Here is the new chapter, back to the main timeline!
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FANFICTION
A COURT OF NIGHTMARES AND LIGHT
PART III – THE BLOOD MOON
CHAPTER XXXVI : Cursed
"Come to me, child." The Sorcerer ordered.
Lucien protectively moved in front of Elain, snarling furiously. The Sorcerer didn't even spare him a glance. He clicked his fingers and Elain flew from the same invisible force as Vassa before. She was pulled to the Sorcerer, suddenly on her knees in front of him, the golden bracelet she had been given by Vassa glowing.
"NO!" Lucien shouted, moving forward to get his mate back.
Smoky ropes of darkness erupted from the Sorcerer and everyone fell on their knees, including the two High Lords. They tried to free themselves, using their powers, but it was smothered by the power of a god.
"NO! Don't take her! Don't take her from me!" Lucien shouted, desperately struggling against the ropes.
"You made the bargain with me," Vassa started, sitting up, "Take me instead, make me your prisoner again, but let Elain free! I don't want to make this bargain anymore!"
"You can't go back on a bargain, my dear, you can only make a new one." He answered.
"But, I–"
With a flick of his hand, without even looking at her, he sent her flying across the room and against a wall. Elain gasped and tried to move away when he turned his full attention on her. Being held down by his power, the golden bracelet burning against her skin, she felt his magic like bugs crawling up her legs, her arms and into her hair. It was nothing like the Cauldron, like her ability as Seer, like the power of the High Lords. This power was wrong, it was chaos and destruction.
Still using his magic, he forced her up and used his gloved hand to tilt her face from side to side, ignoring the tears streaming down.
"NO!" Lucien screamed again.
She was too frightened to scream his name, she tried to turn around, but she couldn't.
"The rumours are right, you are the prettiest one of all three Archeron sisters." The Sorcerer pondered outloud, looking thoughtful and curious.
"P-please…" she pleaded, tears blurring her vision.
"Take me!" Lucien shouted, "Take me instead!"
"Lucien, no!" Helion screamed.
"You said you can't cancel bargains, only make new ones! Then take me, but spare her! Spare my Elain, leave her alone!" He begged, trying to move forward to get to his mate.
"Lucien…!" Elain gasped.
Curiously, the Sorcerer dropped some of his hold on her and Lucien, watching them as they tried to crawl to each other. His smile returned and he tightened his invisible grip on Elain once more. She screamed, her head thrown back at the horrifying sensation. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't move, she couldn't control anything. All she felt was fear and panic for what was yet to come.
"You are not the one I need, you don't have the blood that will set me free. But this one… this one does perfectly… and she has far less fight in her than the two others. She will do well."
He grabbed Elain's neck from the back, forcing her to rise.
"Lucien!" She screamed as she felt the swirling smoke, of dark magic rise around her and the Sorcerer.
"Elain!"
A sudden burst of light erupted from him and he broke free of the spell. He jumped forward, as Elain did as well to reach him. Their fingers brushed, their gazes met, then darkness took her.
"NO!"
Lucien's scream still resonated in Elain's ears when she fell on the floor, harshly, scrapping her hands and her knees through the beautiful, destroyed dress from the Mabon Ball. She could feel the Sorcerer's wicked presence as he stood behind her and she crawled away as fast as she could.
She was breathing so hard that her chest muscles ached.
Koschei cracked his neck and stretched his shoulders and fingers. He took off the gloves and then his cape, slowly, meticulously, and walked to put it down on a big seat.
Elain finally took in the room. It was a big living-room, with a crackling fire, and comfortable seats. It was nicely decorated with paintings, books and rugs. It was cosy, and she hated it.
Koschei walked to a big table and looked down at some papers and books he had left there. Then, he looked up and met Elain's gaze.
"What are you still doing here?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
All threat and show were gone, he sounded so… so… so ridiculously human. But it was an illusion, everything about him screamed danger. She could feel it.
Trembling, Elain stood up and tried to glare at him – but she was too frightened:
"Take me back!" she exclaimed in a shaky voice.
"Why would I do that?"
"I… I am not your… your prize, I do not belong to you, so take me back to my mate right now!"
"Or what? You'll punch me with that little hand of yours? You'll use a power so great and unimaginable you'll make me drown in my own blood?"
He sneered, rolling his eyes, and Elain flushed in anger. She walked to him and slammed her hands to the table. That got his attention, but he seemed just amused by her show of fury.
"Take me back to my mate, right now," she hissed, showing her teeth, blood pumping in her head.
He sighed, as if annoyed he'll have to explain something so obvious, as he took a rolled parchment from the pile gathered on the table. He put it down in front of Elain.
"I am bound to my lake, I cannot leave this place. Except to claim my prize, and that prize, is you, my dear Miss Archeron."
"I–"
He clicked his tongue before she could say another syllable. Shadows rose around him and she shivered, shunned into silence.
"I know you are not illiterate, so please, read the magical contract right here in front of you. It will explain everything you need to know."
Elain glared at him, in disbelief that he would ignore her plea so easily, but she grabbed the parchment. She pulled at the red ribbon holding it and her eyes went over the words. She frowned, until she reached the bottom of the page.
Her face crumbled.
She looked up at the Sorcerer who nodded with a patient smile, as if glad of a child's progress in their learning.
"No," she whispered.
"Oh yes. Over a year ago, your father found my lake and made a bargain: Queen Vassa was free to wander the rest of the world and help Prythian in their little war, and in exchange, all I required was a drop of blood from his fingertip. I was free to claim Vassa's return to my estate any time I desired it. And this other contract is the one I made with Vassa months ago…"
He handed Elain another parchment that she read eagerly.
Her face paled.
"No, Vassa wouldn't… she…!"
"Vassa was more than eager to make another bargain with me. I wouldn't claim her back to me, at the condition that she gave the cursed bracelet that marked my prize to you. She did her job splendidly. Your places were exchanged – instead of Vassa, I could claim you."
Elain shook her head, curls hitting her cheeks but she didn't care. She read the two contracts, times and times again, trying to find a loophole, something wrong or fake but the wording was exact, it was perfect. At the condition that she accepted Vassa's bracelet, she would take her place, willingly or not, as the Sorcerer's prisoner, bound to him and his lake.
The silence was only broken by the crackling of the fire.
The Sorcerer glanced at the window.
"Ah, the day is over. Finally." He remarked as the sky was turning from orange to a pale blue.
He walked to the opposite wall, and pulled at a string.
"Why me?" Elain asked in a breath, looking up at him.
The Sorcerer turned back towards her, a wicked grin on his face.
"Because, my lovely, you are the sacrifice that will set me free." He answered in a purr.
The contracts slipped from her fingers as realisation fell on her.
The Blood Moon will see him free. The Immortal. The Thief. He will come and steal the promised blood.
She was the promised blood, she was the blood that had to be sacrificed during the Blood Moon, the next Winter Solstice, that will set the Sorcerer free into the world. It never was Vassa.
She still wanted to ask "why me?" but the door opened and a young woman appeared and curtsied to the Sorcerer.
"My Lord Supreme." She saluted.
"Our new guest has arrived. She is special, so treat her kindly. I want her to be my new companion. She is in a bit of a shock, so let her rest until tomorrow."
"Yes, my Lord Supreme," she answered.
"No! I won't– I will do no such thing! I want to go back to my mate! Take me back, make a contract with me, I–"
The young woman, though human, grabbed her arm harshly enough to turn Elain into silence then she dragged her out of the room.
"No! Don't take me away! I need to go back to the Sorcerer and convince him to–"
"Hush!" she hissed, glaring at Elain from under her eyelashes.
Elain managed to remain silent until she arrived into what appeared to be the kitchen. Many young women, most of them human, were walking around and working in a fervent rhythm. She felt as if she had suddenly arrived in the middle of a nest of bees who worked for a King rather than a Queen.
The woman continued walking and when Elain didn't follow, she stopped and hissed an order through her teeth. Startling, Elain followed, more out of confusion than fear or eagerness.
They were wrapped in tense silence the entire way until they arrived in another room full of shelves with clothes, all the same brown servant clothes, and shoes of various sizes. The woman eyed Elain up and down, snorted at her glittering golden dress, then started pulling out some dresses and forced them into Elain's arms.
"Get changed. You don't want that pretty thing to be damaged any further."
"I…"
The woman was about to leave, but Elain threw the clothes on the ground. The woman whipped around so suddenly Elain thought she'd be hit. It was ridiculous, she was High Fae, and she was a mere mortal, and yet, she was… she had no idea what to do. She knew she was stronger and faster than before her transformation by the Cauldron, but she had never tried to use those new advantages. Her fairy body felt foreign to her as she eyed this meek human girl.
"No. I want to be out of here and I'll walk back to Prythian if I need to, but I am not staying another minute in this forsaken place!" she exclaimed, walking past the woman.
She grabbed her arm and when Elain turned around, her heart writhed in pity. The young woman looked at her with pleading, sad eyes. They were as brown and empty of life as her hair, but she should have been beautiful and full of life.
"Don't you understand? You can't!" she said, her voice breaking.
"I won't know that until I've tried," Elain answered but her determination had been shaken by the sense of loss that emanated from that girl.
She smelled it then: the fear, the horror, and the invisible magic that twisted all around the human.
"We all have, we all try, but we can't leave the territory that belongs to Lord Koschei," she explained, shaking her head, "We are bound by magic to him, and his lands. We have been sold and bargained to be his servants, for his pleasure and his comfort. We can't get out of here, ever!"
"S-surely, there must be a way out…"
"The only way out is the one you'll meet soon enough." The woman breathed, letting go of Elain's arm and stepping away.
Paler than before, Elain wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly feeling the chill of the night seeping into her skin, her bones. Or rather, it was fear.
She rubbed her hands together, thinking thoroughly on a way to get out of the Sorcerer's hold on her, and those other women. Her fingers hit the engagement ring on her left-hand. She looked down and her heart soared in pain. The red-gold ring and its rubies and sunstones shone even in the mid-darkness of the humid room.
Lucien…
Now that the adrenaline of her kidnapping was gone, all she felt was the tautness of the mating bond. It ached and ached, and ached. That thread beneath her rib was pulling, so hard it felt like it was about to break but it wouldn't. She knew that there was nothing stronger than a mating bond. It would never break, never, but as long as Lucien and she were separated, on different continents, it would constantly ache, and ache, and ache.
"I have to get out of here, I have to find Lucien," she murmured to herself.
He was probably already on his way here, he had probably winnowed furiously all the way to the Continent. It was a question of hours – no, minutes – before he set fire to the Sorcerer.
"Who?" The woman asked, frowning.
"M-my mate, he's coming for me, I know it. I need to find him," Elain said, turning around once again.
She hadn't reached the door that the young woman's despairing and piteous laugh stopped her in her tracks.
"Don't you think we have people we love and care about that we left behind? Don't you think we counted on them coming to save us? They don't, we belong to the Sorcerer and no one can do a thing."
"He's my mate! He will come! I know he will! He crossed all Prythian to come back to me once, he went to the Continent and back for me! He'll find me!" Elain exclaimed, her voice rising furiously at the thought that someone dared insult and underestimate Lucien's love for her.
Mating bond or not, he would have come. Mating bond or not, he was coming. He was on his way, right now, she knew it!
The young woman only stared at her, sadly, without the strength to argue against Elain's words. Let the reality of her new life as Koschei's puppet teach her the lesson that all his prisoners had already learned a long, long time ago…
Elain had no words to answer to that hopeless gaze. She snarled, more animalistic than most High Fae she had encountered ever behaved. But it was a basic instinct that screamed at her. She needed to get out of here, she needed to get free, she needed to get back to her mate.
When she stepped out of the room, this time, the young woman didn't stop her. Elain easily found the main door of the manor and she walked out. She froze, staring at a massive lake. It would have been magnificent, shining in the light of the moon and stars far above, but she couldn't shake off the deep, deep sense of dread that was settling into her bones. The more she looked at the lake, the more something felt off. The more she felt dragged back into the manor, the more she felt tethered to this entire place.
She shook her head and ran down the stairs. She followed the mating bond and went West. The manor and lake were surrounded by a forest, probably charming in the day time, but terrifying at night. She could hear animals running around but nothing could stop her.
She ran and ran, using her High Fae strength and endurance. She lost notion of time. She ran until she was out of breath, until her dress was torn from the branches, until her ankles hurt from twisting on pebbles, until pearls of sweat and humidity ran down her body.
She suddenly stopped, without knowing why.
She looked up. The sky was lightning up, turning a purplish blue, to announce daylight in a couple hours. The stars were already gone.
Massive boulders climbed a hill, and she could hear the sound of a waterfall and river running down from her right, all the way down to the manor.
Why had she stopped? Why?
She looked down at the floor, seeing nothing with her High Fae's eyes… but her Seer's instincts were shouting, almost ripping at her skin to get away.
Shaking, she took a step forward. And another, another, and she hit an invisible wall. It burnt and she screamed, jumping away. Her hands were fine, not the slightest sign of an injury and yet… and yet it burnt and the pain shot through her entire body. She forced herself to take another step and once again she felt that burning sensation. She didn't let go though.
Elain pushed forth, she gritted her teeth and tried to go beyond that wall, that invisible wall, but she couldn't.
"No… no… no!" she exclaimed.
She looked around, maybe it was like the Wall that once separated humans and Fae. Maybe there would be a hole somewhere.
She looked around and once again, her instincts, as a High Fae, as a Seer, showed her the truth: the land of the Sorcerer was immense, covering a forest, a small mountain, a waterfall, a river, and down at the centre of the valley… that small ridiculous manor and its massive lake glistening like venom in the night.
And yet, she knew, as certainly as she saw every bit of the territory beyond her, that there wasn't a centimetre of that magical barrier she could get through.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!
Her shriek resonated into the entire valley. Furious, heartbroken and helpless, it shook Elain to her core.
She whipped around and started hitting this damn wall, invisible and violent, hurting her hands. She threw her feet, she kicked and screamed and threw her whole body against that wall. But it was hopeless.
Sobbing, out of breath, she fell on her knees. She leaned against the invisible wall, even if it sent waves of painful heat and throbbing pain into her entire body. She was shaking. The sky was getting lighter, and she was still stuck in this forsaken place. She held onto her engagement ring, and she held onto the mating bond burning desperately between Lucien and herself.
"Ekaterina warned me of your little escapade."
She didn't startle, she didn't jump. Elain just looked up at the Sorcerer as he walked closer to her. He took in her torn dress, the scratches, and bruises all over her body, and her tear-strained face. He tightened his lips.
He got right next to her, still, she didn't move. He put a hand against the invisible wall and his skin sizzled in the burning. He pulled it away at once.
"Do you want to get out of here?" he asked in a breath, staring at the horizon he could see beyond the hills.
"Yes, please," she breathed, her voice raspy from all her screaming and sobbing.
She went on her knees, looking him up, begging silently to be set free, to join Lucien. It hurt far too much to be so far away from him for so long.
The Sorcerer looked down at her, with an understanding smile, and he nodded. Hope flared in Elain's chest.
"So do I."
She crumbled, her shaking arms barely holding her as she braced her body against the floor. Her lips shook, opening and closing. Tears burnt her eyes.
"And you are my only way out, my lovely Lady Archeron," he added in a soft voice.
He reached down for her. She looked over her shoulder at the horizon, where Lucien was, where he would surely arrive. Why did he take so long? Where was he?
The Sorcerer grabbed her shoulder and they disappeared in smoke that almost smothered her. They landed in front of the manor and instead of dragging her here, he put a hand behind her back and pushed her towards a big barn. The young women were entering it, one by one. Elain watched, too numb to really take in the sight of so many women sitting down quietly in a barn.
"You are special to me, Lady Archeron," Koschei said, still keeping her close as they watched the women waiting for something, "We live more in the night-time than in the day-time. Sunlight hurts my shadows far too much."
"Good." Elain said in a harsh voice, looking up to glare at him.
Lucien would come, the heir of the Day Court would come, and sunlight would the least of the Sorcerer's worries.
He was almost taken aback by her furious look.
"Tonight, you will be my special companion. You will bring me my meals and keep me company. I want us to become friends."
She snarled and jerked away from him. He didn't seem bothered or annoyed by her behaviour.
"I had planned to let you have some freedom, but I don't want you hurting yourself in the daytime."
He fell silent and even though the young women had been quiet the entire time, a sudden hush fell on the barn.
Elain met Ekaterina's eyes. The young woman looked up towards the window just as sunlight broke on the horizon. Light engulfed every woman, every figure, blinding Elain as waves of magic shifted their bodies.
She gasped, reopening her eyes and thinking back on Vassa.
Cursed to be a Firebird by day, and a mortal woman by night.
She had been special, she had been a queen, but the Sorcerer's way was the same. Those young women were cursed to be swans by day, and mortal women by night.
Elain stepped back as she was faced with a dozen of white swans, batting their wings, and shaking their heads.
She realised that the Sorcerer's attention was suddenly on her. She stepped back, fear coursing through her veins.
"I don't want you to be hurt, my lovely," he said as he touched her forehead.
Searing light burnt against her skin. She fell on her knees, her entire body hurting and breaking as it twisted and became something different, something unknown and strange. But then, she found a strange comfort in this transformation. It wasn't the first time she was re-made, and this? It was nothing compared to what the Cauldron did to her.
The pain became dull and distant as she recalled her experience in the Cauldron. And in her last moments as a High Fae, she looked up and glared at the Sorcerer. She might not have Feyre's determination, or Nesta's wickedness, but she was an Archeron all the same.
"I promise to kill you for that," she hissed.
Something akin to fear flashed in the Sorcerer's gaze, but then her sight was taken from her. When she reopened her eyes, her senses were different. She stumbled on the new legs from that new, unknown body.
She could hear her breathing, the flapping of the wings. She saw the Sorcerer's maniac smile.
And she ran, faster and faster into the forest. Faster than she ever ran, faster than even her High Fae legs could take. Faster and faster, away and away, until she stumbled against pebbles and went to a stop, right in front of the river. It was quieter than at the waterfall, a bubbling river with a beautiful meadow of pretty flowers, covered in dew.
Elain took in the scene, acutely aware that she was not herself anymore. She looked down at the river and the reflection it gave her. Her heart, much stronger than before, but beating with the same life, got faster.
Not a swan, not a Firebird. But a beautiful and elegant doe.
Next chapter: Twisted Fairy-tale
Yours Truly,
May