Alexia
Sitting on the balcony where the wind was lightly blowing, trying to relieve the excessive heat, I watched Soraya walk through the door next to Thomas, they were chatting animatedly as he went into the garden.
Acácio stopped at the door and put his hands on his waist.
"Thank you," he said.
"What?" I widened my eyes in surprise. "I don't think I heard you right, can you say that again?"
"If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be seeing Thomas so soon"
I looked at Thomas who was laughing with Soraya.
"He loves you, I can tell"
Acácio shook his head slowly.
"I wanted to take him to the castle, but it's not possible" Acacio looked crestfallen for the first time, I paid attention to his face as he looked thoughtful "We've tried everything to cure him"
"You can't give up Acacio, I'll still see Thomas cured" I said firmly and looked into his eyes "Believe me, we'll find a cure!"
"The only way would be to reverse his curse with a witch of the Alencar lineage, but they are extinct."
"Alencar are the witches who predict the future, am I right?"
Acácio nodded.
"I met a witch in Zaïm, she predicts the future" I said and Acácio looked me in the eye "Maybe she's the last of the Alencar line"
"The king of Zaïm would never let us touch this witch"
"She's not evil"
"That I doubt" He let out a sarcastic laugh "There isn't a single good witch in the world Alexia, don't be naive. This witch works for King Octavian and I'm sure that if you went near her, after all, she'd kill you without a second thought."
"Acácio..."
"Don't try it Alexia" he said in a stern voice "You're part of my family now, I've already lost a daughter and I don't want to lose you too!"
I blinked without believing his words, Acácio turned and went into the house, and I followed him, feeling my heart pounding without believing what I had heard.
"Acácio, stop!" I asked and he stopped walking and turned around "What did you mean?"
"What did you hear?"
"I'm serious Acácio, our history is one of fights, threats and an attempted murder. Do you really feel any affection for me?"
Acacio stared at me steadily, above the surface of that hard shell and that stern face he shook his head in agreement.
"We started off very wrong, I don't think you'll forgive me, but I got tired of trying to kick you out of my family."
"It was a lot of things," I admitted. It's not easy to forget!"
He nodded.
"You're part of my family now Alexia so I have no choice but to consider you as my daughter too, but don't expect me to say that again"
I smiled incredulously, he was rude even when he was trying to be kind.
"It's a truce, I was really tired of fighting" I said with a smile on my lips, Acacio looked uncomfortable, he nodded and turned around "Acacio, I like you too!"
He stopped walking, but didn't turn around. I watched as he walked back feeling that my chest had become lighter, I was getting on well with Soraya and Acácio's confession, his peace flag was one less thing on my mind which made my heart warmer too.
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Charlotte
When I entered the room I didn't see George, it took me a while to recover and I carefully put the dagger away in one of the drawers, waiting for the moment I was going to use it.
As the hands of the clock ticked, I became more and more nervous, knowing that the hour was approaching and that soon someone would knock on the door.
George's absence only made me even more nervous and I found myself wondering where he was as I stared out of the window at the dragon outside, who was now asleep, the memory of when I had stuck the dagger in him still fresh in my mind, repeating itself hundreds of times, making my heart race.
I put my hands forward, focusing on him.
"Soon you'll be mine like a dog faithful to its master!" I said, imagining and visualizing that great beast being mine.
I stayed in the room until night fell and around midnight I was about to make a hole in the floor as I paced back and forth impatiently when there was a knock on the door, making me look at it in fright.
"Queen Charlotte, hurry up!" Said the female voice on the other side, I opened the door and saw Camila, sighed with relief and went to the drawer to get the dagger that was wrapped in a cloth.
I opened it a little to see the dried blood and then wrapped it up again and left the room behind Camila, walking through the corridors trying to keep up with the witch's hurried steps, she turned the corridors, seeing one guard or another as she walked, she opened a door which led to a staircase and took a torch to light the place as she hurried up the stairs which seemed to have no end until another door was opened to a place surrounded by pillars from which the wind ran through my bones, chilling me.
"Close the windows," she said to me and I shook my head, hurrying to close them. I heard the sound of one of the windows closing and turned to look, it was Otavio.
"Did you bring the dagger?" He asked as he closed another one.
"I wouldn't forget the main thing," I said and he shook his head. Soon the closed room from which no wind passed was just a place muffled by the large torches on the walls, there was a table in the center and there was black plastic on it that moved every now and then.
"Charlotte, come here," Camila asked and I walked towards her, stopping next to her.
I watched the plastic, which moved every now and then, feeling distressed, and then Otavio pulled the plastic away, showing that what I feared was reality.
George was tied up with ropes, a thick black cloth covering his mouth, his eyes frightened and his body shaking as he struggled to free himself, I closed my eyes trying to contain myself, trying not to cry, but his voice, muffled by the cloth, sounded like despair in my ears.
"George," I said, opening my eyes and taking a deep breath, trying to calm down, his whole body bathed in sweat. I looked up at Otavio "I'll have to kill him".
Otavio nodded.
"Take the dagger Charlotte" he said and I took the dagger out of the cloth, my hands trembling and my heart about to explode, Camila began to say words I didn't understand as I looked at George, her gaze wounded.
I heard the dragon roar and looked at Octavian, he looked at Camila.
"But quickly Camila, the dragon feels the agony of its master" said Octavian in a stern tone of voice, she raised her voice repeating the same words even faster and the torches flickered almost out.
She took the dagger from my hand and raising my palm up made a deep cut making me twist my face into a grimace, she ran her finger over the cut on my finger and began to make designs on George's exposed torso, I avoided George's eyes which seemed to weigh on me and held the dagger again, trying to focus on things in my desire for revenge, avoiding George's grunts as he tried to scream over the cloth in his mouth.
"I love you George" I said, letting the first tears fall "But nothing will stand in my way!"
"Kill him" said Camila, I raised the dagger and then for a moment I froze.
"Didn't I hear Camila, Charlotte? Come on, kill him!" said Octavian, showing his impatience.
My heart was beating so fast that it was hard to breathe, my whole body was shaking.
"What the hell, Charlotte!" I looked at George, into his eyes for one last time and I could see the fear and dread in them.
"I'm so sorry!" I quickly drove the stake into his chest and drove it in hard, George's scream echoed through the room along with the dragon's roar and for a second a strong wind went through me, sending shivers down my spine.
"Open the windows, quick!" Camila said, running towards one of the windows, and they began to open.
I threw the dagger on the floor and watched George let out his last breaths as he choked on his own blood. I quickly took the pan from his mouth and touched his face, looking into his eyes.
"George, talk to me, my love," I asked between sobs as I watched him struggle against the blood he spat out, the blood on his chest staining my dress.
He looked me in the eye as I smoothed his face and spoke:
"You fucking cow!" He closed his eyes and took his last breath, I could feel my chest plunge into sadness and mourning, hundreds of memories came to mind, then something rose from his mouth like white smoke and entered me, I closed my eyes and then I understood, I could feel the dragon.