Violet Dreams

Chapter 34

Arabella had barely seen anyone since being thrown into her cell. The only visitor she had was a nameless guard who brought her food and water twice a day. She had quickly learnt that the water was laced with faebane and began only eating the food, pouring some of the water out to make it look like she'd drank.
Zachery never visited but the guard had assured her that if she misbehaved he'd come and sort her out. Arabella had no idea what chaos was ensuing above ground, but she did know that she was slowly losing her mind in the darkness.

When you can't see anything; no windows, no seeable door, not even a draft to indict a notion of the outside world. You begin to go insane. You start to see things that aren't really there, you hear voices; a soft whisper in your ear or a voice from above. Arabella knew she'd waste a way in here, so she had began to try and make conversation with the guard, it didn't work. The single guard, always the same person, was obviously under strict orders to not speak a word to her. His threat was the only sentence she'd heard in a very long time.

Arabella's insanity only increased with her strangely realistic dreams, sometimes she could not discern whether they were fiction or not. She'd be laying in her cell and suddenly the room would light up with a violet hue, illuminating the dark world around her. Then, Nyx or Rhysand would appear, saying they've come to rescue her. Arabella would leap up with enthusiasm because finally someone was here, somebody cared. But of course her dreams would be shattered as she'd slam into the metal bars of her cell, the shade of violet disappearing from her dreams completely.

Arabella's powers were slowly coming back, she wasn't sure how much faebane they'd given her to start off with but it must of been a lot. She could just break into the guards mind when he'd deliver her food, she didn't mess with his conscious, she couldn't stay in there long enough even if she wanted to.

Her body was slowly wasting away. She could feel her powers having to heal herself, over and over again as she refused to drink the water. Which, in turn, meant she was weak and struggled to grasp her daemati gifts for more than a few seconds.

The clanking of a key and the sound of a heavy metal door alerted her to a presence, of course, no light filtered through the door. Heavy footsteps sounded on the cobblestone, the only evidence she had that the floor was hard stone. However, these footsteps were not the footsteps of the guard she had grown familiar to.

"Sweetheart, it's been a while", Zachery's voice seemed to come from all directions but she knew he was in front of her.

Even though he probably couldn't see her face, Arabella tried to look strong, "what do you want?"

"You seem unwell", he said ignoring her question.

While Arabella did not want to entertain him, she hadn't had a conversation in god knows when, and she was beginning to forget the sound of her own voice.

"No thanks to you", she spat.

"No", he said and she could hear him squat down, "you see, that is where you are wrong. This is your fault".

Arabella resisted the urge to scoff, "I refuse to listen to your lies".

Zachery tutted, "while you receive your punishment in the form of solitude, Nyx will get his own".

Arabella tried not to sound too interested but a primal desire to punch Zachery for even threatening Nyx was overtaking her senses.

"You see, I cannot completely blame Nyx for his lapse in judgement, you are hard to resist", Zachery continued, "but his father made a deal with your father and by extension; me".

Arabella blinked, had Rhysand betrayed her? No, he had warned her all those weeks ago. Perhaps he had a bigger part to play to begin with, but she trusted him now.

"Which means I have to follow through on my threats, his newborn will not live to see a week".

Arabella lunged at him in the dark, not fully knowing where he was but hoping to get a hit in. She was only met with the bars of her prison and a chuckling Zachery.

"You can't", Arabella hissed.

"Why not? I cannot appear weak in front of the other High Lords", he said leaning so far forward that Arabella could feel his breath on her neck.

"How did you find out about us?" She asked, her voice intentionally softer.

It had been a thought playing on her mind for some time. How did he find out? Was he told? How can she avoid his techniques in the future?

"You are not as stealthy as you thought", he said calmly, "the maids have been cloaked by your father's magic for some time, but they still report to me".

Arabella sunk low onto the ground. She had been so stupid, her one moment to be selfish and she had fucked up. It was no longer just her life on the line but the Night Court's as well. A single tear slid down her cheek.

"Once you've learnt your lesson you can return to society with me", he said standing again, "I hope you know what your role will be reduced to".

"Cleaning and doting I assume", Arabella muttered.

"And giving birth to heirs of course, one cannot be High Lord without a legacy".

And then he was gone, and Arabella was alone.

She forced herself to use her daemati powers, grasping at whatever energy she had left. She pictured Rhysand's mind, his walls of impenetrable darkness. She slammed into it, Rhysand noticing her presence immediately. In a rush, as she felt her powers slipping, Arabella threw Rhys the scene that had just played before her. She had to warn him. Before he could reply or even thank her, Arabella passed out, having used the last of her energy.