~URIEL
Rage was the only emotion I felt as I glared at her.
She needed to suffer.
She had to feel the same pain my Sayla must have felt when she drove that knife into her.
She needed to know what true pain meant and I was going to give it to her for as long as she lived.
I pulled at the chains again when I saw that she was no longer crying, expecting a reaction out of her but she remained completely still, almost like someone who had been possessed.
I frowned.
Was the coldness of the water no longer affecting her?
Suddenly, she moved and drowned.
Her entire body submerged into the water and only bodies of air escaped the spot.
My heart skipped and before I could think twice about it, I jumped into the water.
The cold hit me hard but it didn’t bother me.
I was already used to these waters.
I had been tortured like this countless times as a child.
When I reached the spot where she had drowned, I pulled her out.
Her eyes were wide open and her lips were moving like she was trying to say something.
“Curse you!” I spat before carrying her out of the water.
What a weak and fragile human.
She couldn’t even handle a little cold.
She had barely been in more than five minutes.
Once out of the water, I held her in my arms, to try to warm her up.
That was when I realised something strange.
She was not trembling.
She didn’t even seem to be conscious because she had not blinked since I pulled her out.
That was when I noticed black veins begin to scatter across her body.
My heart skipped once more as I became alarmed.
What was happening to her?
“Tree of veils… Black water… Orakis,” Her voice suddenly became audible and I froze.
Why was she muttering things about the Calling festival?
“Trees of Veils… Black Water… Orakis!” She suddenly screamed.
That was when she gasped and started screaming so loud, fighting me and crying at the same time.
“Get away from me! Get away! Let me go!”
I froze as I watched her fight hard.
At first, I thought she was afraid of me but she didn’t seem to be awake.
It was almost as if she was fighting something I could not see.
For some reason, I felt the urge to help her fight whatever it was that was attacking her.
“Rune!” I roared using all of my authority.
She stopped abruptly and I watched all the veins which had begun to scatter wildly across her body disappear like they had never been there.
Then she blinked weakly as she looked up at me.
“I’m sorry…” She whispered before collapsing once again.
And this time, she finally began to tremble violently.
I looked down at her in both anger and worry.
This punishment was meant to torture her.
Now I was being forced to take care of her.
Since when did I become so weak as to depend on a human to keep my throne and expose the assassins after my life?
I gritted my teeth even harder, hating that I had to do this.
I found her necklace and put it back on her neck.
I watched as her black hair slowly turned white, mirroring my Sayla once again.
Pain sliced through my heart at that moment.
It was pure torture, having to look at her, knowing she was not her.
It was like staring at a ghost forever.
Perhaps this was my punishment for being unable to protect Sayla.
And in that moment of weakness, I hugged her.
I held her tightly in my hands, feeling every tremor as it left her body.
I felt my own body begin to tremble with grief too.
I let out a painful roar before forcing my pain far away to the deepest part of my mind.
Then I stood up and carried Rune in my arms, water dripped down the floor I walked as we were both wet from the freezing water.
I walked out the room and used the long route which directly connected to the wing where my room was situated.
I didn’t want to take the risk of carrying her to her room with both of us looking like this.
I knew I could run into one of my Lords or someone else who wasn’t supposed to see.
I didn’t know who my enemy was, so I could not make any mistakes.
I soon reached my room and carried her to the bath basin in my bathroom.
I turned on the hot water to fill it up.
When I was sure there was enough with just the right temperature, I got in with her in my arms.
Her tremors slowly started to subside.
This was working.
I placed her against my chest and continued to hold her, slowly running my fingers through her silver hair.
Allowing myself to believe for just these few minutes while she was unconscious that she was Sayla and I had her back.
“Normally,” I muttered out loud.
“I shouldn’t be torturing the one you cared about the most…”
I shut my eyes as memories of her smile came back to my mind.
“But she took you away from me. She must pay.”
Without realising it, I started to squeeze Rune too tight.
It was only until she let out a cry that I stopped.
She stirred against me and I froze.
The last thing I wanted was for her to wake up to both of us here, with her in my arms.
It would pass the wrong message.
She groaned again before slowly raising herself up to look around.
Shit!
“What am I doing—” She gasped halfway through when she saw me in the water with her.
She flinched back immediately.
“Uriel!”