𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐄 ➻ 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐒𝐈𝐗 - 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲

𓆩☀𓆪

SHE WAITED UNTIL SHE HEARD THE SHUFFLING OF THE GUARD'S FOOTSTEPS, then she gently opened the large door that led out of her wing, looking left and right before dashing through the dark corridors as the sun hid away behind the moon. The castle's halls were dimly lit by hanging baskets of flames, yet these provided little light to the cold space.

She froze as she heard the chattering of guards coming towards her, so, without thinking, she allowed the feeble light to obscure the eyes of anyone who looked this way, seemingly fading herself into her surroundings. She sighed with relief as she felt herself become no weaker after the use of her abilities, she passed the East wing and faintly heard the hum of classical music playing - he was painting.

Allowing a sigh of relief to release, she continued her journey, walking hastily towards the entrance to where she would soon reach a small door hidden behind a connection of hidden passageways that seemingly became a maze. It was then that she realized she wouldn't be able to see, rolling her eyes, she quickly began to think of a way she would be able to create light without dashing to find a match or something. A risky idea came to her as she pondered the decision, yes, it would probably weaken her and risk her falling into some kind of coma, yet she needed the answers; she sensed something was wrong and a horrible feeling wouldn't stop tugging on her brain.

Focusing some of her energy into her palms, her hand began to glow faintly, she attempted to control the energy flowing into her hands, attempting to keep it as minimal as possible. Then she continued to venture further until she reached the door she had searched for. She quickly scampered up the step, careful not to trip.

Katherine looked around at the room which held several artefacts, new and old, yet mostly the latter. She knew that they Kings probably hid their important things in here that they didn't want anyone to risk finding in their offices - the door was protected by an ancient vampire whom possessed the gift of witchcraft several aeons ago, it was spelled so that nobody could enter if if they were not invited in by somebody that was at the peak of the status hierarchy. She felt quite tired as she allowed her energy to keep flowing to her palms, she quickly dug in drawers until she found a long match, quickly striking it and allowing the flame to embrace the room in a warm glow, she let out a deep breath as she allowed herself to will the energy away from flowing to her palms only, feeling her body become stronger.

Holding her hand in front of the flame to guard the several priceless items scattered throughout the room, she walked around the room, observing any place they could've hidden anything, ancient books, letters, anything that could relate to whatever they were not telling her. She came across an old painting easel, most likely one of Caius's old ones that held so many memories that even broken, he couldn't throw it out. Katherine felt around on the wood gently, attempting to find any secret compartments that it could hold. She noticed that there was a thin gap in the wood on one of the legs, probably where the wood had split, yet perhaps it was big enough to stash a small item. Kneeling down, she felt around the small the gap, her fingertips came into contact with what seemed to be a piece of paper, she attempted to get the paper out of the hole, struggling significantly.

Once she was finally able to tug it out, she noticed that it was not just an ordinary piece of paper, yet it was an envelope. Quickly opening it, Katherine scanned the writing, her brain running a million miles per second as she stared at what the author of the letter had written, grimacing as she read words so obviously written about her.

She was shocked, of course she was shocked, yet it didn't quite show just yet, her mind was unable to process it.

'Katherine?' She heard a female voice sound from the entrance of the room, just before the staircase.

Quickly, she tucked the paper into her sleeve, distinguishing the flame and rushing down the stairs, as she arrived at the bottom, she saw Ruby standing there, a confused look on her face, 'What's going on?' She asked, 'I can't enter up there.' She pointed out. Ruby was confused as she studied Katherine's face carefully, a look of understanding covering her features as she realised, '...You look like you've just uncovered something you shouldn't.' The Summers girl sighed as she realised what her friend had been doing, 'Come on, let's get you something to drink and then we can talk about it, but only if you want to, okay?'

Katherine nodded thankfully, taking the girls arm as all of what had just happened finally began to process in her brain, leaning on her friend's shoulder as they walked, Ruby shot a sad smile at the girl as they made their way to the kitchens. The only sound was the footsteps on the cold stone, and for some reason it seemed to relax the girl, the constant, comforting feeling that she wasn't alone right now.

Ruby opened the door into the kitchens, the room was usually only used for when the human staff or secretary were hungry, so it wasn't too fancy or over the top, yet it felt more cosy. Katherine sat herself down onto a wooden stool at the countertop as Ruby flicked the light switch, allowing the dim light to turn on and cast an amber glow onto the furniture.

The kettle boiled as the Summers girl leant on her arms which rested on the countertop facing Katherine, 'So I'm guessing you've figured it out?' She looked up sheepishly, 'I'm sorry for not telling you, I didn't think it was my place and the king's would've had my head.' She grimaced.

Katherine's eyes didn't move up off of the ground, she didn't blink, she just stared.

'Katherine?' Ruby asked again, attempting to get the girls attention, yet she didn't even move an inch, 'Katherine..? Hellooo! Earth to Katherine!' She snapped her fingers in front of her face, the sharp noise ricocheting off of the stone walls, echoing throughout the room.

The girl suddenly flinched and looked up towards Ruby, 'Oh, I'm sorry... It's just that I don't know what to do anymore.' She revealed, her eyes began to pool with tears, Ruby looked at her, entirely understanding as she turned around to pour the hot water into a cup that she had prepped with hot chocolate powder and milk, before setting the kettle down and carrying over the cup, which Katherine took gratefully, thanking her friend as she cradled the cup in her hands.

'It's just that... I'm not sure if I can trust them again, I mean, they've lied, and lied, and lied! I'm not sure if I can forgive them again and again, over and over, it's such a repetitive cycle now; they lie to cover something up, they continue to do so even as I ask about anything similar, then I find out and even if they admit to it or even try and act oblivious, the mating bond always seems to bring us back together and make us forgive each other like that!' She let go of her cup with one hand and snapped her fingers before her hand retreated back to cradling the cup in her hands, 'It's like I have no control over myself because of this stupid, toxic bond!' Katherine exclaimed, 'If it's meant to be true, then why is everything forced?' A tear slipped from her eye as Ruby suddenly moved the cup out of her hand before she dropped it, and as soon as the cup landed on the counter, Katherine wrapped her arms around Ruby, sobbing into her shoulder, 'I can't eat, I can't sleep, I can't live if I'm not around them! I don't have a choice, Ruby!' Ruby hushed her soothingly, brushing her hand through the girls long brown locks, as if she were comforting a small child.

Katherine's heart began to scream in agony inside of her as she felt a horrific pain bleed from it, the true mate bond obviously acting out as a result of her sadness and rebellion against it, yet she couldn't help but feel so numb that it merely felt like a scratch against her skin.

The door slammed against the wall suddenly as it was burst open by a panicked looking Marcus as the other two Kings were on his heels as they dashed over to the two girls, their expressions were crestfallen ones as they saw her sob into her friend's shoulder, yet they didn't know why as their own unbeating hearts cried at the sight.

𓆩☀𓆪