Dance of Fate

Chapter Five

-Under the Mountain-

I squeezed my eyes shut, not bearing the sight before me. My body was paralyzed with dread, aside from the uncontrollable shaking of my hands. I kept them clasped together behind my back so no one would notice. I opened my eyes and kept my face in a blank expression, shutting out the roaring in my mind.

The young Fae girl was weeping on the floor, her face lowered so that it was only inches from the stone floor. My eyes involuntarily jumped to a few feet behind the girl, where her family was sobbing and screaming. The mother was clutching a little boy, who was trying to escape her grasp to reach her sister. The father was on his knees, begging Amarantha to stop torturing his daughter.

Amarantha only laughed, telling him this was his doing as she drew another scream from her lips.

Don't. Rhysand said to me sternly. I shifted my eyes to look at him. I could tell by the desperation in his eyes that he hated this just as much as I did.

I can't let her suffer like this. She's a child. I said. Rhys started protesting again, but I shut him out as I invaded the girls mind and took away any feeling of pain. I changed the scenery she saw, so that instead of hearing her screaming family and seeing Amarantha grinning at her as she broke her bones one by one, she was looking at the beautiful city of Velaris. I showed her the view of the city, the one you could see from my room. You're okay, I said. I felt her relax.

"What is this?" I heard someone yell, though it sounded distant. It took me too long to realize that it was Amarantha. I had forgot to make her keep screaming.

I let go of the girl's mind, and she immediately continued her weeping. Amarantha turned to me, her eyes furious. I was too late.

"Which one of you Daemati have taken this sweet girl's mind?" The female asked, her voice mockingly kind, yet sharp. Her eyes shifted from me, to Rhys, and back to me.

"It was me, your Majesty. Forgive me." Rhysand said. The entire room was quiet, even the girl and her family having halted their sobs.

"He's lying." I almost yelled. Amarantha's eyes fell on me, and she smiled widely. "It was me." I lifted my chin as I said it, refusing to let my voice falter. Rhys began to protest, but Amarantha held her hand up and he was silent. I sighed, relief flooding through me. I did not care if Amarantha tortured me. Or if she killed me. The only thing I still cared about was Rhysand. And Amarantha wouldn't kill both of us, even to prove a point.

The female stepped towards me slowly, the smile on her face not faltering. I did not move, did not cower. I kept looking straight into her eyes, finally letting myself scowl at her. Amarantha halted inches away from me, bringing her hand to my face. I wondered if she would cut my tongue out. Or maybe rip my whole face off, layer by layer.

She did not do any of those things, though. Instead, she brushed a lock of my hair behind my hair.

"My dear Asteria. You dare defy me?" She whispered. I didn't say anything, staying as still as I possibly could. I wasn't even sure my heart was still beating. "Very well then. Kill her." She said.

I finally broke character, stumbling back a step. "But she's a child- she hasn't even done anything to offend you-"

"Either you kill her, or I kill your big brother. You choose." She barked, walking back to her throne. The girls family started sobbing again, even louder than before. My heart raced in my chest, and I could no longer breathe.

The little girl's eyes were on me, and they the palest shade of blue I had ever seen, wide and glistening. She looked about my age when my father had locked me in the Prison. So youthful, so innocent. She didn't deserve this. I had never killed anyone this young, this innocent. I didn't know if I could.