Ring of Cren [18+]

Chapter 17

Anastasia's POV

I passed out at the ceremony.

I have now been sleeping for a very, very long time.

And when I wake up? I have sore gums.

I feel warm all over, and I think it's sunshine, until I open my eyes and I see where I am.

I'm not living in paradise.

I'm not in the Cren.

I'm not near my family.

I'm exactly where the vision said I'd be.

In the Eye.

Within moments I recognise that my wrists and ankles are strapped to the four corners of the giant bed set up for consummating my marriage to the Dark Prince. I look around the bare library, now a cell, with me as the sacrificial lamb. Not a loved wife, but a slave to the Daemons of the Cren who share the bodies of my noble Crows.

The heat in the room comes from the monsters in the room. They're around me, seemingly watching over me.

Damion's horns were poking my rib cage, a pain in my side as he sat on the ground and fell asleep with his cheek against the sheets, waiting for me to wake.

Rurx is standing to my left, a mirage of shadow now showing his soft brown eyes – no longer red. He may be mortal right now.

Krystoph paces the room.

And as for Axe, he stands over a fire pit, his hood adorned, covering his face as the fire pit burns with ice-white licks of flame below him.

I am still in my wedding dress, and when I open my mouth I scowl from the pain.

"Is this how you treat your brides?" I ask Rurx, groaning out my complaint, "Tell me, what's wrong with me – my teeth hurt."

"You are no longer an Ice Seer," Rurx explains clearly, slowly getting down onto one knee by the bed.

Damion wakes from his nap and I cry out as his horns poke my side a bit harder as he lifts his head.

I glance to Damion's red eyes and he is glad I'm awake but I see no sympathy for the fact his sharp horns left scratches. Although he does acknowledge it by looking at the ripped white material and then looking across to Rurx.

"You're one of us now," Damion takes over from Rurx. A delighted drawl.

"What does that mean, exactly?" I whisper, "And please, do you have something for the pain...?"

Rurx swipes two things up from the floor.

He brings a goblet to my mouth, and Damion slides a hand behind my head, helping me sip from the cup.

I drink the liquid and it tastes like wine and honey.

When I'm done, Damion lets my head rest back on the pillow.

Now, Rurx holds up the mirror to show me my reflection.

I look up at my pale face – and my stained lips. They look bright red.

"Smile," Damion whispers, trying not to grin too.

I smile at the mirror, and my whole body jerks in shock at the two long fangs in my mouth.

They're covered in blood from the blood I just drank.

Why did it taste like honey?

I feel hurt emotion surge through me, I want to cry in shock, speechless – but the urge to cry turns to something else.