Snow White Queen [NaNoWriMo 2018]

Chapter Thirty-Six

Amity roused herself from sleep, briefly checking the position of the moon to confirm that it was her turn to take watch.

She stood up and stretched despite the protests of her sore muscles. Sleeping on the floor of the cave wasn't doing well for her body.

She didn't see Neva outside, but Amity didn't think much of it, figuring Neva must have gone a bit further out, which she did from time to time, though she always stayed close enough to see the cave.

Amity stepped out into the moonlight, reveling in the cool night air. It took her a moment to realize that Neva was nowhere near.

She quickly scanned the area. There was a patch of flattened grass, indicating that she had been sitting down. A second patch, not to far away, indicated that there had been a second person.

If they had both been sitting, then it must have been a friend. There were no signs of a struggle. Maybe it had been a traveler passing by, and Neva had gone to assist them with something-

Amity's hopes were dashed from her mind when she saw the apple on the ground. Her stomach filled with dread as she picked it up, seeing that only one bite had been taken out of it.

She hoped that it was a normal apple, but every sign pointed to this being a Moristis Apple, and the bite mark made it clear that it had found its victim.

Something very bad had happened to Neva.

~~~

Dorian paced back and forth in his room. Over the last few weeks, he had tried to think of Neva as little as possible, and had succeeded for the most part, but recently she had been crossing his mind more and more.

She had been a vampire the entire time that he had known her. That wasn't what changed.

She had tried to convince him to help her kill Lilia. Lilia, the one person in the castle that she trusted.

What had changed? Though he had only spoken to Lilia a handful of times, he felt like he knew her pretty well, especially after all that Neva had told him about her. Lilia wouldn't turn against Neva without good reason. Right?

There was a very heavy stigma against vampires. Dorian was ashamed to say that that was a part of the reason he had abandoned Neva. Maybe Lilia had fallen prey to that same stigma. Maybe she'd let her own prejudices overshadow what she knew about Neva.

Dorian knew Neva. She was kind and compassionate. She wasn't cruel or sadistic, and she definitely wouldn't kill if it wasn't absolutely necessary.

Dorian made up his mind. He had to see her. He had to apologize.

~~~

Dorian strode confidently into the castle. He doubted she'd be there, but maybe he could find a hint of where she could be.

No one questioned his presence there. He'd been there often enough that he was sure he wasn't unexpected, even with Neva officially dead.

Apparently, Lilia had left a few days prior for some "undisclosed business." No matter. Better that she was gone, anyway, considering he was actively planning on aiding her enemy.

Some vague instinct told him to go down to the dungeon. Normally he wasn't one to follow his gut instinct, but as he had no other ideas, he didn't see any harm in trying it.

Thinking back, he realized that in all the times he had visited, he had never been to the dungeon. It wasn't really surprising - the dungeon wasn't something anyone would want to show off to their visitors.