~RUNE
We left Valaris in a hurry.
My parents let me take all of the things meant for Sayla.
They were glad they succeeded at ridding themselves of me in the most profitable way.
All I could hope for was that I would survive long enough to find a way out of my dilemma and go far away from here.
By the time we arrived at the Orin Kingdom, it was already morning.
I slowly lifted my head from Uriel’s arms.
I had made sure to force myself to sleep, in order to avoid conversations with him.
Lately, that had been my trick to survive.
“You are finally awake, we are here,” Uriel whispered as he gestured at the window.
I looked out to see the large towering stone structures of Oraena.
The Orin had gathered before the castle, waiting for us to arrive— no doubt.
An involuntary shiver ran down my spine as I realised I was alone and completely surrounded by predators who could tear me to shreds— if Uriel decided I was no longer useful to him.
These were the same people who bought human slaves to sustain them with blood and pleasure.
“Are you afraid, Sayla?” Uriel asked softly.
I swallowed hard, unable to look at him.
“Neither of them will dare to harm you. You are now their Queen. Don’t let them sense any weakness within you,” Uriel stated just as the carriage finally came to a stop.
The door of the carriage came open.
Uriel smiled one last time before it faded away and his expression grew stern as he stepped out.
He offered me his hand when outside and I took it as I gathered all the courage I had left within me.
Surviving the wedding had just been a tip of the iceberg.
Surviving the Orin court and its people was now the main battle.
How could I succeed at deceiving an entire kingdom of hungry bloodthirsty Orin?
When I finally got out, the Orin only watched.
No one dared say a word.
Until one person took the initiative and bowed.
“Undefeated is the Orin King!”
“He is favored!” The rest of the crowd chorused.
That was when a group of Orin women came forward with different flowers.
“Our new Queen,” one of them began and bowed slightly.
“We welcome you to Oraena.”
She offered me the flowers which she carried— red chrysanthemums.
I accepted them immediately without a thought and inhaled the scent.
That was when Uriel suddenly went crazy.
“How dare you give her chrysanthemums? She’s allergic to them!” He roared as he yanked the flowers from my hands.
My eyes went wide as I instantly remembered that Sayla was indeed allergic to them.
How could I make such a stupid mistake?
“Forgive us, your majesty!” The woman suddenly cried as she dropped to the ground trembling visibly.
“Are you okay?” Uriel demanded, ignoring the woman as he began to search my hands and face for irritations.
He frowned when he saw nothing happening.
“There are no rashes…” He trailed in disbelief.
“Last time, just the smell of it was enough to cause rashes to break out across your skin within seconds.”
He furrowed his brows in confusion.
My heart sank.
He would definitely start suspecting me now.
“I— I healed it already,” I blurted out and smiled nervously.
He stared at me way longer than usual before his eyes flickered to my neck.
“You are still wearing the necklace from yesterday. It must mean a lot to you.”
I swallowed hard.
“Y— yes. My brother gave it to me.”
He nodded slowly before gesturing at the way forward.
“Let’s go.”
He snapped his fingers and two Orin guards stepped forward.
They picked up the woman who had given me the flowers and began to drag her away.
Her cries for mercy bored into my soul and I stared up at Uriel in fear.
This was definitely a different side to him from what he had shown me since I met him.
If he could drag that woman away for a mistake like this, what would he do to me when he found out I was a fraud?
Panic instantly hit me once again and my heart started racing as Uriel led me into the building.
The atmosphere instantly grew heavier the moment we stepped in.
It was unnaturally cold.
It weighed down on my soul, suffocating me in ways breathing became difficult.
The halls were devoid of colors, drenched simply in black and white.
It almost felt like I was literally walking through the gates of hell.
“My King,” Dain called from behind us as he came to stand beside Uriel.
Uriel tilted his head slightly in his direction.
“The elders are waiting in court for you,” he announced.
Uriel nodded and the other Lords instantly took the lead.
Allowing Uriel and I to remain behind.
I almost felt tempted to ask Uriel if it was necessary for me to show up at that court.
Because the closer we got to it, the lower the temperature dropped.
We finally reached large double doors and the guards waiting in front pushed them open for us.
As we stepped into the space, every person present rose to their feet to greet us.
“May you always be favored, Great Orin King,” One of them began.
“Undefeated is the King!” They all roared.
Uriel remained shrouded in his growing darkness.
“Crisis has befallen us once again. The Black Madness is beginning to spread faster than before.”
“Yes, your majesty. Which is why we are glad you brought back a Moon-blessed Queen. Perhaps, she will be the one to deliver us from this unfortunate plague,” the Elder who had spoken first said.
My heart skipped at the mention of my involvement.
I definitely had to speed up my escape plan now.
Sooner or later, they would demand that I begin healing their people.
“Yes, we were all hoping so,” Lord Morrigan said from behind me.
“Which was why I had them bring the surviving Orin who succumbed to the madness.”
My eyes grew wide.
No, this could not be happening.
This was way too early to be exposed already!
Morrigan clapped twice as he smirked at me.
The doors came open and two Orin guards dragged in a man who was chained and blindfolded, with black angry veins claiming his body in ways only death could.
The moment they took off his blindfold and our eyes met, the man went crazy.
He started snarling and growling.
Fighting to break free so that he would attack me.
“In case you were wondering, the Black Madness makes an Orin lose his senses, become primitive like a feral animal and all he wants is blood. He doesn’t care whether you are human or Orin. His only purpose is to destroy everything.”
My heart sank farther than it already had.
Then Morrigan paused and turned to me.
“I hope that you can cure him with your divine light, Queen Sayla Aylin.”
It sounded more like a challenge than true hope.
He clearly hated me and wanted me to die.
I felt a cold chill run down my entire body.
I started trembling right there on the spot.
My heart was pounding heavily and I found it hard to move.
I looked at Uriel and he nodded at me to go ahead.
Shit!
I was royally fucked at this point!
How do I heal a man when I have no light?
Everyone in the hall was waiting for me to heal that man.
My intake of breath shortened.
I took a shaky step forward.
My hands started trembling visibly and I had to ball them into hard fists to stop the tremors from being obvious.
I took another shaky step.
My heart was pounding so hard that I didn’t think it was normal.
I felt blood rush through my body and my vision started to blur.
The man was still fighting to be set free.
His growls got louder like he had suddenly become agitated.
His struggles grew more violent than before.
Perhaps the thought of sinking his fangs into my skin enticed him.
And he couldn’t wait to devour his meal.
I was just about to take another step when the mad Orin finally broke free.
He launched toward me within the next second.
I saw horror.
My world stopped.
I screamed.
A silly mistake could be your undoing…