A Crown Of Blades(ARTK, Book 3)

Chapter 145-146

Seggos 7th,3330 A.G

In her only dream of the night, Edolie Alymere were standing on the outskirts of the village Frostford- a place she'd visited only five times the entirety of her life. A different version of her may have felt guilty at the reminder; the people who resided in that village were still her people after all- but this version couldn't bring herself to care.

This version kept walking until she were at the village center, where her legs and every other part of her body had begun to ache.

The center were completely empty. None of the merchant carts, none of the constant in and out of people- and it were quiet. Too quiet. Edolie let herself into what appeared to be a bakery, to see if perhaps he were working- but there were nothing there either.

Nothing.

The few tables and chairs she remembered, the wall in the middle dividing his kitchen from the seating- that were simply gone. All that remained were an empty room with a door at the back.

Edolie stepped forward, intent on going through that door next- but the world seemed to fall away from her. Then she were in complete darkness, falling and falling and falling as her arms and legs flailed.

She did not know how to stop it, but she knew this could not be a good place. It were too cold, too absent of-

Edolie finally hit the 'floor' of what she thought were a never ending darkness, and then she weren't alone anymore.

Because he were there, holding out a hand with that familiar smile on his face. Edolie took that hand without hesitation, relishing in the small contact.

A part of her were aware that it wasn't real; but that same part of her did not care. His other hand drifted to cup the side of her face, and he were saying something- but the dream version of her did not catch it at first.

"What?" She asked. "What did you say, love?"

Dream Emerson chuckled, his expression suddenly cruel.

"Pathetic." He mumbled. "I cannot believe you've let it get this bad. The edolie I knew never would have left her children to fend for themselves . The edolie I knew would have put on a brave face and tried to comfort them; instead of letting her children cry alone because she didn't feel like getting out of bed. Gods, can you imagine? If you were alone with Ela for a day, if you were commoners that is- she simply would not be fed. I imagine you'd rely on your other children to make sure that happened with no regard for how it were slowly building up and building up enough to piss them off; because they aren't the parents after all. But because of you, that is what they've been forced to be-"

"Stop it, please stop-" Edolie begged. She couldn't deal with this right now.

"What, did I strike a nerve? Did I hurt your precious feelings? Because you don't seem to care that you sleeping all day everyday is hurting theirs. That they miss having a real mother."

"Emerson it's not that simple, you know it's not-"

"Everything is simple, love." The dream Emerson's tone were one he'd never used with her. "Everything in the world. You're sad, so you stopped being a parent. There's only one word for that; pathetic."