Heart of darkness

Chapter Fourteen

The week went by in an uneventful haze. I was stuck in that bed for most of it, almost unable to move, I had learned that I had been asleep for nearly three days, no wonder I felt as if I had been buried under a pile of pure stone. My mind was full of energy as my body felt as if it had been trampled by a stampede of horses. Calia had been to see me almost every day, going over our plan to escape. We had to wait until I was better, which could take a week or more, Calia had made sure to bring me food everyday, and help me bathe.

Damian had only seen me once, it seemed he had only wanted to yell at me for disobeying him. I saw the fury in his eyes at my actions and a small part of me was afraid he would hit me like his father had done. Though he didn't, the fear still stuck with me for the rest of the day. My mind kept telling me that he would come back and he would kill me. That he would take my life and save me from this misery he had caused. But he didn't.

Throughout the day, I was saying to myself that I wouldn't let him have this kind of hold over me. He wouldn't be the one to break me, not now and not ever. Though that didn't stop my dreams.

Every night it was the same, I was being chased through the forest. I never knew who was chasing me, though I did know that I needed to get out. It didn't help that I was wearing a wedding dress. It was dark and I couldn't see anything, I ran into trees, bushes and fell a few times. Fear flooded through me when I hit something, or more like someone. When I looked up, I saw the eyes of Damian and a sickening grin stretched across his lips. The last thing I remember was a dagger being driven into my heart and then I woke up covered in sweat.

I dreaded sleep. I tried to stay awake, though once time hit that one o'clock mark I was already unconscious and sucked into the terror of my nightmare. During the day, the only thing that somewhat distracted me from my dreams were my plans of finding a witch. From what I heard during breakfast, it seemed there still were witches, though actually finding them would be hard

Not knowing where to find one was a another setback, along with being worried that the witch would kill me on sight. I wouldn't be surprised if they did, the way our people treated them, forced them from their land three hundred years ago, I'm surprised they haven't burned our kingdom to the ground yet.

"Hello? Can I come in?" I heard Calia's voice say from the other side of the door.

"Yes of course you can." I said and sat up. Most of my bruises had disappeared during the week, so I was able to sit up again. It was still painful and walking was a bit tricky, I could barely limp around the room, my knees would sometimes buckle and I would fall in an embarrassed heap to the floor. Calia would help me and I knew that she was trying hard to make me feel comfortable here, but this castle still felt more like a prison than a home.

"Oh, don't sit up!" Calia said, rushing over to me when she saw the position I was in.

"Calia, I'm fine." I assured her while stretching my legs out in front of me, the sound of my bones popping made Calia's expression change to 'you're not fine'. It was the look, my mother used to give me when I had tripped over a branch and my arm was bleeding terribly. The thought made me miss my mother. Even though she was always nagging, I still loved her and she loved me. Much like what my father had said the day I had found out the truth about the ball. That day felt as if it were years ago and I had grown wiser and less naive.

"Aurora, you need rest." She said, coxing me back into the bed, but I had had enough of this. I needed to get out of this room. The dark walls and lack of windows was getting to me.

"Calia, I need to move around, you heard the sound of my bones. I need to get out of this room." I pleaded, and stood up. Though my legs protested, I was still able to stand without any help.

"Although I am against this." She paused, taking a look at me. "You need some fresh air, let's try to take a walk around the garden." Her lips formed a kind smile as she took me out of the bedroom and into the hallway.

The halls hadn't changed much since last week. Though now I could see the pictures that hung on the walls. When I had come this way before I had kept my head down, not wanting to see the faces of past kings and queens, all of which had been vicious. Though now that I looked, the paintings were much different than I had expected.

Instead of past, intimidating rulers, I saw landscapes. Beautiful ones full of trees and valleys, some at night showcasing what beauty darkness can have and some during the day, when flowers are blossoming under the warmth of the sun and forests being lightened. I was awestruck and Calia could tell.

"All of these paintings are of Lightwood. Over decades or probably centuries of course." She whispered into my ear as we came towards a staircase.

"They're beautiful." I admitted as I struggled to take my first step down the intimidating staircase.

"They are. A king many years ago ordered them to be done. He wanted our halls to be decorated by our kingdom's beauty and loveliness." She answered, I was a bit shocked. I hadn't expected a king to want such detailed, exquisite paintings on his walls instead of ones with his family and war scenes. We stayed quiet for the rest of the excruciatingly long tread down the stairs, until I finally spoke up with a question that had been racking my brain for the past ten minutes.

"What was his name?" I questioned.

"I believe it was King Johnathan." She replied as we neared the grand entrance.

I had read many books about our kingdom and have never heard of a King Johnathan. As I racked my brain, I suddenly heard a scream.

Quickly turning towards the entrance, I saw a girl no older than fifteen being pushed into the castle by two guards. Her hands were tied behind her back, but she still put up a hell of a fight. The guards were having trouble containing her as they passed Calia and I.

"Let go of me or I'll curse you all!" She screeched. A witch?

The girl's head suddenly turned and locked eyes with mine. Her eyes glossy and pitch black as they bore into mine. A chill ran down my back as we stared, I couldn't look away and I felt as if she could read my mind just by looking.

"Aurora, I'm sorry this happened to you." She said as the guards pulled her into a stairwell that led to the dungeons.