The Ballad of a Broken Heart | Cedric Diggory

12

Ain't nothing better for me now
Than your poison baby
                                        - Poison by Brent Faiyaz
-

Over the course of the next month, the woman had been completing Cedric's tasks and living her life without even so much of a glance in his direction.

He'd given up trying to apologize after he'd tried to the first time and she'd responded by attacking him with her poisoned hands to his chest, scarring him with burn marks in the same places as the lightning ones on her that still had yet to fade.

He looked in the full-length mirror beside his closet, tracing the burns with his eyes. Like her lightning scars, the burn marks looked like a series of red spider webs. Also like her lightning scars, Cedric knew that these probably weren't going to fade. His hand that was still red like a branding iron from when she'd grabbed it just over a month ago was proof enough of that.

Not only had the woman already made a figurative mark on his life, but now she'd made a physical one on his body.

And he hated her all the more for it.

Cedric hadn't retaliated or defended himself when it became evident that she was going to get her revenge in kind, for he knew that he more than deserved it, but that didn't mean he wasn't bitter about it. Now if he ever managed to get her out of his life, he'd still have a constant reminder of her.

His vision was swimming and his chest was constricting as he pulled on his white doublet etched in gold. After several days of the regular poisons not having any effect, Cedric realized that he was going to have to find poison potions instead. Poisons that were designed to work on vampires. So, Cedric went back to the witch who he'd bought his liquor and sleeping draughts from a century ago, asking to exchange those for poisons instead.

Of course, it wasn't that easy, as witches were cunning, malignant creatures. The witch agreed to let Cedric keep the liquor and sleeping draughts, as well as make him an endless enchanted supply of potions, in exchange for a promise. A promise that within the next year he would make someone fall in love with him and admit it.

Of course, Cedric couldn't return their affections, for he'd also made a promise to the witch that he'd never fall in love with someone ever again. So, essentially he was agreeing to break someone's heart.

Cedric had watched as the witch sealed the oath with her wand, reciting the old spell. He was to earn the love of a woman within the next year, or he would die, and the witch would get his soul. He was to not return this love, or he would die, and the witch would get his soul.

Whether it was simple arrogance or Cedric truly held no high regard for his life, he wasn't worried. There was a kingdom full of woman begging to lay in his bed. All he had to do was get one of them to fall in love with him and say it, rather than only being in love with the idea of him.

He placed a hand on the wall to stable himself. The poisons were truly no joke. Today he'd dosed himself with Belladonna, and he was already regretting it.

He straightened up, pulling on his black trousers and shoes. Amos had quickly caught on to something being wrong with Cedric the first time the poison had had an effect, leaving him no room but to tell the truth to his father of how he was doing that to make himself less susceptible to the poisoner's powers. Clearly it wasn't helping much when it came to her being able to scar him from the outside, but if she ever tried to poison his drink, then hopefully it wouldn't have as big of an effect.

Cedric shook his head, wondering when he'd started to think about her so much.

He left his bedchamber, shortly afterwards finding himself in the library like usual. This riddle, this moons damned riddle, would be the death of him, if the snake bitch wasn't first.