𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫 || 𝐀𝐂𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐑 𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐂 ||

11. Beast of The Spring

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TheFantasyWriter09

Meira:

I run, and I don't look back. Over the bridge, towards what I believe is the sea.

Or the shores of the river.

I winnow from place to place, five steps ahead in an attempt to conserve my energy - something I didn't even know I could do until the panic was too much and I could.

But what I don't see as the beautiful city blurs between my eyes is the figure that steps out and stops me, the air suddenly forced from my lungs as he wraps his arms around me tightly.

There's something...off about his shadow - as if he's trying to mask something but trying too hard.

'Don't trust him.' The shadows whisper from beneath my hood into my ears, and I pray that maybe Az is up above, if anything happens...

Nothing is going to happen.

"I'm sorry." I say politely as I try and step out of his grasp. But I fail; his arms are too strong, and too-

I look up at him and my
Heart
Stops.

Green eyes and blonde hair and a laugh that sounds too musical to be true.

No, no- He's dead-

"Tylen?" I whisper, searching his green eyes, for something that doesn't sit right and yet-

"It's you." I whisper, not really sure what to do. "But aren't you-"

"Dead?" The Spring noble chuckles. He leans closer, lips brushing my ear, "It's amazing what a few bargains and a old, once-forgotten cauldron can do, sweetheart."

I freeze.

"Yes, well, I had some doubts my brother would go this far for me, after all we'd made him do. Murder that bitch of a Valkyrie, and her daughter, betray and ally, but." I could feel him now, his arms running up and down my body in a way I really didn't like, but I was in no state to stop him, "I knew he was weak, when mother presented him to us. Knew he would stutter at the final hurdle."

I try and break free, twisting out from under his arms but all that did was crash my back against his chest and a cold, iron knife at my throat.

"Be careful, sweetheart. Or I won't treat you like my soon-to-be consort."

My heart plummets. The shadows silent. Or maybe I've blocked them out.

"What." I whisper in the shock of it all.

"Let's go somewhere a little quieter, shall we?"

And with that, he winnows me away, the ground below me shifting, but not before I see hands, reaching out towards me as if to save me-

~~~~~

He takes us to a clearing, where it seems to be stuck in an eternal spring.

No-

I look around me, and finally for the first time I feel no panic, but fear and...

"My brother was always too weak, we all knew it, to be High Lord. So how do you think we all felt, when a passing soul told us the news? That he was then trapped in a curse, and when his sentry can and told us the news-"

"Of a human, who could break it." I breathe, remembering something from a long ago tale.

"Yes. And then my stupid brother has to send her away, and he's back to square one!"

Clearly, he hasn't heard what happened next.

"And then the bitch returns, all in love with him be that shit, gets killed and then resurrected, taken back but only on her wedding day does she get taken by the bastard High Lord of the Night Court. I heard what happened next, what makes her go to hate Tamlin and then her revenge. But it's time we got even." He callously chuckles, believing his plan will actually work.

You don't know shit, Tylen.

"So," I try not to let the panic show, "What do you want from me?"

"I need a wife."

"And you want me?"

"Why yes. Your bloodline is a callous and violent as mine, Meiranna." I flinch when he runs a finger down my cheek, but he just laughs and continues.

"However, who I really want is the youngest Archeron sister, and I know she lives in the Night Court."

So he doesn't know...

"And for that, I need someone who knows the night court pretty well. They'll send someone - a scout or a soldier, may even alert any spies they have in the area, to search for you - because of your power."

But they don't know...anything, do they? I think of the interrogation, of the questions, of the cell...maybe Night Court know more than they know, but...

He must be able to see it written all over my face, because his jaw slacks and then he starts to...laugh.

"You didn't tell them, did you? Your gift, your curse." He shakes his head, "By the Cauldron, they might just send a scout after you. Pity." He dragged a finger across my lips and I try not to flinch too much, "I would have enjoyed fighting for you like the prized mare you are."

That makes me see red.

I am not a fucking prized mare. I am not a girl meant for breeding, I am meant to end lives and heal souls, nothing more, nothing less. I am the Tamer of Shadows. I survived the fucking Cauldron, for fucks sake. You. Will. Not. Break. Me

'Punch him'

'End him'

'Kill him, Little Healer.'

'Un-alive him'

The shadows are full of violent delights, but if they weren't I'd be worried. I watch in slow motion, it seems, as he laughs with his eyes shut then reaching in, as if to kiss-

I take my chance and punch him in the face, feeling my knuckles break with impact but, like usual, I don't feel any pain.

I feel the glow of my curse run against my veins, begging me to pick up a weapon and pleading me not too.

I aim for another punch, but before I can even pull my arm back, the kiss of cold iron shackles engulf  my wrists as I cry out, my legs buckling so I collide with the ground, rocks amongst the mud as sharp as knifes bite into my skin, drawing small pinpricks all over my body.

Twin shackles that match the ones on my wrist tighten on my an arm and I nearly scream.

Almost

Not from pain.

From centuries of my wrath-

Those who faced it are no longer alive.

I feel powerless, defenceless, and
I
Hate
It.

"You're coming with me, Merianna. I had your room cleared out especially."

He winnows us to a room with no windows, no bars, no light. Just a narrow table in the middle and various weapons attached to the wall, all sorts of whips and knifes and pokers-

"Welcome to you new room, Merianna. I had it specifically built for you. And some point, I'll need heirs, but I'll leave you alone for the start of the year before we get onto that."

Me heart sinks. And as he chains me up to the table, it's not the pain I'm worried about. No.

As I watch him lay the black ash around the circuit of the room, I worry about the fact whoever tries to get me out,

they'll die.