"Sitra Kovale," Revin said.
His eyes locked into place, pupils turning a pale red. Though he didn't move a muscle, she felt his presence behind her. Aurelie turned her head to the side, to check, and found that her eyes didâcouldânot follow.
Then her body locked to her eyes, and she was stuck staring at Revin with her head cocked to the side. His eyes had turned entirely red and made him look as if he had been taken over by another being.
"Sitra Kovale" he chanted over and over again.
Aurelie's eyes felt hot. It was impossible to shut them. Sparks appeared and faded. Her eyes grew hotter. A dark frame surrounded her vision. Tears formed as her eyes fought to be shut.
The darkness crawled to the center of her eyes as if ink had been spilled into her sockets. Everything went dark. An eerie whistle sounded. There was no end to it. It grew louder and muddled out the sound of Revin's chanting.
Her heartbeat stopped and started again with a hard knock that rocket Aurelie forward. She gasped, her hands grasping for the table. The hair on her arms rose.
The warmth that settled over her eyes grew hotter. Aurelie hissed. They were burning. The heat spread throughout her head. A sudden pressure overcame her body. Her head felt as if someone was squeezing it with their hands.
Her mouth was dry. She kept picturing the fountain. If she could only get a drop of water, everything would be better. The heat spread to her shoulders.
Drops of sweat ran down the middle of her back. She panted. The heat was becoming unbearable. Valice stirred, but Aurelie had no power over herself to make contact with her.
Suddenly her body felt as if there was a cast around it, preventing her to move a muscle. She screamed.
Her body contracted. She fell forward, stiff as a statue. Thick liquid ran down her nose and dripped into her parted lips. Unable to swallow, the taste of copper set in her mouth. Blood. Her chest was heavy, and growing heavier still. Soon she would be unable to breathe.
A tearing, pain ran through her arm, climbing higher. Something sharp was pushing itself out through her skin. Aurelie gritted her teeth, her jaw aching from the pressure. Her skin popped as it broke through to the surface. Thick liquid, thicker than blood, ran out of the wound.
Crap, more scales. That was the only explanation she found. The pain spread down her arm and another scale ripped through her skin. The pain sent a wave of weakness through her. Head spinning, Aurelie sat back in her chair, preparing to faint. Revin had better stop before her whole body was covered with scale.
"Stop!" she shouted, unable to hear her own voice, but feeling the vibration of her vocal cords. "Revin, stop!"
She had once bent a dry tree branch very slowly, trying to predict exactly the moment it would break. That split second before the branch gave into the pressure and snapped, that is the point at which the magic held her body.
The darkness slowly retracted. She saw two figures a distance away. One stood above the other. A chair overturned.
"Water," she mouthed and cleared her throat. "Water!"
The men turned. The King and Revin. They had gotten into a scuffle.
"Get her water!" the King shouted.
A girl, pale-faced and shaking, ran to the table and picked up the glass jug that had been overturned in the ordeal. It was almost empty, but a little remained in the jug's dip. Aurelie grabbed the jug from her hands and held it over her mouth. Her skin was blood red as if she had spent the day in the sun.
"More," Aurelie said and passed it to the girl.
The King picked Revin up by the collar of his shirt and dragged him into a chair.
"She asked!" Revin said, looking to Aurelie for backup.
Aurelie nodded and held her hand against her chest so that her father wouldn't see the scales. They were there, alright! Hard, dark and sharp as knives. "Yes," she breathed. "I did."
The King looked from Revin to Aurelie, his eyes blazing and his lips pursed. He shook his head. "You asked for this?"
Aurelie nodded again and sat back in her chair, letting her head hang loose. She had yet to regain her breath. Her heart pounded so hard that her rib cage was starting to hurt.
The King swung her chair back and leaned over so that his eyes were directly in line with hers. "Why? Where were you planning to go?"
Tears welled up. Not from sadness, but from frustration. Turning her head away, she said, "I did it because I wanted to know what he felt." She didn't know which corner to climb into. What to do with herself. One day the sadness turned to rage and she was tired of being angry. Tired of being helpless.
The King set down her chair and kneeled beside her. "What good did it do you?" he asked.
"Now, I know."
The King stood, hovering for a second. "What must I do?" he asked. "Aurelie, we're all doing the best we can."
Aurelie turned to him. Now that his eyes lost their fire, she could see how helpless he was as well. His eyes were droopy with dark bags underneath.
Withdrawing a handkerchief from his pocket, he gently held her face and cleaned the blood. "Are you going to do this again?" he asked, and moved his fingers to her chin.
"I think both Revin and I can attest that we will not," she said, glancing Revin's way. His eyes were bloodshot. They were both lying back in their chairs, exhausted.
The King did not look convinced.
"It was my fault," she said, for more clarity. "He did not want to do it."
"Just don't let it happen again," he said. There was more he wanted to say. Aurelie could see it in his eyes. He wanted to tell her how mad everyone thought she was. That the rumors spread faster and wider than she could imagine. That the crown could lose allies because he condones her behavior. That she makes him look weak, and to some extent, he was when it came to her.
If Aurelie were to reply, she'd say that she had never tried harder to look and be acceptable. That she understood the costs. She just often acted without thinking, especially now that her thoughts were stolen by Kirin's absence.
The servant girl, still pale and shaky, came back with a jug of fresh lemonade. The King left as the girl began to pour Aurelie's drink.
"Did you call him?" she asked her.
Revin wrinkled his nose. "How was I supposed to do that?"
"I'm not talking to you."
The girl now pouring Revin's drink paused and slowly turned her eyes to Aurelie. "I did, Princess," her voice trembled.
"And did I ask you to?"
"No."
Aurelie crossed her legs and tilted her head. "It would be very bad for you," Aurelie paused and looked her over, "if something like this were to happen again."
The girl bit air, wide-eyed and pale as a ghost. "PrincesâI...I was only trying to help. He couldn't stop. Thâthere were bubbles on your skin. You screamed and bled and then those appeared," she pointed at the freshly formed scales, "I didn't know what else toâhe wouldn't stop!"
Aurelie held her hand out in front of her and inspected her fingernails. Giving the girl a few extra seconds to build up her fear. "Next time, you will do as you're asked."
"Yesâyes, of course." She bowed.
"And," Aurelie pursed her lips, "it would be unfortunate if any of this were to spread through the castle. Very unfortunate. Revin, what you do think would happen?"
Revin put his hands on top of his round belly and sunk his brow in concern. "I imagine I'd have to repeat the procedure on a different target."
Aurelie nodded. "Yes, I believe you would." Igniting her eyes, Aurelie waved the girl off. "Go."
She turned, her hands shaking, and walked out with a careful step and a stiff back. Aurelie watched her leave. She wanted to put the fear of death into her, and have that be the news that spread around the castle.
Revin clapped his hands. "Well," he said holding his hand over his chest, overly amused. "I sure am shaking."
Aurelie didn't much care for his opinion and her lazy glance in his direction served to prove it. "Don't be snide. I've had people respect me before and I find that fear works better."
Revin pointed his finger at her arm. "The King knows about those?"
"No," she said and held out her arm. These scales were smaller than the ones on her chest. They were about the size of almonds and ran right along her vein.
"It seems like advanced scarring. I think he'd be happy."
"Either that or I'm turning into a dragon." Aurelie scoffed. Jermyn's body had been a curse and Aurelie couldn't help thinking that her scales would inevitably turn her into the same beast-like creature. One thing it sure helped with was dying, apparently. "Why didn't you stop? You came damn well near to killing me."
"I did - eventually."
"Well, yes, once my father had you pinned up against that wall." She lazily lifted a finger toward the wall, where his chair still lay overturned.
"I told you I didn't want to do it," he shook his head, "but no. Aurelie knows best. It's unpredictable magic, dearest. Plus, you didn't seem to care much about the part where I could have sacrificed my soul for your experiments. And," he stretched out his neck, showing off fresh white scars, "I owed you one."
Aurelie lifted her wrist and twisted it so that the scales faced Revin. "Debt's been paid."
"About those cards, then," he said. The box had been soaked in lemonade. Leaning over the table, Revin picked it up, accidentally soaking his sleeve in the spilled drink. "Ugh, damn it." He shook his hand, riding the box of most of the liquid. "Move over."
Aurelie crouched, and crept, with her chair held behind her, to a dry spot of the table.
"Alright, what do I do?" she asked while he shuffled the cards.
Revin stacked the cards on the table, and slid his hand to the right, spreading out the cards. "Give me a drop," he slid the letter opener her way, "and I'll do the rest."
"Is everyone and their mother a fortune teller these days?" Knowing her fate hasn't helped her before in the slightest, in fact, it made everything even more difficult. If she had a choice in the matter, she'd not want to know this time at all. But she promised, never mind almost died for what Revin did for her in return for the card reading.
Aurelie held her finger over the cards. Holding the blade against her finger, she pressed until her skin popped to the pressure. A drop of blood fell down. It stopped mid-way. Revin moved closer, confused. The drop of blood exploded, sending small droplets onto every single card. As the blood touched the cards, the pictures faded until the cards were blank.
"Hmmm," Revin said aloud, though Aurelie didn't think he intended to.
One card still held its color. The blood drew itself like a magnet to it. Once all of it had gathered on the single card, Revin picked it up. "It appears that you still have a protection spell on your mind." He turned the card over and set it down on the table. "Though, she doesn't." The picture revealed a woman holding a newborn child.
"Who?" Aurelie asked. Her cheeks grew hot. It can't be. She understood exactly what he meant, but remained in denial. The King would be furious. No one would marry her if she was tainted.
"Do I really need to explain?" Revin looked overly smug. The little smile on his face begged to be wrestled off.
Aurelie exhaled. "I'm ruined."
The dream of having an alliance was over. No Kingdom, no noble would invest in a princess that could not promise them a firstborn heir. Either that or her childâdid he say she?âwould be in permanent danger of being killed for the throne. One that wasn't worth the weight it brought, in the slightest.
"I thought you'd be happy," he said.
"I am," she said and laughed at the conundrum she was in. Peter's worries of a mongrel came to mind. What did they create? A shadow dragon? No. That was ridiculous. Aurelie held her hand over her mouth. "The King's going to kill me. Ohâ" she shook her head, "damn it. I was going to be good. I was going to be a model princess."
"Well," Revin paused, pondering her past activities, no doubt, "you've done a hell of a job so far. Of being good, that is."
"Yes, yes, Revin," she said dully, "laugh all you want. Just remember that you're already allied with us."
"You can hold off on telling the King."
"Oh yes, brilliant." She mocked. "I'll just surprise him in a few months. Noâdamn it!âI have to tell him. And soon..."
Maybe they could find someone power-hungry enough before she started to show. The closet held a couple of gowns that came with corsets. Aurelie would make good use of them soon.
Honesty felt like a privilege that she could no longer afford. Once it was all she expected and tried to give in return. Today she just wanted to win. To hold Lukas's neck in her hands and squeeze until the spark almost faded from his eyes. Then she wanted to bring him right back, and do it again. Until he remembered only her name and saw only her face. She wanted to be his demon.