Celeste's life is far from the enchanting fairy tale one might expect from a princess. Her father, a ruthless and self-absorbed king, leaves a trail of death and destruction in his wake. To seal alliances and maintain his power, he arranges for Cele...
It has been a long time since I feared death. After staring death in the eyes countless times and inviting it, it is far from something that frightens me. Its presence and the idea of it bring me comfort.
This ordeal is coming to an end.
The flames in my lifelines are receiving more oxygen. With each passing hour spent in this dark hell, the fire begins to spread.
The endless darkness, the cold and the dripping water do not make it easier for me to resist. If I could, I would dig my nails into my skin, tearing away the flesh until I can extinguish the fire.
The number of days I have spent in this darkness is unclear. If I counted the amount of food, consisting of a piece of dry bread and half a bowl of thin soup, correctly, four days have passed. Four days of total darkness, cold, and hunger.
The only thing occupying my mind is my thoughts, something I was anything but pleased about in the beginning.
The screaming voice in my head has called me all the terrible names it could come up with. I have relived all the murders and deaths as if they were unfolding before me. Nora being shot, the first murder, and all the other scars were ripped open.
The tears have slid down my cheeks until there was nothing left, I have screamed until my lungs were empty and pounded my hand against the stone wall until it was broken.
I deserve it. I deserve that pain, the guilt, and the tears. The monster I tried to fight has become me. I am my father.
After being consumed for three days, the voice took me through the good moments of the past years. Novak, Alisha, Nelly, and all the others who joined hands with me to face the fire. The endless nights in the taverns, drinking, dancing, and laughing until the sun rose. The beautiful nature I have been fortunate enough to witness.
This adventure all started with Nora stepping into the castle. The realization of her motive behind that visit came too late.
The list, the dagger, the stone, it was meticulously planned. Nora knew she would die, just like Viko and Tristan. That spell and the plan were tailored to me from the beginning.
The water and air lines, the lifelines that Nora and Tristan were connected to, could never bear this magic. The weakest lifelines were never restored after Yin and Yang. If they were to attempt it, the lines would break under the pressure. Light is too pure for such dark magic, Viko's line would be consumed.
Although those lines have become even weaker after their deaths, the bloodline is the one that holds the core together. The strongest line of the four possesses enough power to sustain the magic while I am still alive. I am the one holding the core together.
From the moment they heard that the army was advancing, they knew that I had to be the one to stay alive at all costs.
That spell and list are tailored to my magic; Nora was only there to set me free, and Viko and Tristan served as distractions until they could no longer.
Their sacrifices, trust, and work are the driving force that I have been seeking all this time.
Those deaths must have meaning, just like all the others.
I will never be able to forget the names and faces of the people I have killed. It is an eternal list that I keep repeating, and the faces haunt me in my dreams.
If I were to give up now, everything would be in vain, the deaths would be for nothing.
I will see this through, I will give those names meaning, whatever the cost may be.
My father and Christiaan will die. They will hear the dead screaming amidst their own screams.
That is what I will use my magic for and nothing else.
My train of thought is interrupted by inaudible footsteps. The shoes glide so silently over the stones that no human soul would notice.
Slowly, I rise from the icy wall, trying to see who appears before the dark bars.
The first thing that becomes visible is a pair of black pants and two heavy shoes. As the person kneels in my direction, I see the person I least expected to see here.
Elien.
At first, he is just as silent as I am. In the darkness, there is no trace of emotion until he lets out a deep sigh.
'Celeste.'
'Elien.'
I don't know how he managed to penetrate this darkness. Maybe Christiaan and my father are dumber than I thought, or perhaps Elien is smarter.
'How are you feeling?' he asks softly as I don't move a finger.
'Bad.'
In the distance, I see him nod slowly.
Despite him being my little brother, I don't forgive him in an instant. If I end up on that stake in three days, it will be his fault.
However, I am not naive either. He would never have addressed me like this if he were here on someone else's orders.
'I'm sorry, for everything,' he whispers as I see his eyes darting through the dark corridor.
I remain unresponsive. I wait and watch.
'I don't have much time, but I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you're here and for everything I didn't know before. Please tell me how I can help you,' my brother pleads softly through the bars.
That is the moment when I slowly push myself off the cold wall.
'Why did you do it?'
His offer is more than welcome, but my naivety won't prevail this time. To know what I can rely on, I need to understand his motives.
Once again, the black eyes scan the corridor attentively.
'They injected something into my veins, I don't know what. All I know is that it causes excruciating pain and makes me hallucinate. They only give me a small dose of the antidote if I do as they say.'
My head can only nod as it works overtime, searching for an explanation.
'How long will it take for the antidote to wear off?'
'A few hours.'
All the knowledge I got from Nelly about plants doesn't do its job here. There is no plant that gives day effect in such intensity without dying from it.
What I do know is that Elien can hardly be trusted as long as my father and Christiaan control the antidote.
'Tell me everything you know.'
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