Celeste's life is far from the enchanting fairy tale one might expect from a princess. Her father, a ruthless and self-absorbed king, leaves a trail of death and destruction in his wake. To seal alliances and maintain his power, he arranges for Cele...
Alisha, and I guide Elien into the kitchen of the small cottage. The boy cooperates, but I don't know for how long, and I don't want to find out either.
'Sit,' Alisha instructs the boy. Quietly, Elien takes a seat on the wooden table.
Kenit comes rushing in shortly after with a syringe, a container, a knife, and a cloth. He hastily sets the items next to Elien and looks at us questioningly.
Before I can ask Alisha what I should do, she takes the knife from the table and cuts her palm without hesitation.
With wide eyes, I watch as her blood flows into the container.
'Okay, I'm leaving, just call me,' mutters Kenit as he leaves the kitchen with a pale face.
I saw the man kill dozens of guards yesterday, but a bleeding cut is too much for the werewolf. Alisha seems to find humor in it too and laughs.
'Take the syringe, insert the needle into the container, and draw the blood,' Alisha instructs me with her hand above the container.
I pick up the transparent syringe from the table, insert the needle into the small amount of blood, and calmly draw the blood into it.
'Tie his arm at his upper arm.' Without asking questions, I do as I'm told. Elien seems to be looking straight ahead with his black, glassy eyes as he allows everything.
I look up startled at the sound of Celeste's screams. I immediately want to drop everything and run to her.
'No, this first,' Alisha's voice tells me that she won't accept any objections.
'I don't trust him with her,' I whisper as I tightly tie the cloth around Elien's arm.
'Neither do I, but this has to come first.' Celeste's screams continue in the background. Alisha bandages her own hand and tells me where to insert the needle.
'I know how a needle works.' Alisha rolls her eyes and silently pushes my hand, with the syringe in it and the needle against Elien's skin, a bit higher.
'Then do it right. You only have one chance.'
Celeste's screams distract me too much to fully focus on Elien. It's only when, after what feels like hours, it becomes silent in the house that I can think clearly.
'Now, Novak.' I just manage to see Elien turn his head and raise his free arm before I push the needle into his arm.
Alisha's blood flows into his bloodstream. The glazed black eyes return to their normal black color. They look surprised in my direction and stop at the needle in his arm. The tense posture and raised arm slowly relax.
I release the breath I've been holding. The last bit of blood disappears into his arm before I pull out the needle.
'How do you feel?' Alisha asks hopefully. Elien looks around dazedly. The reality seems to have completely passed him by in the past few hours.
'Better than in a year,' he replies, looking surprised at his arm. 'What happened?'
Alisha calmly explains to him what just happened and how the journey went. The boy nods and occasionally looks amazed at his arm.
'We don't know how long it will work, so we'll have to see,' she concludes her story.
'How is Celeste?'
'She was in a bad state because of the burns, but I think Micca gave her painkillers.'
'Who is Micca?' Only then do I realize that this is the first time we see him without being under the influence. I doubt that he can name me and Alisha.
With a smile, I extend my hand to the boy.
'I'm Novak.' A small smile appears on his lips as he shakes my hand. The smile doesn't hide the fact that his eyes are observing me.
'Elien.' Alisha introduces herself for the first time as well.
Doubtfully, Elien pushes himself off the table and looks around the small kitchen.
It's also the first time I take a look around the narrow space. Wood and stone fill the room. The small kitchen is made of red bricks. The floor, walls, table, and four chairs are made of dark wood. A translucent red curtain hangs in front of the small window.
'Is this the first time you're outside without hallucinations?' Elien nods.
The realization slowly sinks in. The boy has been blind all his life, and the moment he could see, they injected poison into him. It might be the first time he realizes that he's outside the castle. The first time he sees something other than the castle.
'It's time for a drink and a good conversation.'
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
