Page 16 of Of Nightmares & Fire (Elusive Umbra #1)
Chapter sixteen
Astraea
Invisible vise-like claws grip my shoulders painfully tight, and a rumbling growl causes my body to tremble.
The lasso of fire wraps around my body with a tightness I’ve only ever felt in my nightmares.
The eternal darkness clouds everything. My mind, my eyes, the very air I breathe is heavy with it.
I can’t help but strain my eyes to try and see through the endless chasm of shadows, searching, and begging them to show me why I am here, but every time is the same…
Once the flashing white stops, the shadows take me into their embrace.
The growl changes to a deep, rough laughter, and the echoes of it cause the hairs on the back of my neck to prickle and stand on end. Sweat beads on my forehead and coats my skin with a sheen. I’m on the edge of consciousness, and I can feel my body trying to drag me back to reality.
“Sssssenkaaaaaa,” the word is whispered like a wicked secret, and it’s the last thing that wraps around my senses before I wake up with a gasp, wrenching upright.
My eyes fly open, and my chest is rising and falling rapidly as I try to get my bearings on my surroundings.
My door is shut, as are the heavy cream curtains.
No light comes into the room other than the small sliver cast through the center of the room, where the moonlight sneaks in.
Exhaustion overtook me when Kellan left.
I refused the food brought to me shortly after.
The chambermaid left it on the table anyway in hopes I would eat, but the fact that it was her who brought it to me, and not Colette, just made things worse…
I couldn’t fathom eating with the way my stomach was in knots over everything.
I lay on my bed, too tired to even pull back the duvet.
I curled into the smallest ball I could, and I cried.
Only this time, sleep stole me away from my misery and thrust me into the nightmare.
This was new, though. I’ve never heard anything like words in these nightmares before.
I’ve never not felt the thrashing of my body, or stood still enough to sense the hairs on the back of my neck prickling…
My hand reaches up and wraps around the back of my neck on instinct, and a chill runs over my skin.
Unable to sit still any longer, I shuffle from the bed and head to one of the lofty, arched windows and pull the curtain back.
What I thought was moonlight creeping into my room was actually the start of an early morning sun, rising in the east, being filtered through the gossamer layer of fabric.
A glint on metal catches my attention, and I watch as a caravan of soldiers approaches the castle.
Only the soldiers are not my fathers; they bear no armor that I am used to seeing, but their war scythes look just as deadly as they catch the sun.
Taking a deep breath of the already dry morning air, I let out a heavy sigh.
This is really happening. And now I don’t even have Cole here to help me through it.
My room is on the eastern-facing part of the castle that looks out over the city, and the bailey is just below me.
I have the perfect view of who comes in through the gates and the single road that leads to those gates.
My heart rate spikes as I follow the path where the men are dismounting their horses within the castle grounds, out past the gates, and to the multiple groups that are making their journey this way.
My brows dip as I think about it. My father has prepared me for this, but it was supposed to take weeks.
Courting would be formal dinners, as small groups with the royal family, and many trials that must be passed before the choosing ceremony.
In the past, the princess had chosen her suitor, but my father, being the controlling bastard he is, will be the one to choose for me.
He didn't care about tradition when he stole the kingdom in the first place.
His rule is already not traditional. A king not born of royal blood has not ruled before him in a very long time.
He has taken to making his own rules, bending the ones he does not like, and adding new ones as they fit his agenda .
A knock at the door pulls me from my encumbered thoughts, and I stride forward, cracking it open and looking out to find one of Kellan’s men. The one from yesterday that watched outside my door for him.
“Good morning, Princess,” he greets me with a nod of his head.
“Rhett, wasn’t it?” I ask, pulling the door open wide as an invitation that he does not take. I walk to the corner cart and pour a measure of water as my head begins to throb behind my eyes. He clears his throat, bowing lower.
“Please, your majesty, my apologies for interrupting; I have a request from the king,” he says formally, and I slowly turn to face him.
“Where is Kellan?”
“Kellan? He—he will be fine.” I take a step forward, eyeing him speculatively at that response.
“He will be fine? Where is he? What are you not saying?” I demand.
“The king wishes to see you, princess. If you don’t mind, I would be honored to escort you.” He ignores my question, so I take yet another step closer to him and watch closely as his facial expression flickers with the questions behind his eyes.
“Where. Is. Kellan?” I was worried that something would come of his insubordinate behavior in the dining hall. I should have told him to leave the kingdom. To go find work elsewhere to save him from my father’s wrath, but the somber look on Rhett’s face tells me that whatever it is, it’s not good.
“Where does my father want to see me? I ask .
“He would like you to come to the conservatory,” he says, rolling his lips and looking down at his feet. I can't fault him for being worried. He is likely worried for his friend, for himself, and maybe even for me.
I cross the room, looking out over the bailey and all the men arriving.
My father wants to parade me in front of them.
That’s why he’s calling on me now and to the conservatory across the grounds.
I still have yet to bathe since returning to the castle.
If I arrive like this, my father will likely lose his mind.
A sudden calmness spreads across my face at the thought.
I know I shouldn’t provoke him, but he has aimed to ruin everything good in my life; perhaps it's time I show him I have teeth too.
“May as well not keep him waiting,” I say, turning toward Rhett once again.
He clears his throat and offers me his arm, which I take, and he guides me from my room and through the castle.
He doesn’t take back halls and side doors as Kellan did; he walks us through the thick of court as the grandeur is unloading all around us.
Eyes round as they land on me. Whispers echo through the hall.
All of which talk of my disappearance. Not for what it actually was, a failed attempt to run from a life they all wish they could live…
but a kidnapping by the people who don’t deserve to live, according to my father.
Usurpers who aim to take his throne and his only heir.
As we round the corner to cross the courtyard, Rhett’s body stiffens at my side.
“Wait, Princess, this was a mistake…” His face is set sternly as he looks straight ahead.
“I thought they would be done…” Before I am able to ask what he is talking about, I hear it.
The whistle and crac k of a whip, and the agony-filled scream of the person on the other end of it.
When I turn to face what he is looking at…
all the blood in my face drains. My body becomes leaden with terror.
“No.” The word puffs past my lips at the same moment my feet propel me forward.
“Princess Astraea, wait!” I hear Rhett call out to me, but it’s no use.
Nothing will stop me from putting this to an end.
The rain did a number on the sandy courtyard.
The hard-packed sand is now softer, more malleable.
Each step I take while running, my feet threaten to slide out from under me.
When I reach about twenty yards from the post, multiple guards have reached me and are holding me back where I am.
My eyes collide with the pale green stare I thought I would never see again. The whites of her eyes stained crimson, and tears stream down her face. Freckles are connected with blood splatter, and her cinnamon hair is wild and sticks to her face and neck with sweat and blood.
“Princess, please. You are making a scene.” A guard grunts as I thrash in his arms. Kicking and screaming with wild abandon. My elbow connects with something hard, and a curse comes out over my shoulder. Two other guards now restrain me as the other lets go.
“Kellan, stop! Please, NO!” The words slice my throat raw.
CRACK.
My legs grow weak as I see my best friend's back bow as much as it can, with her hands being tied to the post in front of her. She cries out, begging for me to leave her be. Her muddled face implores me to let this play out. Our sobs fill the mere 20 yards between us, and Kellan’s face scrunches before he rears back and lets the whip fly another time.
CRACK.
My knees give out as I watch Colette’s head roll back after a blood-curdling scream.
Her eyes follow, turning white as she passes out from the pain.
Even though her body is limp, her flesh hangs from her back, and her breasts are exposed for the entire courtyard to bear witness to.
He pulls his arm back, and before he lets it fly again, his eyes meet mine.
His brows pulled together in the center of his forehead, he swallows the emotion away before he closes his eyes and brings the cord down on her listless body.
CRACK.
She doesn’t move, even as her blood flies with the impact.
Kellan’s shoulders slump as he drops the whip at his feet.
His eyes don’t leave the damage he has inflicted on her pale skin.
His face is stark white, and ever so slowly his gaze lifts, meeting mine.
His expression is haunted and lingers within mine for what feels like hours but could only be seconds.
I see the pain there, nearly a clear reflection of my own.
His eyes close in defeat before he turns around and slowly walks away, leaving Colette to bleed and my heart shattered.
“Come, daughter, enough theatrics.” My father’s voice sounds from behind me, and suddenly my muscles that were once heavy with grief are tense. I forcefully shrug out of the guard's hold, narrowing my eyes on all of them before facing my father.
“What have you done?!” I question through clenched teeth .
“What I must do to keep order in the kingdom, Astraea. It's something you will never understand. Come inside so we can discuss the formalities of what I expect of you starting tonight.” He demands, snapping a finger toward Colette, waving in a demand to clear her from the courtyard, and holds his hands behind his back as the guards open the expansive glass doors to the conservatory. Each one is three men tall and at least the same in width. When my father’s feet cross the threshold, he finally turns back, and I swallow, lifting my chin.
I was meant to see this display. He wanted me here at this precise moment in time, showing me that he knows about Colette and my friendship.
This was a warning for me as much as it was punishment for her.
Next time it will be her death, and the fact that he has Kellan carrying out the punishment rather than Pravin tells me that this was his punishment too.
I close the distance between me and my father with much more sure footing than I thought I would, and I come to a stop just feet from him.
He looks down his straight nose at me. His brown eyes darken as he senses my intention.
There is no turning back from the decision; my hand comes up and makes a loud clap against his clean-shaven face as I strike him.
His head cranks to the side with the force of my blow, and slowly he turns it back to face me where I stand with my chest puffed out and my teeth bared.
Guards rush toward us to take me away from the king, but he holds up his hand in order for them to stand down.
“I guess you are finding the spine your mother never could. It seems my lessons are paying off after all.”