Belladonna felt beyound stressed.
Any slight movement and her headache worsened. She was tired of begging the Bride Thief that she had seen enough and understood what he was trying to get at, even if up till now, she didn't understand a thing about why he had brought her her.
What worried her even more was that she believed that by now, she must have slept for too long, too long that people might already think she was dead. Different imaginations about what might be happening right now crossed her mind as she tried to push them away, none was pleasant.
Her eyes were blurry as she watched the sight in front of her.
Overtime, with the many illusions that the Bride Thief had shown her, the white figure had gtown bigger and taller. He was now, in fact, the King of a Kingdom, and for some reasons that she couldn't remember, he wanted to take a Queen but couldn't.
When the Bride Thief was talking about it, they had all sounded like absolute garbage to her compared to her need to get out of this dreaded place. Although, she had been nodding her head all throughout the explanation that came in one ear and went out through the other. Despite her attempt to even listen and understand in case thaw answer would be the password to leave when all this turtore was done, she just couldn't do concentrate.
But finally, the white Figure had found a Queen but the Queen was Lady Kestra?
Wow, the Bride Thief was desperately throwing in all the people she knew in regards to this, trying to paint them into terrible light for a reason she was certain he still hadn't said yet.
This was beyond ridiculous.
Up till now, this illusion had no purpose and she didn't even know why she was being out through this torment!
The fake Lady Kestra was dazzling in her her white dress with gold tappings.
Belladonna tsked at the error.
Lady Kestra always wore red. It was her color.
That aside, even in the illusion, she looked as beautiful and as graceful as ever. Every detail of her face was present, even details that Belladonna had somehow forgotten, considering how long Lady Kestra had been gone. Like the glowing red thing at the middle of her head and her silver eyes that always seem to look right into a person's soul.
She almost looked like the real deal!
It made Belladonna wonder how many times the Bride Thief must had come across her to remember so much. How many times she must have come face to face with the King's enemy and didn't even know it.
She moved into the room, with the white figure by her side, Eli's supposed brother, as they talked about love, before they proceeded to settled into bed.
Soon, they were fast asleep.
Great. Could she now leave?
Belladonna opened her mouth to start her plea again, this time around with a confident speech that she had already prepared in her head.
Even if he let her go now, there was a high chance that she would be waking up, six feet under in some air-tight coffin, or worse, she might not even have a body to return to. The King might have decided on an honorary burial and asked Pamela to lit her up with dragon flames. Her flesh would be nothing but ash, her bones crispy snacks for the fertile soil.
Or not, she wasn't sure.
At that moment, the quick movement on the bed, had distracted her.
The fake Kestra had swiped out a dagger from underneath the bed, turned slowly to her side, while she chanted something inaudible underneath her breath, and in a flash, she brought down the blade, planting it firmly into the chest of the White Figure, that was most likely sleeping. Then she had staggered from the bed, not taking her eyes off the dagger that was still buried in his chest.
Her ears peaked when she heard a knock on the door and she ran to it, pushing the large door open. Now that Belladonna was observing it, the room was tall, like really tall. The space above seemed unnecessary and the door were large and long in a way that wasn't needed.
Was this castle built for giants?
Fake Kestra rushed into the arm of the man who had just stepped in, and had his back turned towards her so Belladonna couldn't see who it was, but from that back frame, the information was pretty clear.
"Eli. He is dead."
"Did he hurt you?"
"No." She paused, before she said with a slow chuckle that bubbled into a soft laughter. "He's finally dead."
Belladonna frowned.
Had didn't think she had ever heard Lady Kestra laugh before.
Wow. The Bride Thief really tried. Even their voices sounded like them.
"You did well." Fake Eli said, his voice as calm as Belladonna knew it to be. "You did very well."
Annoyed by the fake show of betrayal, her inside twisted with distaste. The Bride Thief was just playing with her at this point. He knew that the emotion that she was most farmilar with from the people she loved was betrayal and he was trying to play into that, since doing otherwise had not worked for him last time.
Real smooth, Bride Thief.
No, this was just pathetic. Lady Kestra would never do this, the only people she had ever showed evil to were her family and that was became they had abused her. And Eli? Eli loved his brother!
It was a fortunate thing for her that the King had told her all this before, if not, she might be having doubts right now.
To think that he was trying to put the blame of all the things that he had done to Eli's family on the brothers.
Cruel.
Soon enough he would say that he had never even stolen a bride before. Oh, he had already said that!
How could she get away from this lying bastard? If and when she finally made it out of this nightmare, she would make sure never go dream of the Bride Thief again.
That was a promise.
"Aren't you hurt. I mean, he is your brother still."
Eli nodded but his back was still turned towards the door that Belladonna was standing a few steps away from. That was understandable, the Bride Thief had no face to show.
"Death was the only--"
The growl from in front of them, made them look up with horror.
Where the white figure was, it was gone and all that stood in the air, flapping it's large leathery wings, was a dragon.
Pamela, again?
The Bride Thief was really going all out with everything he could grab.
So what, Eli's brother was Pamela?
The Bride Thief must be out of his wits already.
So he would ride around on his brother, that he loved with his entire being, for all these years, while he wept and grieved the death of his family?
The bitterness that rushed through her veins was consuming, she wished the Bride Thief had a form, so she could attack him and claw out his face with her fingers.
This was how he had trickd the former brides with ridiculous illusions. The fact that they had fallen was understandable, this seemed pretty believable. Only that she knew better.
It was mess from here on out.
The dragon's level of aggressiveness was much more than Pamela's.
The headache increased and Belladonna had to hold her head in-between her hands, and stare at the ground to wait it out. When next she looked up, the dragon was on the floor, it's eyes filled with rage at Fake Kestra, who looked the wildest Belladonna had ever seen her, as she chanted spells.
A force seemed to be pulling the dragon's head down to the ground,a force that the dragon couldn't repeal as she chanted loudly, holding her one part of her hand, that the dragon must have slashed earlier in the chaos, and splashed it on the dragon.
With a final thud, the beast hit the ground. She crumbled too, but fake Eli was holding her to himself before she had the chance to hit the ground, whispering some things Belladonna was sure she was uninterested in.
Despite the fact that none of this was real, the sight of Eli and Kestra so close together felt unsettling.
The thought had never crossed her mind once and she hated that image had somehow planted itself into her memory.
She half listened to the words the Bride Thief was saying next to her as he declared that her torments were over. Her gaze was fixed on the two couples in front of her, allowing jealousy to eat her alive.
His words were jumbled, like he was finally realizing she had spent too long here.
"So they trapped his brother, I don't care about his brother. I care about me. My bond with the dragon, has made me trapped too. I need your help. Stupid Eli is dying, which means, the dragon bonded to him is dying which means I am dying. I need you to rescue me out of here before that happens. I am running out of time." A pause. "Are you even listening to me?"
Oh she was, but fake Kestra was staring directly at her and something about her gaze didn't feel quite right.