Freedom comes at a price and a young Earthal princess must live the life of somebody else, even if it means facing evil threats and impossible odds.
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As someone who craves freedom, Princess Clarabelle cannot just stand by and let her life be take...
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ONCE UPON a time, when children still flocked the streets at night, there came a story about a monster named The Dread. His name held power over the little ones that as soon as the sun set on the horizon, they would run towards home, lock the doors, and peek behind the curtains to see if the infamous Dread had arrived to pull them off their beds later that night.
"If you don't fix your toys, the Dread will visit you in your sleep."
"Hush, the Dread might hear you. He dislikes children who are too noisy."
"Be good to your parents and siblings. The Dread is lonely and seeks for himself a companion. He'll come and get you if he sees you're a bad kid."
The children painted different versions of the Dread in their heads. Some said he had massive jaws and teeth that could swallow a person whole. Others imagined him to have ten arms or a specter hidden under a bloody cloak. The Dread might even be in some sort of disguise, pretending to be an old woman who would gain a child's trust and lure them deep into the forest where one would meet his fate.
As for Clara, the Dread was a slender man whose height could reach the tallest trees. In her mind, he was hairless and had no facial features. Everything about him was blank as if young Clara could not decide what to draw on his face and what hair to put on his head.
As centuries passed, the versions of stories about him had become random bits and pieces put together to make a mushy bowl of macaroni soup, and none of those ridiculous representations nearly looked like the one in front of her.
If he was the Dread, she had to confirm. After all, one of the prisoners from the dungeon claimed that the Dread had held his brother captive somewhere.
The world could be big and small at the same time. Clara never thought Emir would be there. It was as if they were bound by Fate. One couldn't live in the absence of the other.
Clara believed it was only her they needed. His presence there should have been a mistake. Could it have been he was caught while trying to save her? And since Emir had discovered their nest, they decided to hold him captive as well. She ached to ask him, but somehow she couldn't find her voice to speak up.
The prolonged silence weighed on them like a heavy downpour, their eyes glued to each other. Drumming his fingers in a slow rhythm, the master found it amusing to see his kidnapped guests be under insurmountable pressure that both of them lost their voices. The grin on his face irked Clara even more. Their silence shouldn't be his satisfaction.
"What is he doing here?"
"What is she doing here?"
Clara and Emir asked at the same time and that was all it took for the master to consider it a comical moment. He threw his head back and burst out laughing as he had never done before.
Ignoring the master's bouts of laughter, Clara twisted to the side and leaned towards Emir's seat. "What are you doing here?" she hissed.
Emir scooted closer so that there had only been a narrow space between their faces. Clara's eyes widened, caught off-guard at their sudden closeness. He stared at her from under his long eyelashes, his midnight eyes flecked with defeat and worry.
