Sliding off the edge of the bed, Claire felt as though she were in a dream. She stepped closer, raising the lantern higher to further light the room and illuminate the figure. She felt her heart begin to pound and had to force herself to breathe.
It was him.
Her hand trembled as she set the lantern down on the chest at the foot of the bed before practically flying across the room. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him as though she feared he might disappear right before her eyes if she didn't do something to keep him there.
The emotions that welled up inside her were an explosive mixture of joy, relief and anger. She didn't know whether to laugh, cry or yell at him for making her worry so much. In the end she just buried her face against his shoulder and held him tighter as all the fear and anxiety that had been growing like a monster inside her finally broke free.
It wasn't until she had exhausted herself of tears that she realized Alek hadn't moved. He hadn't wrapped his arms around her, he hadn't held her equally as tight, he hadn't even spoken a single word since she had realized he was there. It wasn't until she loosened her hold to step back that his arms snaked around her and he pulled her back against him.
"Alek?"
There was a tremble in her voice that surprised even her.
"Are you scared?" He asked, his voice low.
"No," she replied, though even she wasn't sure if she was being entirely honest.
He chuckled and the sound sent unpleasant shivers dancing up and down the length of her spine.
Something was wrong.
"You're a terrible liar, Claire," Alek replied, his hand rising to cup the side of her face. His fingers felt cool, cold almost and she had to resist the urge to draw away.
"Where have you been, Alek? We've been worried sick," Claire said, doing her best to keep her tone from sounding accusatory. Why was he acting like this?
"Here and there," he replied, lowering his hand to rest against the curve of her throat. For the first time since the encounter began, Claire met his eyes and felt her heart skip a beat. Gone was the sharp, steel that seemed to soften for only her. Gone was the light and tenacity she had fallen in love with. Instead she was met with cold nothingness.
"But that isn't important right now."
Not important? How was it not important? His words didn't make any sense.
"I don't understand," Claire replied. "We thought you might be hurt somewhere ... or even..." Even now she couldn't bring herself to say the words. Alek smirked and leaned in closer.
"Dead? I'm so very disappointed in you," he said. "You should know by now that killing me is no easy feat."
"Then tell me what happened to you," Claire said, anger beginning to burn in the pit of her stomach. She had been so worried, so scared, and here he was acting like it was nothing. Like it didn't matter.
He let out a bored sigh.
"If I must... I've had what you might call an awakening, a rebirth," he said, his eyes widening as he stared past her. It seemed to Claire as though he was reliving the moment right then and there. "I've attained power that others have only dreamed of–"
"You aren't making any sense," Claire snapped, cutting him off. "You sound like a madman. "
She once again made an attempt to free herself from his hold and his grip only tightened further. As he once again lowered his eyes to meet hers, all she saw reflected in them was pure malice.
"You're hurting me," she gasped.
"Am I? This is nothing compared to what I will do to you if you don't turn around and go back to where you came from," Alek replied in a low hiss. "There is nothing but pain and death for all of you in Ninguid."
"Alek–"
He released her with a hard shove, cutting her off and causing her to cry out in surprise. She stumbled backwards before falling and hitting the corner of the chest on her way down, nearly upsetting the lantern resting on it.
Looking up at him from the floor, she saw Alek's dark expression shift and for the briefest of moments she caught a glimpse of the man she had fallen in love with. As quickly as it had come, however, it was gone, swallowed up by darkness.
"Heed my warning, Claire," he said, stepping towards her. "I will kill you myself if it comes down to it."
"Alek, stop it, this isn't you," Claire replied as he began to turn away. "I don't know what happened or what kind of spell you're under, but this isn't you and you have to fight it! You have–"
"Spell?" He chuckled and crouched down. "You really are a stupid girl. This isn't some fairy tale, and you certainly aren't the heroine," he laughed again, "you're useless, nothing but dead weight, you always have been." He paused and smiled.
"I am grateful for one thing, however... if it hadn't been for you, I never would have found her."
Her?
"Who?"
Alek smirked and rose.
"The Queen of Wintershold, future ruler of all of Oria, Eira Torvandor. Her beauty is indescribable and she... oh, come now, Claire, don't look so hurt," he said, offering a mocking frown. "I'm sure you'll find some bumbling idiot to cater to your every whim..."
A sharp knock gave him pause.
"Claire? Is everything okay?" Draz called out, the concern in his voice obvious even though it was muffled by the door..
"See what I mean?"
Before Claire could respond, the door burst open and Draz rushed in, flames already twisting around his fingers.
"I thought I heard voices – what the hell... Alek?"
"What's the matter, Haval? Are you worried?" Alek said with a sneer. "Haven't I given you enough time to make a move?"
"We've been looking everywhere for you and you want to make jokes?" Draz replied, the flames flaring brighter as his anger grew.
Alek smirked and took a step back. "Remember what I said..."
"Wait!"
He paused.
"Look me in the eye and tell me ... tell me that you don't love me, and I'll go back and never think of you or this place again."
Once again she saw the struggle, the war he seemed to be fighting within himself as his fist clenched and unclenched at his sides, and his eyes shifted away from her.
Taking the opportunity to act, Draz lunged towards him but connected with nothing but air as Alek disappeared in a flurry of snow and ice.
The flames quickly died away as Draz turned towards Claire who still sat motionless on the floor by the bed.
"What the hell was that all about? What did he say to you? What do you need to remember?" Draz asked, his confusion evident in the rapid fire manner in which he questioned her.
She tried to speak, but each time she opened her mouth the words remained lodged behind the lump in her throat. Sighing, Draz stepped closer and knelt down in front of her. He took her hands in his and squeezed them.
"Whatever that was, whatever is going on, we will get to the bottom of it, I promise."
"I told you the Drosselmeyer family was not to be trusted," Valerick exclaimed, pounding his fist against the worn wooden table around which they had all gathered. "I'm going to tear that low life limb from limb the first chance I get, starting with his–"
"That's enough, Valerick," Rollan interrupted.
"For once I agree with the old man," Draz said.
Claire simply sat in silence, staring off into nothingness as the conversation rose and fell around her like the tide. She felt hurt and betrayed by the things Alek had said, but most of all she felt lost. All this time she'd had a purpose, a task, and as impossible as it had seemed at times it had been something for her to focus on.
Now she wasn't sure what to do.
She kept replaying the scene over and over in her mind, trying to find some clue, something that might explain what was going on. None of it made sense.
"I think we should turn around and go back," Valerick said.
"What about Alek?" Rollan replied, looking towards Draz for support. "Draz, say something."
"That idiot dug his own grave, did you see what he did to Claire?"
Her fingers twitched as she resisted the urge to touch her ribs. That morning she had been startled to discover the bruise which covered much of her left side. It was the result of her close encounter with the chest after Alek had pushed her away.
As much as it hurt, nothing had cut quite as deep as the mention of another woman. Maybe it wasn't a misunderstanding, at least not in the way she was thinking. What if Alek was showing his true colors? No, she protested firmly, she had seen him struggling against some sort of darkness.
Another thought struck her, something Alek had said that she hadn't thought of until that moment.
"Who is Eira Torvander?" she asked.
The trio fell silent and watched her intently, three pairs of eyes all glued on her. Draz shrugged and Rollan shook his head indicating he didn't know either.
"Where did you hear that name?" Valerick replied.
"Alek mentioned her," she said. "Who is she?"
"She rules over the southern kingdom," Valerick explained.
"Wait," Rollan interrupted, "there has been no recognized ruler of the southern kingdom since the crowned princess was falsely imprisoned and her sister usurped the throne."
"Yeah, well, not everyone plays by the same set of rules, your highness, you of all people should realize that by now," Valerick replied. "Eira did indeed usurp the throne and the crowned princess was imprisoned, though whether it was false is still up for debate. Never forget, there are two sides to every story and the truth lies somewhere in between."
"And you know all of this because...?" Draz asked, rocking back in his chair.
Valerick sighed. "Because I was there, I witnessed the event first hand."
"You sure get around," Draz muttered, "That coup was nearly fifty years ago. You would have been..."
"Twelve," he replied, "I had just celebrated my twelfth winter..." His gaze grew distant, as though he was recalling the moment as though it had happened days before rather than decades..
"What was a twelve year old doing in the southern court?" Rollan asked.
Valerick hesitated before finally giving in to whatever reservation he had been holding onto. "I lived there. Eira ..." he sighed, "Eira is my older sister."
Silence prevailed as the gravity of his words sank in.
"If she's your sister... then that means..." Rollan said thoughtfully.
Draz began to laugh uncontrollably as his mind finally connected all the pieces together. "Prince Valerick... that's unbelievable..."
"How do you tolerate this idiot?" Valerick asked, kicking the leg of Draz's chair. The chair he had been balancing on teetered and then fell over, sending him spilling to the floor where he never stopped laughing. "All it means is that we have to abandon this mission," Valerick said, ignoring Draz.
"What?" Claire replied. "No, there is no way I am going to abandon Alek."
"Going to Ninguid was dangerous enough," Valerick said. "With Eira involved the danger has grown tenfold. I don't know what business she has in Ninguid, but whatever it is, it won't be good for any of us... but especially not for you, Claire."
"Why me?"
"As my daughter, you're a threat to her," he said at last.
"How? I don't understand..."
"I do," Rollan replied, "Correct me if I'm wrong but, the southern kingdom follows a matriarchal system of inheritance. Since Eira took the throne by force, by right of succession you, Claire, have got more claim over the throne of Wintershold than she does."