Chapter 9 Scarlett
SCARLETT
The fog comes again the next night.
More forbidding mist encases me. I don’t know what to expect. I want to close my eyes and curl in on myself, but I cannot seem to look away. I try to pull myself from the floor. The days spent in this cell are taking a toll on my body.
My muscles are stiff like the stone floor I’ve been resting on.
Blood flows thickly to my limbs from lack of movement.
I do nothing but recline against the hard wall and wait for another short bout of sleep to take me.
Now, as the fog curls over the metal bars of my cell, I wait with bated breath.
My heart pounds in my chest. If there is even the slightest chance of seeing Krane again—no matter the form—I will not miss a second of it.
I had given in and eaten some of the bread throughout the day. Though I had not wanted to, I needed to keep my wits about me. There was a reason the creature was showing me these things. To torture me, yes, but I can’t shake the feeling that there is more I’m meant to understand.
Throughout my solitary day, my mind had wandered.
It didn’t take me long to arrive at the idea that Krane was somehow trapped here.
If this creature had his memories, perhaps he had taken his soul, possessed it, and twisted these memories to hurt me.
If there was even a slight chance that my captor was hurting Krane, I had to try to free him.
If I can save him, then maybe I’ll know where to meet his soul when my time comes. Maybe—
Through the fog, a figure appears, and I gasp.
It is not Krane this time. It’s me. Younger by nearly a decade and healthy.
My long hair sparkles brilliantly even in the dark dungeon.
The green dress I'm wearing molds to every curve.
Pale blue eyes dance with amusement as I cast a look over my shoulder. Pink dusts both of my round cheeks.
“Come,” young me urges, picking up my green skirt.
She races away in a fit of giggles before a new figure appears. A younger Krane. In the flesh, yet so far away. I crawl towards him on the stone floor. Pulling myself up, the floor cuts into the soles of my feet. I throw myself against the bars, hoping they give way. My struggle is futile.
Krane looks towards me. His verdant eyes sparkle with life. Freckles scratch along his cheeks as he laughs. Shaking his head, tendrils of reddish-brown hair cling to his ears in soft waves. The color in his face is a far cry from how he appeared the night before.
I reach out towards him, but he cannot see me. He glances up towards the ceiling in exasperation before turning towards where the younger me disappeared.
My heart aches at how handsome he is. I can hardly breathe at the sight of him alive. Dozens of memories swirl in my mind with him at the center of them all. My heart reaches for him. The frayed tendrils of my soul long to be entwined with his again.
The smell of dank blots out any trace of his familiar cinnamon and clove scent.
I bought the spicy soap for him when our family would go into town.
I’d smell it on my skin after I’d returned to my room after our nights together.
I’d hate having to bathe the next morning, knowing his scent would be wiped from me.
This is torture to watch, but if he is trapped here by the creature, I will free him. He has already suffered enough for me. This time, I will be there to save him.
Krane pushes through the fog, giving chase to the younger me. They turn and face each other, their fronts nearly brushing.
“We need to head back. Your father will be looking for you.”
Young Scarlett rolls her eyes—ever the pretty little fool.
“Stop worrying. We’re almost there.”
She turns and races into the fog. Krane curses and rushes after her, both their bodies disappearing into the dark. My heart lifts at the sight of us—how free we both were. It’s torture to watch this knowing how it ultimately ends. If I could warn them now to keep running and never go back, I would.
We were both so young and happy. Life at Crow’s Claw Manor was not dreary when he had been there.
After the lessons with my tutors, I would sneak off to be with Krane.
At first, it was merely to pester him while working, and then it became more.
I sought him out, dragged him away from his duties, and urged him to follow me on some childish adventure.
It was on one of those glorious trips that things changed between us forever.
This one, to be exact. I remember the gown well as I never wore it again.
Moments after the fog consumes them, I watch my younger self stumble in from the side.
Mist curls around her heavy skirts as she wanders along in front of my cell.
Off to the side is a large oak tree, in which the younger me sighs before falling against. The strong bark presses into her back.
Young Krane follows over to her. There is something in his eyes that even now makes my heart race.
No one ever looked at me like that—before or since.
As if I were the moon, as he called me, and his whole world orbited around me, or as if I were more marvelous than all the stars in the sky.
It was apparent how much we loved each other.
We were out of our minds to think we could hide it for even a moment.
Krane’s steps slow as he approaches me, lounging on the tree. I stare up at him. Even at nineteen, he was taller than most grown men. Years of hard labor had outfitted him with prominent muscles.
My eighteenth birthday had come the week before. In secret, he had given me a small bouquet of wildflowers—a small gesture but one that gave me the confidence to take this next step with him.
Bracing a large hand on the bark above my head, I take in our height difference. In my satin slippers, my head barely reaches his chin. Staring up at him, love dances in my blue irises. He sees it too. I could never keep secrets from Krane. He knew me better than anyone.
“What are you doing?”
Young Scarlett smiles at his breathy question, tilting her delicate chin in invitation.
“Waiting,” she sighs.
“For what?”
Krane knew—he knew everything about me from the moment we met.
His green eyes kindle with awareness as their bodies drift closer.
He bends down, and I watch the younger me press up on her toes to seal their mouths together.
It is both of our first kisses. Chaste and unpracticed yet totally devastating.
Young Scarlett’s hands tangle in the front of his white linen shirt.
With a moan, she deepens the kiss and pulls him more firmly against her.
His hands fall to her head, spearing into the long tendrils of her hair.
My hand drifts to my lips as if I can feel his phantom kiss still. His was the only mouth I ever learned.
The only one I ever needed.
With a groan, they break apart. Both of their chests rise and fall rapidly as they stare up at each other. Young me licks over her bottom lip, wickedness in her pale blue gaze. She doesn’t remove her hands, nor do Krane’s slip from her head.
“Finally. I thought I would die before you ever grew brave enough to kiss me.”
Krane throws his head back and laughs. The strong column of his throat catches both mine and young Scarlett’s eye.
“Always one with a flair for the dramatics.”
The younger me stares up at him, and I can see the decision being made. The sureness of her choice settles into her bones before my very eyes.
“You will be my husband one day.”
Her declaration shatters my cold heart. Krane’s lips twist into an indulgent grin.
“Will I?”
Young me nods, curling her fingers into his shirt. Krane’s smile turns sad as he skims a finger along her cheek. The tenderness of his touch makes both of us shiver.
“Your father will never allow such a thing.”
Pale blonde hair dances around her shoulders as she shakes her head.
“We just have to be patient. Father raised you since you were a young boy—practically as his son. If you marry me, you can become my father’s heir.”
Krane looks unsure, but she kisses him again, and that hesitation melts into desire.
“Trust me,” young Scarlett sighs. “Everything will be alright.”
The two of them don’t speak of it again after that.
I know what’s coming next. A sob leaves me as I watch the two of them.
This is the beginning of our story—Krane and mine.
It’s bittersweet to watch. If given the chance, would I stop them?
Knowing how our story ends, if I could warn the two of them apart, would I?
I scoff at myself. Even knowing what I know now, nothing would’ve kept me from Krane. He would’ve followed me anywhere, and I would’ve done the same. We are two halves of the same whole. After tonight, we were never apart again.
My heart squeezes in my chest as I watch the scene unfold.
We kiss again, more urgently this time. Tasting and testing each other’s tongues with deliberate strokes.
Together in a mess of brushing fingers and jumbling thumbs, we shed each other's clothing.
Krane stares at me in wonder—the only man to have ever seen my naked flesh. He lies me down atop my discarded gown.
This first time was all about exploration.
In the coming years, he would learn everything about my body.
How to make me combust with only a few twists of his fingers inside of me.
Still, as unpracticed as it is, there is something so beautiful about the two of us.
Finding solace in each other’s embrace for the first time.
There is pain, but one that is relieved by Krane’s firm kiss.
He pulls back just slightly to take in our two bodies as they connect.
Young Scarlett’s hand drifts to his left shoulder and traces the birthmark there.
The pale mark is heart-shaped. She presses a kiss to it before falling back to the ground.