CHAPTER FORTY TWO

CHAPTER FORTY TWO
Silvana's Point Of View.

It's been a week.

A week since I had been locked up in the dungeon.

I was locked in a cell that was cold, damp and dark. My clothes were torn and filthy, clinging to my emaciated frame. My lips were cracked and bleeding, my skin pale. I hadn't set my eyes on the sun in days, and the lack of light was beginning to warp my perception of time. 

Food? That was something I was lucky to even set my eyes on. It's been almost 8 days since I've been there and I've barely eaten up to five times, not to talk about the fact it was food that was halfway rotten. Water even rarer. 

My whole body ached, my mind was numb, and despair was my constant companion.

A strangled sigh escaped my lips as I hurled up like a ball in a corner. A week...a week since I had been stripped of my dignity, condemned as a fraud, and abandoned to this wretched existence.

The sudden sounds of footsteps startled me, jolting me out of my stupor. I looked up, my eyes struggling to adjust to the dim light, and saw Morgana standing before my cell, her face a mask of conflicting emotions.

She reached out through the bars, her fingers trembling slightly. I flinched, moving back until my back touched the wall, my action made her frown deepened.

"Naïve little girl," She spat, her voice laced with icy venom. "Did you really think you could take my place? Pathetic!"

"You left!" I cried out, my voice hoarse and cracking. "What should we have done? Father and I! You can't blame anyone else but yourself Morgana! What would you have us do?!"

"What every family would have done!" She yelled back, her fists slamming against the bars, startling me. "You should have waited! You should have trusted I'd return! You can't blame me Silvana! It was all too much, I needed time to think and-"

"You're just selfish!" I retorted, my anger surging to the surface. "You're so insecure and selfish! A self centered bastard!"

Her eyes flickered from their usual shade to pitch black, her nose flaring. "Don't push me Silvana!" She warned. "You could have done something! But oh no, little Silvana couldn't wait, could she? She just had to sink her claws into my mate, my life!"

"Morgana," I cried softly, tears welling up in my eyes. "This isn't....this wasn't my fault, and-"

"You fell in love with him," she spat, her eyes burning with a cold, possessive hatred. "You didn't just steal my life! You stole him from me!"

I shook my head. "You caused this," I cried out. "Morgana, you're blaming everyone but yourself! If you had never left, this wouldn't have happened!"

"And now I'm back," she spat. "To clean up you guys mess," her eyes then softened, a pang of vulnerability evident. "But no matter what I do, he doesn't want me," her voice cracked as she spoke. "He doesn't even look at me. All he talks about us you!" She added with venom.

I stood up and took three steps closer to her, wrapped my fingers around the bar, staring into her eyes. "Morgana.... I'm sorry but-"

"Look, I messed up, okay!" She yelled, slamming her fist against the bars making me startle back. "But I don't deserve this! I'm still his wife, I was and always will be! I realized that after I left! And you guys deserve everything you're going through for making me experience such pains!"

I scoffed as I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration. I couldn't believe her. I couldn't believe how selfish Morgana had become. "I deserve this?" I asked in disbelief as I stared at her. "Is it my fault that I was destined to be his mate?!" I roared.

Her eyes widened, then hardened with rage. "So...that's it then?" She stepped back from the cell, laughing to herself. It was a sound of near madness and disbelief. "Ah shit," she scoffed, running her hand through her perfectly combed hair. "So that's why then, that's why he wouldn't look at me because he was cursed with you?"

Realization shot through me when I realized what I had just blurted. Fuck! No!

She then looked up at me, her eyes filled with calculating rage. "You will pay for this, Silvana." She then began to walk away, I rushed to the cell, banging furiously on the bars.

"You know what?" I yelled after her. My breaths were now ragged, my chest heaving. "I don't give a damn again! I'm not going to beg for your mercy because you should be begging me! I'm the wronged person in this mess! Fuck you Morgana! I won't let you manipulate me any longer!"

She had already left, disappeared from my sight. I slumped to my knees burying my face in my hands, crying uncontrollably, the tears were flowing endlessly like a river. 

As I stayed there, sulking. I heard footsteps approaching again, softer this time. "Go away!" I murmured, my voice muffled by my hands.

"Luna?" I heard a familiar soft voice say, I looked up, my vision blurred by tears, and saw Clara standing at the bars, her eyes filled with concern, tears streaming down her face. 

"Moon Goddess have mercy," she sobbed, falling to her knees.

"Clara..." I whispered, my fingers reaching out to hold her but she was too far away from my grasp.

"No one knows I'm here," she sniffed, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand as she looked up. "Minus the kind guards who let me through. Betty wanted to come, but everyone was warned not to come here, and that's why..."

"It's enough," I said, inching closer. "Thank you for coming, Clara. That's all."

Just as she opened her mouth to speak, I heard a snort, and looked up to see Julianna standing behind her, her expression unreadable as she stared down at us.

"It's been long," she said in a flat tone as our eyes met.

"Yes, it has," I replied.

"Clara dear," Julianna said, looking at Clara who stared up with teary eyes. "Excuse us, please."

Clara looked at me, her eyes pleading, indicating that she didn't want to leave me alone with Julianna. But I nodded, urging her to go. With a deep shaky breath, she got up and left. Julianna walked closer and bent down, her face level with mine.

"You'll survive this," she said, her tone was still flat.

I laughed softly, a bitter hollow sound. "Aren't you supposed to hate me? To look down on me as everyone else is doing?"

"I can't hate a woman who saved my mist cherished friend."

I snorted. "What could I have possibly saved Garrick from? If anything, he saved me,"

She shrugged, rolling her shoulders. "True. But the one thing you saved him from is...himself," my eyes widened at her words, but I kept mute, letting her still talk. "But that isn't why I'm here,"

"Why are you here?"

She sucked in a deep breath and leaned back. "In order to survive, you'll have to understand something."

"And what's that?"

"A sacrifice would be made," she then stood up. "When that time reach. Do the right thing." With that, she walked away, leaving me to wonder what she had just meant.