Consequence

Chapter 23

June 3, 1813

"If I am what you say I am, father, then what next? Will you beat me like you did to my mother? Will you force me to flee just as she fled? Will you become more reckless and destroy your country more than you have already?"

A silence stands between us as our cursed eyes meet each other. An expression of rage etched in both of us however I also felt pity towards such a helpless man.

"I can see your pain, whether you deny it or not. You hate what you've become because you've drove away everything you've ever cared about. I know you've been searching for us since the day she left. I don't understand why you mistreated her...maybe it was because she challenged your authority. Because your someone who feeds off control and power. But you're a pitiful, helpless man who uses people and who hides behind a facade of cruelty."

I take a deep breath to control the thumping in my head from the amount of adrenaline pumping through me. The devilish side of me feeds off anger and seems to turn it into an excitement leaving me anxious. King Vincent stares at me as if I were some vile creature and finally speaks his piece.

"You idiot girl, you know not what you speak of. This is why women should only be used as tools. I'm simply getting my revenge. My child was stolen from me, my wife betrayed me, and now I do not care for either of you. You and your mother both believe you deserve freedom when you have done nothing to earn it. And you know your little husband, he's only with you because I ordered him to find my daughter. He would never be with someone like you if you were just some random orphan girl. He was just waiting to see if you changed into your true form on your birthday as the prophecies foretold. He's been using you and will continue to use you for your power. He doesn't love you!"

"Maybe some of that is true, maybe he was just looking for me like you told him to. But when he found me something clicked inside the both of us, he is my mate...I know that now. He always told me to trust him and now I really do. How would you know if he loves me or not?! You have drove everything you ever claimed to love away, if you loved my mother then you wouldn't have lost her the way you did!"

"I've had enough out of you! I've finally
found you and this is how you treat your father, with such disrespect. I'm not surprised you are your mother's daughter and now the both of you will get what you deserve. I will whip you till you scar, drain you of your blood until only a single drop remains, and when you're begging for mercy the bond you share with your mother will bring her to me. Out of hiding she will come and I will snap your neck right in front of her so that she can see that all her sacrifice was for nothing. And then I will make her pay by locking her away to spend the rest of her miserable eternity and I will be pleased till death do us part."

I sprint away knowing that there is no way I can possibly reason with him. He was a monster and there really was no light within him.

I run through the castle garden with my hands shielding my eyes as to not scratch them out as I weave through thick bushes of an unkept maze. Sharp stones and splinters scrape against my bare feet as tears of frustration run down my cheeks.

A shadow meets my gaze with a pair of ruby red eyes and just as I'm about to run in the opposite direction a red light encircles me. I'm pulled into the figure and a sudden winds whips me. I blink to see I am no longer in the garden but am on the roof of the castle.

I stare at the hooded creature before me and for some reason I'm certain that this person is not a threat. "Show yourself." I command trying to sound as assertive as I could in this situation.

The person's hands delicately pull down the dark hood to reveal a beautiful women with golden brown hair that matches my own. Her skin radiates and her eyes are a dark brown. Her lips, her nose, and her small size makes me certain about who is before me.