Chapter Fifty Three Jacob's Point of View
He looked at Hal's face.
"Friends of mine liked to play this joke where one pretends to kidnap the other. I invited you in on it, and apparently the guards took it seriously."
Hal's face was remote as he processed what Jacob had told him.
"And that's it?"
"That's it." Jacob said.
Hal finally nodded, and then relief came to his face. "I thought you were a criminal or something. I haven't been there in a while. Natalie's never been, so at the moment, whenever you go back, we'd like to go with you."
"A reunion at Corona." Jacob smiled.
He won't believe you, Jacob said.
He won't have to. Fernando made Jacob's eyes look to the butter knife on the table. I kill him, and then problem solved.
You'd kill your. . . Shock made Jacob stammer. Then the shock faded away, replaced with disgust and resign. You'd kill everyone.
You know me well. Fernando tilted his head to the side.
Jacob smiled at Hal, and Hal smiled back.
Natalie's Point of View
"How was he?" Natalie asked when she handed him his plate.
"He left to find an inn." They were in the closest kingdom to Corona, and they were on the outskirts. Before it was called Stador, or even Ladron, it was Amor.
Now Amor was dead, and renamed Ladron, and then Stador, as the king tried to repair the kingdom.
"He smiled, but something's not right." Hal said distractedly.
"I never liked him. There's something in his eyes." Natalie murmured quietly, picking over her food.
"You all right?" Hal nudged her leg with his foot under the table.
She shook her head. "Did you see the way he looked at you when you bade him 'goodnight'?"
"He scares you?"
She nodded, and her eyes wandered their home. "He can turn a lot of things sour, Hal. He can, and you know it."
"He must have done something bad in Corona," Hal worried. "He asked me to kidnap the princess. That's-"
"Wrong." Natalie finished. "Jacob's behind something."
"I'll ask him tomorrow. He's coming by again."
Natalie felt dread sink in her stomach.
"And then we'll never see him again?"
Hal kissed her cheek, getting up.
"I love my family, but Jacob's become a stranger. If we ever see him again, it's because we're at his funeral."
Avalyn's Point of View
"Your name is Azalea Salta Gothel Ruffins. Nathan proposed to you and made you the happiest woman alive," Avalyn spoke urgently, her arms restraining Azalea, who was screaming like a banshee. "You lost a little girl, your mother, your former lover, but you've gained a fiancé, the entire kingdom, and one of the men who took advantage of you admires you."
"Let me go! Let me go!" Azalea shrieked, and Avalyn imagined that she thought Avalyn was a creature from hell. "Don't touch me! Don't touch me!"
"Ava was the little girl, and she's in heaven!" Avalyn shouted over Azalea's wails. "Your mother loved you, despite what you used to tell yourself! You don't go around drinking anymore, and whiskey is your enemy! Don't ever touch another bottle of whiskey again!"
"Stop!" Azalea's hands went to her ears as she screamed in what sounded like agony. "Stop lying! Stop lying!"
"You went to prison for correcting your mother's mistake that cost her life! You fixed it, and saved her! Jacob nearly killed you!"
"Don't talk to me! Don't talk to me!" Azalea's hands turned red as they progressed down the hall that was now covered in moonlight instead of darkness.
"There's a forgiving side of you that makes you instantly forgive everyone who did you harm though you fear them. There's a side of you that doesn't want to be hurt. There's a side of you that cares for everyone though sometimes you feel like you're surrounded by strangers." Avalyn went on, now having to tug Azalea through the hallway.
"No! All lies, all lies!" Azalea screamed in denial.
"Jacob made you split, and that made you and me! Jacob's the one person you shouldn't forgive!" Avalyn lost control of her mouth. "You're in hell, Azalea! You're in hell!"
"You're burning me! You're burning me!"
Avalyn saw a door ahead, and shouted.
"Azalea, go through the door!" She pushed Azalea to it.
"You're killing me!"
"Azalea, go now!"
Abruptly, Azalea disappeared, her tormented screams still echoing in the hallway; Avalyn collapsed to the floor, letting out a sigh of relief.
We didn't merge. The thought came to her mind quickly. Panic filled her. She had focused so hard on finding Azalea and getting her out of purgatory that she forgot the one way to make sure that they both wouldn't have a chance of being stuck there.
The second the word 'merge' crossed her mind, Avalyn heard a little girl laughing.
The sound grew louder, and Avalyn curled up on the floor, covering her ears and screaming to distort the sound.
Rosemary's Point of View
Rosemary sighed in relief, and her arms went around Azalea's body.
"W-w. . ." Azalea stuttered, but then she went quiet. She pulled away hesitantly, looking at Rosemary's face. "Rosemary?"
Rosemary nodded and smiled, "How was purgatory?"
Azalea opened her mouth to speak but then she started screaming.
Rosemary's eyes grew light honey as a rush of overwhelming emotions filled her senses. Her legs became jelly and Rosemary suddenly couldn't breathe.
She could feel the pain seeping off Azalea in long waves.
Azalea's screams filled her ears and pain, grief, love, fear. . . It all filled her heart and swamped her senses like an overfilled cup of water.
Rosemary felt her hands go to her head and she staggered backward a step, her mind subconsciously trying to put distance between her and Azalea. Her and the overload.
Azalea's long scream of agony sunk right into Rosemary's bones, and Rosemary's entire body went numb.
A shriek fled Rosemary's lips, and the emotions grew bigger and-
She couldn't see.
Her head began to spin; it was too much. Her body fell on the floor, her senses gone.
Rapunzel's Point of View
Fernidia was chatting animatedly to Caroline, "How were the wedding preparations?"
Caroline's eyes misted over, her eyes turning a vivid light green, almost like Anna-Beth's. "They were fine. I cried. A lot. Rosemary's still calling me a waterfall."
I started laughing, though for a second, I thought I heard shrill laughter, or shrieks.
Caroline's green eyes starting looking around like she was searching for something, though she tried to hide it.
"If you ever want to renew your vows, I'm always open." Fernidia grinned and Caroline smiled distractedly, having made a new friend.
What had grabbed her attention so suddenly?
We walked past the Dining Hall, and I suddenly took in a deep breath, halting, feeling light gather in my irises.
"Someone's hurt." I said and everyone stopped walking.
I turned to where the feeling –it was strange. Like my entire body was throbbing, but in a detached way. Like waking up from a deep sleep to a very sore body- and found that it was coming from the ballroom.
We hurried inside it, and my eyes roamed the scene.
Azalea was standing in the middle of the Dining Hall, her mouth opened in a scream. Her eyes were glowing the brightest I had ever seen them, and her hair was completely black. I balked; Was she dying?
Rosemary was lying on the ground, her hands pinned to her hair. Her open, glazed eyes were very light and honey and white at the same time.
"Avalyn?" Nathan was already running to her.
Michael hurried to them. "Azalea's back."
We all looked at him, half-afraid of what would happen next, and half-joyful.
Michael's brown eyes stared at Rosemary.
"And Rosemary's had an overload."
