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Chapter 17 - White Adversity

Nereyda

I stood in the infirmary, my hands clasped firmly in front of me. I stood at Simon's bedside, watching as a nurse applied ointment to the blue side of his face.

It was silent in the castle and for once I didn't view it as oppressive but rather I found the quiet soothing. I needed a bit of peace at that moment.

My mother had insisted I stay in bed for the entirety of the previous day. I hadn't actually fainted but apparently her pregnancy hormones had started to kick in and she'd decided to be worried about her daughter. I would've thought she'd care even less about me now that she had a son on the way. For the physician had confirmed that it was a son.

But then, perhaps I was being naive in thinking my mother had suddenly developed maternal feelings towards me. When I thought about it, she probably just wanted to make sure I was in good shape for my wedding. Which was tomorrow.

I closed my eyes briefly and took a deep breath. As I exhaled I backed away from the bed, nodding in thanks to a nearby nurse. She curtseyed.

The infirmary was packed. For such a small group of rebels, they had managed to do some serious damage. When I talked privately with a nurse regarding Simon's health, she'd told me in a hushed whisper of her suspicions that magic was involved.

I remembered his words, 'Gelina fancies herself a witch'.

I shook myself of those thoughts and continued with my slow, evenly placed steps towards the exit. My eyes were focused straight ahead but I counted the beds in the corners of my eye. Fifteen on the left, fifteen on the right. Thirty guards all together. They would all be losing their jobs.

My entire body was numb as I paced the corridors of the castle. It was the first time I had left my room since two evenings previously. Had it not been for Amberly informing me about Simon, I was sure I would still be in bed right now.

Once in my room, I slowly made my way to the dresser and sat myself down in front of it. I took a marbled comb encrusted with white glass to my hair, pulling it through the silken strands. My cheekbones were more prominent in my face than usual, most likely a result of me refusing my meals. No one had batted an eyelash, assuming that it was in preparation for my wedding. My wedding.

I stared into my reflection's eyes, wondering what the girl in the mirror made of my situation. I certainly didn't know what to make of it. All I knew was that my heart felt raw, my whole being vulnerable.

My pale skin looked almost translucent in the frigid sunlight streaming through the window. Like common glass, ready to shatter at the slightest touch. I felt like I would.

Amberly entered then, bringing a tray of food with her.

I didn't turn to face her, but watched as she moved in the mirror. The repetitive strokes of the comb through my hair worked to send me into a somewhat peaceful trance and I didn't want to come out of it just yet.

She set the tray on the dresser in front of me, taking the comb from my hand and continuing to brush it for me. I looked at the food in front of me with detached indifference. How could I be expected to eat when I felt like my world was ending?

Amberly worked her way around my head as I sat there, not saying anything about my lack of interest in food. She moved my hair over my right shoulder, suddenly letting out a quiet gasp as the left side of my neck was exposed.

I dragged my eyes away from where they had been following the hypnotic movements of the comb - which had abruptly stopped - and towards the area she gaped at. I started in surprise as I took in what looked like a tattoo on my collar bone.

Shoving the tray of food out of the way, I leaned in towards the mirror to see it more clearly. Upon this closer inspection, it became obvious that the tattoo was of a wolf eye. An electric blue eye set in a face of ebony fur. It sat snugly in the crevice above my collar bone, the outer corner of the eye flicking up towards my shoulder.

I traced it with a finger and a strange feeling of belonging went through me. I was still looking at the mark with what I regret to say was something close to affection when Amberly interrupted my musings.

"Your highness," she muttered almost abashedly. "Forgive me, but you can't..." she faltered. "You can't marry the Lord with...that," she stopped.

I felt a heated wave crash over me. My leopard and I both felt the need to defend our mate. "You can't see it," I said softly, still caressing the skin there.

"Soon people will be able to tell it's there from your scent," she shifted uncomfortably behind me. "And also on your wedding night..."

She didn't need to say any more. She had, rather rudely, reminded me of how I'd be expected to sleep with Lord Oscar. Something I myself hadn't even considered until this moment. I guessed it would actually be easier for me now that I didn't need to worry about my mate.

Of course, first I would have to do something about the charcoal smeared across my skin.

"How do I get rid of it?" I deadpanned, still staring regretfully at the mark in the mirror.

She cleared her throat and said softly, "You'll have to see a witch, but to be honest I've never heard of anyone ever being able to cover their mark up."

I exhaled slowly, staring at myself hard. "Okay then, we best be off."

She nodded vigorously, quickly gathering my things and helping me change into my outerwear. I didn't really care what I wore anymore but I entertained her, if only for the sake of convention.

As we made our way down the stairs, a couple of guards several steps behind us, she spoke again. "Forgive me, your highness, but did you claim him as well?"

I looked at her, slightly surprised she would be so forward as to ask that question. I'd thought about it myself and was decidedly against marking Braeden. I mean, how could I now? Plus, it wasn't like he'd given me any warning before taking it upon himself to put his mark on me. Although, if I was honest with myself, at the time I probably wouldn't have said no, but I still thought he should have given me a choice, at the very least a warning.

I was silent for a long time, debating whether I should answer her question. When we reached the bottom of the stairs I gave my head a brisk shake and allowed a guard to lift me into a chariot.

Amberly sat in the front section of the chariot with a guard, giving him directions.

All the leaves lay in decaying heaps on the floor now, for winter was assuredly upon us. The air was bitingly cold and I was sure Braeden and I had taken our last swim together for the year. I paused in thought and realised that we'd probably taken our last swim ever.

Not that I wanted to swim with him again. After what he'd done to me I doubted if I'd ever want to see him again, let alone actually spend substantial amounts of time with him.

The chariot pulled up outside what looked like an ordinary house on one of the residential streets.

I allowed the guard to lift me onto the road, all the while squinting at the unremarkable cottage and trying to differentiate it from the other surrounding houses.

"She's the most powerful witch in the city," Amberly was whispering at my side. "Rumour has it that she trained in Zafirah."

If that was true and she couldn't get rid of my mark then I was sure no one would be able to. Zafirah was a mystic place, hidden in the fog of the Boiling Rubble. I knew that some people didn't even believe it existed.

The guard approached the house in front of me, knocking on the door when he reached it. So far, the only difference I had spotted between this house and the many others lining the street was the poor paint job on the front of it. Next to the door, the paint was peeling off in an X shape.

The door swung open in front of us and I craned my neck to look around the guard at whoever might be in the doorway. But there was no one in the doorway.

The guard leaned forward into what appeared to be an empty house. "Hello?" He called into the whiteness.

The floorboard creaking as the guard stepped into the house broke the silence. Just then a small child bounded around the corner. She looked up at us with wide green eyes. "My mummy's out," she said. "I'm not supposed to answer the door to strangers, what do you want?"

The guard stood frozen still in surprise, somehow managing to gape at the child without showing an ounce of expression. Amberly stepped forward in front of me. "Hi," she greeted. "We're looking for a witch who lives here. Her name is Gelina."

My chin tilted upwards slightly as I reigned in my shock. I would never have thought Gelina so powerful a witch. So powerful as to have trained in Zafirah. Braeden had been so dismissive of her talent...well, he'd probably been lying to me, as I'd discovered he had a constant habit of doing.

The child's green eyes blinked slowly at us and, now that I thought about it, they were exactly the same eyes as I'd seen in the semi-darkness of the arena. Would Gelina even want to help me? When we'd met before she hadn't seemed overly fond of me, and far too fond of Braeden, to my annoyance at the time.

"What do you want with her?" The child repeated the question in her tuneful voice.

There was something about the child's large eyes that seemed to see more than a child her age should. She seemed to be watching me quite carefully, despite my being behind both my companions.

I allowed Amberly to answer, content to stand in the shadows and watch the scene unfold before me.

"We were wondering whether she might have a spell to hide a claiming mark," Amberly said the words slowly, as if she wasn't sure that she trusted the girl in front of us. I thought I saw something like suspicion in her eyes.

I blinked and the girl before us was no longer a girl but a woman. A woman with vibrant red hair and biting green eyes.

I blinked several more times at Gelina, trying to understand what on earth had just taken place. The little girl had just been a disguise, something Gelina had made us see to protect herself. It made sense when I thought about it. After all, she had just attacked the castle and then a few days later a palace guard came knocking at her door.

"Close the door," she said in her low, sultry voice, glaring at me with blood infested eyes. She looked awful, as if she hadn't slept at all in weeks.

Seeing as both my companions were frozen on their feet, I turned and shut the door gently. I was in for another shock when I turned back to the interior of the house.

The entirety of the walls and floor was composed of rich, glossy wood. Colourful drapes hung from many places on the walls and around what had previously looked like a window. Bookshelves piled hazardously high were crammed into every inch of space along the walls, most of the books being so old they looked like they were about to disintegrate at any second.

"Come sit," she gestured towards several piles of cushions, which I'd only just realised people were supposed to sit on.

I gingerly lowered myself to the floor. Had the woman never heard of chairs?

She collapsed onto a particularly high pile of cushions in the corner, reaching up to run her fingers along the book spines on one of her shelves.

"So Braeden claimed you?" She half stated, half asked, her tone sardonic.

"Without my consent," I put in before I could stop myself.

Her head snapped around to see me. She stared at me for a heartbeat before she burst into a fit of astringent laughter.

"Fucking precious," she spat, before turning away and continuing her book search.

I didn't say anything, watching her quietly. She seemed very volatile. I was worried that if I said the wrong thing she would kick me out of her house.

After a few minutes of silence from us - Amberly and the guard having finally taken their seats - and a lot of incoherent muttering from Gelina, she finally pulled a book off the shelf.

Her red hair flew as she spun violently to face me. "Stand up," she snapped.

I did as she asked.

She approached me quickly, flicking my hair over my shoulder. The movement of the large mass sent a breeze through the room, and a wind chime went clinking.

Her expression was stoic as she grimly took in Braeden's eye engraved on my body. Then she was rubbing a thick black paste into it and chanting from the book in her hands.

Pins and needles started in my shoulder, slowly growing more and more aggressive until it felt like someone with a thousand hands was repeatedly stabbing me with serrated spears.

My knees collapsed out from under me and a moan tore from my throat. I felt the guard's arms around me as he stopped me from hitting the wood but Gelina's hand had followed me. She'd sunk to the floor with me, obviously expecting it. Bitch.

I tried shoving her hands off me, anything to make the stabbing stop, but she grabbed my shoulder in a claw like grip. The pain had made me weak and I could only slap at her arm in a pathetically futile manner.

When she finally removed her hands from my body I felt dazed and light headed.

In the back of my mind I heard Amberly asking how much she wanted, to which Gelina replied nothing, saying that it had been an honour. I didn't quite understand that one.

I managed to stumble my way up to my room when we arrived at the castle, although I wasn't sure I would've made it without Amberly's firm guidance.

I was starting to think that Gelina had poisoned me.

+++++

I could feel him, smell him, heck I could nearly taste him.

He stood on my balcony, searching for the latch to my glass door, the latch to my closed heart.

I didn't turn to face him, but my eyes were open and staring into the darkness. I heard the swish of the door being pulled back. It was raining outside, the pinging sound of drops on the concrete balcony reaching my ears. The wind churned outside, invading my room for a few brief seconds and rustling my duvet covers.

My leopard must have been growing stronger for I could hear the nimble pads of his feet as he took a few steps into my room. Although that could be the water weighing his shoes down.

It was silent for a few moments as he stood there. I assumed he was waiting for me to acknowledge him, but that wasn't going to happen. I knew he could tell I was awake because he could hear the subtle difference in my breathing.

"Nereyda," his voice floated like a feather on a cloud of lies.

I said nothing, staring resolutely ahead into the darkness. I couldn't do this with him.

"Rey, please," he begged, his voice breaking on the 'please'. I heard him take a step closer.

A tear slithered out of my right eye. "Leave me alone," I breathed, curling my legs further into my chest.

"We need to talk about this," I could almost feel the heat of him as he took a few more steps. He was standing directly over me now.

I said nothing, the previous words I'd spoken already having drained my energy.

He sighed quietly, and I felt him lower himself to perch on my bed behind me.

He sat whilst I lay away from him and we both stared into the darkness.

More tears gushed from my eyes, and somehow I knew he sat with his head in his hands.

"Go," I finally choked out on a sob. He wasn't making me feel better by being here, in fact he was making me feel horrific. I was getting married the next day, I didn't have the strength to deal with this.

"Please forgive me Nereyda, I swear I had no choice," the words left him in a rush.

I couldn't look behind me. If I did I was sure to do something ludicrous like slapping him...or kissing him.

"It's too late," I mumbled into the pillow, turning my face hopelessly away from him.

He was abruptly silent, I couldn't even hear his breathing. I held my breath.

"Baby please," he begged one more time.

I felt his hand drifting over my hair. I hated that I loved how it felt and wanted nothing more to turn towards him and throw myself into his arms.

I shrank away from him.

His movements froze for several seconds. Then I heard him exhale and he stood up, making his way back towards the balcony.

"I still love you," he breathed into the room as he stood by the door.

I sobbed into my pillow and then he was gone.

--- A/N ---

Hopefully this makes up for a short (kind of crappy) previous chapter. None of you know this yet but there are only three chapters left of Part One. But there will be a Part Two so don't worry. Nereyda's story is not nearly over ;) - Z