THE UNBREAKABLE PIECE (FIRST BOOK OF THE HIDDEN WORLD) English version

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: UNIQUE

The days had passed as quickly as the flutters of a hummingbird's wings. Preparations in Albus and around the city were escalating, but the demeanor of the Albeans also darkened. I could sense it in the unwilling bows and sharp looks I received as I walked on the cobblestones of the Citadel. Only a little girl playing with her cloth dolls on the green and damp morning grass gave me a smile when crossing the main square, the one hosting the stone of the prophecy. However, I understood their apathy; to them, I was just a princess who had returned from the dead, someone who hadn't bothered to connect with her people. I strolled through the Citadel as if I were one of them, but I truly didn't know them.

Now, I walked determinedly to my secret training spot within the dazzling and tangled Phoenix. I had come to know my way to the forest as well as I knew the secret hiding spots and the best restaurants in New York. Since my enlightening conversation with the King of Alba, I had trained with my gift in solitude, in the heart of the Phoenix. I had discovered the exact distance between the Citadel and Axis, so my screams of frustration wouldn't reach either the town of Alba or the students of Axis.

I had kept my nightly visits with my mother, as I had promised. No one knew about our meetings in case there were potential spies in the castle. Only my father, the king and the queen, and I knew the truth about Christian. I had to continue pretending in front of others for the well-being of my mother, that I hadn't forgiven her yet. Every time the lights went out in Albus, I slipped into the darkness to talk to her about her time with Drahceb.

Of course, I wasn't surprised to hear that Alice had been last seen by them. My mother clarified my suspicions about Christian and his relationship with the witch. He had been designated to take Alice to Drahceb. But apparently, they hadn't counted on the wit of my father's friend, who had managed to escape after a day in captivity, only to disappear from the face of the earth. Although my mother didn't know why Drahceb needed the witch, she confirmed his search within different covens, which he then sacrificed for fun since they had somehow assisted Alice. My mother assured me that Christian hadn't been involved in the witch hunt as he was in New York, providing constant reports about my whereabouts.

My spine twisted just hearing my brother's and Blue's names together. It seemed surreal the time we had spent intertwined in each other's lives without knowing we were siblings. Naturally, Drahceb had hidden my true identity from Christian, threatening my mother not to reveal it so that Christian couldn't develop any real emotional attachment to me. That made it easier to use his power over me.

Christian and Drahceb shared the gift of inhibiting senses, and my heart shrank a few inches realizing that the person I used to cry for at night had caused my recent episodes where reality was transgressed. He was just another soldier, another ally of Drahceb with no real decision-making power. Bernard was his father, and he obeyed him without question.

My mother also confessed that on the day of the red battle, my brother had demonstrated his gift for the first time, and Bernard quickly connected the dots, using it to separate us. He wasn't after him or my mother; Drahceb just wanted to isolate me from my world, weaken me for when the time was right to snatch my gift without even being able to fight back. I knew that if I were raised in Alba, in a stable environment, I could easily surpass him, becoming what he wanted to avoid at all costs—an worthy opponent, a heir to the throne that Drahceb desired so much.

However, there was something I still didn't understand, something that kept me awake at night and pressed on my chest like a ton of questions. How did he know that my death was just a rumor? How did he find me? And why was my gift so special to him?

Today was my last chance, the final day in which I could sharpen my knives and hone my instincts. Tomorrow, delegations of onpixes from different parts of the world would arrive to witness the rebirth of Phoenix at midnight and my official presentation as the successive member to inherit the heavy crown of Alba. Once my grandfather died or decided to abdicate his place as king, I would be next in line.