Chapter 321 Punishment to come

Chapter 321 Punishment to come
“Where is it then?” Nix asked, her voice broken and hoarse from screaming. She sat on the floor by her daughter.

“I don’t know,” Rayne told her with a sigh.

“So I didn’t kill her?” Xylia asked, looking from Ailive to her mother. It was a pleading look, one that told everyone in the room that she had wished beyond all hope that she hadn’t harmed her.

“She isn’t dead,” Aarmeris told her with a smile. “It is like a coma.”

“How do we wake her?” Xylia asked, wanting to help wake her up.

“Find her light,” Ehlark told her, then thought of something. “The crystal.”

Dakaath stood up from the chair he had been sitting in. Coming over to where his brother was.

“The Mello crystal, it almost drained her. Do you still have it?” Dakaath asked him with so much hope in his voice that it almost broke Ehlark’s heart.

“You have Mello crystals?” Aameris asked, turning toward Ehlark. He was shocked because no one had told him about the crystals.

“Ailive found them when we came into the dead part of the forest. They were at the base of a dead tree; it almost drained her. It saved us, but almost killed her. Strange, because we always thought they were supposed to save people, not kill them,” Ehlark told him with a frown. They had all thought that something was wrong with them.

“That crystal might just save her. Get it and bring it here. It has her light in it.” Aarmeris told him with a bright smile. He watched as Ehlark left the room to get the crystals.

“You mean she will live?” Nix looked up at Aarmeris with hope in her eyes. Tears still slide down her face.

“It is possible, if the goddess wills it, and the light will go into her body. Then yes.” Aarmeris smiled down at Nix.

There would always be a cost. Aarmeris knew that, and he didn’t like that idea because Ailive hadn’t done anything to have to pay it. When he looked down at the sleeping beauty, he wished he could do something to help her, to bring her back whole. To know that she would never have to remember what happened to her.

“Nix, you need to know that if this works. Ailive might not be the same woman she once was. Crossing over as she has will come at a cost. It always does.” Aarmeris spoke to her like she was a child; to him, she was.

“I will pay the price,” Dakaath told him, standing beside Ailive, tears in his eyes. “She did nothing to deserve this.”

“I did this, I should have to pay the price.” Xylia told them, stepping toward them,,” Fresh tears rushing down her face.

Ehlark pulled her against his chest, holding her close. He knew that she hadn’t done anything of her own free will.

“None of you did any of this, and shouldn’t have to pay the cost of this. Myrddin and the hag should be the ones paying for what happened. Ailive however, will be the one who will pay the cost.” Aarmeris looked down at Ailive again, putting a hand on hers. The cold shocked him, but he knew she wasn’t gone forever. “Bring me the hag.”

Moments later, an orb was brought into the room with a screaming hag banging on the walls of the orb. When she saw Aarmeris looking into the orb, she stopped. Sitting in the middle, she knew her days were done.

“You have harmed my family, almost killed my granddaughter. Had her almost killed my other granddaughter. How do you plead on these charges?” Aarmeris asked, letting everyone in the room watch what he was doing.

“I did no harm to either of these girls,” Minx told him with a smile on her face. “Xylia did all these things on her own.”

“Lies will get you nowhere. The orb you are sitting in was enchanted last night with a spell to show when you lie. You just did so. Now tell me the truth.” Aarmeris glared at her again.

“Fine, I did force Xylia to kill fae and people. It was to make her dark. Trouble was, she didn’t turn dark like we wanted her to. Then she wouldn’t kill me. When Ailive arrived, she didn’t want to harm her. I had to force her into it.” Minx told them with a snicker. “It took her almost twenty minutes to attack the girl. Once she did it was like she was shocked out of the darkness. Never seen a spell break like that.”

Xylia glared at the little hag; she hated the woman. Hearing her say those things pissed her off and made her want to hurt her. It wasn’t her place to hurt her, though. Nix was the one to kill the hag.

“You have been guilty of your crimes.’ Aarmeris told her with a smile. He heard the hag scream that she hadn’t seen a judge. “I am the judge. Now, normally, you would face fae punishment, but today you will face the mother of the woman you killed.”

“No!” the hag screamed as the orb moved toward Nix. “You can’t do this.”

“You kidnapped Xylia, then let her attack my daughter. Letting her kill her.” Nix growled at her. “What to do with you?”

“Let me go?” Minx shrugged with a half grin.

“You aren’t going to live,” Nix told her, letting the orb float by her head. “I have to decide what I want to do with you. Can you make it so she can’t talk?”
“Yes.” Aarmeris smiled as the orb glowed a bright lavender, and no sound came from the orb. “Smart move.”

“I want to just smash the orb, but that would be far too quick,” Nix told him. Then she sighed. “Then I think about other things that I would do, and I wonder if Ailive would do those things. She would want it to be quick, I think. Nothing to draw out for the hag. As for Myrddin that should be drawn out and hurt him badly.”

Lindaat stood going to her mother, helping her to a chair. Could her sister really live? What would the price be? What about the hag? This was starting to give her a headache. Lindaat wanted her sister alive. Feeling closed in, she kissed her mom on the head.

“I’m going to get some fresh air,” Lindaat told her with a smile.

“Stay close, please,” Nix told her, not wanting to let her hand go.

Lindaat nodded when she left the room. Her heart was breaking with each step she took. A twin should never lose a twin, it was losing a part of themselves. She hadn’t told anyone, but she had known the moment Ailive had died. Felt the moment her heart had stopped. Stepping into the hall, her dress was moving like waves around her, and as she turned the corner, she was running. Busting through the doors to the garden, she gasped in the night air.

Sobbing as she found the bench. The stone was cold beneath her hands.