A thorn in their sides.
A blemish on their otherwise perfect image.
In those dark moments her resentment towards her father fueled her rage.
How quickly he dismissed her. How easy it was to send her away.“You’ll be someone else’s problem,”he’d told her. And that someone was the Order. The General. The ruthless woman who trained the knights that kept the country safe. The Order stripped away everything a person was and molded them into something usable.
A weapon.
“Almost there, pet,”the voice cooed against her ear.“Then you’ll see what it means to be truly appreciated.”
Her knees bumped into something hard and with all of her effort, muscles straining for control, she looked down. The wraith had led her right to the edge of the ship. Stars filled her vision, her senses coming back to her but a wash of serenity calmed her frantically beating heart and all she could focus on again was listening to the voice.
“Step up.” The wraith tugged her hand and the foreign sharp feeling of bone in her palm stirred something in her.
Wake up, Aesira!She had defeated monsters before. Had slain unimaginable creatures, stopping them before they got too close to the walls of both Novaria and Vargah.
This was different, even in her semi-conscious state, she knew this was nothing like any of the creatures she’d fought before. She had lost control of her body and some sick part of her was glad.
“You’ll be someone else’s problem.”
Her foot hit the railing. Then, her other foot.
Wake up!
“Let go, Aesira. We’ll catch you.”The voice that brought her so much comfort, so much ease, quickly shifted. And now it rattled her down to her bones. It hissed and clawed at her mind. It pulled at her hair and tugged at her skin.
“No.” She clung to the nearest rigging, fingers wrapped tight around the cable. Another push to her back forced her forward so she was barely balancing on the edge of the ship, forced to look down. A tear slipped down her cheek as the voices, many now, cried out around her again and again. Yelling out all her most shameful thoughts. All of her darkest truths and secrets.
“The girl with evil in her eyes.”
“Who only sees after herself.”
“You let him die, Aesira.”
A scream burned in her throat, stamped out by fear. She hadn’t let him die. She didn’t–
“No,” she said, but the wraith that guided her slammed its bony hand against her mouth. Dark, bottomless eyes bore into her, making her squirm beneath its touch, deep lines etched across her skin from its jagged nails.
“Let. Go.”
She fought against control of her own body. Her limbs shook, her brow slick with sweat, but no matter how hard she tried, the wraith was stronger.
Her fingers slipped free from the cable, her legs weak, she couldn’t stop what was coming. Couldn’t fight against her foot dangling over the edge, miles above the ground. Soulless eyes and pale faces of hundreds of others watched her. Waited. Their desperation was thick in the air but it was theirappreciationfor her that caressed her skin. They wanted her. She would be helping them. They needed her to fall.
To let go.
“Save us like you couldn’t save him.”The wraith moved its hand away, coaxing her forward again.
“I–” Her mouth snapped shut when a strong hand landed on her shoulder and flung her backwards onto the deck. The back of her head met the ground with a loud crack. “Shit,” she cursed, gripping her head. She tried to sit up, but her vision crossed, a deep ache pulsing behind her eyes.
Steel tore through bone and endless screams rang out around her. A burst of light and then an all-consuming darkness.
And somewhere among the chaos was that voice, farther away now.
“We know what you did, Aesira. We know what you are. No better than the monsters you slay.”
When silence fell over the deck, she opened her eyes again, trying to catch her breath, her vision sharpening like the pain in her head. The first thing she saw was the cable she’d clung to with everything she had. The second thing she saw was him.
