“ Thank you.” I said, and she flinched as the words left my mouth, it was odd, like no one had ever thanked her before.
“ You are welcome.”
She went to sit on a couch as I approached the bathtub. I undressed what was left of my clothes after the other girls ripped them from me and got into the bath. By the time I got out of the bath, new fancy underwear and the beautiful dress waited for me. The other girls returned when my underwear was on, to help fasten the corset’s laces. The corset they selected for me revealed a lot of cleavage, making me feel cheap and exposed. My hair and makeup was done next and the girls who did my hair’s hands weren’t nearly as gentle as my ladies maids back in Valtor.
When I was finally able to glance at myself in the mirror, I almost did not recognize myself. My hair was tied up so high that it looked like I had a bee hive on top of my head. My makeup looked like these old chines porcelain dolls with the white powdered faces and black winged eyeliner with red lips. I looked cheap, I smelled cheap. If Merilla was still alive, she would have laughed at my appearance.
A knot grows in the depths of my throat thinking about Merilla, a wound still so verry raw and open, but I can’t show any emotion In front of my captors, so I swallow hard on the lump in my throat. Any sign of weakness and they might use it against me.
Once the glam girls were finished with me, I was escorted out of the house by the older women again. I was taken to an old carriage pulled by horses this time and not those hideous looking creatures. The old women huffed as one of my captors appeared from behind the carriage.
“ I guess House of Morganna is still good for something. I never thought she would make you look good as she did.” Why he said those things I did not know because I looked hideous.
The horses pulled forward in a rush and my corset pressed hard into my ribs. I could hardly breath, and to make it worse, I didn’t know what was waiting for me tonight, or rather who was waiting for me.
Before I left the bathing chambers, I managed to retrieve the book underneath the sofa and hid it under my garments.
The carriage came to a halt in the courtyard of an old spooky castle that looked like death lingered from within the shadows of the ruins. Everything was dark and grey. There wasn’t a flower or any greenery in sight. The darkness lingering over this place made the hairs on my body go upright.
We climbed out of the carriage and walked up the darkened stone steps. My heart was beating like crazy. I didn’t want to become whatever these people were or did for a living.
“ Whatever the king says is final. If he doesn’t want her, she is coming back with me.” The older woman who I assume was Morganna said to my captor.
“ Oh, the king will take her. She still looks fresh and unbroken.” The woman clenched her jaw, but she held her tongue as she just stared at me with motionless eyes. I lifted my chin high and walked the last few steps right next to her. As we approached the front entrance, the doors opened, and we entered the castle.
( Kaden )
“ You fucking four was supposed to look after her!” I yelled, kicking the big wooden oak table in the entry way. Glass went scattering across the glossy marble floor from the vase that was placed on the table with freshly picked flowers from this morning.
“ We were outnumbered by many and had no other choice.” Deon said frustrated, pinching the bridge of his nose, something he normally does for a coping mechanism.
“ Kaden.” Mike tried to calm me down. “ You need to calm down, before….”
“ Before fucking what, Mike? Before I lose my shit and turn bad… Well it is too fucking late for that. It already hap….” I stopped before finishing, because once again it was all my fault. I was supposed to be there, but I woke up unconscious in the greenhouse. The last thing I could remember was getting ready for the Elemental Games when suddenly I was hit with a mother of headache and then I woke up in the greenhouse. The moment I woke, I felt that something was off. I wasn’t able to sense her anymore.
“ Why can’t I sense her? I gave her some of my energy source. I should be able to sense her, unless….”
“ Don’t say it. You of all people should know that she is much stronger than that. She is not dead, you hear!” Zaden insisted.
“ You of all people should know that the energy source connection only lasts for a limited time.” Deon added. My full body’s weight rested on both arms, leaning against the staircase. I have never felt this way before, so useless.
“ When I woke up this evening after another session of the darkness taking control of my mind, I have this nauseating feeling in the pit of my stomach, I can’t reach her anymore. It’s like there is this huge wall surrounding her mind, and my mind can’t sense her anymore.” The guys stared at me with empathy in their eyes.
“ We will god damn find her, if it’s the last fucking thing we do!” I hit the staircase hard. Lightning went shooting out of my hand, and the guys all ducked for cover. The lightning bolts luckily didn’t hit them.
“ Kaden, please. The two of you are mated, and both of you have unique abilities that might prevent you from sensing her presence.
“ Round up the prisoners you managed to capture and interrogate them until you find out where she is.” I ordered.
“ We don’t think they have her, we told her to run and hide.” Deon said positively.
“ Find out why they attacked us in the first place and where they came from. I don’t care what the fuck you do to them, just find me answers.” I roared.
Deon and the men interrogated the intruders the entire night. You could hear their screams echoing in the empty halls of the castle all the way from the dungeons. I wanted to join in on the interrogation myself, but Zaden and Deon insisted that I stay away. All that the guys could find out, was that they were off descendants of the cursed one’s from the long-forgotten kingdom, Dravonia. They were able to pass through the barrier for a limited amount of time before the curse of their forefathers kicked in and started pulling them back to Dravonia like a magnetic pull. They are only able to do it once every few months.
I thought that all the Dravonian’s had long since then died out. We had no way of knowing if some of them still existed beyond the barrier that was put up around their
kingdom. There was no way of entering, and the stories told by my grandfather said that the only way in, was if you were a dragon, or the blood of a dragon rider could lift the curse.
To know more about Dravonia, we would have to be able to read the old history books about dragons in the castle’s library, but none of us could read the ancient language of dragons.
“ Luka!” I call for my spirit animal who is occupied with other important matters at hand.
“ Kaden, you called for me?” He answers back in that deep gruff beastlike voice of his.
“ I just want to inform you that I will be away for a while, and I don’t know when I will be back. I need you to hold the fort while I am gone”
“ Are you going to search for her?”
“ Yes I am. I have to find her before something bad happens to her….If something bad hadn’t happened already.”
“ Don’t think like that. There must be a logical explanation why you can’t sense her, and I am sure once you find her, you will know the reason why.”
“ Thanks’ buddy, I appreciate it. You take care.” I cut the link off.
( Meara )
I should have slept like a log, but I couldn’t. I tossed around like crazy. It was as if the bed was too soft. My mind didn’t want to shut off, it was filled with too many worries, worries about this king I am supposed to meet tomorrow, what type of man he is. But judging by the appearance of this place, I do not think he is a kind ruling king if his people and palace looked so, so….I don’t even have the right words for what type of place this is.
When we got inside this ghostlike castle earlier this evening, Madam Morganna handed me over to another lady dressed in all black with raven hair to match her entire. Her hair was pulled up in a tight bun that looked like it was tighter then my corset. Madam Morgana called her, Madam Windfield. Madam Windfield had a pointy nose that reminded me of a witch. She then escorted me through the dark stone halls lit by candles that barely lit up enough to see in front of us. The halls were dark and quiet with a cold breeze nipping at the tip of your nose. She led us down the far end of the hall where a single