Awakening the Dark Flame (The Dark Throne #2)

24. Chapter 24

Chapter twenty-four

T he king sent every able body to track the monsters that had killed his daughter. We thoroughly examined the cave, but the creatures had left nothing behind.

The king was broken. He did not speak unless necessary. He didn’t eat and barely slept. I waited for him to call for my death at any moment for failing to protect his daughter, but the order never came.

The next morning, I readied myself to go back into the woods to assist with the search, when a knock came at my door. My servant opened it and bowed. I turned to see the king gracing my doorway. I bowed automatically. This was it. I would soon be dead.

“My king,” I said.

He walked into the room, examining my quarters. “Redecorating, Lyklor?” he asked sarcastically.

“Something like that,” I replied.

He turned towards me with his arms behind his back. “How did she do on the hunt? Before—” he stopped, unable to finish the sentence.

“She was exquisite. She was able to trigger a vision that showed their location. Without her, I don’t know if we would have found them that night. She fought masterfully. She was the first to volunteer to begin digging a burning, even though she was exhausted. She was a true leader,” I said.

“I believe she would have made a good queen. She would have made a difference.”

“Yes, she would have.”

He held his head I saw the pain stretch over his face.

“Your Highness, I have failed you, and for that, I do not deserve to live, let alone hold a title. I accept whatever your punishment is.”

His tall form hunched as if weighted down by his heavy heart. “The creatures are unpredictable. I was told how hard you searched for her after. They say you haven’t slept the past few days. I do not put the blame on your shoulders. Plus, you are effective at your job, Erendrial. Too effective, some might say. It would be a pity to lose you.”

“Thank you, Your Grace. It will be an honor to continue to serve at your table.”

“I just wish I had something of her left. I only knew her for a few months, but in that time, I felt like she had always been with me,” he said, rubbing his temples with his fingers.

I moved to my study, grabbing one of my drawings of her. I walked slowly towards him, holding the paper out, hesitant to part with it.

“What is this?” he asked.

“A small piece of her,” I said.

He turned the paper over. His eyes widened as he took in her beautiful smile. He traced the lines of her face and then grinned. “Thank you,” he said softly. “Come, we will be late.”

“Was there a meeting I was not informed about?”

“My niece has finished her examination of her body. I thought you’d want to hear what she has found. It may help in finding the creatures that did this to her.”

I bowed, trying to fight the tremor of pain at the thought of seeing Gen’s dead body again.

We made our way to the medical wing where Prince Rythlayn awaited us. Vena stood by the table that held Gen’s body. Her hair had been cleaned. A sheet covered her body only allowing her face to be seen. Vena stepped forward with a folder in her hand. Her face was long and tired and paler than usual.

“Uncle, Ambassador Lyklor,” said Vena, with a nod. “Shall we begin?”

“Yes,” said the king, inhaling a deep breath to prepare himself.

Vena opened the folder and began. The details of the horror and pain Gen had gone through in her last moments almost made me double over. Vena stumbled through the ongoing list of ways she was tormented, stopping every so often as tears ran down her face. Finally, she concluded that the final death was due to liquid ulyrium that was pumped into Gen’s veins. She closed the folder, waiting for further instruction.

“Prepare her for the burial ceremony. It will take place tomorrow afternoon as the sun sets. Her clothing should cover everything up to her neck. Only her face will remain visible,” said the king, before turning to leave.

I stepped forward, taking another look at her. “How much suffering is one being supposed to endure?” I whispered to her. “You deserved so much better.”

The search continued, but we came up empty-handed. We knew there were four of them. They had to have sharp teeth and claws to rip flesh, but that was it. We didn’t know their habitat, hunting style, mass, preferred diet, nothing. I sat at my desk, twirling the glass of whiskey in my hand as I thought. I had to find these things. For the king, for her, for myself. I just didn’t know where to look.

“Giving up so fast, are we?” came a haunting female voice.

I launched to me feet. The blue-haired woman stared back. Rage flared inside me as I grabbed the dagger on my desk. “What in the hell are you doing here? How dare you show your face, after what you led us to,” I said with fire snapping through every cell in my body.

“I didn’t know she was already dead; I assure you. And I am here because I can be,” she replied, standing straight without a single bend in her posture.

I misted to her, but when I reappeared, she was behind my desk where I had just come from. I charged at her, blade ready to attack. She held out her hand and I crashed into an invisible wall. With a flick of a finger, she had me flying through the air, slamming into the opposite side of the room.

I stood up, ready to charge her again. She held her hand out. It felt like her fingers were strapped against my neck as I fought to breathe. I grabbed at the invisible restraint, but there was nothing there. She lifted me off the floor, holding me there until finally releasing my body. I fell to the ground gasping for air.

She looked at her nails, unimpressed. “I have a very short amount of time, and you are wasting it with your fit of immaturity and stupidity. Do you want what I have brought you, or not?”

“She is dead! You failed to uphold your end of the life debt,” I said, standing to my feet.

“Yes, little alfar, I am fully aware of how a life debt works. Either I save her life or avenge it, which I am hoping to recruit your help with.” She tilted her head as my eyes widened. “Good, you’re listening. My present is wrapped and waiting for you at the front gate. Keep them in silver.” She turned, about to leave .

“Wait!” I called. She stopped, turning back to me. “Why go through all this trouble for a half-breed?”

She paused, looking to the floor. “She was selfless and kind to me, when she had no reason to be.”

“What is your name?” I asked, taking a step towards her.

She smiled. “Narella. Nice to formally meet you, Erendrial Lyklor,” she said, before disappearing into the air.

I paused for a second, her name ringing through my ears. She was the powerful being Otar had told us about. I took a deep breath before rushing out of my room to the front gates. The guards flung the doors open to four humanoid beings, bound in silver, kneeling in front of me. I smiled at the thought of how much suffering I was going to cause these bastards.

Their bald, hairless skin was black as if covered in tar. They steamed like they were on fire. Red veins streaked the whites of their eyes, and their irises were black. They had normal-looking teeth, from what I could tell. Their bodies resembled that of a human.

“Guards! Take them down to the torture chamber. Keep them in silver,” I demanded. “Inform the king that we have found his daughter’s killers.

I allowed the alfar in charge of interrogation, which happened to be my Doria, to do her job, though I desperately wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to hear them scream, pleading for mercy. To suffer. Just like she had. I wanted to rip out their eyes and force them down their throats. I wanted to stick a flaming hot rod up their asses, burning their holes shut. Azeer, the things I wanted to do to them.

The next morning, the court stayed clear of the throne room. No one was to enter until the burial ceremony began that evening. Gen’s body lay alone, waiting to be honored. I headed down to the torture chamber to see if there were any developments.

As I entered, Rythlayn Drezmore and Winnow Fellwood exited side-by-side. I stopped, surprised by their presence.

“Prince Rythlayn,” I said, “Lady Fellwood.”

Rythlayn forced a smile. “Ah, Ambassador Lyklor,” he said, patting me on the arm. Lady Fellwood bowed slightly. “Come to see the devils that stole my sweet niece from this world?”

“Actually, yes,” I replied stiffly.

“Well,” he continued, “Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get much out of them just now. Disgusting, vicious creatures, they are. I took my time carving a few of them up, for the light they robbed us all of.” The prince’s face fell in sorrow.

I turned my attention to Lady Fellwood. “Did you come to torture the demons as well, Lady Fellwood?” I asked.

“No, Ambassador Lyklor,” she said softly. “I was hoping Azeer would gift me with a vision to explain their motives for doing such a thing to our princess, but regretfully, none came.”

“There’s still time, Lady Fellwood,” Rythlayn said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, Lyklor, I must see to my brother.”

“Of course, Prince Rythlayn,” I said, moving to the side to allow them to pass.

As I entered, Doria was in the room with the creatures, sending electrical impulses throughout their bodies. They screamed and laughed as they burned. She let her hands fall and stabbed one of them before walking towards me.

“We have a problem,” she said, washing her hands.

“Great, more problems,” I replied.

“This is serious, Eren. I think … I think they’re demons. Like Lucifer and Christ demons,” she said.

I kept calm outwardly as I yelled in my head. “What makes you believe that?”

“The inverted pentagram you found Princess Genevieve’s body in. The state of her body. The appearance of the creatures and the fact that I can’t kill them. I’ve burned them, stabbed them, ripped them apart, even cut off one of their heads. It all just grows back. Also, there is the silver factor. According to our history, that is what can hold them, but only a declaration of Christianity or the Flame can kill them, as you well know.

“They’re very blasphemous as well. They know the Christian scriptures and history. I used holy water and that seemed to harm them the most. I sang a disgusting Latin hymn, and they went ballistic. Everything points to demons,” she finished.

“I want to talk to them,” I said .

“Eren, that isn’t a good idea. They are evil and sadistic creatures. You can’t trust anything they say to you.”

“Open the door, Doria.”

She exhaled and nodded. She followed in behind me, locking the door. They were chained side-by-side to silver sheets of metal. Something moved under their skin, likes worms in the ground. Bugs swarmed in and out of their mouths as bile fell from their lips. One swung his head back and forth as if singing. Another laughed for no reason. I approached and all four sets of eyes snapped towards me. They all smiled and began laughing.

“Why her?” I asked bluntly.

“Why not her?” one asked mockingly.

I clenched my jaw, trying to remain calm.

The one at the end made a surprised face as he began shaking in his chains. “He’s the pretty one,” it said.

They all looked at me with excitement.

“Yes, he is. The pretty one we saw.”

“Oh, how splendid it is to meet you, pretty one.”

“Yes, splendid indeed.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

The one that seemed to be the leader flashed a set of sharp teeth that descended out of his gums, covering the set of normal teeth.

“We saw you … in her mind. Yes, she thought of you while we had our fun.”

“She thought you would come for her. Save her even, but she was sorely mistaken.”

My heart felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.

“She thought of you for comfort,” said another one.

“Yes, when we tortured her, her mind would go to you.”

“We saw all kinds of memories of the two of you together.”

“We wonder, did you enjoy her body as much as we did? She was fantastic!” said the one on the end as he laughed and rattled his chains.

I was going to tear them limb from limb for eternity if I had to. “Shut up,” I said calmly.

“Oh, did we upset you? We don’t mean to. It was fun being you, though,” said the leader.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

The leader smiled. “We played a little game with the half-breed. Since you were what she thought of to comfort herself, we changed our form to appear as you.

“Oh, yes. The horror in her eyes was magnificent. At first, she was excited to see you, but then once we began, the fear and pain was delicious.”

“Not as delicious as what was inside of her though.”

“Oh, oh, I want to tell him, please. Let me tell him.”

“Silence!” snapped the leader, turning his eyes to me. “I will tell him.” He stayed silent, holding my gaze as the red engulfed the white of his eyes.

“Are you going to speak, or would you like me to guess?” I said, crossing my arms over my chest, trying to remain calm.

He licked his lips. “During our fun, we discovered the little half-breed was keeping a secret. So, we reached in and tore her little secret out of her womb with our fingers. It took a few passes, but we got the little bundle of joy out.”

“Oh, how she cried. I almost felt sorry for her.” The demon laughed mockingly.

My mind was scrambling. No, she couldn’t have been. We were only together one night. It would have taken more than that. My chest began to rise and fall quickly as my heart pounded. I felt Doria’s hand on my shoulder.

“Eren, they’re liars. They’re trying to get a rise out of you,” she whispered.

“Oh, no sparkles. We aren’t lying. And yes, the pretty one was its daddy.”

“Yes, we saw in her head. She dreamed of the three of you together. That was another one of her safe memories.”

“Yes, I forgot about that one. How sweet the little family was. The child was a female with silver eyes. Just like you, pretty one. She liked your eyes,” one of them laughed.

It took everything I had to stay upright. My throat began to close in on itself and my vision became blurry. I took my eyes from them, focusing on the floor. It was a lie.

“If you don’t believe us, ask the sister,” one snapped.

“Yes, she knew. She was thrilled about becoming an aunt. ”

I picked up the nearest silver blade and began slashed them to pieces. I cut off their heads, arms, legs. I poured holy water all over their skin as they screamed and hollered. I yelled with them in a fit of rage. Blood splattered from their bodies, covering me from head to toe. I threw the sword to the floor, watching as their bodies already beginning to heal.

I rushed out of the room back to the main hall. I couldn’t keep my mind from jumping from thought to thought as I fought the urge to kill everything I saw. The court turned to me as I staggered through the halls, taking in my bloodied appearance.

I made my way to Zerrial’s room, not waiting to be announced. I barged in to find Lily in a chair, crying softly while Zerrial tried to comfort her. They both looked up at me in shock as the blood dripped from my face and hands.

“Zerrial, out,” I demanded.

He stood, shielding Lily with his body as he raised his head to me.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. “I am not going to hurt her, but I need to speak to her in private. Please, wait outside,” I asked as nicely as I could muster.

Lily stood up, placing a hand on his chest. “It’s okay. I’ll talk to him,” she said softly. Zerrial turned to her and kissed her on the head endearingly. He walked past me, eyes still spewing threats. After he was gone, I tried to refocus my head. I was still shaking.

I dropped my head and closed my eyes as I fought the tears. “ Please tell me she wasn’t pregnant. Please tell me it wasn’t mine,” I whispered.

She sniffled as she brought her hands to her face. “How did you—” she started to say, before she cried fiercely.

At that moment, I broke. I began to do something I had never done before in the entirety of my life. I cried. Now it all made sense. Why she was pushing me away. The trip to see the human children in The Frey. Her sickness. The way I would catch her talking to herself. She was talking to it. Our child.

I fell to my knees as I tried to cover my face, but the sounds that were coming from me were foreign and unfamiliar. I felt Lily’s small hands on my shoulders as she pulled my head into her chest. I had failed to protect them both. They both died and I couldn’t stop it from happening. It was the worst pain I had ever felt in my entire life.

“Why did she keep it from me?” I asked softly. I pulled away from her, gathering myself.

“She knew you didn’t want children, and she believed you didn’t want her. After she found out, she thought if you knew you might slip something in her wine to make her pass the child. She wasn’t going to take any risks. She put the child first from the moment she found out it existed.”

“That was why she was trying to get the wedding moved up,” I said. “She was trying to make it seem like it was her husband’s child. ”

“Yes. But when the king denied her request, she decided she was going to tell him after the sacrifice, but then the light court arrived.”

I dropped my eyes, feeling more guilt than I ever had in my life. “Lily, I would have never hurt her. I would have never hurt our child,” I said.

She closed her eyes tightly. “I’d never seen her so happy. Especially when it began to move.” Lily laughed at the memory. “Vena said it already had great power and it was going to be a handful.” Another tear escaped my eye. “She would have been an amazing mother.”

I stood to my feet, trying to calm myself.

She took my hand and pulled me into her embrace. “I’m sorry for your loss,” she whispered.

I just stood there, unable to move my arms to embrace her.

I headed towards the throne room. I couldn’t think. I needed to see her. I grabbed a towel from one of the tables, wiping the blood from my hands and face as I pushed my way through the throne room, closing the doors behind me.

She laid on a shining black stone table. A green dress embroidered with gold stitching covered her body completely up to her neck. Her gold crown sat on top of her head and her curly black hair draped either side of her chest. I walked slowly towards her. I traced her beautiful face with my fingers as I hesitantly laid my hand over her stomach .

“I am so sorry. To the both of you. I am so sorry,” I said while tears streamed down my face. I collapsed on the side of the altar, fell to the floor and sobbed. If I had known about the baby, she never would have been on that hunt. She never would have been taken. She’d be in her room, preparing for dinner. Instead, she was dead. She was dead because I pushed her away. Because I couldn’t swallow my pride and accept what we both wanted.

I sat on the floor, leaning against the large black stone altar as everything inside of me went numb.

I lost track of time; my mind escaped, not wanting to face reality. I didn’t see anything. I didn’t hear anything. I didn’t feel anything. I was utterly vacant.

“Erendrial?” said the king softly, kneeling towards me. My eyes snapped to his as everything inside of me woke. I felt like I had just been dreaming.

“Your Majesty,” I whispered, trying to be formal.

He placed his hand on my shoulder, steadying me. “Go back to your room and get cleaned up. The ceremony will begin in thirty minutes,” he said kindly. He gave me a small smile as he helped me to my feet.