Illuminating the Dark Prince

Terror and Tragedy

The world around me was consumed by unfathomable darkness. It weighed upon my soul like a funeral pall trying to smother away all sanity left within my racing mind. Cold rough hands were shackled around my upper arms, dragging my thrashing, screaming body through what was likely some obscure part of the Tenverian castle. Heavy armored boots clomped against the stone floor on either side of me, with the putrid odors of death and decay burning my nostrils.

Man, these guys stink!

"Valarendrik will come for me! Make no mistake about that!" I threatened while digging my heels against the floor. It might have been foolish to give them so much attitude, but I was fully confident that Valarendrik would rescue me. Plus I knew they wouldn't do me any harm while his child was growing within my womb.

A sinister cackle, no doubt gurgled from the queen herself, suddenly resounded throughout the suffocating darkness. "Let's hope that he does. We'll need his fingers to forge the next crown, after all." Cerindier's voice sardonically cooed like a wicked old witch.

A retort about how Valarendrik had recently discovered his true strength and power teetered on the tip of my tongue, desperate to leap off and smack her right in the ugly face. But I forced my words to remain silent, not wanting to ruin any chance he might have at gaining the upper hand. My rash decision making and stupidity had already gotten me into this mess, and I didn't want to make the situation any worse.

The image of Rosalie standing all alone in the doorway kept replaying in my mind. And I couldn't seem to stop reprimanding myself for what had happened. I felt utterly foolish and embarrassed about what I had done. There had no doubt been something terribly off about her, yet I allowed my emotions to guild my actions rather than logic, and sprinted right into the waiting arms of danger. It was as though they knew exactly what would pluck at my heartstrings, and that lloigor had played on mine like a master harpist.

...And now I'm back in fucking Tenverial of all places.

"You will not succeed in crowning my child, Cerindier. And as long as I breathe, I will do whatever it takes to ensure that you never meet them!" I tried to glare at her, hoping that I wasn't looking at the wall or something.

"You actually breathe?" Her voice held an amused yet inquisitive tone. "Well, resist me all you'd like. It won't change the fact that I will raise the heir myself, and we will feast on your flesh once they are born. Perhaps I'll even nurse the little one with a bottle of your blood..." She whimsically stated. "It smelled like a divine delicacy during the wedding. I'm honestly surprised that my son has the self-control to restrain himself around you, as unorthodox as he may be."

My stomach twisted in revulsion at the thought of her disgusting corpsen hands cradling my child while feeding them my blood. "Valarendrik has self-control because he is a good man. Which is astonishing, considering who raised him." Really though, how did someone who was raised by an abusive narcissistic cannibal, then lived in the wilderness with an actual demon as his only communicable friend, develop such strong moral principles? He truly was just naturally that pure of heart and soul.

A faint growl came from the queen, and if I had been able to see, I'm sure there would've been a sneer on her ugly corpsen face. The sounds of her shoes clicking along the floor came to a stop. "He is nothing more than a weakling with a mental infliction!" She hissed. "His condition has nothing to do with how I raised him!"

I internally laughed, finding it amusing how she seemed to gaslight herself into believing her own lie... You're the weak one, Cerindier. Not Val...

The long eerie screech of a heavy door being pushed open filled my ears, followed by soft weeping and anxious murmurs... spoken in English. I immediately perked to attention. The guards dragged me through the doorway and into a room where a few lofty barred windows overlooked the ocean waves crashing upon the lower cliffs, allowing me to faintly see the outlines of many people chained to the walls and a group sitting on the floor.