Page 46

Ignatia

I sniff the air.

Nothing smells concerning. Just wafts of the sweet scent of flowers and faint warm aroma of baked treats.

I just need to find Amias without getting caught.

I squeezed between thick brushes, finding myself close to the back of the castle. I narrow my eyes at the tall structure.

It's even taller than the castle in Somnia, and much more beautiful. I prefer the white swirls framing the windows, with a women's face carved above them.

If only it were that beautiful at home. The castle there is dark and not pristine white as this one. Ours is almost black and the castle looked more tall and skinny.

I walk in front of double doors, which have matching swirls to the windows. Amias is in there somewhere.

The doors burst open and before I can even get a good look at the flash of gray, it crashes into me, knocking me to the floor. I shout when my hand burns, and glance at my attacker.

“I'm so sorry,” Black eyes stare back, like two pieces of coal were placed in his sockets. Even the whites of his eyes are no longer white. “I'm so sorry!” He pushes himself off of me, glancing towards my arms.

I'd recognize that face anywhere, even if his eyes were different. “Amias?” I push myself up, but yelp when I put pressure on my hand. I bring my hand to my face to see a red and blistered spot.

I lean closer to my palm. How did that happen?

“You shouldn't be here!” he cries, swinging his head around. “Run away before you get hurt again!”

“Amias…” I whisper, trying to piece things together.

His dark eyes stare at me, trembling violently, before he dashes off.

What happened to him?

Why were his eyes a different color? Why was he panicking? I've never seen him so afraid.

“Amias?” I call, but by then, he's already raced around the corner where I can't see him.

What did they do to him?.

I push myself to my feet, attempting to ignore the sting in my palm. I'm not sure how he did it, but I need to make sure he's okay. “Amias?”

It falls silent as I follow him around the corner. Even the sniffling had disappeared. I have to use other senses, like my sense of smell to catch his path.

I hurry towards the back of the castle. There's a little picket fence that I swiftly swing over to a garden in the back, with a glowing cobblestone path.

I can tell, even in the dark of night, that these flowers are colorful. Even now, with only the light from the path, the flowers stand out in light gray and white. It must be gorgeous in daylight.

I would gladly roll in the floral aroma around me. It's so sweet and therapeutic in spite of the situation, but I need to decipher Amias' scent from it. It's especially hard when he smells a lot like amare flowers.

I follow the path, trying to find his scent when I catch the sound of hoarse breathing. A rustle comes from a Cherry Blossom tree down the path.

I approach and peek around the trunk to see Amias pressed against it. His body shakes like he's hiding from a serial killer.

“What happened?” I whisper.

He flinches, jumping a few steps back. “I don't want to hurt you!”

I cock my head in confusion, until I notice the tentacles growing from the ground around him. They grow rapidly from as tall as my knees to towering over my head. Dark flowers grow out the sides of them, the ends of each petal pointed like teeth.

Holy fuck! Those aren't amare flowers!

A chill runs up my spine as I step back. What was he growing?

“Escape while you can!” Amias pleads. “Don't ever see me again! I don't know how to control myself!”

His words freeze me. He's not doing this on purpose. He’s just panicking.

I plant my feet in the ground. He needs me. “No! I'm staying!” I scoff.

“Please! Go before I hurt you!”

“No! Not until you tell me what's happening!”

His eyes shift before giving out an empty, almost sporadic laugh. “I don't know… My Cosmo's wish was corrupted…” He hyperventilates between words. “Everyone thinks I'm evil… I’m condemned by Cosmo… I wrapped up my mother in tenebris flowers… I'm evil!”

The flowers lunge and wrap around my arms. A shriek escapes me as I wrestle with the stems. Their grasp on me only tightens.

“You should've ran!” He cries. “I don't know how to stop them!”

My heart beats pick up speed as I wrench against the dark flowers again. He's got me trapped.

“I'm so sorry!” he yells. “I'm so sorry…”

The sorrow and agony in his voice is clear. It hurts me like a knife twisting into my heart. I understand it. I’ve felt that pain before. He just needs to calm down. I know I can help. I've panicked like this before.

Besides, how could I run when he stood against his society for me, and saved me countless times?

“You're not evil, Amias,” I stop fighting against the wrapping flowers, letting them tangle all over my body. “You're not evil, and I'm not going to run from you.”

“You should. Cosmo himself deemed me a monster! So has everyone else!”

Monster? Deemed by Cosmo? Why would he say that? I've seen real monsters, and it's offensive to even let him consider that statement true. “You're not a monster,” I say firmly.

“A disgusting hideous monster.”

I deeply inhale, as if it would comfort him too. “You hold the most beautiful soul. I've never laid my eyes upon a man so soothing and generous. How could I dare tarnish your name with such a title? ”

“Tarnish my name?” The flowers loosen their grip ever so slightly.

“I could never do that to you.”

He becomes quiet for a moment, his dark eyes shifting. “Why do you care if my name gets tarnished? You're twisted in corrupted flowers! You don't even know what happened!”

“Tell me then. What happened in the castle?”

His breath slows slightly, and the grasp of his flowers weakens a little more. “I….I got a wish from Cosmo himself. I was supposed to wish for something to protect the people. The wish could only come from someone who has pure intentions or else the wish corrupts.”

A small gasp of realization escapes me. He mentioned that at the orphanage. “What did you wish for then?”

“I… I just wanted to be shown the truth about dreamscreechers. I thought maybe getting the whole truth out would help.”

Joy jolts through me. “You… wished to help dreamscreechers?”

“I…I wanted to help everyone by showing them an unbiased truth. I was thinking maybe if we were shown the truth by Cosmo, that Amarians would believe us and no longer be afraid. Maybe we could've repair things between our kingdoms.”

My smile stretches enough to make my face ache. My body feels like a wool blanket is hugging it. He’s come so far! He really has changed!

“But then I got a voice in my head telling me to kill them,” he continues with a whimper. “That was gonna be my wish before when I didn't know the truth, but… I didn't wish that today…”

I scrunch my brows together. “Well then, those thoughts shouldn't matter.”

“I thought so too…” He pauses for a moment. “But the wish exploded in my face. It wasn't supposed to do that. It got corrupted. I… I don't think I've really changed. I'm still as cruel as I was before. Those thoughts wouldn't have come if I really changed.”

“You have changed, Amias,” I snap. “You've changed for the better. The fact you’re panicking about those thoughts shows how much you've grown.”

“If that were the case, the wish would've worked!”

“Your powers are out of control. Maybe that's what made the difference.”

“Grandmother said I was corrupted in front of everyone. She would know more than anyone! She's a direct child of Cosmo. She knows how this works!”

I bare my teeth. “Amara doesn't know shit! She's not the all knowing Gift everyone thinks she is! You know this!”

He glances away. “But who else would know about how this works?”

My knuckles ache to punch Amara’s hideous face.

How dare she say those things about her own grandson?

Especially in front of everyone? “She doesn't know what the fuck she's talking about.

You are the sweetest person I've ever known.

I've never seen someone so willing to find the truth and help others.”

He looks back into my eyes, his own still black like coal. The pain is still gleaming in his eyes but it does soften. The flowers weaken, the stems drooping, making it easy for me to untangle myself.

“It's not enough.” Amias murmurs as I free myself completely of the stems. I step towards and he flinches back. More black flowers shoot from the ground in front of me. “I don't want to hurt you!”

I scowl. He shouldn't have to hide from me. “I'm not afraid of you.” I step towards the flowers. “You can burn me, and tangle in weird flowers all you want, but I'm not going to run.”

He leans away from me. “Why? You should! Everyone else would!”

I take another step forward between the flowers. That's one sentence I know all too well. Most people in Amara would run from a dreamscreecher too, if they didn't decide to kill it.

I understand.

“Everyone else would run from me too…” I whisper, with another step.

He snorts. “No they wouldn't.”

I hesitate. Should I let Amias know now? The grandson of Amara? Would it be of any comfort to know that he's been friends with a dreamscreecher this entire time? Would he freak out even more? Would it even be safe for me?

Under his shining gaze, I feel his loneliness. I feel how painful it is to be outcasted and made into a monster.

He got into this mess because of me. He made that wish to help me and my people. He deserves to know he's not alone. I know he wouldn't hurt me. “Oh trust me. They would.”

I let my eyes strain as I stare into his eyes. “But you… you didn't run…”

His lips part at my glowing eyes. “Clara…”

“So why would I run from you?”

In a way, I feel naked. He knows now. He knows who and what I am now. I can't undo it.

He could have me killed and the Amara kingdom would justify it. He can tell his family about me, and with just a few words, they would come to kill me themselves.

Yet, I know he won't do that.

His eyes dart in every direction possible. “You're the dreamscreecher!”