Heart of darkness

Chapter Twenty-Two

I awoke to the sun streaming through a window. I bolted upright.

There weren't any windows in my room. Where was I?

Looking around, I saw nothing familiar, no darkness, no deep red furnishing. Just a room full of light colours and a beautiful view through the window. The white fabric was comforting and the mattress was much lighter than the one in the dark room.

But that still didn't answer my question. Where am I?

The door suddenly opened and in came Calia. I looked closely at her for any signs of injury, but I could see none. The worry I had last night washed away and was replaced with relife, it seemed Damian hadn't hurt her like I had expected he would.

"Oh good you're awake. You must've been tired last night, it's almost mid day." Calia smiled, I saw her holding a tray of food.

"Is there any mail for me?" I asked, I knew that Cas wouldn't be able to get to the witches in one night and send a letter, but I still hoped.

"No, not yet darling. But don't worry, I believe Cas will send one soon." She said and placed the tray on a table.

I got up and went hastily towards the food, I hadn't entirely eaten last night and my stomach felt empty. On cue it rumbled and I mentally shushed it.

"Aurora, you're still in your gown!" Calia gasped.

I glanced down to see the pale pink colour of my dress, it wasn't as perfect as it had been last night. It had wrinkles and it seemed to have grown in size. It hung loosely around my narrow body and I quickly pushed the sleeves back onto my shoulders.

"Oh." I said, unsurprised by the fact that I had slept in my gown.

"It's alright, dear. I'll help you get out of it." Calia smiled.

She kindly helped me undress and put on a simple sage coloured dress. It seemed to cling to my body as I stood in front of the mirror, for some reason the colour reminded me of Damian's eyes when he was in a better mood. The calming colour seemed to loosen my muscles.

"Calia, about last night." I paused, thinking about what to say.

"Don't worry... I reacted poorly. The thing is I've known that Garrett and Damian won't ever stop their reign of terror. Someone has to put a stop to them. Even if it has to be you, you're too young. You should be back home living your life with your family." Calia sighed as I turned around to look at her.

"Thank you for understanding." I smiled.

"No thank you... for having the courage to fight back." Hearing this caused me to pull Calia into an embrace.

She put her arms around me and I instantly felt comfort. She smelled of vanilla and rose, it reminded me of my mother and the rose bushes that grew beside our home. The thought of peace went through my mind. I would do this for Calia, for my mother and for Lightwood. For peace.

"We have to talk to Lizzy." I said, leaving the warm embrace, the idea had just come to me. It was a fairly good idea though.

"The witch?" Calia questioned.

"Yes, she was the one who gave me the knife I used to try and kill Damian last night." The words slipped out and I had forgotten that she hadn't known about the secret event of last night.

"You tried to kill Damian!?" She shrieked.

"Calia, I failed so he's still alive." I tried to calm her down. Though I felt as if it would have made her even more surprised.

"Right." She breathed and I could see a hint of disappointment in her eyes. "I'll just forget you said that."

"Anyways." I continued. "Lizzy will know where the witches are hiding. If she told us, we could get that information to Cas... somehow."

"Somehow?"

"I haven't figured that out yet." I admitted, to be honest I was just making this up now, since I had just thought of it a moment ago.

"Alright. I can get you into the dungeons, but you have to be quick. The guards don't exactly trust me, or you, for obvious reasons." Calia stated.

"That's fine. I think Lizzy trusts me." I said, unsure of where I stood with the fifteen year old witch. "When can we talk to her?"

"I doubt Damian will want you to go anywhere near the dungeons due to last night."

I didn't respond. My thoughts were busy trying to figure out how to get to the dungeons without being noticed. Suddenly a hidden memory stepped forth and I almost yelped in relief.

"Calia the passageways." I waited for a few seconds until the thought finally clicked in her mind.

"The passageways, I completely forgot about those. Though it might take awhile for me to find the correct one." Calia stated.

"I'm sorry for putting you on the spot but... we only have a week." I said, thinking of the event I was dreading.

"The wedding." She whispered. "I'll start looking for them right away."

"Thank you." I smiled as she began to walk away. "Wait!"

She turned around, a bit of confusion layered her face. I suddenly felt embarrassed for asking, though the embarrassment turned to regret, I should have learned the layout of the castle, it would have helped with the escape.

"Where am I exactly?"

"You're in the queen-to-be's suite, it's on the top floor of the castle. You're supposed to stay here until the wedding, but nobody really cares about that anymore. They made the rule with the first queen, the king had said it was inappropriate for anyone to see the bride before the wedding." Calia explained.

"Was this your room?" I asked.

"Yes, it was. This was the only room I actually felt safe in. Though it was only a week that I spent here, the room grew on me." She smiled. "Everyone except for the groom can enter."

"Oh." I said, understanding why this room was special to her, it was the only room where the King couldn't get her.

"Well, I'd better get going. I'll visit you when I've found the passageway."

"Alright, I'll see you then." I smiled and she left.

When the door closed, I immediately felt alone. The large room felt spacious and empty despite the elegant furniture and paintings. Thoughts of my impending doom circled my mind as feelings of failure clouded my judgement.

What if Cas didn't get to the witches in time? What would happen if I married the prince? Would he make his promise to break me clear? Or am I already broken?