Eli looked better than she had seen him on the night of their Wedding Ritual.
It was probably good for one's health not to be under the weight of so many spells.
The black lines on his hands were gone and her eyes watered when she remembered how much he wanted to touch something and not cause its death...how much he wanted to touch her.
The heavy chains that attached his hands to the floor would make that impossible.
"How are you? Did he hurt you? Are you okay?" He bombarded her with questions.
Wasn't he even bothered about the fact that she had kept secrets from him? That she was part of the reason this was happening to him?
She had expected to meet him a little defensive and angry, not totally just worried about her.
"I am fine. You don't look too well." She said with a strained smile.
"Tick-tock," Alaris said behind them.
If she could have come here without him, she would have, but she realized that his presence somehow kept the voices away and stabilized this magic in her veins that she had no idea how to control. She couldn't understand the connection of this curse of a magic with him, but she would try to figure that out another time.
She moved closer to the bars, slipping her hands between the bars to touch him, but he was too far and she was running out of time to keep on pretending that there wasn't a mounthill of secrets and lies between them.
The frustration and hurt that swindled in Eli's brown eyes plunged daggers into her heart. His eyes raked over her, trying to ensure that she was indeed alright. For someone who was bonded with so many chains, his priorities appeared misplaced.
The next moments would change everything, she just knew it.
With a sigh, she folded her arms behind her and began.
"You said your brother was dead. You called the dragon Pamela. You said he was a gift from your brother."
Something ticked in his jaws as he realized she was here to question him. He knew this was coming, he couldn't keep lying.
"You said you had a curse and that that the Bride Thief killed your family." She moved closer to the bar, staring straight at him, her eyes searching his for answers that his mouth might not be able to provide. "Why did you lie to me?"
The air in the enclosed space became heavy, his chest hot and tight with the next words he would have to say. He should have never let it come to this.
He was so stupid.
"To gain your pity. It was a strategy Kestra advised me to work with, because it just felt impossible for anyone to love me with the truth."
Belladonna balled her fists beside her, the voices in her head becoming a jumble of low mumbles. Something was sizzling in her veins, till she could feel Alaris closer, and the overwhelming feeling started to dissipate.
"What is the truth?"
Eli's eyes flickered to Lex who kept that bored look on his face. He still looked like he did those two hundred years ago, except now he didn't have that rage in his eyes.
There was so much behind that facade, he just knew it.
Eli wished Lex wouldn't be an audience to this. This conversation was going to leave him broken and he didn't want Lex, the brother who was better than him at everything, seeing it.
"There was a war in my Realm and my parents escaped."
Lex chuckled dryly, the humor from the sound buried in concealed rage.
"Of course, let us start from there. Don't let us talk about their treachery and how they made me an orphan."
Belladony frowned.
What? They weren't really brothers?
After realizing that Lex and Alaris were the same person, Belladonna believed that the betrayal Alaris had spoken about had been against their parents, not the parents of one, against another.
"How they almost killed me to make you perfect?"
Belladonna watched Eli closely, the way his shoulders went rigid, and his eyes went stormy confirmed that Alaris was telling the truth.
By Ignas, this was a lot to take in.
"My parents' crimes are not my own, and I am sorry---."
"Save it. Apologize for your own crimes, you have plenty."
Belladonna nibbled against her lower lip, her face etched into a frown.
What more did Eli do besides the obvious of holding the one he referred to as a brother, captive in his beast form and riding him around?
She still couldn't wrap her head around that one.
Eli was good and to know that he had done this was shocking.
"I loved you like a brother."
Lex scoffed, standing behind Belladonna and towering over her, his glare fixed on Eli.
"And you express that greatly." Rage burnt between both of them, and Belladonna felt caught in-between, physically and beyond that. "like by pushing me off a cliff."
Fury fired in Eli's eyes.
"You gave me my parents' hearts and told me to start a Heart Collection!"
"What?" Belladonna let out quietly in shock. These people were insane.
By Ignas, they were psychotic!
Alaris' expression morphed into one of mischief, a nonchalant smile tilting his lips upwards.
"Well, what can I say? I love you too, Brother." He held Belladonna's arms, resting his head lightly on her right shoulder. This was the first time he would be touching her ever since she was conscious and she tensed up, unprepared for how warm his hands were, or how present they would feel.
"Now, I won't interfere any longer. I'm sure you have a lot to tell Nightshade."
Something ticked in Eli's jaws at the nickname, and his storming brown eyes bored into his Donna's guided own.
If she was hating him already she wasn't showing it.
It drove him crazy to be so restricted.
By Ignas, he just wanted to touch her before she would deprive him of her forever.
"The Bride Thief...." He paused, "I lied about how my parents died."
Belladonna nodded, tasting more of that bitterness in her mouth. Maybe Alaris was accurate about that.
"I was born different from them with no magic, and just like them with no dragon. They--" he looked away from her, the look in her eyes consuming him with guilt. It was better to look at the ground and not see how his words slowly built distance between them in her eyes. "My parents wanted to take Lex's dragon---"
"Alaris, please." He corrected. "Stop calling me by the name your parents gave me, it's disgusting.
The light in the dungeon became a blue shade, mixed with red, and without looking back Belladonna knew flames were lining Alaris hands again.
Eli nodded, taking corrections.
"My parents wanted to make Alaris' beast my own. They were successful with some things." The scales on his face felt suddenly heavy and he cringed. "Like my scales."
"Oh."
Belladonna really liked those, and they didn't even belong to him.
That was disappointing.
"And everything that isn't human about me."
"I see." Her quiet response reached him. He fought the urge to look up at her, it would be shattering.
"I never wanted it. It caused my brother so much pain and I hated to watch him like that. I didn't even know what they were doing, it took me a while to realize."
Alaris looked away.
It was getting harder to keep up with the nonchalant facade, when he could still hear his screams, and remember vividly how he dreaded it anytime his aunt would lead him to that room and strap him to a table with Eli by his side, who was always begging for them to let him ho.
He was just a child and they had each other, until he had backstabbed him.
Alaris clenched his fists, his expression blank.
Fucking bastard.
This was going to make him sick.