The Threadbound series : Unraveling

Blind By Choice

Ash

I failed.

When the Master Scholar announced the results, it felt like the ground had cracked open beneath me, swallowing all my hopes, dreams, and ambitions in one merciless gulp. The weight of this loss pressed down on me like a crushing boulder, and I could barely breathe. The room around me seemed to blur in my peripheral vision as I grappled with the reality of my defeat.

Everything I had worked for, everything my father had tirelessly striven to achieve on my behalf, lay in ruins. The noble support he had painstakingly gathered, the carefully woven political alliances, the promises made and alliances formed—all of it had crumbled into dust.

I managed to offer a perfunctory congratulation to Alexander, but my words felt hollow, devoid of the sincerity they should have held. Inside, I was shutting down. My emotions became mere semblances of what they once were. As if possessed, I found myself standing at the edge of the grand estate that had once belonged to the Bhama family in Arcanara.

This estate, once Granny's residence, had been abandoned when she ascended to the Senate. In her will, she had bequeathed it to me, a decision that had stirred deep resentment within the Bhama family, especially my cousin Corvin. I had never returned to this place since Granny's passing, and the flood of memories overwhelmed me as I stood before it now.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I entered her chambers. The room, still preserved in its old-fashioned elegance, was a repository of countless cherished memories I had shared with Granny. I stood at the foot of her old bed with a broken heart and a soul weighed down by sorrow, I cried. The tears flowed unchecked, my sobs echoing through the room, carrying with them the crushing emotional turmoil that threatened to consume me entirely.

"I am sorry that I was not enough. I am sorry that I couldn't fulfill your wishes," I cried out loud, my voice laden with anguish. The weight of my failures bore down on me, threatening to crush my spirit.

"I am sorry that I couldn't find your killers. I am sorry that I didn't..." I continued, my words choking with sorrow. The tears flowed freely, and I could no longer contain the pain that had been festering within me for so long.

And then, in the midst of my emotional turmoil, I lost consciousness.

I found myself running through the darkness, an overwhelming sense of fear and desperation driving me forward. The firewolves were relentless in their pursuit, their fiery breath singed my clothes and seared my skin. I ran until I was breathless, but there was no escape.

Suddenly, I was falling, plummeting into an abyss with jagged stalagmites below, sharp as the teeth of a Thalassorian Serpent. The terror of the fall gripped me, and I felt helpless in the face of impending doom.

But then, in the midst of this nightmarish descent, I heard a voice—the same voice that had haunted my dream once.

"As much as it is fun to watch you getting impaled by rocks, I need a change of scenery for the conversation we are about to have," the voice said, and in an instant, my surroundings shifted, leaving me in a new and unfamiliar place.

I found myself sitting on the soft grass beneath the shade of a magnificent tree. Before me, an endless carpet of lunar lilies stretched out in all directions, their delicate white blossoms glowing in the gentle light. A mild breeze rustled the leaves, and the sky overhead was a brilliant shade of blue, devoid of any clouds. It felt like spring, but there was an otherworldly serenity to this place that went beyond the seasons.

As I took in the tranquil surroundings, I heard the voice again, pulling me back to the purpose of my presence here.

"Okay now, let us get to the point," the voice urged, and I turned my attention to the figure before me. It was a man of medium build, but the details of his features remained frustratingly blurred and indistinct. I instinctively rubbed my eyes in an attempt to clear my vision, but the voice only laughed.