Heart Of Embers (Slow Updates)

Chapter 9

Aelix and Amethyst went back to the castle not long after the princess tested her skills. But still, Aelix could not get the princess' secrets out of his head. He needed to find out, and soon. They separated ways, each going into their own room.

Late at night, when everyone was surely sleeping, Aelix was sitting alone in the library, a small oil lamp by his side to illuminate enough. He had a pile of various books in front of him, about old mythologies and creatures. But through his entire search, he did not find a single thing about a witch having glowing eyes and fangs, so the princess was surely something else, a new specie.

After many hours of useless researches and pointless books, Aelix went back to his room. He sat on his bed and removed his shoes. He stripped out of his tunic and stood in front of his mirror. He turned around so his back was to the glass and craned back his neck. He could never sleep without looking at the scars on his back, the markings on his flesh that reminded him every day why he was doing this. The markings that reminded him of his past, and everything he's been through, how strong and powerful he was. Those scars were not something he was ashamed of, but on the contrary, he felt proud to have them.

There was a sudden knock on his door, and Aelix was curious who could still be awake this late.

He made his way to the door and opened it halfway, surely to find the princess in only a thin short nightgown, her black hair messy and barefoot. But her eyes, her eyes were brimmed with tears he was sure she was trying hard not to let them fall, and were glowing. She had her arms crossed, shivering, of cold or fear, he did not know. He opened the door all the way, and let her in. She took shaky steps into the room and turned to face him. Aelix shut his door and leaned on it.

"What's wrong princess?" he asked, concern in his voice.

Amethyst was lost for words, and Aelix standing shirtless in front of her giving her a perfect view of his perfectly sculpted body was not the main reason.

"I-I had a nightmare and um... can I sit down?" she couldn't stop shivering and her eyes were still glowing. She must be very scared, thought Aelix. He nodded, motioning for her to sit on his bed and went to sit next to her.

"What did you dream about?" he asked her, getting his bed covers and putting them on her shoulders.

She clutched the covers tighter around her, blinking several times to remove the tears that were threatening to spill. It was probably the worst nightmare she's ever had.

"I don't even know if it's a dream or a vision. It all seemed so true and real. We were somewhere in a clearing, every single person in my kingdom, and even us included. We were fighting someone, or something, I couldn't tell. It was a silhouette but it was made of smoke, and it had two yellow glowing dots in the place of its eyes and it was accompanied by a group of hooded women and men that I think were witches. And as soon as the battle begun, the witches were winning and then I was suddenly fighting the smoke figure and then it embraced me, and everything went still and I was the only thing able to move and talk. And then the strangest thing happened and the figured started talking to me and told me those exact same words: "Amethyst, you have grown into a fabulous woman. Your mother did a great job raising you, but as the time comes, my part of the deal is coming and soon, you will come and reign with me, my sweet daughter."

And I didn't even know what he was talking about, but when he let me go, everyone was dead, drowning in their own blood and the witches were gone, including the mysterious man, but before leaving, he whispered a word inside my ear, something along the lines of "kamisama". And the worst part is that as I was looking at the dead faces, I couldn't find you. So I kept looking, and I-I finally found you but you were...You were..." she stopped talking, tears streaming down her cheeks endlessly. Her breathing was fast and unsteady.