A Dance Of Twilight: (A Fae Dark Fantasy Romance Stand-Alone )

Chapter 25

“I’m tired of being stuck here, Morg. I want to visit the city, to see the people. I know Nicholas—his majesty, wishes to keep me safe but I am starting to lose my mind.”

Chucking off my mud-covered boots and throwing them across my bedroom floor, Morgana laughed a little under her breath as she laid down on my bed, flicking through a book I’d left on the nightstand.

“I didn’t leave a prison to be locked in another. Can we please just…I don’t know, sneak out of here and visit a market or something, please?”

I got down on my knees and clasped my hands together, almost praying, begging her to take me somewhere. Anywhere that wasn’t inside the walls of this castle or the grounds surrounding it. I needed adventure, I craved it.

“Nic will not be happy if I were to sneak you out of here, Nella. And princesses do not beg, so get up.”

My head lowered as a sigh escaped my lips as I pushed myself off the floor. Heading behind the changing screen, I threw off my clothes and grabbed the purple velvet dress that hung over it. I’d left it there a day or two ago, still wondering if I liked it. Having yet to receive my new clothes, I was stuck rotating the same few garments.

“I will speak to my brother tonight and see if he will allow you to be escorted to the markets in the morning. You do need new clothes and you cannot continue waiting on the seamstress to finish up.”

A smile pulled at the corners of my lips. I wanted to dive bomb her into a hug, but she rose quickly from the bed and headed towards the balcony doors of my room.

“Looks like a storm,” I said.

“That’s not a storm.”

It was all she said before she quickly left my bedroom without a single word. Confused, I just continued to watch the storm as the wind wiped against the trees and the sky changed to a purple grey, with flashes of light littering the sky.

I wasn’t sure of the time when a maid came to fetch me for dinner. By that time the storm had suddenly vanished like it was never there. I had been sitting on my bed reading the book Morgana had flicked through.

A knot remained in my stomach from hearing my friends being tortured. As I walked down the corridor towards the dining hall, I stopped. The maid and guard escorting me both continued walking, as if they had no idea I was no longer behind them.

This wasn’t right. I couldn’t sit down and have dinner with the Fae I heard only days ago making my friends scream in agony. It wasn’t going to happen. Deal or no deal. Until we were wed, I had the freedom to do as I pleased and right now—that involved me running.

I turned and ran. Back down the corridor far away from the dining hall, I ran. Away from the echoes I imagined I could still hear of my friends screams. Away from Nicholas.

I didn’t know where I was going, but I continued running.

I’d never been in this part of the castle as I ran down a flight of stairs then turned a corner and down another set. Descending into the castle’s belly. Only the fading light of some fire touches lit my way, and even then it was still a little darker than I expected.

I tried pushing open a heavy wooden door that creaked and groaned as I used all my strength. I managed to open it just enough and slipped in through the crack, walking into an open space.

As I stepped through, torches of light came to life, illuminating the room, giving me quite the surprise as the fires burst to life. They revealed an empty room surrounded by pillars of black stone. Obsidian stone. At the end of the room was a large archway, almost as tall as the room itself.

My eyes widened as I took steps forward, wonder and what sounded like humming called towards me, bringing me closer until I stopped and looked up at the stoned arch. At its peak etched in the stone were symbols of the moon cycle, the crescent moon, half-moon, and full moon.

The mark on my wrist began to itch and burn as I reached out to touch the stone. Feeling its coldness against my skin, it began to vibrate as if it were awaking from its sleep.

Power oozed from it, and I couldn’t help but press my hand further onto it. I ran my palm down it until a sharp pain struck my fingertip, drawing blood. Jerking my hand away, I watched as the few droplets resting on the stone soaked into it. As they were absorbed a rumble could be heard through the room and the floor began to shake.

A bright light circled around the edges of the archway then the middle began to shine brightly. Right before my eyes, a portal opened. This was the adventure I’d been craving! Surely this was the reason I was here. To escape this entire world completely and start somewhere new and fresh.

But before I could even think to step forward, a loud growl and a shadow appeared in the portal, making me jump back in fear. I’d read with Hector about the existence of portals in our world. The Goddess of Light used them to wander between our world and her own.

Great animals, monsters, and creatures were said to live in some of those worlds. After she left us, she sealed each portal so they could not escape and come into our world.

Stepping back and tripping over my own feet, I watched the shadow grow larger and larger. My eyes widened more as fear stole my breath.

“What are you doing here?!” Nicholas shouted at me as he yanked me up off the floor.

He looked from me to the portal where something was desperately trying to push its way through. He looked angry, infuriated as he stepped in front of me, shielding me as his shadows started to grow around him.

Out stretching before him, and towards the portal, they covered everything until the light disappeared behind his darkness. After a few minutes the shaking in the room stopped and the rumble silenced itself. The portal light snuffed out completely as the monster faded away.

He turned his attention to me then as the portal went back to sleep and gripped my wrist, holding up my hand to see the blood pouring from my wound.

“WHAT DID YOU DO?” He snarled at me baring his teeth.

“I-I didn’t…eh…” I struggled to find words to explain myself.

“Don’t lie to me, Ornella, or you will find out what I do to liars,” he snapped.

I tried to pull my wrist away, which only made him hold it tighter. It felt as if my bones would break under his grip as he started to yank me towards the door. I resisted, digging my heels in as best as I could.

“GET OFF ME!” I tried to pull away, shouting at him.

He pulled harder and came nose to nose with me. His breath came out harshly, his eyes being swallowed by darkness. He terrified me as he stared down at me. A growl escaped his lips as his blue eyes slowly reappeared.

“You stupid, stupid girl. Do you know what you just almost did?!” he shouted back.

“YOU’RE THE STUPID ONE!”

Great insult Ornella, that will teach him.

He laughed at me then, in a sinister way as he loosened his grip on me finally, dropping my wrist down. He leaned in closer to me, closing the gap more and a lump formed in my throat.

“You ever do that again, I will kill you with my own hands, do you hear me?”

His tone was frighteningly calm considering he threatened my life. I could only nod in fear., worried about what he would do to me if I did not agree or submit.

He took a deep breath in, as if he was breathing in my own scent then wrapped an arm around my waist. He drew me closer to him as he breathed in the crook of my neck. I stood there frozen, worried about making any sudden movements.

“You are infuriating. Your need to explore will get you killed one day if I’m not there to save you,” he said against my skin, his voice coming out raspy.

“I’m sorry.” It was all I could say, bile threatened to come up as I shook.

He let go of me then, his body language completely changing and his eyes showing those small specks of grey. I enjoyed looking at them even as his face dropped a little.

“I shouldn’t have shouted at you.” It was as if the realisation of what he did finally came to him. He gently lifted my wrist back up, examining the skin as it started to bruise. “I am sorry for hurting you. I didn”t mean to, you just—you scared me.”

“I scared you?” I tried not to laugh as he rubbed a thumb across my bare skin.

“No one should be able to open that portal other than my family. I will have to figure out why it opened for you.”

This intrigued me. Why did he even have this type of thing here under the castle? Surely that would open him to all kinds of questions and cause problems should it fall into the wrong hands or be opened by a stupid princess who should have known better.

“Come, let me bandage your hand so it does not bruise.”

Following him out the door, he took my hand gently. Although the fear of him snapping was still there resting on my shoulders, this was the Nicholas I was getting to know. Not the one who hurt everyone.

After he sealed the portal room door with magic and told me to never go exploring down there again, we headed to my rooms.

I would try not to, I couldn”t even remember how I got there. The explorer in me wanted to know more, to see more and wondered what else was hiding deep within the castle.

“I’m sorry,” I said as we reached the corridor to my bedroom.

“It’s the lure of the portal. Many long for the power within. It’s fine, it”s sealed now and shouldn’t open unless myself or my sisters open it ourselves.”

He looked back at me with a gentleness in his eyes as I followed him. It made me stop thinking about what he’d done to Kathlyn and Hector. Those eyes made me weak and forgiving.

But could I truly forgive him? Could I move past it all? I may have to if I was to spend the rest of my life with him and not live in misery.