I am sorry for the delay on this chapter you guys, I have had a few setbacks in life that had sapped me of my creativity. I know this is a short chapter, but I believe its words are powerful enough to portray what I wanted. Enjoy, and leave feedback. Hugs!
Her heart was beating in her ears, a sickening drum that seemed to expel her very strength with every beat. There he stood, plate armor glinting in the light, his jaw hard... His moves constricted. Breathe, Nadine breathe!
Black spots suddenly filled her vision, her lungs burning with the cry for oxygen. Yet she could not draw breath! His cold expression and stern jaw made the blow even worse, and she felt as if she had been physically punched in the stomach. Her green eyes travelled over his face, looking for the regular air of jocularity that almost surrounded him like an aura. There was nothing, no jest. No love. His brown eyes were empty, and their emptiness caused her body to shut down. The weight of her breaking heart caused her knees to collapse, and she sank to the ground as a rollercoaster of emotions rode over her.
Anger. Her green eyes flashed a building rage that she could not contain, or damper. She felt the atmosphere around her growing thin, the air becoming devoid of substance. She felt that burning power within her, the beckoning to cast. Her emotions were rendering her powerless, and soon she would be merciless.
A hand was snaking around her thigh, head snapping down to see it. Surprisingly it was her own, small dagger glinting in the dim light. Time was slowing down, stopping, and the veil around her almost gone. Magic was threatening to burst from her, fueled by the accelerant of betrayal. Heartbreak and betrayal.
She was bitten! Her green eyes snapping to her leg, where the bite was felt. There, she was awed to see the silver dagger leaving a clean wound, drawn by her own hand. The wound welled with angry red blood, and as her life began to trickle down her leg the veil snapped shut so fiercely that the halls must have echoed with it.
Her lungs suddenly demanded air, and she took a few great whooping gasps. As her vision returned to normal, she realized just how close she had been to becoming an abomination. Though the cut had brought her humanity back in check, it had done nothing to loosen the vice grip on her heart.
His eyes were now full of concern, and for a moment his hand danced forward to help her. Her eyes stopped him. All love had drained from them, and had been replaced by something he had never seen. She said nothing, she did nothing, and her eyes were as empty as the darkest night. Nothing was there for him now, nothing ever would be.
She would stand, small dagger still clutched in her hand as the tiny river of flowed to her feet. He opened his mouth to say something, but with movements faster than he realized she flicked the silver blade forward. Her fingers released it, and it hit the ground and skidded to his plate boot. He would wish that the clock could be turned back, to before the landsmeet. Maybe this was an angry dream.
Suddenly she was gone. She had left so quickly, he had barely seen her move. His eyes glanced to the floor, to the blade and the tiny droplets of blood she had left as evidence of their conversation. He picked up that blade, his finger running down the blade. As the flesh of his thumb was split, and his own blade began to well up in the wound he realized that this was not a dream. This was real.
The only woman he would ever love was gone, the binds of tradition and royalty having robbed him of her.
He would hate himself for this. No physical wound would ever replace this feeling. This angry, endless, painful feeling. This sweet, sweet....
Agony.