a scheme !
© j4nu4ry_v4lent1ne , 2023
━━━━━━━━ I KNOW i have not made it far but i feel my legs beginning to grow numb and myself getting drowsy. as just like that, i am on the ground. my eyes are barely open as i'm pulled into the darkness. all i recall is a shadow looming over me before, i give in to the urge to close my eyes.
and when i wake up, cardan's boot parts the thistles and bulrushes. locke starts to speak, but cardan cuts him off. "see what we can do with a few words? and everything can get so much worse. we can enchant you to run around on all fours, barking like a dog. we can curse you to wither away for want of a song you'll never hear again or a kind word from my lips. we're not mortal. we will break you. you're a fragile little thing; we'd hardly need to try. give up."
"never," i say realising the trick i overlooked in the bargain in desperation. i'm filled with fury as soon as everything falls into place. he said he would let me go and run as far as i can but he didn't say how. but now, i was left with another set of questions, what did he do to me? was i enchanted? poisoned? how did he make me unconscious?
he smiles, smug. "never? never is like forever—too big for mortals to comprehend."
before i am able to speak, his accomplice interrupts, "does your neck not sting?" he asked strangely. my eyebrows furrow and i realise what he had done as my hand shot up to feel my neck, stopping on a bump. he had pricked my neck. "you-"
"yes, me. what are you doing to do about it? you aren't wearing your wraith berry string today, i see. making yourself much more vulnerable and my task to enchant you much easier." i see the foul play in his words this time. if i was easy to enchant he would've done it by now. i suppose part of the bargain still remained. it made sense as to why none of them had touched me yet.
"if you were able to do that, you would've by now. you can't harm me." i sneer in rare victory. his smile doesn't falter, making me question if i had the wrong conclusion about this, after all. "enjoy it while it lasts, which won't be long let me warn you."
what happened next was almost a blur. more comments were exchanged and they had finally left me alone with cardan. he gave some reason to them that i couldn't quite hear as the poison had left me with immense nausea and i had ultimately, given into the urge to sleep.
✩
"what are you doing here?" one of the young princes asked as, she had entered the gardens of the palace. the courts had an annual meeting with the living council and lady alma and lord carlos had insisted she attend them to understand what she would have to deal with once she took over the court. it had bored aislin to death so, she had excused herself to get some fresh air.
"i don't feel any interest in meetings," she replied simply, looking at the boy who seemed unsatisfied with her answer. it was then she realised how much like cardan he had looked like. prince cardan, the youngest of the siblings and no doubt, the cruelest. he had been bothering aislin and her friends for a while now. she had gone to school with him for almost 16 years and ever since he had started, he didn't stop.
"i suppose you misunderstood. let me make it clear for you. what is someone of your kind doing in the royal gardens." he sneered, not sparing her a glance.
"i was dragged to attend this meeting against my will like a slave." suddenly, a smile played at his lips but, aislin had been stupid enough not to notice it.
"you don't have to though," he started, "after all, i am a prince. i can make sure you wouldn't have to attend those wretched meetings for at least a year."
"and what would you possibly have to gain from this?" aislin had been almost too naive her life. unlike jude, she wasn't skilled at spotting a scheme at the bat of an eye but, she had been more cautious lately.
"no one tainted blood will stain the royal palace," he stated, it seemed like a good deal right?
"i accept," aislin recalled saying, and when she did, the grin on balekin's face was one she could never forget. she had fallen into another scheme. she had managed to become a worker at the hallow hall for a year. the very place gave her a fright.
✩
━━━ 🧸🎀💌
izuki's corner ::
guys i was listening to mad women by taylor swift and it just reminded me of jude so much 😨😨😨 i wholeheartedly apologise aislin's only character trait being fainting for the last 2 chapters they get better. i just really wanted to include this memory so what better way than making the girl faint again ‼️
anyways so thoughts on where this is headed??? i love feedback from u guys. also! the ✩ is for aislin's memories while the ☀︎ is for... anyways!
what do we think ab the folk of the air album by bookish collectors??? i personally love it. if u haven't heard it its called 'under the hill' on spotify by bookish collectors 🤝🏽🤝🏽🤝🏽
btw some of the wording is taken directly from the books. i think i've mentioned this before but. still ‼️‼️‼️