The Stars of My Heart [Completed]

Chapter Twenty

   Butter still coats my mouth as I try to work, leaving me wanting more. Tonight I should be getting more food, and it's the only reason I'm putting in much of an effort.

I try to concentrate, focusing as much as I can. But, there is not much to focus on. My eyes keep adverting to all the specks of dirt that cover the stone walls. It is so dirty, but I guess nothing in here is very clean. The dress I still wear has become somewhat of a rag more than a garment. I can't even see the floral design on it anymore.

Each speck is like a sin. A sin I have committed and have had to live with. I close my eyes. I wish I could have a fresh start. No gang. No jobs. No training. No palace. Just life. The life of a girl who braids her friend's hair. The life of having a picnic in the meadow, making flower crowns with my mother. The life of a girl who went to school and sat doing homework. It all seems like a distant dream. A star, hiding in the clouds that cannot be wished upon. Everything. Every little thing, has now come back to bite me. I feel no love. No comfort. There is only the thoughts in my head.

They swirl around, taking over me. Any sentence I had said. Any action I had done. It all replays in my mind.

I squint my eyes ever harder, a slight cry escaping me. Then, there is nothing.

I awake to shouting echoes down the halls. Two prisoners are fighting back and forth about who is stronger. A stupid thing to argue about. If you wanted to prove it, break us out of here. Then I will believe that they are strong.

My eyes sting as I open them, my head still turning. Feeling like a ton, I slowly lift my head. The sight is the same, but as I squint I can see the definition in the stones. No dust sits upon it. No spider webs collecting in the corners. All that remains is a slight shimmer that hangs in the air. I reach out to touch one of them, the light sparkling before it disappears. I had done it.

***

Dinner had rolled around. The same old routine going about. Guard guy had brought me clothes, but not the clothes I wanted. He had brought down the first outfit I had worn when Axil gave me clothes. The only thing he had changed was the fact that the pants were black. It would be a little silly to sit on the dirt with white pants. From the dress that hangs over me, we both know that is a bad idea.

I had been fed again. He tried to come down the hall as discreetly as possible, trying to not draw attention to the fact that I was actually eating meals. None of the other guards would be okay with that. He comes either a few minutes early or a few minutes later, but he always comes, and no one dare say a word about it.

He had brought me what seemed to be the scraps of meat left from dinner in the dining hall. The smell of alcohol lingering on the dish. Next to the meat was some green beans, and another hunk of bread. I had savored the food as much as I could, my hunger disappearing as I slowly eat it.

I had been in a zone, until the plate was empty, reality hitting again. I had promised myself a routine. Eat, then practice until I get something right.

***

It has been a week of the same routine. I must say, I surprised myself a bit. I kept my cell clean, focusing on the little specks being washed away with the waters from a stream. I had learned that I was a very visual witch. For my spells to work, I had to envision what I wanted to happen, and they would.

I had pranked the guy that was down here for kidnapping Lucy. He was also the one that was arguing when I woke up, so I say he deserved it.

I had put a curse on him, for his limbs to be paralyzed when the prison guards came. A reasonable curse for a kidnapper. Let him know what it feels like to be helpless. The guard had come to give him water, but obviously, he couldn't accept.