all. "Embrace it, Sabrina." I leered. "Please, by all means. You don't have to pretend that you give a shit about me or any of this court. But saving the mortals won't make you good or just. And it will never change the fact that you're not half the ruler I am."

The court jeered and shouted in agreement. I was wrong to think that I was an outsider in this palace, in this realm. They wanted me. I let myself bask in it for just another moment, dipping into a mocking bow before her.

"Leave." The second Angel hissed. "This is no longer your jurisdiction."

"I don't recall it being yours either." Caliban leered. I laced my hand through his.

"Your wife happens to be an Angel, if you recall." Selene spat the word like an insult.

Another laugh bubbled from my throat. This one hoarse, manic, like making a joke out of pain yet truly laughing. "I stopped being an Angel when you carved those wings from my back you bastard."
His thumb traced circles along my palm.

"Enjoy queendom, traitor."