I give into it.
I rip out my dagger, holding the air inside my cheeks as the blade slices through my palm, and I hold in the wince that wants to escape my lips. With a shaky breath, I release the air and squeeze my palm so the blood won’t drip on the floor.
I’m not a Deskyiara.
With a swift glance, I gaze at the book once more, studying every inch and detail that it is marked with. The onyx leather, scorched around the edges with a lingering scent of ash radiating off of it. The pages, shimmering like a golden sunset, andthe ink of the words that can be seen, dark as the night. I vaguely remember the symbol of the wings and round circles on the cover, the same symbols as the ones I remember of the village, the bridge, and the pendant Florian wears. It must mean something.
I’m coming back for this damn book.
My chest feels as if it's being tugged by something and the closer I step towards the stones, the more my arm feels scorching heat against it. But despite it, I move forward. My boots beat against the shiny floor before taking a few steps up to the level of the archive that is inside her room. I swear the books reach the heavens, a small window at the top letting the light of the sun flicker through. No cobwebs here, so the books must be read quite a bit compared to the ones in my room.
My arm flinches with a sudden sharp pain that begins to heat against my flesh, and the stones radiate the colors so brightly now against me. The stones before me begin to pulse brightly with them.
But what stone should I touch?
I let my fingers curl out, revealing my bloody palm and I tremble as I reach out towards it. I close my eyes for a brief second, just to gain my strength, and force my hand through the fire. Just as Koen forced his hand through the dragon's fire for me. Then it hits me,how did he not burn?How the hell did he not burn to ash like the one man did?
I’m not a Royal. Florian believes it's because I am the Prophecy Queen. The oracles and the Queen believe it's a curse. I’m going with the latter, since I have begged the Gods multiple times for me not to love and they just have a sick way of answering.
But Koen… he isn't cursed.So how did he not burn?
Not now. I can’t think of this now.
I need to stop thinking about him.
I clench my teeth, forcing my arm further into the blue flames as it crackles. Sounds of fire popping like a fireplace resound around me, echoing in the room. But no pain, it doesn’t burn.
My bloody palm is inches away until I finally reach it and rest against the red stone, the warmth of it radiating through my body.
Then the air is sucked out of me.
My eyes see a life before me. It's as if I am in the body of another. My eyes hazily flicker open and close until everything clears. A young teen, maybe thirteen at the time, running in the hills…no. It’s Prince Florian.
I see him.
His golden hair falls to his shoulders, a few braids twisted on the top as he runs in front of me. With his arms stretched out, his fingers graze the tops of the thin, tall grass.
We spin around, hand in hand, laughing and chasing the butterflies that dance around us in a field of flowers. The Kingdom of Eekatia is in the distance, but the arena is not there. Neither are the mountainside edges where the Royals sit for the battle games. I have no control over this body, it feels as if it's a memory and I am watching it through the eyes of the soul that lived in this moment with him.
But a weird feeling sits in the pit of my stomach, as if I have witnessed this before.
That I have felt this before. This all feelstoo real.
Him and I fall to the ground, our backs thumping against the lush, green grass that hovers around us. The butterflies with seven wings and three tails soar above us, thousands of them. Our giggles, so pure and sweet, soar in the air with them. Almost like a melody…almost like a melody.
“Hey, Serene.”Young Florian rolls to his side, and I notice his cornea free of the scar.“Do you think the Kingdom of Eekatia will finally accept the Darklands into the treaty?”
He calls the young girl, “Serene.”Not Viveon.
I can feel my body gasping for air as my cheeks are wet from tears that are pouring down from my body, but the memories of this girl don't feel it. Only my own body, yet I keep my palm on the stone despite the pain that is coursing through my body. I need answers.
“I hope my father will accept them, especially with him and Koen’s mother. You are sworn to Eekatia, there is no need to worry. Your mother was the true Queen of the Ice Land, not his. Just because your father has moved on after her death, doesn’t mean Koen will take the throne,”I whisper—the girl whispers.“He will never be the true King of Azure, you will.”
This isn’t me.This can’t be me.
“Even if their love is treason?”Young Florian’s eyes soften, his elbows digging into the ground.“Koen has been in hiding all along, my father hid him from me just so his mother and him had the chance to live. Now, the Royals want to fight against the Realm for hiding the truth about it.”
“I won’t let that happen,”I whisper, reaching out to touch his hand.“My mother will talk to him. She agrees with us.”
