[dedicated to Ella, for the lovely cover in the multimedia section]
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
It was pitch black and I was not able to see a single thing. I peered all around me as panic overwhelmed me, the blackness clouding every point of my vision. I looked up and down, here and there, from right to left - they were all futile attempts. The only thing that I was able to see was this black tenebrosity that had the capability to arouse panic within me.
I tried to stay calm, to breathe in and to breathe out, but I couldn't. Seeing nothing but this pitch black wasn't helping and the harder I tried to make my heart still, to stop beating frantically against my ribcage, to not be afraid - the more I became terrified.
"Genevieve," a voice called out urgently and I turned my head swiftly, eyes scanning the endless pit of my black surroundings. And then my eyes landed on a man, his dark skin glinting brilliantly in the darkness, his slightly purple tinted lips set into a deep frown, his grey eyes pleading and caring. "You need to come with me. He will not rest until he has you," said the man with the strangely appealing silvery voice.
I trusted him. I didn't know how or why but I did and that slightly frightened me. Did I know this man from somewhere? I squinted at the man that stood several of metres away from me and studied him but none of his features were familiar. His voice though. I felt like I had heard it before, when and from where I was not aware of, but one thing was certain; I trusted this man for a reason and that was because his intention was never to bring me harm but to protect me and bring me to safety. I froze, my blood going cold and not with fear for the man but with with fear for how exactly I attained this knowledge when the man didn't even remotely look familiar.
His words processed in my mind and I stared at the man ahead of me, my mind whizzing with frantic thoughts, "he will not rest until he has me? What is that supposed to mean?"
"I have no time to explain," he said, his silvery voice underlined with a more forced urgent tone. His silvery gaze skimmed over my head and the swirl of grey in his eyes were instantly seized with panic and fear. Quickly, he glanced at me. "Quick, we have to go. Now!"
I turned my head slightly, curious of what had caused such tremor and panic but then his voice was sharp, the silvery voice cutting through the thicket of blackness, "No, Princess!" And when I turned to look back at the man, curious and confused and concerned, he wasn't there. Panic immediately engulfed me and I swallowed the lump in my throat as I looked frantically ahead, looking for the man with the enticing grey eyes and alluring slightly purple tinted lips.
Slowly, as the fear built up within me and I inhaled and exhaled to ease the anxiousness, I turned slowly and when my eyes met a pair of green one's my breath caught in my throat. Those green eyes glistened with wickedness and malice, cruelty and evil and it terrified me that those very striking green eyes were exactly the same as mine. "Niece," he snarled, his glowing green eyes that showed how much he hated me was all that I could see in this darkness, the rest of his body hidden - protected - by the black tenebrosity that surrounded me, trapped me. "Oh, what a delight it will be to finally meet you."
My heart beat loudly in my ears from all the fright that had begun consuming me and I whirled on my feet, willing every muscle in my legs to move but the minute I turned around and stared ahead, those very malicious green eyes that looked so alike to mine stared back at me, amused by my actions. "Run all you want, Genevieve," he sneered, a tone of humour coated his thick, deep and sharp voice, "I will catch you."
And I did. I ran and ran and ran. I kept turning here and there and every single time I turned on my heels the green eyes would be there staring at me, amused that I even bothered to try. After a few futile attempts I suddenly felt the air knocked out of me and when I commanded my legs to move, to walk or to run, the stayed still, rooted to the ground as if the ground and my feet were strong, unbeatable magnets. I felt cold metal wrapping around my torso, my arms tight to my sides as the invisible chains wound themselves around me tighter and tighter and tighter and-
"Please," I cried, my eyes prickling with tears of pain. "Whatever you're doing, stop, please." I gasped when the invisible chains tightened around me, digging into my skin and the tears that prickled my ears rolled down my cheeks. The man with the green eyes was merciless.
"Stupid, stupid girl," he sang, his malicious voice making me quiver. "You won't know what hit you. Even your little guardian, Alastair, won't know what's coming. You're doomed and I cannot wait for you to see what you're doom is."
"Please," I begged. "Stop - AAH!" The chains tightened with more force when I spoke, the chains digging into my skin and undoubtedly tearing the sensitive skin open which resulted in my breaths coming out in short pants, my vision growing blurry and it wasn't from all the tears. My mind had begun drifting away.
"I will be your downfall, Genevieve Salvatore. That is a promise," he whispered, his soft, wicked voice reaching my ears just before everything turned black.
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I couldn't stop screaming. I could still feel the icy metal dig into my skin, a searing pain stretching over my body as the chains wrapped themselves around me tighter and tighter until I began to feel crushed, until the pain intensified, until I wasn't able to breathe.
I gasped loudly, my eyes opened as my chest heaved great breaths. My eyes met a pair of grey worried ones and when those familiar eyes greeted me, I calmed down, the panic slowly easing away but that didn't stop me from breathing in and breathing out, the exercise my mother had taught me when my nightmares got out of hand.
"Alastair," I breathed, my voice coming out raspy as I sat upright, adjusting my eyes to the dim light of the room. I rubbed my hands on my arms, the feeling of the metal chains that wrapped around me in my nightmares was strong but fading. His hand was on my shoulder, no doubt shaking it to awake me from the horrid nightmare that I had just experienced and when I sat straight, the worry in his eyes lessened and he dropped his hand, my shoulder feeling the loss of his hand's warmth in an instant.
"Are you okay?" he asked, his dark eyebrows furrowed in concern, curiousness and slight worry whirling around fast in the swirl of grey in his eyes. "I heard you screaming and I woke up. I didn't come quickly because I figured you would stop screaming and you'd get some rest. I didn't want to - I didn't think seeing me again today was a good idea - You wouldn't stop screaming this time and I... I got worried."
I smiled weakly at his stuttering and unfinished sentences before I dropped the smile and brought my hands together, fixing my gaze on them as I played with my fingers, the images of the nightmare still fresh and vivid in my mind. "Alastair, you said I could see the future in my nightmares," I said, hesitance wrapping around my voice, "right?"
"Yes," he replied, his silvery voice laced with confusion. "I'm not sure if the future is exactly what you see, but something like that."
I looked up this time and stared into his enticing grey eyes that I had found warmth in. My lips quivered before I latched my teeth on my lower lip to stop in from trembling. "I don't think I can see the future," I whispered, my voice low and cracked, weak and vulnerable.
His eyebrows furrowed and he looked closely at me, his face inching just a little closer before he asked, "what do mean?"
Taking a deep breath, I whispered, anxious that maybe someone would overhear us somehow, "I think they're warnings."
There was a silence after that. Not an uncomfortable one but one that let both Alastair and I mull over the words that had left my mouth. I was almost certain that what Alastair and my mother thought my nightmares to be was true but not entirely. My mother painted the future. That was set in stone. Something about my nightmares felt different. Thorin talked to me. He told me that he was after me. While that sounded like the future it sounded more like a warning.
"Are you sure?" Alastair asked - his voice holding uncertainty - after the silence that we had both used to contemplate my suggestion had passed.
"It makes more sense," I reasoned. I adjusted myself on the bed so I was sitting more comfortably, the softness of the bed making me want to drift off into peaceful slumber again. "In my previous nightmares, the one's that had remained constant until you came, had men sprawled across the blood stained ground. What if that was a sort of warning, telling us that a battle was to come and we should either do our best to avoid it or equip well for it? And these little talks with Thorin, he keeps telling me that he's coming after me, that he hasn't given up." I swallowed the lump that had risen to my throat when I remembered the words that Thorin, the man with the green eyes that were so alike to mine that were filled with malice and wicked humour, had said to me.
"In the nightmare that I just had," I started, my mind reeling with buzzing thoughts as the wheels in my head began to turn, "Thorin told me that he still wants to capture me..? He said that I could run all I want but he will find me. He said that... he said that he will be my downfall and that I wouldn't know what is coming and you wouldn't suspect anything." I paused, letting the words I had said settled with Alastair before I continued, "I wouldn't say he was warning me but it's like he's giving me a head start even though he thinks that I cannot outsmart him."
I let out a huff of breath. "This is so confusing," I mumbled after I had buried my head into my hands. Why did I have to be the one receiving these nightmares? I could imagine how lovely my life would have been if there was an absence of these nightmares, if I wasn't the one to be given this 'gift'.
"Hey," Alastair said softly, placing his hand on my arm gingerly. I lifted my head up and caught his silvery gaze, passion and care whirling warmly in the swirl of grey. "I understand what you're saying and yes, it's confusing but we can figure it out. The Royal Library is filled with books and it's very informative. Maybe we can find something there." He paused, thinking twice before he said, "I'll always be here for you, Genevieve. I swore an oath to protect you and help you as best as I can. I will not fail my duties."
"I don't want to feel just like duty to you," I whispered, the words slipping off my tongue before I could stop them. This kiss that had transpired between us earlier today was still fresh in my mind, the smell of him, the feel of his lips, his hands, his hair, his face - I felt overwhelmed suddenly.
"I know, and you're not," he replied earnestly before removing his hand from my arm. He looked down. He wasn't looking at me but I could still see every inch of his face that the moonlight that filtered through my window allowed me to see. He bit down on his lip, my eyes drawn by the action, before he looked up and said, "I wish things were different. But they're not and I can't do anything about that."
I nodded, forcing a smile to my lips before I said, "I need to tell you something else."
"What is it?" he inquired instantly, his expression turning curious. The more time I spent with Alastair, I noticed that he didn't bother much about putting his mask on. It would slip on from time to time but I was realising that he didn't wear it much around me. Maybe he finally realised that I could read through his mask, that I could read the emotions that were either constantly whizzing around his enticing grey eyes or laced through his silvery voice.
"I haven't had any nightmares ever since I came to Deidrif. It would have been okay if it was before I met you because my nightmares were sporadic and they were days apart. But after you came, I just kept getting nightmares. Why did they stop when I stepped foot into Deidrif?"
"Are you taking the medication that I gave you after we came to Deidrif, when you recovered from the damage the Lockteer had done to you? The white bottle and the purple bottle?" Alastair asked, his voice laced with concern.
"Yeah," I replied with a firm nod before I looked at him with an inquisitive expression on my face and a questioning look in my eyes. "But how does that relate to the absence of my nightmares?"
Alastair worried his bottom lip for a few seconds and my eyes instantly zeroed on them. I mentally scolded myself for finding almost everything he did attractive. "Well, I might have asked the healer to make the other potion, the purple one, to block out your nightmares. You were instructed to take the potion at night. While it helps you heal the wound on your leg it also keeps the nightmares at bay," Alastair replied with a sheepish grin and I didn't know whether to be surprised that Alastair was looking 'sheepish' or to be irritated that he hadn't told me this.
Instead of pestering him, I gave into my curiosity and the wilding whizzing thoughts in my head. "So you're saying that medicine - potions - can get rid of nightmares?" I asked, my voice clouded with high doubt.
"The potions often use magic. How did you think a wound like that on your leg healed so fast? A Lockteer's damage can be only undone my magic. Your leg is still healing so you're still going to have to take the medication before the Marcus - the healer - thinks of giving you a different potion."
"Well, then why did I have this nightmare?"
"This nightmare must have been of some importance. Sometimes magic can't stop magic," Alastair replied, his expression remorseful. I knew the burden he carried with his gift and even though he had learned to control it, I remember him telling me that nothing could erase the secrets that he had pried on unintentionally before he learnt to control his gift.
In response I was only able to stare at Alastair with a dumbfounded expression. The first time I had encountered magic was in my nightmares, when I felt the invisible cold chains wrap themselves around me as they tried to pry my life away from me - a spell I was sure the man behind the green eyes in my nightmares had casted. The first real time I encountered magic was with the Lockteer. Even through the agonising state the Lockteer had left me in, I had heard Alastair's shout - there was no denying that it was his voice. I heard him shout strange words. And when the pain was only slightly eased I knew magic was at play, that Alastair had used magic to get the Lockteer away from me, to save me.
"This is a lot to wrap my head around," I said, a little breathlessly.
"Maybe I should ask Marcus to make a stronger potion because not all the nightmares are gone," Alastair offered, his voice gentle and sympathetic.
I shook my head, the wheel in my mind beginning to turn. "No, actually do you mind telling him - Marcus - to keep making that potion. I don't need a stronger one. This way I can keep the nightmares at bay but the more important ones will come through. I would definitely sleep better and this way, I do get a glimpse of my nightmares. They might not tell the future exactly but I think they serve as some sort of warning, like a head's up of some sort."
Alastair paused, looking at me with those grey eyes of his. With the little moonlight that filtered through my window, his eyes looked extremely dark, almost black. "Are you sure?" he asked, concern lacing through that silvery sincere voice of his.
I nodded with a smile on my lips. "I don't like the idea of having nightmares at all either but hey, I'm the Princess, remember? I don't quite feel like it but I do need to learn what duty is. Unlike you I don't have that sense of duty. I feel that taking the potion that will only let strong nightmares through will shed some light on this whole duty thing."
Alastair looked at me, his silvery gaze locked with mine. There was nothing heated about it. There was no sexual tension sizzling in the air. It was just him looking at me and I couldn't tell what was going on in his mind because the swirl of grey in his eyes had stopped whirling and I couldn't see a single emotion.
His purple tinted lips lifted up then and so did a little weight that had settled on my chest. "You're a Princess in training," he said, amusement lacing through his voice.
I laughed. I couldn't help the laugh from bubbling through my lips. "Isn't there supposed to be a manual or an instruction booklet for a Princess in training?" I asked, tilting my head as I feigned a dead serious expression. But I was certain that Alastair saw the smile shine in my green eyes because he chuckled in response.
"Oh, Genevieve, I thought I was your instruction booklet?" he teased, his silvery voice light and smooth. "What have I been teaching you these past two weeks?" When my only reply was a wide smile that I couldn't hold back no matter how much I tried to bite it down, his brows furrowed, the amusement only slightly drawing away from his very attractive features. "Why are you smiling like that?"
I shrugged lightly. "It's just...everything is full of tension at the beginning between us and then we're like great friends at the end of the day. I like it. I like that this" - I gestured between him and I - "is something that makes me smile. Our banter...it's strangely nice. Makes me feel warm." I almost facepalmed myself when the words I had said out loud sunk into the atmosphere around us. "I shouldn't have said that," I said, smiling sheepishly.
"You shouldn't have," he agreed and it surprised me that he didn't put up that serious expression of his that always loved accompanying him whenever he was in the presence of a person. Instead he was smiling. Alastair Ignacio was smiling. "Does this mean you're not angry at me anymore?"
I shook my head, a small smile touching my lips. "I want to be. I'm not going to lie that I was kind of hurt when you just walked out on me earlier today. Luckily I had the map tucked into my dress so I found my way back to my room." I looked down, playing with my fingers as I spoke because I wasn't too sure if I could look Alastair in the face when my own face was burning with embarrassment. "I understand why you did what you did, why you pushed me away. I was just so angry. I'm sorry."
A short silence swept passed us before Alastair said, the quiet night crackling away that even when Alastair whispered I could hear the words loud and clear, "I'm sorry, too. I was an arse for kissing you in the first place."
I smiled and said, "you were. So does this mean that we get to practice more dancing?"
"I thought you already knew how to dance. You told me Mariana made sure of it."
"Maybe I just want to dance with you."
He looked at me, his grey eyes lighting up. His hand slid over to mine that was sprawled across the sheet of my bed and his fingers brushed against mine. He looked down at our hands and I did, too, before he slid his fingers into the slots between my own fingers and as he clutched my hand using just his fingers, I thought that this felt more intimate that holding my hand. He looked up after that, his purple lips lifting up into a promising grin, "just dance."
He said it as a statement but it sounded like more of a question so in response I tightened my fingers with his and nodded, smiling, before I promised, "just dance."
A dull ache that had begun to form at the back of my mind was growing so I turned to Alastair and said, a hopeful tone laced through my voice as I spoke, "I'm tired, Alastair. I think I should get a little sleep. I'll, uh, see after for breakfast tomorrow? I do want to explore the castle a little more."
"How about we have breakfast together?" Alastair proposed, his silvery voice laced with hesitance. I understood why he was being tentative and it would be a lie to say that I was not happy that Alastair asked this question despite all the resistance he put into our relationship. Maybe he knew that while he could not have me - while he couldn't put him or me on the King's bad list - he could no longer put up much of a resistance because I wasn't so willing to let him resist even though I was on the road to giving up.
"Sounds great," I replied honestly, my lips pulling up into a smile at their own accord.
He nodded at me and before he could get up, I quickly leaned over and pressed my lips against his cheek, feeling the tickle of his stubble graze over my lips and ignite a slowly burning fire within me. What surprised me was that he did not stiffen at my action but rather, he relaxed, his body slowly losing all the tension that was pent up within him. My lips stayed on his cheek a few seconds longer than necessary before I pulled back. His eyes were closed, his slightly tinted purple lips were parted and I couldn't help but admire how serene he looked. If only he looked this peaceful all the time.
His eyes opened and when his silvery gaze was cast to me, when his dark grey eyes locked with mine, I didn't see anything heated in the gaze. No lust, no sexual desire. Instead there was this contentment that whirled in the swirl of grey and my stomach stirred slightly and from what emotion even I was incapable of deciphering.
"Goodnight Alastair," I said softly, my voice low and gentle.
He smiled, those small smiles that Alastair didn't like to show anybody. He bowed his head, almost in a joking manner, and whispered, the quiet of the night that filled my bedroom making his words chill over me pleasurably, "Goodnight, your Highness."
And as Alastair slipped out of my room, closing the door softly behind him, I couldn't help but smile like a silly little high school girl.
Alastair Ignacio was really someone words were incapable of describing. And I was falling headfirst for him even when my brain warned me not to.
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The ball arrived faster than I had anticipated. I shouldn't have been nervous but I was. I could dance almost perfectly so there was no reason to be nervous about stepping over my dance partner's feet or something like that. And I wasn't. I was nervous for a completely different reason.
How many people would I have to dance with? I knew I was new to this whole Princess in training thing but I was certain that my title would definitely attract many young men that were going to be at the ball. Alastair had informed me that the guest list was long and contained over six hundred people as Royal and Noble families from nearby Kingdoms were invited as well. I was more nervous for the father-daughter dance that Alastair said was extremely important. It was the first dance that was supposed to be held and since neither my mother or I were here for the past couple of years my father was unable to follow custom.
I knew how to dance. Dancing with him should be no problem. It was what would be said in those dances. What would we talk about? Thinking about him made me both nervous and angry. If he had just been a proper father then I wouldn't be overthinking all of this.
I sighed as Bronia adjusted the last piece on my dress and stepped back looking over the dress that was on my body with pride. "You look extremely beautiful, my lady," she said with a smile on her lips and I felt myself returning the smile as if it was a natural thing to do before she placed her hands on my shoulder and steered me around so that I was now facing the full length mirror.
I gasped once I took a look at my reflection. "Wow," I breathed as I took my appearance in. The dress was baby blue on the top and as it fell from my waist to over my ankles the hue of blue grew darker. The silky soft material felt lovely against my skin. The dress was long sleeved, wrapping tightly against my upper torso and fitting perfectly. Waist down the dress flowed like a waterfall. My hair was left down, the sides of it pinned up as a beautiful silver encrusted thin crown sat upon my head. It felt light and looked beautiful. My fingers skimmed over the edges of crown, my heart beating rapidly fast and as I drank in my extraordinary appearance I was left godsmacked. I was a Princess and everything felt so surreal but also undenyingly amazing and flattering.
"All the men won't be able to keep their eyes off you," Bronia teased and I whirled around to find her grinning at me mischievously.
I chuckled and bit down on my lip. "I don't want to impress any man," I said.
"Except one."
My heart stopped for a second. "What?"
"Nothing," she replied breezily before she gave me a cunning smile that said she knew more than she was letting on. "Come on," she said, jerking her head to the door, "the King wanted you to go late because he wanted his daughter to get a grand entrance. We don't want to keep your audience waiting more, do we?"
"Right." I tried to keep the bitterness out of my voice but I couldn't help it. Talking about my father... Just the mention of him ignited anger within me. I didn't think that this bitter attitude I had adopted for my father at an early age was going to disappear anytime soon.
I turned to Bronia and pouted. "Can't you come?" I asked.
"I can't, Genevieve," she said, a sad smile glossing her lips, "my brother arrived in Deidrif just today. I want to spend the entire weekend with him because I haven't seen him the entire year! Why am I telling you this? You already know-"
I laughed when Bronia was beginning to become flustered. "I get it, Bronia. Have fun catching up with your brother," I smiled.
She nodded, her lips stretching into a happy smile. "And have fun as your first night of being an official Princess!" she exclaimed enthusiastically.
Shaking my head in amusement, I said, "see you next week, Bronia."
She smiled widely in response. "Have a great weekend, my lady."
"I have a terrible feeling that it's going to be exhausting without you," I teased to which she laughed. Hesitantly, I placed my arm around her and hugged her.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, surprised. She returned the gesture before pushing me away and smoothing out my dress in an almost frantic manner. "You can hug me when I'm back. This dress is too precious to ruin," she said, humour laced thickly in her voice and I couldn't help but laugh.
"I'll miss you, Bronia."
"And I, too, Princess," she said, bowing her head.
Giving her one more smile I turned on my heel and slipped out of my room taking care that I walked properly in my heels so that my dress wouldn't get ruined. I took my time getting to the ballroom, the anxiety and nervousness slowly building up. The more I stayed in Deidrif and bathed in the luxuries it provided the more I felt like a Princess. But that title still scared me. Princesses had responsibilities. Was I going to be able to handle that?
The worrisome thoughts immediately vanished when one of the guards exclaimed, "your Highness," before giving me a deep bow. "Are you ready to present yourself at the ball, my lady? Shall I inform them to prepare your introduction?"
I wanted to say that it wasn't necessary but Alastair had said that it was. And with all the jittery nerves jumping about in me I was incapable of speech so instead of saying anything I simply nodded.
The guard smiled and I stood in front of the golden arc shaped door that was adorned with many intricate designs of red as I braced myself for whatever was to come.
And then the doors opened.
A/N:
i love writing cliffhangers ;) and this chapter was sort of a filler but i hoped you enjoyed it! also, thoughts on the nightmare + Galastair?
have a great weekend!
next update: may 6th/7th.
until next time,
-anha xo