Petra of the Shazastar is a thief on the run from an unforgettable past. But, like all thieves, her luck cannot last forever. When she is caught, she's given a choice: either face execution or become the fortune teller to the Mad Queen.
Not surpri...
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IF ONLY MY NIGHTS WERE as lighthearted as my days. My shoulders slump with dread for the hell that awaits me in my room. How long will I be able to stay awake before my nightmares consume me once again? How long before insanity devours my soul and leaves me nothing but a shaking, hollow eyed shell of a person?
I only hope that the relief I feel from exposing Cecilia is enough to clear my conscience, just a little so that I may sleep. I drag my blanket and pillow to the balcony. I wonder once more how long I would have to live like this?
For the nights are getting longer and colder. I huddle on the icy floor of the balcony with my blanket around me; the stars are not present this night. I can do nothing but rock back and forth - back and forth and hope that I can fight the exhaustion that seeps into my bones and beckons me to sleep.
"Dance with me."
I do not bother hiding my smile as I turn around to face him. Dressed in his crisp black guard uniform and a white mask, I would recognize him anywhere.
His grasp around my waist tightens as he pulls me even closer; his head lowers and I close my eyes. I know this is the moment I have been waiting for, pining for. But then, a dark chill travels up my spine and I know then that it was all too good to be true -
"Did you actually think that I would love you in return?" Giovanni rips his mask off and stony eyes - incredulous cruel eyes, assault me."You are nothing but a thief! A fake. A runaway. A murderer."
Tears prick my eyes, for this pain, this sharp stabbing pain in my heart, does nothing but make me feel sick, and is worse than any physical pain I have endured.
"You have taken my kindness - my sympathy - and in your delusion ...your desperation made it into something it is not. Love? When it is nothing but pity!"
I watch him walk away and blend into the crowd of people surrounding me. Their faces merge together into a blurry teary mess, their chants resound into one audible sentence after another.
"We have found you!"
"You cannot escape us!"
"Please," I whisper into the dark. "I beg of you, leave me be!"
One figure walks through the masses. As the shadows recede from his face, I realize the monster that stands before me. His too wide smile pushes the rotten flesh of face. His eyes - his once honest eyes have gone completely black, while the rest of him rots before me.
'I have missed you.'
I hold back my scream, frozen by fear as the shadows float from his mouth and encircle me, grasp at me, constrict as a snake does to its prey.
