Adorned By Her

**Chapter 34 BREAK HEARTS, NOT PROMISES

CADENCE POV

The sun was peeking through the small slits of the rectangular perimeter for windows. The boredom was monumental, with my fingernails only being used to scratch at the dusty walls, making small engravings of goofy characters. I peer over at Zephyrus who is sound asleep, as if she's been in a coma for a week straight, just sleeping from dusk to dawn. Probably bored out of her mind and in the same mindset as myself, wanting to use the locket's power, but not knowing how, I think to myself. It is our 45th day at the prison cell and still nothing has happened. "What a mess," I mumble to myself. The day grows more and more mundane by the second. Surprisingly, being in each other's presence felt more intimate than making eye contact. Anyone could look at one another, but to see the same view through the same lenses was a different story. You learn a lot about a person by spending time with them. During this whole month and almost a half, Zephyrus and I have been talking about our lives.

She told me about her time as a young vampire and how alchemists lived just as long, because longevity spells were banned from even amongst the witch and magician circles. "I became a vampire when I was seventeen-years old, so a high-school junior. You're only about twelve years old in alchemy years. We all age differently, so don't worry." The aging difference seemed to confuse me, because Zephyrus appeared to be twenty-two years old, not my grandmother's age. The perks of being a vampire were that you appeared young no matter what age you really were. Pristine appearance, supple skin, and glowing countenances to top off the vampire's ego. The math was off-putting so I decided to just trust that these vampires were centuries' older.

"And are you doing okay?" Zephyrus asked me nonchalantly. I reply stressfully, "Yes, I'm just a little bored...you know, being locked in prison doesn't give me a lot of options. And the food tastes awful. Stale bread, spoiled milk, and Uncrustables peanut butter and jelly sandwiches taste terrible in my opinion. I've barely touched my plate since I've gotten here." The prospect of me being stuck in this torture dungeon was actually harrowing, as being the Rosebud, even I wasn't spared the cruelty. Having special treatment to date Eloise was just another elaborate scheme of the dark vampire family. I shouldn't have fallen in love with her so easily, I think to myself petrified at the fact that Eloise wouldn't have batted an eyelash at my funeral.

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It had been so long since I had sex and it was getting to me. Fuck a guy's libido, girls also felt horny most times. I felt so turned on, the one morning that I saw Zephyrus exposed to the fresh air. Zephyrus was way too alluring to not touch. She loved to sleep naked as she told me "It keeps a vampire's youthfulness alive." She was just there, in all of glorious nakedness. I wanted to touch her so bad, but the guards were watching us keenly. "You're way tastier than that meal...as I've heard from Eloise during lunch the one time," she says out of nowhere. I blush, turning a crimson red. I was trying so hard to articulate words but nothing came out of my mouth, just a mumbled, "Yea, and?"

"Remember when you broke each other's hearts? We had lunch together previously, in the hour before she came forth to tell you that she wasn't like her father. "Funny thing is, I believe in the motto, break hearts, not promises, right?" Zephyrus let out a loud laugh and the guards told her to shut up. "Just saying, at least you know that I never broke my promise to protect you..." I hear a clunking noise and the lockets suddenly stuck together, as if magnetized to one another. I try a Nix smell on the negation bars of the cell and nothing happens. I even try a harder snow damage spell, but the witches had cast a negation spell on the prison cell. Then, I try clairvoyance on the guards, but still, the negation spell has stripped me of my full powers.

I look down at the locket again and see that the two lockets are glowing a bright red color and alternating to a bright white color occasionally. This is when Zephyrus chimes in. "Yes, so the Chancellor's not actually trying to execute us; I mean, think about it, you're his Rosebud, and I'm a tenured vampire as much as Eloise is. He's just here to examine your full awakening...how the awakening works, I am not certain...nobody told me that part...well the juicy parts anyways," she sighs and takes a deep breath. "You know," Zephyrus continues as I listen to her intently from the top of my bunk bed. "That locket I gave to you was adorned by her..." her voice trails off. "Who is her?" I tilt my head, puzzled as to her response. "Your grandmother, when I was only seventeen years old. She invited me to join the Lamille Order of the Grand Alchemists then."