A persistent ringing hooked Felix's consciousness and dragged him from the frigid depths. Despite the cold, the dark was welcoming. It smothered him in its weight, burying him in the promise that nothing else mattered. Weariness clung to him for so long; if he let go now, it would be so easy. No one could blame him. He could simply forget and sink free, unburdened by pain and the responsibility of living on. Who could blame him?
The ringing grew steadily louder, joined by a stabbing pain that tore through his head. A distant cry cut through the dark, prying him from its whispers. Aiko's face appeared in his vision—hazy and far away, but there all the same. Her lips moved, but no sound came out. Her hand reached toward him, but he could never meet her. She was too far; the tips of his fingers didn't even brush hers when he stretched out his hand. Ice sank into his bones. The warmth of the Bright Soul was too far to latch onto, and he could feel his flame dying out.
"Felix, stay with me!"
His eyes flew open and he heaved in a gasp, his chest aching as though he had forgotten to breathe for a long stretch of time. A shiver raced through him as he pushed himself upright. His shoulder burned, joined by the staggering pain in his head to produce a wave of dizzying nausea that threatened to drag him under again.
When his vision settled, the throne room came into view. Red carpet covered the floor beneath him, pushed against the walls on either side of him and lined with strips of gold. A pool of blood darkened the carpet, marking the place where he had been laying for so long. Aiko was kneeling beside him, though several feet away as if to keep her from getting too close. Her eyes were wide with fear and her chest heaved as she took in shallow breaths. Behind her back, her wrists were bound together in thick rope. She seemed unharmed otherwise. He relaxed, slumping back against his heels.
"There he is. So kind of you to join us," a soft voice spoke in a honeyed tone, carried by the same elegant melody he remembered. The one that spoke of lies—a snake that had coiled around his heart, waiting months for the chance to strike him down.
He snapped his gaze toward the sound. Ahead, at the far end of the room, a gilded throne sat atop a dias. Light from the chandelier high above graced the throne in a warm, angelic glow that mirrored the Ember Core's presence. Perched within its seat, dressed in a fine, midnight blue gown, was Dinah. A smile curled her red lips up and she crossed one leg over the other, her skirts glittering like the fabric was embedded with thousands of tiny diamonds. Her pale blonde hair spilled over her shoulders in delicate curls, free of the bun that had trapped it the last time he saw her. Gone was the small and unassuming woman he had met in the study buried deep within Furvus walls. What sat before him was a proud queen who held his life in her hands. His heart shuddered.
This was the Queen of Furvus.
She waved to one of the guards at her side. "Help him up. That shoulder is surely bugging him, but it's polite to sit up straight in the presence of a Queen."
"Don't you dare lay a finger on him!" Aiko snapped, jerking forward and pulling at the ropes that bound her. An invisible force seemed to have locked her in place. The air shimmered with the appearance of the Core's barrier—similar, but not quite the same.
"Do what you want with me, but leave Felix out of this! You've hurt him enough," she finished.
Dinah's laughter fell like the first drop of rain after a long, dry, and unmerciful summer. It graced the silence with a sound like the gentle chime of bells. As beautiful as it was, it twisted Felix's insides painfully. It didn't match the rough hand of her guard that grabbed his hair and yanked him upright. The guard jerked Felix's wrists behind his back, pulling sharply on his wounded shoulder. Red hot pain laced through his body. He suppressed his cry to a low hiss, counting the slow seconds until the pain subsided and the guard released him, though the rope he left behind rubbed awkwardly against Felix's wrists.
"Oh, Aiko," Dinah went on as her laughter finally began to subside. She rested a hand against her chest and rose to her feet. "You are quite amusing. It's no wonder everyone is so enamored with you. Such brave and beautiful words, spun together with glittering threads of lies. You must learn to hold your tongue. After all, I haven't touched Felix. I have done nothing to hurt him."
"You're the one that sent him here!" she snarled. Sparks flared to life at her fingertips, flashing dangerously close to the ropes that bound her. "You started all of this. It's all your fault!"
Behind them, the doors swung open unannounced. Two sets of footsteps entered the room, muffled by the plush carpet.
"When will you learn to stop blaming others for your failures, Aiko?" a deep male voice sighed, the sound of it thick with disappointment and oozing with venom. He breezed past them with proud, determined steps—almost calculated, as though this was a walk he had practiced many times over. His back was perfectly straight and he carried himself with an air of authority. Even the way he turned toward them was rigid. He looked down on them with the eyes of a hawk, lips set in a perfect frown. There was no blank to hide his thoughts, allowing them to roll off his expression in waves of pent-up frustration and spite.
Felix straightened unconsciously in his presence, despite that it sent another wave of pain over him, rocking the world beneath him. Stiffly, he glanced behind him, searching for the second set of footsteps.
Nova limped into the room, covered in wounds and missing tufts of her raven-black hair. One eye was hidden beneath a bandage that covered half her face, but still she carried her head high as she strode past him. He set his jaw, glaring at her. She never once turned to look at him, content—it seemed—to pretend he wasn't there at all.
"Nova has been such a dedicated and loyal servant to me in your absence, Felix," Dinah tittered as she slowly descended the steps of the dias. "Even after facing near-death at the claws of Aiko's demon, she still serves me well. And yet..." Dinah sighed, coming to a stop at the final step. "After all I offered you, still you betrayed me."
Even if he wanted to reply, all Felix could find the energy to do was grit his teeth. His head throbbed and a small trickle of blood oozed past his ear, plastering his hair to his scalp and flooding his nose with a coppery scent. He ran his tongue over his dry lips, sliding his gaze toward Aiko. There was nothing he could say; he could barely think through the haze.
Aiko's gaze was pinned on Nova, and she shook her head in disbelief. She snapped toward Dinah. "Mae... what happened to Mae?"
Dinah hummed and turned to the guard at her side once more. All it took was a nod and he went jogging out of the room, leaving the door hanging open behind him.
"To answer your question," Dinah began, "how about I start with a story, hm? All children love a good story, don't they? Even cursed brats like you must appreciate them."
Aiko drew back, clenching her jaw. Even though her expression burned with anger, eyes watering as she was forced to wait for the answer they both already knew, she kept silent. Waiting. The sparks died from her hands and the barrier around her flickered.
Satisfied with this reaction, Dinah smiled fondly and strode forward. Ameris and Nova stepped out of her way as she took slow, deliberate steps away from the throne. Her path led her toward Felix, on his knees at her feet, glaring up at her. She trailed a finger along his jawline. He jerked his head away.
"It all started with a game," Dinah began as she came to a standstill, looming over Felix the way the night sky overtook the mountains in the north. "You see, I couldn't stand the thought of some little Niveus brat holding the key to more power than I could ever hope to have in my hands. It kept me up at night. When a woman loses sleep over envy, it is no pretty sight for the world. So I devised a plan."
She grabbed Felix's face and jerked him toward Aiko, who stiffened. Humming to herself, Dinah dragged her nails through Felix's scalp, raking them across the bloody wound in the side of his head. Her touch burned. He winced, biting his tongue to keep quiet.
"In Furvus, there once was a man with the blood of countless victims on his hands. He died a tragic death, leaving all his skills and knowledge to his young apprentice, Felix," Dinah went on. "Much like his predecessor, Felix is an excellent killer. There is no one like him in all of Furvus. Did you know he is said to be without emotions? A completely obedient killing machine, they say! What a perfect and beautiful pawn." Laughing to herself, she dropped Felix. "I set him on the board first, but he seemed so lonely and lost there. I wondered if this was too much for him. I had never commissioned a job like this, you see, so I began to send others to join him on the field—at a staggered schedule, of course, to keep them from learning the truth of this game. It is best to ensure victory for yourself, is it not?"
"Get to the point," Felix snapped, cringing at the way his words slurred. His vision turned black at the edges, flickering in and out. More than anything, he wished to put his head down, but if he did, he couldn't promise to raise it again. He heaved in a deep breath, begging his heart to still. "You're always... wasting time."
Dinah's piercing gaze whipped around to meet his eye. A deep frown etched into her face and something flickered in her gaze, like a snake drawing back for a strike. She raised one hand and the click of Nova's crossbow answered. The familiar twang of the bolt being shot across the track filled the air seconds before Aiko's scream. Fear surged through him and a roaring filled his ears as his gaze landed on the arrow embedded in her thigh. She was doubled over, curling in on herself as blood seeped through her pants. Yet she remained in place, smothering her cry into a whimper.
"Aiko!" Felix sprang toward her, only to have his shoulders snagged by the guard. He gasped as his wound screamed in response and allowed himself to be shoved back in place.
Ameris stepped forward, but Dinah raised her hand again to stop him.
"As I was saying," Dinah continued calmly, slowly lowering her hand as though nothing had happened. She cleared her throat politely, sweeping a stray lock of hair over her shoulder. Impatience knotted her brow, but she waited until Aiko's labored breathing grew quiet once more before she continued. "When I finally arrived in Niveus, it was heartbreaking to learn of so many failures. The newly-crowned Queen and my best assassin had run away together, leaving the city in shambles and that dreadful cat on the loose, killing and destroying indiscriminately. It was terrible. But you know, I had promised Ameris that I was coming to help this kingdom thrive, so I couldn't simply turn my back on it when it needed my help."
The guard who had left now returned with a large box in his hands. It was simple: constructed of smooth, tanned wood and with no embellishments, ornate carvings, or jewels. There wasn't even a painting or an engraving of some kind to mark it, but recognition lit up Dinah's face. The guard bowed as he offered the box to her. She beamed like a child and tore the lid away, letting it clatter to the ground at her feet. Immediately, the stench of rotting flesh flooded the room, and Felix recoiled, jerking against the rope to cover his nose with his hand, but it didn't budge.
"Ah, yes." With a gleam in her eyes, Dinah reached into the box and pulled out a small creature, cloaked in blood-stained white fur. A cat—its claws soaked in dried blood, its mouth hanging open in an unbidden cry, its glassy blue eyes staring emptily ahead.
Felix shook his head slowly, his throat constricted as horror sank its claws into him. Mae.
She tossed the body to the floor in front of Aiko. It fell heavily against the carpet, limp and empty. A choked sob wrenched itself free from Aiko's lips as she bowed over the body, burying her face in Mae's stained fur. Her whole body shuddered with the force of her cries, her fingers clenching and unclenching against her palms. Felix's heart wrenched at the sight. He leaned toward her only to be held back.
"You owe me a favor, Queen Aiko Cennín," Dinah cooed and lowered herself to Aiko's height. "I just saved your kingdom from ruin at the claws of this monster. If you won't die—and since you worked so hard to come back here—then why don't you grant me a wish?"
Aiko wrenched her head up with a roar. "I don't owe you anything!" she cried. Cracks of flickering flames crawled across her skin, enveloping her in the warm air of the Core's power. She slammed her head against the barrier, sending a ripple across the translucent surface. "You're sick. The Core rejects your presence in my kingdom, and it is my divine right to eliminate you. I will—"
She faltered as the flames flickered out. With a gasp, she doubled over once more, pressing her forehead to the ground. A groan slid through her lips. Felix couldn't see her face behind her curtain of hair, but the way she shuddered was enough to tell him her bond with the Core had rebounded against her again. Helplessness washed over him, threatening to drag him into the depths. Desperately, he twisted his hands and pulled against the ropes. They cut into his wrists, searing his skin, but he didn't care. Aiko was in more pain than him. He had to stop this.
"Aiko," Ameris whispered, brushing past Dinah and kneeling beside her. His expression had softened and he laid a hand against her shoulder. She jerked away with a shout. "Aiko, listen to me. This is for the best."
"What part of this is good?" Felix snapped. Frustration gave life to his voice and he hardened his glare as Ameris turned to him. "You've done nothing but force her to suffer for years. But if you're going to push that aside, how is any of this for the best? For you, perhaps it is, but don't you ever think about her? Or is she nothing but a puppet to you?"
Dinah sighed and rose to her full height, smoothing her hair back from her face. "Oh, Felix. You poor thing. If anyone is a puppet, it's you. You're nothing but a blank slate waiting to be carved, and Aiko has left her mark on you already. It's so deep that there's no going back now. I'm not even sure your master could repair this damage if he was still with us."
Felix furrowed his brow, swallowing his confusion. The tips of his fingers turned cold as he glanced at Aiko, who refused to meet his eye. His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth and he was forced to hesitate a moment longer even though the question had already risen to the front of his mind. "What do you mean?" he rasped.
"She hasn't told you?" Dinah laughed, hiding her snake-like grin behind her hand as the court ladies did. As though she was sharing the daily gossip and nothing more. "You possess a weak flame. If the right person makes a request of you in the right way, you are unable to refuse. That's why you're still here, strung along by her lies, though you so desperately search to be free. It's why your obedience to me or anyone else was never destined to last as long as the Bright Soul lives."
Silence blanketed the thick, tension-filled air. The ringing flooded Felix's ears once more and his head began to spin. His whole body went rigid as he stared numbly ahead. As Dinah's words sank in, it all became so clear. From the very beginning, he was a victim of Aiko's words. It didn't matter what she said as long as it was her. The very sound of her voice was a pleasant melody he couldn't escape from, turning his focus until he lost sight of why he had come.
It had been Aiko and the Core all along, and his chest ached at the realization. There was no freedom in the pleasure of her company. It was simply another chain that bound him to someone else's greed.
And yet, he couldn't take his gaze away from her. Though the cold ravaged his core, clawing at the weak tendrils of his flame, he could only stare longingly at her. Deep down, some part of him still clung to her, and it wept to see her in such pain.
No. He bit down on his tongue and wrenched his gaze away. Ice coated his veins in frost as he met Dinah's unwavering gaze. It's not true. Aiko... Aiko wouldn't do something like that. She would have told me.
"That's the problem with weak flames," he remembered her saying, her face buried in his cloak and her voice teetering on the verge of breaking. "There's... something I've been afraid to tell you."
Realization sank into his heart like a blade, twisted sharply by the reality. Though he hated to admit it, Dinah's silver-coated words rang with the bitter truth.
He was nothing but a tool. He was only made to be used, not loved.
I wrote a huge chunk of this chapter at 1AM and I hope it doesn't show.
Anyway, let's all give a warm welcome to Dinah, Ameris, and Nova! Our three favorite people! Oh, and to Mae, who we all missed very dearly--oh wait, I suppose we'll keep missing him lol. Sorry not sorry.
This is the first time I've cranked out a chapter this fast since the beginning of this story. I'm getting the point where I have a lot of anxiety about executing everything correctly and properly--and making sure it's not boring--but we're almost to the end! I can hold out on the idea that it's a first draft. Hopefully.
Until next time! :D