Panic.
His words send panic through me.
I can't undo whatever plan I've set into motion.
I've fallen into another trap, one that I've set off myself this time.
I quickly dress, eyeing him wearily. Panic pulses, cold and hard through my body as he opens the door to the room I had been held in.
"Girl."
I race to the doorway, to see him grab Oceane from the bed.
She screams and kicks, her features startled awake as she takes in the monster standing above her.
"Don't," I'm racing towards them, my feet carrying me to the pair but before I can rip her away from his grip, he is holding her against him, staring at me.
Smiling.
"Follow me, little star."
I step aside, my eyes wide as I take in Oceane's body that is trapped in his arms.
My eyes flicker to anything I can use, and I hear him sigh as he walks to the door, "Don't be dif-,"
Before he can finish I'm racing towards the fire.
I scream at the pain as I grab wood from the flames. I can't hurt her though.
I had to make sure not to hurt her.
I turn swiftly around and race towards him, throwing the flaming torch at him- my last desperate attempt but he is already upon me hissing in anger as he grabs the weapon from my hands and throws the wood back into the fire.
"You fool," he hisses.
"Run!" I scream the words at Oceane as I grab the King by the waist, but she doesn't move.
She stares at me, petrified.
I look at her in shocked disbelief as I feel the King laugh.
"Run? Where?"
He continues to laugh, even as he takes my hand and examines the burned flesh.
Tears are running down my face.
I had no idea the pain would be this horrific.
This horrible.
This consuming.
The repressors only make it worse as the steel bands tighten upon my fingers and wrists- clinging to the charred flesh.
"You fool," he whispers again, lightly tracing the black skin.
I wince at the dead nerves- how I cannot detect his light stroke- and feel myself shiver.
"Shock," he nods as he watches me, "I'm surprised you are not passing out from the pain Little star."
I look up into his red eyes.
In that moment, I was unable to tell him that the Temple had prepared me for this.
Had prepared me to withstand enormous amounts of pain subjected to my body.
A cold sweat breaks out upon me as the King looks down and sighs.
"Fool," he grins and reclaims Oceane, "Let this pain remind you."
Of what though?
I didn't know what it should remind me of.
That I had failed?
That I had not been good enough?
That the Moon had left me, and my black skin now could be seen contrasting my white hair?
My body was still shaking, blood dripping down my arm as I cradled the hand.
His hungry eyes turn to the sight, whispering, "I'll tend to it later."
His promise for the future does not do much to settle me.
I follow him down the hall, keeping Oceane in my sight.
I know where we are going.
The throne room.
My guess is correct as we open the double doors- walking into the wide room.
I look up upon instinct, remembering that night when the Moon had shown herself to me but-
Only darkness can be seen above.
A hiss brings my attention back to the ground.
I stop in shock as I see Jonaus.
He looked....awful.
His body was frail.
I could see, even from the distance I was at, how thin he was.
Just a small breeze seemed to have the power to knock him aside.
What claimed my attention the most though, as we walked further in, was his hair.
His once almost-pure white hair.
It was blond.
And his eyes.
No longer did they hold the blue.
They were red.
"Jonaus...." I whisper his name in horror as he stares back at me, mimicking my own expression- when I realize his red eyes are focused on my hand.
I think at first, that it is out of concern for the injury, but quickly my mistake is known, when I see fangs come out.
"Arishia."
I turn around and feel my heart fall within my chest as I take in the sight of three girls.
Saint, Trileece and another that I did not recognize.
I could vaguely recall though, that upon the first day of the reaping, she had been standing next to me on the other side opposite from where Oceane stood.
I walk to Saint. She is staring at me in horror- this time though it is out of concern for the injury I have on display.
"Your hand."
I shake my head, "He has Oceane."
Saint and I both look up at the throne chair as we take in the sight of the King residing within it, Oceane sitting upon the ground next to him while her hair - like a leash- wound around his hand.
"Jonaus brought us here," Saint whispers to me, "I don't know why but we are all that's left of the reaping."
I look at the other two girls.
Trileece was not there.
She stood, staring blankly up at the ceiling, a thin line of spit hanging down her mouth.
The other girl.
Her eyes flicker in and out.
Halfway between a consuming red and the normal grey they should have been.
I could tell she was trying to regain her bearings. Trying to focus on where she was.
I painfully walked towards her.
You haven't done anything, I thought to the moon, do something now.
I place my uninjured hand upon her shoulder and softly whisper, "Delleseb."
The same as upon my arrival to the palace, similar to what had happened with the carriage driver. I watch as her eye color returns and she blinks back into her surroundings.
"Thank you," she whispers before her legs give out and she falls to the floor.
"Little Star."
I look up to see the unamused expression of the King.
"Your focus should be on me."
I take a few steps forward and find, to my surprise, that Saint moves to stand with me.
He stares down at the two of us for a few more seconds before he raises Oceane, letting us take her in.
"I'll ask again. Become my Queen."
I feel all the air leave me.
Oceane's eyes watch me as I stare back at her.
I can't do it though.
I can't say the words.
The Moon's task. A choice. I had to make a choice.
If I gave in.
Then I failed.
"Never," I whisper, feeling a single tear escape from me.
The King's eyes widen.
"And I thought I was the one who couldn't love," he murmurs, his statement grating against my soul as I take it in.
He stands then, "This only shows to me how glorious we would be together, Little Star."
I'm about to argue.
My mouth is open, in defiance to his words.
I'm about to tell him he is wrong and explain why.
Oceane interrupts me though, her voice shaking, "Stel-,"
But the sound of a snap cuts her off.
And my mouth continues to hang open, as I watch her fall down the steps.
Her broken neck landing at my feet.
Next update is Friday. Please hang in there with me as I continue the story .