20. Aurelia
At first, it would seem that nothing was off about the room.
The bed was perfectly made.
The cart of blood had been replenished.
There was a light smell of lavender from the maid’s cleaning supplies, but that wasn’t out of the ordinary.
Nothing should have tipped me off. But there was a certain aura around the place. I felt it as I walked down the hallway, like it was calling to me. Warning me that I was about to experience something horrific.
I’ve come to recognize the aura. After years of encountering the same thing, I no longer had to guess who would’ve been inside. I had come to expect something like this. Especially when I had been a bit too outspoken.
And then I saw it. The birdcage that I had so carefully placed near the window had its cover torn off. The cage was empty. The door had been left open, but there was no mistaking what happened.
The blood and feathers left behind told me what they had done.
Mine. She not only took what was mine but showed me exactly what she would do to me if I wasn’t careful.
Stepmother had always been creative with her cruelty. Sure, she never shied away from putting a hand on me, but she knew other ways to inflict pain. Pain that would linger. Bruises and cuts healed, but the cruelty of her mind games remained, the painful memories popping up every single time we crossed paths.
She had waited long enough that our meeting about the prince was far from my mind. I’m sure my less-than-stellar performance at the gala wasn’t any help, but I knew what this was truly about.
She was reminding me just how trapped I was here. That I wouldn’t be able to fight back against whatever plan they had concocted.
One wrong move, and I would be just like the bird in the cage. She easily killed the poor thing, but there was no telling what she would do to make my life miserable.
Fresh pain stabbed my chest and intertwined with the anger that had long since been festering just under the surface. I hate them. Ever since they came to my palace, taking over the place of my beloved mother…I just knew what their motives were.
They thought they could take over for her. They thought the people in our family would just accept them with open arms.
But they didn’t. And instead, they were haunted by the ghost of her glory, just like I was. And to them, that was a threat. I was a threat to their magical rags to riches, so they locked me inside a gilded cage, only to sell me off to the highest bidder when they got the chance.
Melia’s opening of the door behind me had my attention drifting, pulling me back to the real world. But the red haze stayed, clouding my vision.
“Oh dear,” she murmured. “Not another one. What ticked them off this time? Don’t they have anything better to do than kill poor birds?”
I turned to her, but had no intention of forcing a smile. The anger was too potent for that. It was like a deadly virus, destroying my insides and leaving a trail of destruction as it coursed through my veins.
“Like you don’t know?” I asked, unable to keep the venom from my voice. “Like you probably weren’t standing out there keeping guard while they did this? What, too afraid to even peek in and take a look at their mess?”
She grimaced and placed a gentle hand on my arm, as if her simple gesture wouldn’t enrage me even more. How was she still playing this game?
“I never had a choice,” she whispered. “Much like you, princess?—”
“Don’t try to get pity from me,” I growled and slapped her hand away. “Drop the act.”
“I don’t tell them everything,” she said quickly, her eyes darting around the room. To escape? The thought of her trying to run away from me only brought the monster lingering inside me closer to the front.
“And you think that’s better?” I asked with a bitter laugh and turned to her.
I wanted to end her. Wanted to get back at her for the way she tried to fool me into trusting her just so she could give it all to those fuckers.
I was tired of people trying to control me. Tired of being the scapegoat.
I wanted to live. I wanted to be free. I don’t want to die.
“I understand, princess. The cards you’ve been dealt haven’t been easy…” Her voice trailed off. “If you just cooperate with them, they will make this much easier on you. It’s true, the prince has been trying to pull Castle family members into his, but that can only help you. Don’t you see what he’s doing is only for your benef?—”
A hard slap echoed throughout the room, accompanied by a sting against the back of my hand. The red that had clouded my vision had come on so fast, I hadn’t even been able to make out my movements until Melia was staring at me, shock abundant on her face.
“Stop talking,” I warned, taking a step closer to her with trembling hands. I looked her up and down before letting out a huff. “My benefit? You know he is using me as a scapegoat? Once Father finds out, he will kill me. And all you’ve done was help him.”
“Princess,” she murmured, her eyes filling with bloodred tears. “You’re his prized possession, the king would never?—”
“You don’t know shit about what your king will do to me. Stay out of my affairs,” I spat. Was she truly that blind? While she was working for them, she never saw what they were truly up to? I didn’t believe it. “Don’t comment on them. Don’t even look at me when someone else is near, god forbid you accidentally see something you feel the need to speak about.”
She took a step back and opened her mouth to speak again, but a knock on the door behind her caused her to pause.
Go away. I wanted to scream at the door. The need for blood was clawing at my insides. I needed to make someone pay for this. Needed to make the world stop caving in.
“Announce yourself,” I growled at the door when no one spoke.
“I was sent to give blood.” Vesper’s muffled voice came from behind the closed door.
Relief shouldn’t have exploded through me like it did.
“Come in,” I said, straightening myself before sending a glare to Melia. “You’re dismissed.”
She paused before turning and heading to the door. Vesper gave her a glance and held the door open for her when she realized the handmaiden was leaving.
Her gaze followed her as she left, then she turned to me. Well, not me—the bloodied bird cage behind me. She silently closed the door and crossed the space…and went right past me.
“Don’t you fucking?—”
“That was some slap,” she said. I turned to her. I hadn’t heard her waiting behind the door. I hadn’t heard her at all. Had I been so crazed by the bloodlust that I had been so unaware of my surroundings? I had always heard her. Always smelled her.
Reel it in, I hissed at myself, but it only made the monster inside angrier.
I watched in muted surprise as she slowly picked up each and every one of the feathers that had fallen to the ground before placing them back into the cage.
Stop it. I wanted to scream at her. Stop fucking touching them!
My entire body was shaking. I couldn’t stop it. Anger was running through me so violently…but there was something else. Something else that had been there since the first night that I got on my knees and bared my neck to the prince.
It was becoming stronger. Taking over my body like a tidal wave, and it felt as heavy as lead. It was weighing me down, threatening to pull me into the floorboards and never let me out again.
Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. It was mine, you can’t touch them!
But the words wouldn’t come out through the knot in my throat. Please don’t. I wanted to beg her to stop as she reached for the cover that had been thrown to the ground. I didn’t want to look anymore. I didn’t want to see anyone else destroy the one thing I owned. But with more gentleness than I had ever seen from her, she carefully covered the bird cage from view.
Please stop. Bloodred tears filled my eyes. Please stop being kind.
My fragile psyche couldn’t handle it. I wanted her to lunge at me again. Take me out while I was vulnerable. Destroying the cage and all that was left in it would have been easier to stomach.
But instead, she had doused my anger with ice-cold water, leaving only that stored, heavy feeling that fought to be let out.
She lifted the cage with one hand and propped it against her shoulder, still not looking at me. She was searching the ground for any other feather that might have fallen.
“I’ll take care of this and come back for your blood,” she said, turning to me. Her face was unreadable and not at all like how it looked when she was trying to murder me.
“You weren’t sent for blood.” My voice was hoarse.
She paused as she passed me, her honey eyes meeting mine. Fight me. Make this easier on me. Please.
But she did none of that.
“Wait for me.”
And with that, she left me alone in my cold room. The darkness lingering around my mind chose that moment to crowd in on me.
Wait for her?
I wanted to follow her. Wanted to tell her how pitiful it would be for me to wait for her.
But my feet couldn’t move. I sat down right there on the floor and did exactly as she ordered.
I waited.