Heart of darkness

Chapter Thirteen

One of my eyes was blinded by a light as it opened, the other one refused to. Every part of my body hurt, a more painful hurt than the night of the ball, now I felt as if I couldn't breath. My eye scanned the room, it was still the dark room Damian had thrown me in, though candles were placed everywhere, as if to create a brighter, safer place.

"You're awake." A soft voice said from beside me.

I turned my head to see the queen's kind face. I noticed one of her eyes were dark blue and there was a deep cut in her upper lip. Calia was hunched over, as if she were to be sick, but I knew it wasn't that. The king had beaten her badly and hunching was a way to relieve some of the pain. My empathy towards her grew, my heart hurt for her, for the torture she had been put through for the last twenty-five years.

"Your Hig-"

"No don't talk." She said, gently placing a finger against my numb lips. "What did I say about titles?"

"Sor-" I stopped feeling the pain spread through my mouth when I tried to talk.

"How about I talk?" She smiled and went to a bucket on a dresser filled with water. She squeezed a cloth and returned to the side of my bed. Calia's gentle hands started to dab the cloth on some of my wounds. I felt the pain begin to form where she pressed lightly against me, I bite back a groan, I didn't want Calia to know she had been hurting me.

"Thank you." She said, giving me a thankful smile, good, she hadn't noticed my pain. After a bit I tried to smile back, but my muscles wouldn't work. "That was a brave thing you did. Not many can stand up to my husband."

I wanted to say something, anything, but my lips wouldn't move.

"I've spent so long without anyone, none of the servants would defy Garrett. Even my own son." I saw her withdraw her hands and hold them in her lap. "I thought, maybe... just maybe when he got older, Damian would stand up to his father. To fight for me, for himself. But no, he turned out an exact double of Garrett. Twenty-five years of nothing."

I saw tears falling freely down Calia's cheeks.

"Though when he stopped Garrett, I felt a small bit of hope. Maybe there was light in Damians heart, but as soon as it came, it vanished. Damian said how he needed you for the kingdom and he couldn't inherit the title of king without you by his side. Garrett used to beat him the same as me. Even as a child..." She paused, I felt the same as her. Maybe Damian had some goodness inside of him. Though when she spoke the reasons behind his actions, I felt the hope fade. Just as Calia's did.

"When I was child, I was much like you." She confessed. "I was so full of life and happiness, until they hosted this ball, and Garrett stole me away, away from my friends, my family. At first I was proud to have been chosen to be the next queen, but that shortly changed when I had taken my first beating. It didn't take him much long to break me, since I was already partially broken. The day our wedding came, I was barely able to speak our vows, not because I didn't want to, but because my lips felt like you probably do now. I could barely think straight that day."

Calia's words spilled from her lips, the truth behind them felt like a boulder, I knew why she was telling me all of this, to show that she was just like me, to show what would happen to me if I stayed here. I couldn't let that be me, I can't let that be her anymore.

"Calia." My voice came out cracked and worn, my mouth was dry and I could barely move my sandpaper tongue.

"No, don't speak dear." She said, but I had to talk, I had to say what was going through my mind.

"Nothing... will stop them... we... have to... we have..to do... something..." I struggle to say.

"Aurora, we can't... we can't do anything." Calia said, her doubt seemed to control her. Though I could see something flash in her eyes.

"What? What... is...it?" I questioned, the words painful as I spoke them.

"It's nothing... it's impossible." She stated.

"I'll be the judge of that." I smiled, feeling the ache in my cheeks at the action.

"Well... maybe... we could try to escape." She responded, her voice quiet from what sounded like embarrassment. "I know, it sounds impossible."

"Nothing is impossible... only challenging." I smiled, though it was painful, I didn't focus on the pain. I focused on giving Calia confidence, helping her to get back the person she once was, before the king, before her heart and soul had been shattered into a million pieces.

My words seemed to get her, a bit of confidence flashed into her eyes as she nodded.

"Alright, let's do it. But you have to get better first and the only way you'll do that is by resting." Calia said as she pulled a blanket overtop of me. I could hear the confidence and life return to her.

"Thank you." I mumbled as she walked towards the door, I could see a limp in her walk and her arm came around her torso.

"Get some rest." She said, opening the door and leaving. I waited for the sound of a key moving into the lock to prison me in this room. Though as I waited no sound came, I wasn't locked in here.

A bit of relief flooded through me as I relaxed my muscles, causing pain to shoot through me. I groaned and closed my eyes. My eyelids displayed my mothers face, along with Cas and Daphnes. Their smiles seemed forced, their eyes didn't shine, they looked like a painting. Like something that I could see but not touch. I missed them, I missed my father, even Mr. Woodard, the man that I had only talked to once a day. Misery overcame my emotions as homesickness filled me.

I imagined my mothers fingers gently brushing through my hair as my father read us a story. Seeing the way he acted out the characters always made me smile, or the way my mothers hands gently played with my hair.

Tears began to fill my closed eyes, all of this was the Princes fault. Everything that was happening to me was his doing. My homesickness vanished and was replaced with hatred and rage. My jaw clenched and I felt my aching fists tighten against the fabric beneath me. I will get Damian for this, I will destroy him along with his father. They don't deserve to live, they don't deserve the life that they were given while peasants are making all their foods and building their castles.

The witches suddenly came into my mind. What had the Redburns done to them? All I knew from history books was that the witches were spawns of the devil, placed here to wreak havoc on the earth and humans. But maybe that wasn't true, maybe they're innocent creatures like me? One thing was for certain, I had to find one and ask these questions.