The Thread Of Fate

Chapter 49

With great effort, I tore myself away from him. Turning away, I rushed to sit in the carriage. I couldn't bear to look at him. I didn't trust myself to leave without creating a scene if I did so.

I shut the door and the carriage took off. The ride back to Chant was going to be non stop. Ariadne and I were travelling in different carriages each while Maria decided to travel on horseback. She was bored of the 'royal life' she'd said.

It was going to be a long journey with hardly anything to do. My thoughts were my only company and they weren't very pleasant. I tried gazing out of the window for a while but all I saw were soldiers and horses with trees in the backdrop. With nothing else to do, I decided to try and sleep.

Nightmares plagued me. Each more dreadful than the last. Full of death, destruction, defeat and sadness. One of them was the most disturbing.

I was alone in a dark castle, I'd gone off to save Ariadne but had failed. She lay dead at my feet. Her empty eyes staring at me. I bent down to hug her, weeping as my heart broke. There was an immense sense of guilt and hopelessness.

"Seraphina...." I'd heard her whisper before her cold hands wrapped around my throat. I'd tried to apologise, to beg her for forgiveness but no voice came out.

"You're selfish." She'd screamed, "you deserve nothing but death!"

The scene shifted then. I was in a battle field. Everyone close to me had died. Someone had betrayed us. Someone very close.

"You could've saved her." I'd heard someone say from behind.

Upon turning around, I saw Leo holding a dead Ariadne in his arms.

"None of this would've happened if you'd saved her." He said, "she would've been alive! My brother would be alive! Dominic would be alive!"

"What did you do?"

"I told him everything." Leo snarled at me, "I told Nish everything!"

I'd woken up at that point. Too scared to go back to sleep. The only good thing about my nightmares was that a significant amount of time had passed and we'd travelled quite a bit and were nearing Chant.

I only knew because I'd screamed during my nightmare and Maria had halted the entire procession. It was a bit embarrassing. Even though I'd tried to reassure her everything was ok, she had been extremely worried. She kept repeating that Chant was near.

Luckily, there had been no attacks. The ride had been pretty uneventful. I'd decided to seek out Hara or Cleo as soon as we reached to take my sleep medicine before things got worse. It wasn't the best solution but it was quick and effective.

The hustle and bustle of the capital was comforting in an odd way. It made me realise how much I'd come to love the country and the city. It really felt like home.

Because of him...

Dominic's influence was undeniable. It wasn't just him though. It was everyone, especially Ariadne, Maria and Leo. Thinking of Leo took me back to my nightmare for a brief second and I shuddered.

"Just a nightmare." I whispered to myself.

In reality, I knew Leo would never betray us. He was an honourable man. However, deep down I was afraid of his reaction when I'd learnt that Ariadne had been taken. She was his family after all.

The previous night, I'd learnt from Dominic that the men that had taken Ariadne were in Ralia's uniform. We didn't know if it was an inside job or not. Dominic had been suspicious of Nish but he also pointed out that perhaps someone in the kingdom didn't appreciate the closeness between Jace and Ariadne.