I have a terrible headache; I feel my heart beating in my ears. I open my eyes and everything around me is almost completely dark, there is only a dim light coming from a fireplace on my right. Fire. My eyes open wide as I sit down remembering what happened. I passed out in front of the Fire Princess, in front of Breogan, and now I am... where am I?
I am sitting down in the middle of a huge bed. On the left side, a big window covered with dark curtains. On the right side, there is a fireplace right in the middle of a wall completely filled with books. Right in front of the fireplace, there is a chair with a small round table in front of it and in the center of it all, a desk with papers scattered everywhere, it is the only thing that looks like a mess in the whole room. This is someone's room. And for the looks of it, it's someone important.
My heart skips a beat. Am I in Breogan's room? Where is he? Those are questions that don't really matter right now because the only thing I should be worried about is getting out of this place.
I try to move out of the bed, but something stops me. Of course. I am in chains. Both my hands are tied to a heavy chain that is attached to both sides of the headboard. Who keeps something like this in their bedroom? But then again, I am thinking about the Fire Prince, obviously, only someone like him is worthy of such fetishes.
I try to avoid thinking the ways these chains and bed have been used in the past and instead I focus on trying to figure it out a way to get out of here as soon as possible.
I grit my teeth banging my head against the headboard. It was a bad idea. Everything is spinning again. I close my eyes. Think. There is no way out of here, but I refuse to accept this is how things will end for me. Not when I had made so many promises. Not when I told Sedrik I was going to be careful and meet him again. Not when I didn't have the chance to say goodbye to Cass or tell my brother how much I love him one last time.
I need to focus. I need to try and feel that range I felt in my last encounter with Breogan. I need to use that to break the chains.
Focusing, I try to feel that anger, that hatred. Nothing happens. It is impossible. How did I do it that one time? I feel so frustrated I let out a growl. It's not going to work, I won't ever escape from here, I won't see my brother again, or Cass, or Sedrik.
"I see you finally woke up,'' The sudden interruption makes me lift my head, hitting the back of it against the headboard again. Breogan is leaning against the door. I let out another growl glaring at him. I am not in the mood to play around anymore. ''It looks like you didn't wake up in a good mood.'' I look at him in silence, wishing I could throw daggers through my eyes.
He walks inside the room, closing the door behind him. I just look, as my only way to escape gets taken away from me. Too close and yet too far.
"You..." he says pointing at me. The stone in his ring shining with the fire light. ''You are a very stupid girl.''
He stops right next to the bed, by my side. He is not wearing his mask anymore and is until then that I realize three fresh wounds across the left side of his face. They are big, the longest one going from the corner of his eye to the end of his chin. They weren't there the last time I saw him which meant he got them recently. Against my better judgment, I feel sorry for him.
"Only you and your stupid group of friends think it is a good idea to try to infiltrate into enemy lands." He shakes his head again, laughing.
It is the sound of his laughter that makes the little empathy I felt for him go away. Now my body is heating up with anger.
"It seems like you have a great relationship with your sister.'' I spit keeping his eye contact. ''Is she the one who gave you that?'' I say pointing at his fresh scars with my chin.
The smile disappears from his lips. His eyes get darker as he walks closer to me, leaning threateningly over my body, just a couple of inches separating his face from mine. His intimidating eyes never leaving mine as he speaks.
"I think you should be more careful with your words.'' He says. ''You are not in the best position to act so haughtily.''
"I will say as I please.'' I hiss, I don't even care if that makes him angrier.
I make sure to keep eye contact with him, letting him know that, if anything, I am not scared of whatever he is planning on doing. I have nothing to lose anymore.
He doesn't say anything. He holds my gaze for a few more seconds before straightening his back and walking away from me, directly to his desk. After a few seconds of stirring over one of the drawers, he looks back at me.
"Why did you bring me here?'' I let go with a sigh. "Why didn't you throw me in a dungeon or a pit?''
He doesn't respond for a couple of seconds. He looks slightly surprised and I decide that he might not even answer, so I close my eyes just waiting for whatever he is going to do next.
"We can have more privacy here.'' He finally answers. That is not what I expected. ''I don't want any of the guards or servants listening to our conversation. Also, my rooms are much more comfortable, don't you think?''
I open my eyes sending back daggers at him. He looks at me as if he were looking at something funny. I wish I could get rid of these stupid chains and murder him.
"The question now is, what are you doing here?'' He says and my heart starts racing. ''It seems like none of your friends are here. They are lucky Nimphora didn't find them. But I know you didn't come here alone, but as I had said before, I do not want to ruin the celebrations, so I am not going to look for any of them.''
"What do you want from me then?'' I ask, my heartbeat slowing down after knowing Sedrik, Cass and Kalen are okay. For now, at least.
He doesn't answer right away. He just keeps his eyes on me, analyzing me. As if trying to decide what he should do now that I'm here and his sister knows about me. His sister. That is another problem I would need to worry about later.
"I think the only person who wants something here is you." He finally says.
He rises his hand bringing it close to his eyes, analyzing something he is holding. My heart stops for a moment.
In between his fingers, my mother's necklace is swinging. My necklace. His eyes return to my face, he smiles as he realizes I reacted the way he expected me to.
"It seems like I was right." He is inspecting the blue stone hanging from the neckless. It shines under the fireplace light. "It's a very curious object.''
"You know what it is," I whisper looking at his reaction. I remember Cass's words. Would it be possible that Breogan knows what the neckless is? His eyes meet mine again.
"You don't?" He asks; however, he doesn't wait for my answer. "Of course, only you would spend your whole life with an object like this in your possession without knowing what it really is.''
I feel a twinge in my chest. My blood roars. His eyes are still fixed on the neckless as he speaks.
"You see, this little thing right here holds a powerful retainer spell.'' I want to punch the smirk he holds out of his face. ''But of course, you just saw it as a simple accessory.''
"It holds a spell?'' I drop the question before thinking. I don't expect him to answer and explain, but to my surprise he does.
"A retainer spell,'' He nods. ''It's an amulet created to contain powers. And I must say it's a powerful one.''
"To contain powers?" I whisper looking down.
That doesn't make sense. That was a gift I got from my mother. I had it with me for almost a decade. She never said anything…she probably didn't know what it really was. There was no reason for her to give me something like that willingly. There has to be an explanation.
"You haven't felt any different since you stopped wearing it?" Breogan's direct question surprises me. He is looking at me, waiting for my answer.
Yes. That is the answer. Yes, I have felt different since I lost it. I found out I was a foreseer and could aquamorph. Since I lost it, my powers showed up, feel them inside me, and it feels as if a beast is trying to get out of my body.
"I'm right," he says, carefully looking at me. "I saw it that night when you stabbed me.'' He smirks. The night I stabbed him. The night I met him when he took me to the cave. When he stole my neckless. "You should thank me though; I took that burden away from you.'' He laughs. ''And I also helped you finally break the barrier.''
I feel my stomach shrink. Nausea comes back to me.
"What do you mean?'' I ask. I don't feel well. Everything is spinning again.
''As I said, this was containing your power.'' He is looking back at the neckless. ''And even when you weren't wearing it anymore you were having problems releasing it all. Until last time.''
Last time, he says. When he almost killed Sedrik. When I absorbed his attack.
''I helped you break that barrier,'' He continues. ''It wasn't easy, and it took most of my energy, but I did it.''
My head is spinning and everything makes less sense now. I don't know if he is telling the truth or not, and I can't think about one good reason as to why he would want to break my barrier and release all my power. What would he get out of that? Was this part of his plan?
''Why did you do it?'' I ask.
He looks a little surprised at first but then that stupid smirk comes back, and he speaks slowly as if he is already getting bored with this whole conversation.
"Well, it's simple. I wanted to see what you're capable of.'' He starts pacing around the room. ''From the moment I saw it, I could feel it... And last time, when you attacked me, I have to admit that I was surprised by your courage, and all the anger I saw in you. I realized that it would be fun to see all that rage out. I freed you from it.''
I am definitely sick. Why would my mother give this to me? She had to know what it was. She knew. And even so, she gave it to me. Why was she trying to retain my powers?
''And I was right.'' he continues. ''I can sense that your connection with your element hasn't even been broken.''
I am surprised at his words. My connection is not broken. I realize that he is right. I don't need too much to feel the energy moving through my veins. I feel the electrifying sensation I am getting so used to. How didn't I notice this before?
''How did you do that?'' I ask suspiciously. ''How could you possibly do that?''
''I have no idea.'' He shrugs and I am shocked by his honesty. ''I just knew I could do it. When I touched you…'' his voice trails away. He clears his throat shaking his head. "Anyway, you are welcome." He shakes a hand. "It's a pity that I won't ever be able to see everything you're capable of. But hey, there are good days and bad days.''
"What do you mean?'' I don't want him to know how scare I am, but I am sure that I fail at hiding it.
"Well, I will fulfill your wishes and you will be sent to the dungeons." he simply says. ''Although I could have mercy on you if you tell me where the Deakin is hidden.''
"Damn bastard," I clench my fists feeling my blood burning inside me.
"You flatter me with your words." He smiles, turning around. ''And I must tell you that no matter what you do, you won't be able to free yourself from those chains." He looks over his shoulder. ''They are made with unisea stone, they are immune to your powers.''
He heads to the door at a slow pace. As if he is waiting for me to stop him. To beg him to return. And I try not to do it. I don't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing me pleading for anything, but then I remember something I hadn't think about during the whole night at all. I remember the reasons I was here for. I needed to get information about the Queen's plans, and I needed to fulfill the promise I made to Eileen. At least I could still try to accomplish one of those two.
I am not sure if he would even listen, or care, but I had seen something in his eyes before, something that wasn't completely rotten, and desperate situations lead to desperate measures. I don't lose anything trying, at least I will die knowing I did something.
"Your mother..." I start, he stops right in the middle of the room, his body tensing. ''Your mother had someone working for her, a man who. He had a daughter." His back is still towards me, I don't even know what I'm saying anymore, and I am sure he thinks I have lost my mind. "The Queen sent her far away when her mother died. She asked me for a favor. She asked me to find her brother, she told me I could find him in the palace. I promised her...''
Breogan turns to me, he is frowning, and I realize this is definitely a bad idea and it is not going to work.
''I… just…'' I know he doesn't care, and he is probably wondering how someone can be as stupid as I am. ''Forget about it.'' I finish, giving up.
He then walks back to me. I see the confusion in his face, he looks almost anxious, and something else, something much like… desperate?
''What is her name?'' he asks, now I am the confused one.
''Wait, are you going to…?'' I can't even finish the sentence. He grabs me by my shoulders. His hands are burning. He is looking for my eyes.
''What is her name?" he repeats.
"Eileen." I finally say.
His grip weakens, and the blood runs out of his face. He is pale, and... And then my blood leaves mine at the realization of what is going on.
No.
It's not possible.
He can't be.
"Gus?''