The forest was dark.
Obviously.
The tree branches fit perfectly together, making a canopy that blocked out almost all the weak light that tried to break through.
My throat constricted. The last time I as in the forest was the night I first met Kvir. It was when I ran away and saw the black-masked men who were supposed to be dead.
A hoot from an owl (I think it was an owl, anyway), startled me. I jumped and twirled around. Branches cracked under my feet, not allowing me to silently move as I hoped. I pushed through the bushes and thorns, holding onto the dagger like a lifeline.
Everything fell silent. No crickets chirped, the owl that hooted made no noise, there were no sounds of the feet of scurrying squirrels or the mad flapping of birds wings.
Then, a low voice shattered the silence. It was a man, and he was singing.
"Hush lit-tle
Ba-by,
Don't say a
Wo-rd.
Mama' gonna
Buy you
A mock-king
Bird.
And when that
Mock-king bird don't sing,
Papa's gon-na tie it up with
Me-tal strings.
And watch its wings go
Flap-py flap.
And eat it th-en,
Just like that."
My heat kept into my throat. The voice slowly sang the lullaby song in the creepiest way possible. The worst part wasn't the fact that someone sang it though. It was, for one, the song that one of the men sang under their breath the night my mother died.
Second, it was coming from directly behind me.
I turned around and bit back a scream. Stepping toward me, holding a bloodstained dagger was a person wearing a black mask. Red oozed from the top of his head, falling in between the creases on the face mask. His shirt was spotless; there were not rips or stains from the forest. The only thing on his chest was a four-inch wide wood piece that stuck through him and out his back.
Don't things like that normally kill people?
The man stepped toward me again.
Time to go.
I turned back around and ran like a bat out of--well, I ran fast. Terror boosted my adrenaline as I fought my way through the bushes and trees. Thorns scraped at my cheeks, digging into my flesh. I ignored them.
But no matter how fast I ran, the man was the same distance behind me, singing that song.
"And then I'll watch you,
Ba-by, aye.
I'll sit right there and watch you
Cry."
My breath came out in choked gasps, some from running and some from the tears I was swallowing down. The song spread around me like wildfire, echoing from the smallest nook in a tree to an owl hooting along. I could almost hear thumping every few beats, like an unstopping drum beat.
Something brushed against my shoulder. I ignored it, putting it off as a tree branch.
Then said tree branch grabbed my shoulder.
I shrieked and tried to pull away, all the while still running. It didn't work. I only succeeded in pulling him closer to me.
He yanked my shoulder back, twisting my body around. My feet tangled up, resulting in a hard fall on my side. The air left my lungs, leaving me gasping for breath but still managing to scramble back, away from the man.
Through the folds of the mask, I saw the man's mouth open again.
"I'll laugh at your--"
"No!"I screamed. The knife--which I had somehow managed to not stab myself with when I fell--found its way back into the palm of my hand. I reached up and slashed at the man, feeling resistance as the knife dug through his abdomen.
It was like a fountain of red. Warm blood spurted out from his stomach, splattering my legs and a few unlucky trees. The man gripped his stomach where my knife had torn through, trying to stop the bleeding. It didn't work. He only succeeded in coating his arms the dark color.
A cry escaped through the mask; a high, pained cry much like a wolf's vaulted through the treetops. The man fell to his knees, then the ground, whimpering.
I gasped. The mask that he wore slowly stretched out in front of his face, getting longer and more pointed by the second. Little sprouts of dark hair formed on the mask--which wasn't a mask anymore, it had turned into a snout. The eyes, which were yellow-ish to begin with, turned a deep shade of brown. Its legs shrank and arms grew. It's fingers molded together, forming a paw.
When the thing finally stopped changing, it was still. There was no breath, no rise and fall of the chest. Whatever it was, it was dead.
I had killed it.
I slowly reached out and brushed the tips of my fingers against its fur. The short hairs prickled me lightly. The creature itself was small. From foot to top of head, it was about three feet. It had a face like a wolf, and that continued on until its shoulders, where the hair flattened to its pale pink skin. Its feet were disproportionate to its size; they were bigger than they should have been.
"It was a child..." I whispered.
Like a punch to the gut, the realization of what had just happened hit me. I doubled over, gasping for breath.
Calm down, Zara.
I pulled my knees to my chest and shoved my head in between them. Tears streamed down my cheeks.
Why did that thing come after me? Why did it look like--look like him?
What was it?
As soon as I thought the words, the answer came tumbling to the front of my mind.
It was a vesper.
I shook my head. "Why? How did it... Oh."
They take the form of your greatest fear. That's why I saw that man, that's why Camden saw a wolf. That's why--that's why the king sees, no, saw,--an army!
Were we fighting animals the whole time? Joshua's leg, the baker's sons, they were all lost to animals?
Where did these things come from?
I took a shaky breath. I knew where to get my answers, and he wasn't going to like me when I asked.
*****
"Kvir!"
I stormed into the castle, flinging open the doors. They blew back and banged against the wall, rebounding so hard that they slammed closed with a bang.
All of my terror and sadness had been replaced by anger in the minutes it took me to get back to the castle.
"Kvir!" I screamed again. "Get down here! Now!"
No thought crossed my mind of whether he'd be angry at me for fussing at him. I was too upset.
There was a flurry of thuds following my demand. Kvir's head popped up from behind the balcony railing.
"Why aren't you--"
I cut him off with a dagger-glare and pointed my index finger down at the floor in front of me. "Now."
Kvir started to come down obediently. When he hit the last three steps, I started to walk towards him, pointing my finger at his chest.
"What. Was. That." With each word I spat out, I jabbed my finger closer and closer to him.
He looked down at me calmly. "A vesper."
I stood less than an inch away from him. If I was taller (although I didn't need to be. He needed to be shorter), then I would've been breathing in his face. As it was, I had a clear view of the middle of his chest.
I crossed my arms. "Why, pray tell, did you send me after a creature that transforms?"
"I didn't know if you could kill it or not. Seeing as you are standing here yelling at me, the answer to that question would be a 'yes.'"
My jaw dropped slightly. "So, you didn't know if I'd survive? If I died, then, 'Oh well, that's that' would've been the answer?"
A low growl came from his throat. I stepped back.
"Luzaveta, if I'd have wanted you dead, you would be," Kvir rowled. His eyes flashed, warning me to stay silent.
I shook my head and spoke softly. "Then why did you send me after a vesper?"
H sighed. "They take the form of--"
I interrupted him. "Your greatest fear, yeah I kind of figured that out."
He scratched his head. "I thought it might help. You seemed to have some type of... terror whenever I did something a certain way."
I stared at Kvir open-mouthed.
"You know," he continued. "Face your fear."
Face my fear? What the heck has he been getting into?
"What on earth possessed you to send me out to kill a creature that took the form of my 'greatest fear?'" I screeched. My rage--which hadn't been in control that much anyway--just completely boiled over.
"Lizaveta, I was trying to help!"
"No!" I screamed, stepping away from Beast and clenching my fists. "You don't get the privilege in deciding what I'm scared of or not! It not up to you!"
He stiffened. "I'm sorry that my actions weren't sufficient enough, girl. If you would rather have issues like you apparently have and won't share them, no matter how much I may ask, I will take it upon myself to take actions. You freak out at the stupidest things, resulting in problems that I have to solve! Whether it be a memory that I show you, a fighting lesson where you stab me, or all of your little nightmares,"
I reeled back.
"Yes, don't think I don't know about them," he continued. "All of your nighttime excursions around the castle aren't just for fun! It's stupid that you aren't telling me! You're being childish!"
Every word Kvir spat felt like a punch to the gut. Tears sprang to my eyes.
"Kvir," I began, trying to keep my voice level. "Me telling you about my past takes some sort of trust. Any little bit of that that you had, you just lost."
His face softened as the realization of what he had just screamed out at me hit him. "Lizaveta," he whispered. He reached out his arm to touch me.
I batted him away. "Don't."
As if I could hold myself together, I wound my arms around my sides. A tear trickled down my cheek. I wiped it away and turned around.
The silence was deafening.
Kvir screamed. There was a loud bang of his arm hitting the wall.
I tensed at the sound and turned toward him again. "Don't," I whispered. I shook my head. "Don't hurt yourself again. Not about this."
His breaths came out sharply. He growled and clutched at his head. He pressed his back against the wall. "I'm sorry."
I laughed through my tears. "Don't be. It's my fault."
I walked up to the wall and stood next to him. He still pressed his hand against his temple and had a far-off look in his eyes, which turned a brighter shade of red.
I closed my eyes again and let more tears fall. "I'm sorry. You don't need to worry about my stupid past."
Without thinking, I leaned to the right. My head met something solid, something warm. It only took a second for me to realize what I was touching.
He tensed under my touch and tried to distance himself.
"Stay," I whispered.
He did.
I stayed like that for a few minutes, drawing in comfort from the stiff body next to me.
I breathed out slowly through my mouth. "What--no, where-- did the vespers come from?"
Kvir remained silent for a second longer.
"You've seen forest animals, right?"
I didn't lift my head. "Uh, yeah, why?"
"Vespers," he paused, thinking of what to say. "Vespers were once the animals of the forest."
That made me lift my head. "They were deer?"
Beast nodded. "Before I came here, yes. The prince who used to live in this place--his whole family loved them."
He was silent a second. "After I... after I took over, the animals became cursed. They were no longer the innocent creatures the Prince once knew. They became the protectors of the castle. They guard the grounds and stop those who enter here."
He looked at me. "Although they can't keep everyone out."
I bit my lip, processing what he just said.
"Do you control them?"
I hoped that he would answer 'no.' I didn't want to blame him for the war that the Upper and Lower (but mostly Lower) kingdom went through.
Kvir shook his head. "At one time, I was able. That ability faded through the years though. Now they just do as they please."
I slid down the wall and sat on the cool stone floor. Waving my hand. I gestured for Kvir to do the same. His cloak billowed out around him when he sat, forming an almost perfect black circle.
I voiced the thought that bothered me the most.
"Have the people in the Kingdoms been fighting hordes of animals throughout the years?"
"No," he mumbled. "The truth is worse. Since it shows the first person who sees it greatest fear, they all see an army. In reality, there was no army. It was just the one animal."
He fell silent again. I waited, not wanting to believe the thoughts that were surfacing to my mind.
"Lizaveta the people were fighting each other. There was no army to begin with."
I closed my eyes and forced myself to breathe slowly. The answer that I feared would come had come: that we were at war with ourselves. That all the injuries to the soldiers in the war came from either them attacking themselves, or one of their fellow soldiers--and possibly even friends--attacking them. How many friends killed friends? How many brothers injured brothers?
"Wouldn't someone have found out about this?" I whispered. I didn't trust myself to speak louder.
He shook his head. "The thing is, is that if someone did find out, they'd have no way to prove it. Besides, what they would have is a perfect situation: the people banding together to fight a common enemy. Take that away, and all eyes may be on the person who figured it out. What's a better way to do something under the nose of an entire kingdom than distract them?"
I lowered my head, heart sinking. "That's horrible."
Kvir didn't answer. He didn't have to.
I pushed myself up from the floor. "So, do you mind me asking one more question?"
He raised his eyebrows and stood up next to me. "Depends on the question."
"If vespers show your greatest fear, then what do you see?"
Great job, Zara. I'm sure you could be a little blunter next time.
Kvir didn't answer immediately. He turned his head. "Nothing. I'm a monster, and monsters have no fears."
His words hurt, even though they weren't directed as an insult. The fact that he still looked at himself in that manner--as a monster--bothered me more than him putting me up against a vesper.
So, I did one thing I wasn't used to doing. Without thinking very hard about my actions, I reached my right hand up and lightly touched the top side of Kvir's head, above his mask.
"As soon as you believe you are a monster is when you truly become the monster. And you don't believe it with your heart, otherwise, why would you still be mentioning it?"
Our eyes locked. If I could've seen the bottom of his face, I would've sworn he was grinning. With as much thought as I had given my hand press, he pulled me into a hug.
I froze for a split second, then wrapped (or tried to wrap) my arms around his torso.
"I'm sorry, Lizaveta," he mumbled into my hair.
I closed my eyes and burrowed myself deeper into his embrace. "You are forgiven--"
"--You will always be forgiven."
_______________________________________
Hey guys!
So what'd you think of the chapter? I'm starting to get a little worried, 'cause I don't read a lot of romance-y type books(I actually try to avoid them), and I don't know if I'm dragging this out too long, or if I'm speeding it up too much. I don't think it's the second, but I've no idea.
So, I'm going to do one of my not-often shout outs here, and call out
wisteriaflower. She has some really, really awesome retelling stories on her account. "Beyond the Tower" and "The Siren and the Singer" are two of my favorites that I've read on here. All y'all, go check them out.
Please vote if you liked this chapter!
Funny fact of the day: Since I type this on my phone, auto correct does some damage with the names of characters and things. For instances, "vespers" had changed to "checkers," and "testers" before. "Kvir" somehow turns to "Ovid" (not entirely sure how) and, the funniest, "McKenna." His name swapped about three times during the process of my editing this one.
Noa.