~RUNE
The very hall I scrubbed yesterday was the same hall I was getting married in today.
The irony…
A white veil now fell over my face as my father escorted me down the aisle.
Something I never thought I would see in this lifetime.
A sea of pure white filled the seats on the left side of the hall.
While on the right was a sea of black— a visible contrast from my family.
It felt like two dangerous worlds which were never meant to meet finally becoming one.
They all rose from their seats to watch me walk through.
Standing at the front of the hall, waiting patiently for me to reach him— was the Orin King himself in all his glory.
The closer I got to him, the harder I felt my heart pound.
Uriel wasn’t standing alone.
There was a strange woman with him.
She was an Orin priestess, dressed just like them but wore a crown made of wild thorns.
Her eyes almost looked completely white and like the men, she was unnaturally beautiful.
Eventually, we reached them and Father handed me safely to Uriel.
Uriel couldn’t contain his smile as he guided me to stand beside him.
Another pang of guilt hit me and I couldn’t bring myself to look into his crimson eyes.
Sayla really should have been here to finish what she started.
The Priestess cleared her throat and I heard everyone settle in their seats.
Then she bowed to us.
“Your majesty and highness,” she began.
“I, Kalanté Drus, is honored to be the one chosen to conduct your wedding.”
Her voice came out softer than I expected.
Yet it carried power as it traveled through the entire hall.
Uriel only nodded in response before returning his attention to me like I was the only thing that mattered.
Kalanté stared ahead at all of the people present.
“The Orin have sacred traditions of marriage which have been passed down from generation to generation,” she explained.
“We don’t say vows like other species do. Vows can easily be broken but blood bonds can’t.”
I frowned slightly.
Blood bond?
Could it be…
“The Orin respect a blood bond above all else. And if the blood bond is successful, it means that it has been approved before the eyes of the gods.”
Then she gestured at someone in the crowd.
An Orin guard came forward with a glass cup and a dagger.
“I will now ask the couple to drink from each other’s blood,” Kalanté announced before turning to me.
“Naturally, if a human drinks Orin blood, the darkness within it would poison and corrupt that human until they die.”
My heart dropped.
Why was death after my life?
“Although, that shouldn’t be a problem to you because you are no ordinary human. You are a moon-blessed child. All you will have to do is use your light to burn away the corruption from the Orin King’s blood,” The priestess added.
That was the problem.
The moon goddess’ divine blessings skipped me, that blood was definitely going to kill me.
I swallowed hard as my intake of breath grew shorter again.
What was I supposed to do now?
Kalanté collected the glass cup and dagger.
“Give me your hand, Princess Sayla.”
It did not sound like a request.
I looked up at Uriel and he encouraged me with a simple nod.
I didn’t have to look at my parents.
Those people had already abandoned me to my doom.
A shaky breath escaped my lips as I gave her my left hand.
Before I could blink, she slit my palm and I winced in pain.
When blood began to trickle out, I felt Uriel suddenly stiffen beside me.
Even Kalanté’s expression changed but neither of them said a word as they exchanged glances.
She directed my blood to flow into the cup.
When a small quantity had pooled in, she nodded at me to take my hand away.
And all I could hope for was that they wouldn’t expect me to heal myself here.
Kalanté passed the glass to Uriel.
He accepted it and locked his crimson gaze with me before inhaling the scent of my blood.
Black veins suddenly appeared down his neck and his ears seemed to grow pointier than before.
He gulped down my blood in one go and inhaled deeply like he had enjoyed it.
“So pure… So raw… So unique…” He shut his eyes as black veins travelled down his throat.
I could only stare in shock.
It did not sit well with me that he was getting turned on by my blood.
Or did this mean that it was a good thing and I could get away with fooling him?
“Your turn, my King,” Kalanté announced.
This snapped him out of his own head and he slits his palm himself.
I watched wide eyed as his blood trickled into the cup.
The very agent that would kill me if I went along with this madness.
Kalanté offered me the cup.
I turned a shaky stare towards my family.
My mother looked like she would storm down here and force the blood down my throat if she had to.
I had no other choice.
Death waited for me at every angle.
This was my fate.
Thus, with shaky hands I accepted the cup.
It trembled like my hands and I shakily put it to my lip.
The Orin were all watching me closely.
It was better to end it all now, quickly.
So I swallowed it all in one gulp.
At first, nothing happened.
I felt fine.
Until a sudden agonising pain tore through me.
I gasped and dropped the cup immediately.
It hit the ground and shattered dramatically.
“Sayla!” Uriel snapped, genuine panic evident in his voice.
But I found myself unable to move as I felt fire, literal fire burning at my throat and spreading throughout my entire body.
I stared down at my trembling hands in shock as I spotted black veins begin to spread visibly across my skin like wildfire.
My vision began to blur.
Sounds started to echo.
My knees grew too weak to carry me.
They buckled and I fell.
Yet instead of hitting the cold hard ground underneath me, warm arms enveloped me.
“Use your light, Princess Sayla!” The priestess ordered.
Uriel held me protectively.
“Do as she says. Use your light to burn the darkness away.”
But I writhed against his hold as tears began to flow down my cheeks.
I was not Sayla.
I had no light.
I could not burn anything.
“Aaaah!” I screamed as the burning pain intensified.
My body started jolting with violent tremors.
From the corner of my blurring vision, I saw the Orin now on their feet, staring at me as if they had already figured out I was nothing but a fraud.
“Come on, Sayla. Why aren’t you channeling your light?” Uriel demanded in worry.
“If you don’t use your light right now, you will die!” The Priestess ordered.
Another wave of pain struck me.
This time, it was harder than before.
I felt it reach the deepest part of my core and stir something within me.
Something I could not understand.
It felt like strange emotions, or perhaps a source fighting to break free from within me.
Strange images flashed through my mind.
They looked foreign and I was unable to understand any of them.
They made no sense.
Suddenly, a new wave of pain exploded from my core.
I could not bear it.
I let out another scream.
“Sayla, fight the darkness!” Uriel ordered.
“You are stronger than this!”
No, I was not strong.
I was the weakest daughter in House Aylin.
“What is wrong with her? Has she forgotten how to channel her light?” Voices reached my ears.
“Or are the Aylin not really as blessed as they claim?”
“Enough!” Lucien’s voice suddenly echoed through the hall.
“The darkness in the blood is probably prohibiting her from channeling. So I will channel for her.”
By now, the darkness had fully taken over my vision.
I listened as heavy footsteps neared me.
“I advise that you step aside. I am about to channel light and you are Orin. It will burn you.”
“I am going nowhere,” Uriel stated firmly.
I jolted in pain again, searching with my hands to grab something, anything that would take the pain away.
A warm hand held mine and it felt like the most comforting thing anyone had ever done for me, aside from my late sister.
“Very well, suit yourself,” Lucien said.
That was when I saw a calming light appear in the darkness that had taken over my vision.
Hisses of pain erupted somewhere in the hall.
Perhaps it was the Orin reacting to the light.
Amidst the hisses, one sounded so close.
Almost as if it had come from Uriel himself.
As the light spread through me, the darkness started to melt away.
My body stopped trembling.
The burning pain began to subside and I slowly felt whatever had stirred within me begin to close up again.
When the pain disappeared, I was able to see again.
Uriel was the first one I saw.
“Sayla… How do you feel? Are you okay?” He asked as he looked down at me.
I nodded slowly and before I could fully recover, he crashed his lips against mine.
I froze.
Guilt scattered across my entire body.
Because I knew this kiss was never meant for me.
It was for Sayla and I was not her.
Darkness came first and Light came afterwards.
Without Darkness, there can never be Light…