eclipsed nova (UTM Feysand)

1

I hadn't seen light in days. It was dark down here, and the damp cold felt like it had seeped deeply into my bones. The shivering was endless. Down in that darkness, my thoughts had matched the absence of light. If I went insane, did any of it even matter, to begin with? Would it all have been for nothing?

I'd come here to save him and instead had damned myself. He sat somewhere above me on a throne stationed beside hers. He'd likely been well-fed and clothed and had probably even warmed her bed by now. Perhaps it made me pathetic to even care. After all, he'd allowed her to lock me down here. He hadn't come looking for me.

The first night I'd tried to convince myself that he couldn't, that he was trapped himself. That hope was short-lived. When she'd paraded me around like a pet, I'd seen him for the first time in days. He was clothed in elegant fabrics, deep green velvet wrapping around his chiseled form in a way that made him look like a King. His wrists weren't chafed from cuffs like mine. He didn't limp from their unforgiving handling. His face was not purple with bruises. He looked... well, he looked pampered.

It fueled me with a rage deeper than anything I'd ever felt. I knew I was only human, and he was a High Lord of Prythian, with extravagant fae abilities to accompany. Those days in his mansion he'd made me feel special, like for the first time in my life, someone actually saw me or heard me when I spoke.

I'd come here to save him only to find he hadn't needed saving. She pawed at him like a coveted prize. Just as she did with the other one, the one with raven's black hair. His violet eyes had pierced through mine the moment I had entered the room. It was like he saw right through me. The haughty and arrogant curve of his smile had made my stomach clench. He'd watched her sentence me to imprisonment with little more than tawdry amusement.

So here I was. Alone and freezing in the darkness, body aching from the injuries and the cold. The concrete floor sapped any bodily heat I managed to muster up. At this rate, I wouldn't live very long. Perhaps their fae bodies were so different than mine that they'd assumed I could function for much longer without food or water, or perhaps they truly had left me down here to die. I would gladly haunt the shit out of Tamlin. He didn't deserve my devotion or my affection. He'd made me weak, torn down my defenses only to shoot me through the chest the moment I'd lowered my guard.

Amarantha was the Queen of this place, her fiery red hair and pale skin like a bloodstain against a lifeless body. She had a wicked, painted red smile and long tipped and sharp black nails, which she tapped along the arm of her elaborate throne as she weighted my life in her hands and found it lacking.

A low creak startled me back to life, my breath hitching in my throat as my body stiffened in preparation. I hadn't seen another human since Amarantha had banished me to her dungeons. I'd come to save Tamlin from what I had envisioned was his enemy, but now appears quite differently.

Heavy and slow footfall trailed closer and closer, the clacking of their shoes echoing off the stone walls. A scent of light citrus coupled with a deeper musk filled my nose as I squinted into the darkness, terrified of what I might find lurking there. I knew I was being watched. Fae senses allowed them to see in darkness that appeared impenetrable for the human eye. But I could feel his gaze on me, like hot liquid pouring across my frozen skin.

His voice emerged from the darkness like black silk.

"There you are," he purred. "I've been looking for you."

My eyes widened as I desperately searched the darkness for his face but found nothing. The darkness seemed much deeper and heavier now. His scent was overwhelming. He took up so much space in the room without even being seen. His presence demanded attention.