Chapter 90 Mira’s truth
Mira looked downwards, her eyelids fluttering, her lips trembling as she glanced at Isabella.
Isabella rolled her eyes. “Come on, Mira. Cut the crap. I know exactly what you've done and your tears will do nothing to absolve you.”
Mira looked away, sniffing. “I actually do not blame you if you think I'm trying to gain pity.”
“That's exactly what you're trying to do.” Isabella scoffed.
Mira shook her head. “It's okay to feel that way…”
Isabella raised her hand, interrupting Mira. “What you won't do, is make me feel bad for calling you out. I freaking took you like my sister. You were my friend, Mira.”
Her voice shook as she tried to calm herself. “You knew everything that happened in my life. I took you like my best friend.”
Mira nodded, wiping a stray tear from her cheeks. “I had no choice.”
“Yes, you did!” Isabella's voice was raised. She was almost at the verge of screaming.
“You fucking did, Mira.”
Mira shook her head. “You don't understand, Ms Thorne.”
“Isabella.” Isabella corrected coldly. “That's my name.”
Mira nodded apologetically. “I had no choice. I was forced.”
“Oh really?” Isabella's brows were raised, her voice filled with mockery. “Let me guess, a gun was pointed at your head.”
Mira looked away, hurt. “If you put it that way.”
Isabella was about to retort, when she stopped in her tracks.
Mira looked pitiful and she was trying all she could not to feel some semblance of pity.
“Is that really the card you're going to play?” She muttered, steering her heart back to the present.
“I'm not playing any card you think I am, My Lady,” Mira muttered, sniffing. “I am telling the truth.”
Isabella's folded arms and stern expression did not give way. “Then you better start talking. And fast.”
Mira nodded gratefully. “I would really love to start by apologising.”
Isabella snickered. “I think your time is counting Mira. Your apology is hardly going to change anything.”
Mira nodded. “I was fifteen.” She began, her voice coarse. “I'd been rescued by them even before I could talk.”’
“And by them you mean the ancient Faction?” Isabella cut in.
Mira nodded, wiping the tears off her cheeks. “They'd treated me like I was part of them. I was different in looks and size but I wasn't made to feel different.”
“What's the difference?” Isabella grunted. “I didn't treat you like you were a slave. Maybe I should have done that.”
Mira looked down. “Then I was fifteen and had begun to develop some feelings for the prince…”
Isabella's guttural laugh rent the room. “You really were trying to break out, weren't you?”
Mira's smile was bitter as she looked away, hiding the hurt feeling in her eyes. At this point, Isabella could say what she thought. She deserved it.
“I was made to understand that I couldn't fall in love.” She choked. “And proving how stubborn I was, my parents were killed.”
Isabella forced herself to stare at Mira. The younger woman looked pitiful.
“It was some sort of warning to me.” She chuckled. “I didn't give in. I felt justified instead.” She wiped the tears away, glancing up at Isabella.
“I felt it was right that they had been killed. It was some retribution for them. Grooming me for a role that I would never do.”
Isabella could feel it in her heart that the story was yet to begin.
She walked slowly to her bed, sitting on it, her gaze not leaving Mira’s face.
“I thought they would stop. Afterall the people I called my parents were dead, but that was only the beginning.” Mira continued. “I was ostracised, my friends made fun of the prince and me.”
She closed her eyes as she let the tears run down. “He wasn't really the prince.”
Isabella stopped herself in time from gasping in surprise. She hadn't been expecting that bit.
Mira nodded, a small smile creeping up her face, blending with the tears. “He'd been planted there. Like me, he was being groomed for situations like that.”
She opened her eyes again, staring straight into nothingness. “With the truth coming into light, there was nothing I could do. I'd already fallen in love with him.”
“And so, he was the next bait. He would be killed if I didn't agree to their terms.”
She paused, trying to calm her voice. “I'm really sorry I'm so messy.” She muttered to Isabella as she blew her nose into a cloth.
Isabella nodded, waving her complaints away as she returned to her seat.
“I'd thought they were bluffing.” She continued, gazing into the space. “Apparently, they weren't.”
Isabella could feel her heart beating fast.
“They started by chopping off his fingers.”
Isabella choked, nausea rising in her chest.
“Then they moved to his toes.” Mira continued, grief filling her voice. “He was bleeding, his body thrown to the forest to be eaten by wild animals.”
She paused, trying to regain her balance. “And I was given an ultimatum. Agree to their demands and they would save him.”
She faced Isabella. “I had no choice.”
“You accepted,” Isabella said quietly, like she was trying to confirm.
Mira nodded. “It was for him. More lives would have been lost.”
“And now?” Isabella’s voice shook. On one hand, she wanted to feel pain and on the other, she felt hurt.
“You could have spoken up, Mira. You could have come to me.”
Mira shook her head in disagreement. “It's not that simple, My Lady. They're everywhere.”
Isabella shook her head. “You were making plans to kill us, Mira. That's unexcusable.”
“No I wasn't!” Mira shook her head vehemently. “It was all a plot.”
“What?” Isabella raised a brow as she'd just heard the most unbelievable thing.” “Excuse you?” She stood up.
Mira swallowed. “It was all a ploy, My Lady. Your blood carries no curse.”
Isabella staggered, holding the frame for balance. “Blackburn, your findings… they were fake?”
Mira nodded guiltily. “It was needed for what they intended to achieve. Without you believing that, they would not be successful.”
Isabella stopped herself from staggering. “Lives have been lost, Mira. An innocent Blackburn killed for your selfish purposes.”
Mira looked away.
Isabella clenched her hands. “And you had me believing that? Mira, I was suicidal, depressed, almost ready to kill myself because of what I believed in!” She screamed.
Mira looked away. “The power is real, My lady. It just is not dangerous.”
Isabella glowered at her. “And telling me right now is going to change something? Make me feel better?”
The room fell silent, both women having different emotions.
“I'm sorry, My Lady.” She looked down guiltily. “It was part of the plan?”
“And Elias?” Isabella pressed. “What do you think is the end game here? How do you think this is all going to end?”
Mira shook her head. “I don't really know, My lady.”
Isabella scoffed. “I'm not going to buy that; you andd Mira better tell me all that you know.”
Mira shook her head. “I don't know enough, My lady. Just like Lord Damien, I'm only a tool.”
“Damien!” Isabella exhaled heavily. “And let me guess, he sure doesn't know what is happening.”
Mira shook her head. “The Guatemalas would never reveal their plans…”
“The Guatemalas?” Isabella wheezed. “They're the ones?”
She could feel the room suddenly increase in temperature. “Mira, the Guatemalas?”
Mira stared straight at Isabella, suddenly realising something. “I've revealed too much and will be killed for even exposing myself.”
Isabella shrugged. “That's the price you have to pay. I'm not the snitch.”
Mira nodded gravely. “I'm ready to do that but I think there is something you should know.”
“You're trying to play good cop, bad cop? Make me feel pity for you so I can save you?”
Mira shook her head, her smile bitter. “You can't save me, My lady. Not even the moonlit blood is that powerful. At least not yours alone.”
“What do you mean?”
“From what I know, the bulk of the power ends with you and your offspring.”
“Elias,” Isabella whispered.
“They don't believe it's your right, My lady. That's what all this is about. They're trying to reclaim their place in the kingdom and you're the key.”
Isabella tried to hide her fear. “And what makes you think I don't know that?” Her voice came out softer than usual, giving her away.
Mira looked down. “There is a passage down the hall. A mirror passage. It should be useful in the future.”
“And now?” Isabella pressed.
“Now, they'll find me and kill me. The least I can do is find a way to get out of here. I've been compromised, my lady.”
Isabella nodded, understanding dawning on her.
“I wish it didn't have to end this way, Ms Thorne. I'll forever value our friendship. Thank you for treating me well.” She muttered and walked to the door, her body dissolving with every step she took.