Moonlight's Deception (Eclipse of Hiestora, Book 1)

Epilogue

IT WAS DARK and quiet. Her body was lighter than she felt before as if she was floating on a cloud. Perhaps, she was on a cloud. The material beneath her was smooth and velvety. Fluffy and soft. The sweet scent of tulips mixed with the faint vanilla aroma that reminded her of books.

It was just the scent at first. But then warmth caressed her face like the lick of early morning light on the skin.

Then her ears started to pick out sounds. The distinct choir of love birds on the window sill. How she knew they were on the window sill, it was purely on instinct. As if she picked that random memory from a pile. And then, the blowing of the wind as they brushed past the tree tops. The clinking of a wind chime. And then distant chatters along with the sound of the fruits being picked from their trees and thrown into the baskets.

As Clara lay still, the world went on. So what was keeping her from moving? No matter how much she tried, Clara could not will her body to do as she pleased. Something was amiss. The rocks in her stomach came rolling and rumbling.

And then, it hit her like a boulder rushing down a hill, smashing her with the bitter truth and reality. The life she lived in fleeting days. The false reality she forced to keep. The identity she stole so she could keep the freedom she ever so wanted. It all came with a price, and she paid for it dearly.

The memory of his face flashed before her mind's eyes. His obsidian black hair failed to hide his alluring midnight eyes. The sound of his voice was both strong and gentle to her ears. How she wished to hear it once again. The simple quirk of his lips every time he tried to pretend she didn't amuse him even a bit. And his soft velvety wings that could have taken her anywhere in the world if only their time together wasn't cut short.

At last, after so many hard attempts to open her lids, Clara opened her eyes to a ceiling of interwoven branches with vibrant green leaves. Enough sunlight passed through small gaps to give the room natural light. Sunlight. The sun. Her body was frozen not from weakness, but from the pain which assaulted her heart.

Tears pooled around her eyes. It stung but nothing could match the broken pieces of her heart. She heard a wail, but Clara couldn't discern if it was her own or from someone else.

Hurried footsteps disturbed the silent halls outside the room she was in. The door opened with so much force. She felt someone's added weight on the bed beside her and the gentle stroking of her hair. A man with chocolate brown eyes came into view. But it wasn't the midnight eyes she had grown fond of. Clara didn't want him. She wanted Emir. His mouth opened to speak to someone right next to him. But Clara neither heard his every command and frantic shuffling of the palace Healers.

Clara's wails reduced into sobs. She wept for everything that could've been. For a life she could've had that ended before it even began. 

TO BE CONTINUED IN BOOK 2...