The Pain in My Heart [Completed]

Chapter 3

"I need to talk to Crista and Mika," I say as jogging out of the Council Room, leaving the king.

"I'm coming with you." Axil yells on my tail.

"So am I."

I don't need to turn to know that soft melodic voice.

"Lucy." I stop walking, halting my tracks. She looks as beautiful as ever, just as she always does. Neat blonde curls and glowing skin. Her pale blue dress hugs her frame, flaring at the waist.

"Lucy, are you sure?" I ask. Her furrowed brow is enough to tell she's angry.

"Absolutely," she presses sternly. "I have some affairs to settle."

We walk down the halls silently. The tension is almost unbearable. One foot in front of the other, I try not to think about what had happened to Adam that night.

The Christmas season made it a little easier to forget my worries and haunts of that night, but for Lucy... she was all alone. I celebrated Christmas with the royal family. I got to celebrate with Axil and then there was Lucy. A princess who pretended to be a lowly servant to protect herself only left with the memory of a guard with a heart of gold and a sense of humor to drive anyone insane. But I would take his sarcasm any day rather than bear this suffocating silence.

"You don't have to do this, Lucy," Axil starts. "I don't know what we're dealing with—

"That's just the thing. Eden is coming and we have to be prepared."

His stride slows. "I don't know if I want you involved. I mean, look at what happened last time."

She pauses in her step waiting for her brother to do the same. Once he does, she looks down at him and smirks. "I may still seem like the fragile little sister to you who needs coddled, but you need all the help you can get. I don't know what all of these pictures mean, but there is a reason for it."

"How do you know about the pictures?" he asks. "You weren't at the meeting."

"You seem to forget many times brother, how many witches surround you. I have my ways."

Axil subtly rolls his eyes and continues walking.

"Do you have any other clue as to what the drawings might mean?" I ask, following.

She looks at me with her brilliant blue eyes. "I think you are onto something about our time running out. The hourglass is a very clear symbol of that. But the crows concern me."

She trails off like she's thinking of something else. I don't ask what, though I am dying to know.

***

"So let me get this straight. Eden's been sending tiny little drawing and you guys are scared?" Mika asks.

"Is it really that hard to believe that there's more meaning to this? Even if it's not directly Eden but someone else. Does this not matter to you?"

She waves her hand at Axil, shushing him. "If Eden is the one behind this, you are going to face an evil you have never witnessed, not some foolish little doodles" She looks at me. "Even worse than what you felt with your girlfriend betraying you."

"You will NOT—

"It's okay," I counter.

She slowly closes her eyes, sighing. Leaning her weight against the edge of the table, she folds her hands. I sense the color around her shift. A dark looming grey, almost black.

She glances over at Crista; her one and only daughter. She must know about the nightmare. Mika would do anything for her daughter especially after what her daughter did for her.