Esmeray (Queen of Darkness)

09

Four days have gone by. I've been locked in here for four days, and thanks to the tally I edged into the wall I've counted the number of times I've been hit, or beaten. In total it's been twice. Above all my brain has started to count the number of times Alexander or Damian have visited since I spilled part of my life story and so far the number hasn't moved from zero. Slumping against the wall my eyes lazily drift from the tally marks to the blood splatters surrounding them. I want this to be over, why can't they just kill me? Don't they understand that no matter how many times they beat me for answers to some secret plot against their homeland I can never answer them? I don't know any of that, I only know what my mission was. The mission I failed.

Wiping my sweat with the back of my hand I bring the damp skin to my face so I can see the trail of liquip drip down my arm. As the water rolls down my arm I lick my dry lips and the yearning for a cold drop of water overwhelms my mouth. Right as I drop my arm I hear the rattle of a pair of chains and I turn my head sideways and curse as my head drums with the movement. Stopping in front of my door a guard unlocks it and fear starts to crawl its way up my throat as he enters. Stopping in front of me he bends down, the long chain swaying against the floor as it dangles from his shoulder. Looking through the haze that falls over my face I see the blurry image of a face as he leans closer to mine.

I can't see what he looks like, everytime I start to see the color of his eyes, or the markings on his skin, his face seems to change. Like he's bouncing from person to person, borrowing their face in turn. Keeping my lips pressed tightly I hold back the whimper that burns in my throat and resist the urge to let my tears slide down my cheeks. Why isn't he saying anything? Why is he just staring at me? Why does he have a chain draped over his shoulder?

"Reduced," he finally says and his voice covers every inch of my body like a blanket of spiders that crawl around my skin, "reduced to nothing. You had it all Freya, but look at you now."

Freya. He used my name, but how would he know it? I never told the Grounders, and they never seemed to care, so how does he know? Shifting back my body screams and that sound is released through my mouth. Skies, who is he?

"I hoped you would fail," he says, "I thought maybe you'd return with the princesses dead body, but this. This is so much better, both of you are dead, the queen is dead, and the king is slowly slipping away by the minute. Now that you're gone, I can win. I can rule."

"Who are you?" I say quietly as the dryness in my throat stops me from screaming it at him like I want to.

"You'll know soon enough, Freya. I'll see you moments before you die."

Reaching forward he presses two fingers against my temple and before I can even take a breath something cold slithers up the back of my neck and I drop into darkness like a dead bird falling from the sky.

~~~

I can feel it, the change. Whoever he was, he did something to me, my mind. I can feel the difference. Picking myself up off the floor, I'm greeted by the cold darkness and I stifle a sob as I wrap my arms around myself. Where am I? What happened to my cell? At least there, there was light. Rocking back and forth my sobs come in quiet tones, but they seem to rage through wherever I sit like the sound of the wind running through the trees. I don't know where I am. Who I'm with, but I know it is all wrong. Laying down I make myself as small as possible and I almost laugh at the pleasing feeling of being pain free. Skies I missed moving without pain. Before I have the chance to enjoy the grace of being pain free, a hand wraps around my mouth and I scream on instinct as I'm dragged backward at increasing speed. Thrashing against their hold, I kick and punch but whoever the person is seems to be made of mist. I can't hit anything solid. Giving up I let the person drag me back through the dark and I instead turn to crying into their hand that still covers my mouth. What is happening? Slowly we start to decrease in speed and I gasp for air as the hand lifts and I can breathe without the stench of death under my nose. Wheezing I roll onto my stomach and plant my face into the grass that appears beneath me and breathe in its sweet smell. After my nose is clear of death I struggle onto my feet and shield my eyes from the sun that bears down on my face. Beside me someone steps on a twig and I turn and look at them.