The keys in her hand dropped to the floor and clanked, her body trembling, her eyes glistering with tears of fear, as she moved backwards slowly in a way that seemed so unnatural. Her lips quivered as they tried to form the words that were rushing through her mind but her tongue felt nailed to the roof her mouth that she couldn't speak despite how hard she tried.
Then her hands clamped upon her lips, words pushing out through the space of her fingers.
"Your Majesty."
She staggered back, the horror in front of her making her heart beat wildly, so much that she forgot the fear that the King caused her naturally.
"Your ma-- your majesty." Her breathing interrupted the words she was saying. She staggered bavk against, shaking her head.
Then abruptly, she turned, opened the door with clumsy hands and ran. Her tearful mumblings increasing the further she went, tears running down her face, her voice shaky and her sight a blur.
"My mistress...your Majesty."
Raquel had seen many things while she served the Brides in the past, one thing they all shared was that they had all mysteriously disappeared after a short while of them meeting the Bride Thief in their dreams. They had exhibited different behaviours before the disappearance, but none of them had ever had those lines of blackness on their bodies, with blood while they slept.
None until now.
Raquel stopped instinctively as she got to the stairs that lead to the King's floor, her body conditioned to never willing take a step up there. She felt the usual fear she had come to associate with the King and anything related to the King, raising up her throat again before the horror she had just witnessed, battled it and took over her mind.
She must tell the King.
Her mind went to Colin and how he always warned her to say away from the business of the Brides she served, and she frowned.
Not now. Not anymore.
She had to tell the King.
She couldn't let Colin or the thought of him stop her this time.
For her Mistress, she would do this.
Breaking that wall in her mind, she took the first step, then ran up without looking back.
____
The sharp piercing of something by her wrist sent a signal to her brain that she couldn't ignore, making her feel almost alwake.
They were piercing her, doing something to her but she couldn't move, her eyelids remained permanently shut and her body refused to sway in whatever direction she wanted to sway it to.
But every pain that they inflicted on her she felt it, and their voices floated into her ears, but the words they said she could make no meaning of.
She should understand them but her head felt so heavy and her brain felt so fogged that it was only pain that could cut through it momentarily.
She was getting tired of fighting against whatever it was that had taken over her, it left her drained in a way she couldn't understand.
There was a voice that could get through to her though, one that hurled hateful words at her.
It screamed at her for being weak, shouted at her for not fighting enough, scolded her for just letting whatever was happening happen to her, then insulted her for being stupid to allow herself to be here in the first place, allow herself to fall victim of every situation, reminding her that she was a poison, a mistake to be gotten rid of and that was all she would ever be.
It would have been useless, had the voice playing all those words in her head, not had being her Mother's.
It rang in her ears and rage boiled in her veins. She focused on her body, trying to seize back control.
That witch had so much audacity for doimg this nonsense, and she would deal with her for it, once she could lift her eye lids at least.
The sharp pain crossed through her veins again and that did it.
Her eyes pried open finally, and she sucked in a deep breath, her chest raising and falling, her sight a little cloudy.
Her ragged breathing was so loud, I upt was all she could hear. She looked around quickly, her neck aching with each movement, her eyeballs aching as she moved them.
So much aching.
She hoped the pain would disappear once she woke up.
Because she would definitely be waking up, alright.
She needed to prove her mother wrong.
She was always having her way. That annoying woman with a low cut that was much more graceful than her entire personality would ever be always butting in her business and running her life like it was hers.
It was sickening.
Her hands moved over the surface, as she realized that crystals had been placed around her, along with some powdery materials.
What was the meaning of this?
Her hand clutched around the crystal that dug into her palm. She blinked, taking note of something. The witch was no longer standing by the table, neither was scaly man.
She could hear voices again and she stilled on the table as they moved closer.
The voices were raising then dropping. It sounded like they were arguing.
Her stomach rumbled, loudly as it had done before and she stiffened, tightening her hand around the crystal.
The voices did not stop. They probably hadn't even heard.
If she survived this, she would be having a long talk with a stomach. They might even come up with a schedule on the right rumbling time, a training even, because it seems her stomach had a lot of learning to do.
Laughter bubbled in her throat and she kept it in, forcing the gem further into her palm so she could distracted from her stomach and actually ficus on what was happening right now.
At the pain, she thought, it must be painful to have one's illusions go out of control.
That reminded her of the Bride Thief. She couldn't hear him anywhere. Did that mean he had gone?
Left her here alone? With them?
He obviously could but what she couldn't wrap her head around was that he had left.
Left!
Hadn't he said he was just as trapped as she was?
Lying bastard. Everything that came out of his mouth were lies!
She hated him, wish she could strangle him and--
The voices got closer and she stiffened, tucking that thought safely away for future assassinating purposes. Right now, she had to deal with these little peas in a pond disturbance first.
So, she prepared her body to receive her next order, despite how drowsy she felt.
Sharp fingernails grazed the heel of her feet, while whatever the witch was chatting floated to her ears.
Without a second thought, she lurched herself forward into the witch but her body was still so weak that she hit the floor with a thud instead, missing the witch by a good distance.
"That's impossible." The witch snapped, kneeling next to her, pulling her by the hair. "How--"
The next words that came out from her mouth were muffled by the crystal that Belladonna launched straight into her mouth with force, pushing it as far back as she could with all her strength at the only shot she had.
The witch froze, her eyes bulging open as blood dripped from the sides of her lips that had tore open from the size of the crystal stuffed into her mouth, the red thing on her forehead dimmed immediately, then she dropped to the floor.
It was an odd sight, a glowing gem in her mouth, blood spilling by the corners of her lips and her lifeless eyes staring above.
A smile broke on Belladonna's lips.
One down.
One more to go.