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

Chapter 56

Unimaginable pain burnt through my chest and down back as my eyes flung open to see the dark starlit sky. The tree line that surrounded me seemed to be moving. I had no idea where I was or what I was laying on.

All I knew was I was being moved, there was a small jolt and a rocky feeling underneath me as the sky moved in front of my eyes.

I could no longer hear the sound of waves crashing, only the sound of something squeaking and hooves padding against the ground. The midnight blue sky was already changing, fading into purples and oranges. It was becoming dawn.

It hurt to breathe, to swallow. Shivering from underneath my wet clothes, I tried to move, to sit up but felt a pressure placed firmly on my chest. When I reached up to find out what it was, I heard the clunk of the metal before spotting two heavy metal cuffs around my wrists.

“Oh good, you’re awake.”

Startled by a female voice, I turned my head to see where it’d come from. Nora sat next to me with an inviting smile across her lips.

“Don’t try to talk, you took in a lot of water. We will be arriving soon. You can get changed once we’re there and I’m sure they will be happy to see you. We were worried sick.”

We? They? My mind raced with all the possible questions. Was she talking about Nicholas and his sisters? Surely they wouldn’t have even noticed I was gone. And if I was lying here, my plan had failed. I’d failed.

“Wh—” I tried to speak, but the dryness and pain hurt too much.

“I said don’t speak,” she commanded, “We will be arriving soon, rest now.”

Lifting my head up, she placed a flask by my lips and urged me to drink some of the contents. I guessed it was water and hoped it would help my throat so I could ask where we were going.

Ifelt myself drift in and out of sleep for a while. I could tell by the changes in the sky and by the time that I assumed the carriage stopped, night had fallen, and I was heaved out of the back and carried somewhere. The mumbles and whispers of those around me carried on throughout the night and into the next day. Until finally, my eyes opened fully, and I could take in the scene around me.

“Ornella?”

I didn’t recognise the voice at first until they spoke again, and a lump formed instantly in my throat, when a soft, gentle hand took mine in theirs.

“Talia?”

My throat no longer burnt as badly as it did, but it still hurt slightly to breathe. A pain continued to poke under my rib cage, and I wondered how long that would happen.

“Where—where am I?”

What the hell had happened? Had I drifted towards the border perhaps with the current? No, surely that wouldn’t have been possible. I drowned. I felt my death. I knew it happened. This had to be a dream, was this the afterlife? If it was, why was Talia here?

Tears began to stream down my cheeks as the thought of her dying held on tightly. Consuming me until she wrapped her arms around my neck, lifting me slightly off the cot. I could feel her warmth breath, her heartbeat against mine.

“You were brought back to us last night. Oh, how I’ve missed you!” She began to sob as she let go and sat on the edge of the cot, her mind not too quick to catch up to her mouth as she began telling me everything.

“When you were taken, Mother was frantic. She ordered every soldier, every lord in the kingdom to find you and when they couldn’t, she turned to that lady who helped Norok. She informed Mother that you were taken by the Shadow King,” she paused, trying to contain herself as her hands moved around with her words. “I’d never heard of him before. Did he really take you?”

Before I could get a word in, she carried on.

“Of course, he did. Norok got better as well! Which we were all so pleased about. That makes you just the spare heir, again.”

She said it so casually, as if it didn’t matter and part of me felt the sting. I would always be second to Norok. All my life I’d been set aside for the golden boy, and I understood why.

“Anyways, he was out of bed in seconds when he found out what happened to you. He gathered up Uncle Dorian and our armies. I wasn’t meant to come along, but Father insisted on keeping you company when we got you back. Uncle Dorian is also here, he’s at the border waiting to see if the Shadow King shows up demanding your return or something.”

“Talia, slow down please.”

She looked confused and hurt by my sudden brashness, but it was difficult to keep up with everything. My head rang with a headache and already I was feeling tired again. Whatever was in that drink Nora gave me really did something to me.

“Where is Nora?”

“Nora?”

“The lady who brought me.”

Talia bit her bottom lip and looked away from me. It was something she’d always done when she was holding something back and trying to come up with a story. Which only made me more suspicious.

“Talia. Where is Nora?” I asked again, raising my voice slightly. She quickly got off the cot and stepped back.

“She’s with Dorian,” Norok’s voice bellowed behind Talia as he stepped beside her.

My handsome brother looked lost, broken, and deeply shaken by the sight of me. He’d let his hair grow out in the time we’d been apart but had bulked up. His armour was different, armour of a king.

“I need to speak with her.”

“You know, I thought when I awoke I’d find you at my side. So when Talia and Mother broke down in front of me, explaining what mess you’d managed to get yourself into, I knew it would be me who would clean it up.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there, but Norok, it wasn’t a mess. It only became one when Father sent his armies there.”

He didn’t seem even fazed by my words, as if he knew that was what I’d say. My heart pinched. I didn’t know if I could take another betrayal and hoped Norok had no idea or clue of what had happened to me.

“Father is dead.”

My eyes widened at his sudden news. The room felt as if it were closing around me, and the cot disappeared right from under me.

Father. Is. Dead.

No.

That wasn’t right.

It had to be a lie.

Talia started to cry at Norok’s news. Turning away from us both, she rushed out of the tent. A war tent, that’s what I was in.

“No. I don’t believe you.”

“You should. It’s why I’m here. Your husband killed him.”

Nicholas wouldn’t kill another king. If anything he would fight him in battle. That I knew for a fact. He would give them an honourable death on the battlefield. More memories and knowledge of Nicholas came to me during my sleep, or whatever state I was in.

“Nicholas wouldn’t do that. He would know it would only hurt me.”

Norok snarled as he stepped forward, his hand on the hilt of his sword as a mist of anger casted over his eyes. “First name basis are you?”

“Yes. He is my husband after all.”

Another snarl rumbled in his chest, and I knew I was rallying him up. “A marriage I did not approve of, so it does not exist.”

I tried not to laugh but I couldn’t help myself. He had been king for all of five minutes and already he thought it was appropriate to command me. I was now a queen by right of marriage and there was no way he was going to take that from me. Even if Nicholas didn’t want me around, I knew he would honour our marriage.

“YOU HAVE BETRAYED OUR FAMILY!” Norok shouted.

He unsheathed his sword and pointed it directly at me, only a few inches away from penetrating the space between my breasts. Wondering where my sudden bravery came from, I leaned up and pushed the sword’s tip into my chest and looked at my brother, feeling a fire burn within me.

“It’s because of my betrayal you are even alive.”

“Your king is the one who hurt me!”

“A simple accident which he rectified.”

I pushed more, feeling the sting of the sword as it pressed into my skin. Blood began to stain my dress around it and although it hurt, I refused to back down. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.

Though Nicholas had his faults—abundances of them—he was still my husband, and I’d stand by him. Even if it meant going against my family.

“You are a fool, Ornella. And tomorrow, you will see your husband die.”

He drew back his sword and turned on his heels leaving me alone in the tent. I wasn’t planning on staying here that was for damn sure and as soon as night fell, I would attempt my escape.

I sent a prayer to the Goddess to keep me safe and to tell Nicholas I was alright. I’d be with him as soon as I was able to.