The life of a Raven Sister consisted of glittering gowns, lavish parties, royal acquaintances, and inescapable death.
The lavish life of a Sister was not all that it seemed. The extravagance was a cover-up, a way to make people forget about the har...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
It was cold and dark.
Naturally, it was always like that during the night, but with no lights beside the ones lighting the carriage's way, the world seemed darker and colder than ever. But more than dark and cold, it seemed endless. The only glimpse of actual surroundings was when the light at both ends of the carriage dimly lit up the area around us, showing only trees. But when the light passed and I looked farther, all there was was black. It looked like there was nothing for miles and miles. I felt that I was surrounded on all sides by endless darkness, that we would be forever traveling in empty space, never running into anything, never reaching our destination. It was as if the world had faded away and was replaced with nothingness.
I realized, in a panic, that it was what I imagined death to be like: an endless nothing.
I gripped my nightgown tightly, my chest tight, my breathing increased. I focused on the lantern that rested in the lap of Baron who sat across from me in the carriage, trying to remind myself that we were not trapped in infinite darkness. I needed to remember that there was a kingdom behind us and a destination ahead of us. No matter how hard I tried to keep my brain from falling into bad thoughts though, I couldn't shake the heavy feeling that we were trapped in a place just like death.
"Is something the matter?" an icy voice asked with a lack of concern and care.
My gaze trailed up to Baron's face, my eyes meeting his. Even underneath the makeup he wore, I could faintly see the injuries I inflicted upon him. The scars on his face from my nails and the black eye my fist gave him never failed to bring a raise my spirits. Those were my marks, and it was nice to know that they wouldn't heal quickly.
"No," I replied, putting on an emotionless face, trying to mask the fear deep down in my gut.
He didn't look away. Instead, he held my gaze, looking doubtful. He leaned his back against the carriage and tapped his fingers against the lantern.
"When you've grown up with someone and have examined them for as long as I have, you can find that you can read them like an open book. You lie, that's easy enough to tell. About what, even I don't know. But I do know that whatever it was, it gave you that distressed look in your eyes that appears whenever you're afraid. I have always thought you looked best when you were afraid. It makes you weak, easy to manipulate." his lips curled into a malicious grin.
"Fear suits you very well, Ev. It makes you truly breathtaking."
An image of me using the rope that kept my hands tied together to strangle him to death popped into my mind. I had already attacked him once, and the idea of doing so again was tempting, but going in to assault him would only cause more problems than solutions for myself. I was smushed in between two guards, and so was Baron. If I somehow managed to slip by my own, surely his would catch me before I could do anything at all.
