Page 77

Ignatia

“This is the princess of Somnia?”

“Yes sir. It's her.”

I slowly begin to open up my eyes, only to squeeze them shut as Estrella's starlight shines in. I attempt to open my eyes once more, being more wary of the light.

What happened?

And where am I?

Three figures come into view before the bed I'm lying in.

Two are slightly familiar. One woman with black dreads that are sandy at the tips sits down in a sofa chair in front of me, and the other woman with olive skin and short black hair stands up beside her.

They're both wearing neutral colored tank tops and shorts.

Lumi is the second one, I think? The first woman's name starts with an M, like Marjorie or something. I think she saved me in the forest.

The man standing up, I don't recognize at all. He looks like he could be related to Lumi, with the same skin tone and short black hair. His eyes look green from this angle and he's in a normal black tee and gray shorts.

Who is he?

I look down at my feet and up towards my chest. I'm under a white blanket and dressed in a blue plastic gown, just like the one Amias was in after the fire.

I snap my head up, despite the ache in moving it. Everything looks plain and white, and there's a curtain next to me acting as a wall.

This must be a hospital. How did I get here?

“Ignatia, you're awake.” I meet the man’s eyes, who's wearing a smirk.

I scrunch my brows together. “Who are you?” I glance around the room again. “Where am I? What happened?”

“There's much to explain.” He nods, “I'm Dante by the way.” He extends his hand to me.

I squint at his hand before shaking it. “Dante?” No use in saying my name because he already seems to know.

“You've already met my half sister Lumi,” he nods her way. No wonder they look so alike.

Did she really make it all this way to Amara?

Dante continues. “Then you've met Minerva, a loyal worker in our operation.”

Minerva. I knew it started with an M.

Wait. “What operation?”

Dante chuckles, “I'll explain after we catch you up to speed.”

Everyone explains their bits of the timeline to me, going through how I went to save Amias but failed. I exhausted myself fighting Vasilisa and walked away before I could actually kill her. I collapsed with Minerva and that's all I was conscious for.

“Camila and I had to carry you out of the forest,” Minerva explains. “It was a long journey, but we brought you to Caelestia to keep you safe.”

My body tenses. Caelestia? A kingdom away from Amias? “ You brought me where?”

I furrow my brows at Lumi. No wonder she's here! “You brought me back to Caelestia?”

Lumi puts her hands on her hips. “You're safer here in Caelestia where no one is looking to kill you.”

My eyes widen, and my jaw hangs open. Amias is still in Amara! He… he got cleansed!

He needs me!

“You shouldn't have taken me that far!” I hiss. “I need to save Amias!”

“Saving Amias could mean your death,” Minerva says firmly. She leans and sets a hand on my knee.

I slap her hand away and scrunch my nose in disgust. She's the reason I'm so far away from him. “Fuck you! What makes you think I fucking care?”

“Ignatia! Calm down!” I hear Dante demand, but my glare is on Minerva. Her expression, on the other hand, is rather blank.

“Amias is still out there.” I spit the words out. “I need to save him! He’s saved my ass multiple times, and he loved me.” What could Amara be doing to him? Is she torturing him? Could she have killed him?

I rip the thin hospital sheet off of me and swing my feet off the bed. I need to get to Amara City as soon as I can. There's no stopping for anyone.

“Ignatia.” A firm hand grabs my shoulder as Dante comes to stand in front of me. “Calm down. Let me explain.”

I shrug his hand away. “Get off of me!” I bare my teeth. “You're not stopping me!”

He folds his arms in front of him. “We have a sanctuary for dreamscreechers like you! Where you’ll be with the people of Somnia!”

I ball my hands in frustration. “I can’t leave-” I pause and raise my brows. “Sanctuary?” For dreamscreechers?

“Yes, which brings us to our operation.” Dante says firmly. “It's not just for your safety that you're back in Caelestia.”

I free my fingers from my fists and lay them down on either side of me. I stay seated on the bed. I didn't know there was a sanctuary for us.

Dante continues.“I've opened up a sanctuary for dreamscreechers here in Caelestia.

It's fairly new, only ten years in the making.

Most people in Somnia don't know about it because it's risky to talk about it with Vasilisa's rule.

Dreamscreechers that were able to escape both Somnia and Amara come here for safety.

We are trying to train our younger able-bodied dreamscreechers to fight against Vasilisa.

“Here, we've been raising an army ever since Vasilisa went insane. We know you've defeated Vasilisa in battle, and we need a princess willing to take back her kingdom.” Dante’s brows raise. “I'd like for you to join us in the fight and take back the kingdom.”

I scrunch my brows together. “But… isn't Vasilisa dead?” I look at Minerva and Lumi.

Minvera shrugs. “We have spies in Somnia that told us she's back in Somnia. There's no clue as to how her condition is though.”

“Back in Somnia?” My eyes widen. No! I had her! She couldn't move! She was dying! “How? I almost killed her!” Maybe I should've used up my last bit of energy on her after all.

“ Almost, ” Minerva corrects. “And if we get word that she's healing, she’ll be back again.”

My heart punches into my flesh, letting guilt kept in there flood over my body. Why the fuck was I so confident that she would die out there in Amara? And who the fuck wants her alive?

“But you have the skills to save the kingdom and get rid of her permanently,” Dante says. “If I can just get you to sign some papers and get you into the sanctuary system, we can help you.”

I think on it for a moment. This sounds like a great idea. I get to fight for my people and avenge those I've lost. No mistakes for death with an army behind me. Then I can take her throne and help the people that she had tortured.

But there's still one thing. “What about Amias?”

Dante cocks a brow, as if it were a ridiculous question. “What about him?”

“I still need to save him.” I nod curtly.

“He promised he would help Somnia and get the Amara kingdom to expect us.

He risked everything, nearly dying multiple times.

Under Amara right now, he's probably getting abused and tormented because they cleansed him.” My body shudders at the thought.

“He needs me. I need to break him free.”

Dante scoffs. “Amias is the prince of Amara. He's the enemy, especially after the cleansing.”

I jolt back at the words. What the fuck? “Then I need to find a way to convince him while-”

“Ignatia. Amias is nothing but trouble for our kingdom. You really think the grandson of a family that wants to kill us will be a great king?”

“Excuse me?”

“It's like what happened with Rayden,” Lumi murmurs beside him. “He tried to save her and look at where that got him.”

My heart drums in frustration. No. I could find a way to be different. I have to. “So if I go after Amias, will you still let me help the sanctuary?”

Dante shrugs. “I can't allow the enemy to be in our safe place.

I can't stop you from seeing him or sleeping with him, but I can't have the princess getting herself killed over Amara’s grandson.” He squints.

“So no, you won't be allowed to join our cause and you'd be abandoning your people to be with the villain.”

I bite my tongue. He's not like that! “Amias has saved my life multiple times. He went through the cleansing ceremony for me. I don't care what the conditions are in Amara right now, I'm not abandoning him.”

“So you're willing to sacrifice your kingdom for Amara’s grandson?”

“Loving him isn't a sacrifice for the kingdom. But if it is considered that, then fine. I'd rather sacrifice the kingdom than abandon the one person who actually sacrificed for me.” My heart belongs to him. There's no changing that.

“Well then…I su-”

“Wait!” We all turn to Minerva as she glances between us. “May I talk with Ignatia? Alone?”

I raise my brows at her. What for? Does she think she can convince me? Because if she does, she has another thing coming.

Dante's expression reflects mine. “Right now?”

“Yes now. Just let me talk to her.”

I scoff and look away. This is so stupid.

“Fine.” Dante says finally. Lumi follows him out of the door so I'm just with Minerva.

Fuck off. “If you're going to try to get me to leave Amias behind, I'm not-”

“No. I'm not going to do that.” Minerva says firmly, putting a hand up defensively. “That's the last thing I want to do.”

“Yes, because that's what manipulators say.” I groan and cross my arms. She's trying to use some mind trick to get me to think against him. I know it.

She furrows her brows. “No, Ignatia. I want you and Amias to be together.”

“What game are you trying to play?”

She jerks back at the accusation. “Game? There is no game! I need you and Amias to be together if you really are in as much love as you express.”

“The proof is in the cleansing and how he's saved my life multiple times. Do you really think I'd get myself damn near killed if he was evil scum?”

Minerva leans back with her arms crossed. “Good, then maybe you can calm down and listen to me.”

I scrunch my nose. I'm not going to fall for some trick.

“We need you in the sanctuary. The people need their princess, someone who’s a leader and wants to rule and fix the kingdom.”

“That doesn't have to mean I have to abandon Amias! He's even used his Cosmo’s wish to help dreamscreechers! He's nearly died for us!”

“Amias would be a great ally to our operation, which is why I’d be willing to rescue him from the kingdom.”

My jaw drops. “Huh?”

“Look. We need our princess and we need her safe. If you go into Amara, you're gonna get killed before saving Amias. People know you now. They'll recognize you as a threat, as will Amias, and they'll shoot you dead.”

“I could find a way to convince him.” It couldn't be impossible, couldn't it?

“Trust me. He's forgotten all about you. They're brainwashing him into thinking you're a rapist psycho killer. There is no convincing. He’ll just think you're manipulating him all over again and obliterate you before you can even try.”

I nod along. That's a good point.

“But if I go into Amara, no one knows that I'm a dreamscreecher but other dreamscreecher allies. I can get in easily without worrying about Amias and his people trying to kill me.”

I ponder on it. That actually sounds like a great idea… “Well, then. How exactly are you going to convince him?”

Minerva smirks. “There's a project this dreamscreecher alliance we’ve been working on in Caelestia. We've been studying ways to cure the cleansing potion to prevent further brainwashing.”

I gasp. A cure? “You have?”

“Yes. I mean the cleansing is the main reason we have few allies in Amara. We haven't had the opportunity to use what we’ve come up with, but we can use it on him.”

“So you don't know if it will work for sure?”

“No, but it's worth a shot. It's better than what you got, which is essentially nothing.”

I purse my lips. I'm not sure about this. What if this cure ends up making him worse? What if this potion literally melts his brain and kills him? What if it doesn't even go to his brain and he ends up blind or losing a limb? “I don't appreciate him being a test subject.”

“Look at this way. Amias is being brainwashed by his Grandmother.

His family. His friends. He's being taught that you raped him.

That everything you've been to him is a lie. He will think every single thing you do is a part of a manipulation game.” She lowers her chin.

“You're fighting a losing game. There's no way you can convince him successfully.”

My lips twist. I hate it, but she's right. He has the power to kill me. He’ll do it, and nothing I say will seem real to him - and rightfully so.

Minerva continues. “This cure is all you got.

I'm all you got. If you go there, Amias will remain in the condition he's in, living in an abusive home, and you'll be six feet under.” She stands up proudly.

“If you stay at the sanctuary and I get Amias back with his memories, you'll spend the rest of your life with him.

You take my deal, or you're both doomed to fail.”

I bite my tongue. She’s hundred percent right. I know, no matter what, I'm dying if I go after him myself. With being in Amara and the brainwashing, there would be no way.

But I've only just met her and she's promising to do me a huge favor for little in exchange. This could all be a scheme to have me stay at the sanctuary. “How can I trust that you'll follow through? You're asking for low payment.”

She snickers, “I have my own motives for getting Amias.”

“To keep me in the resistance?”

“More than that. For just that reason would be measly. The payment will be bigger than you see, if he really did love you.”

If he really did love me? Why would it matter to her especially? “It is?”

“Besides, if my only intention were to keep you in the resistance, I would know better than to fall back on the promise. There's no way you wouldn't try to escape then.”

I huff. I know that's true. She's the best shot I've got, and she doesn't seem to have a good reason to betray me. At least not yet. “He must get out as soon as possible.”

“I'll have him here in six months at most.”

I think this over again. I'm really going to trust a stranger to save Amias? I guess I don't have much of a choice. I need him to come out alive, or else it's pointless.

And if she's the only way, I need this deal.

I reach my hand out to her. “I'll take it.”

She smirks before shaking my hand. “Shall I get Dante back in?”

“Is he going to agree with this deal?”

“He won't know.” She winks. “Don’t tell him about this deal. Play along with his plan and things will go smoothly.”

Smart idea. I'm starting to like Minerva. Now I have plans for both my people in the sanctuary and Amias. I don't have to ditch one for the other.

And now I can be with other people like me. Other dreamscreechers.

And both Amias and Somnia will be saved.