A Crown Forged of Starlight

Chapter One

Emerys

A moan slips out of me and if I had the strength in me to do so I'd reach out a hand to massage away the pain. He left a cut on my side, one he knew would heal on its own.

Slowly.

Practically laying on the floor on my side I force my body to drop, hissing at the pain.

He isn't here to hear but I scream anyway.

The sound is one that I never thought would be possible to force out of me. My voice had once been beautiful, bringing attention within seconds. But now it is little more than rasps.

I've lost track of how long I've been here. The air in the cell hung heavy with dampness, a cruel reminder of what was to come when he returned.

Or maybe he'd do something worse. He wouldn't visit me at all. He's done that before.

Allowed me to rot in here, licking the droplets that fell from the ceiling once in a while when he forgot to feed me. I much prefer his ministries more than this.

I wouldn't have to think about the weight on my shoulders, my own shadows feeling as if they'll swallow me whole. He always forced my shadows out, his magic calling to mine. He claimed that our magic together was beautiful. That it made him happy. But he always seemed to be smiling more when I screamed in pain because of the chains on my wrists.

I place a shaking hand atop my cut, not at all bothered by how slick it becomes with blood. I wait a second or two focusing on speaking with my shadows. Trying to get them to obey. To heal.

But a scream tears out of me instead as true pain courses through my veins. My scream ends silently and I roll over, the cut hardly anything to complain about as I glance down at my now burned wrists.

Verdant metal.

Crafted by humans a millennium ago to seek protection from the wrath of the fae Gods. If they existed at all.

No one truly knows if they existed but I suppose humans always tried to find explanations for things they should stay away from. No one should be interested to know as to why some of us measly humans were gifted abilities by the Gods. Droplets of magic are the only proof of their existence. But I believed otherwise. There had been no fae in this world and if they were the reason behind my abilities I'm glad they're dead.

I do not know what I would do if I had to face another one like him.

He wasn't fae.

But he is just as cruel as people make the fae sound. So I suppose that was something.

Hissing against the verdant chains wrapped around my wrists I watch the burn on my wrist slowly heal. But the pain remains and a quiet sob escapes my lips.

I wanted these chains gone.

This never-ending pain vanished.

But that was too good to be true. There was hell with the chains on and there was another hell with them off.

He took them off of me once and watched as I begged for them to be back on. I couldn't handle it. So many years trapped within these stone walls these chains made me forget who I truly was. But he'd take them off once in a while, watching me sit silently as my shadows brushed across me. Or enjoying the sight of the small shred of hope in my eyes evaporating to nothing.

"Put them back on," I'd whisper.

But he'd only bend down, lifting my chin with a finger and whispering the same thing every time.