[edited: 21/02/2018]

"Mother!" Maksim shouted and crouched down beside Hilda, who was curled up on the kitchen floor. There was a thick blanket of black dust covering almost everything in the kitchen, and one of the walls had been shattered so that a cool breeze stung Maksim's cheeks and he could see the cobbled roads and pink sky on the other side of the green glass. 

"I—I don't know what happened," Annika stuttered as Maksim examined his mother. Her red hair was the only colour she held; her face was a ghostly white and her eyes were closed. "I came in and found her here a few moments ago."

"Ackmard," he whispered, the smell of sulphur burning the back of his throat as though in confirmation.

He was going to say something to Annika, but whatever it was disappeared from his lips when he turned to her and saw how different she looked now. Her golden eyes had been stolen and replaced by two abysses, and her face was flushed as though she had over-exerted herself somehow. 

Slowly, he stood up and frowned down at the witch kneeling beside his mother. Remy had said that she did not trust her and he had dismissed her immediately. He had been blind then, but now, he saw the darkness in her. He saw the look of satisfaction on her face, the insincerity that had always been covered up by innocence before.

Nausea clawed at his stomach. Remy had been right, and he had not listened. He should have listened.

"Your eyes are black," he said once he had regained his composure. "You are practising dark magic. You are working with my brother."

Annika sighed as though deciding whether to deny it or not and then stood up, panic flitting across her features. "I am not the enemy, Maksim. You know me. I would never hurt anybody."

"Is that why my mother is unconscious on the floor?" His bottom lip curled in hatred and he stepped well away from the witch. "You are the worst of them all, for you pretend to be the opposite of what you are. You are a liar. Remy was right."

This seemed to bring anger to Annika, for her eyes narrowed and her black irises glittered. "Remy knows nothing! She is just a mortal girl—or have you forgotten that now? She does not understand magic or love. She does not understand sacrifice!"

"Sacrifice?" he questioned disbelievingly. "And what have you sacrificed, Annika? What do you understand of love? You are superficial and weak-willed. Remy has risked her life to help our people. What have you done? What has my brother offered you that has made you become this?"

"You!" she shouted, and much to Maksim's surprise, a tear slipped from her eye. Everything she had ever felt seemed to be leaking out of her at once, and it caused a fear to resonate within the pit of Maksim's stomach. How could he manage somebody so unbelievably out of control? "He has offered me you. I did not want it to come to this, but don't you see? I would do anything for you. I would be anything for you. You can have a family again; your brother and sister and I, we want you to join us. We can be together."

She attempted to come closer and reach out, but Maksim shuffled back instantly, cringing away from her touch. He might have been hurt by the lies he had believed so many times if he was not so worried for Remy and furious with himself. "I am not an object that can be bought, Annika. Ackmard might have offered me to you, but it is I who decides who I want to be with, and I certainly do not want to be with an evil, deceptive witch. If you ever thought I would, you are more stupid than I thought."

A sob erupted from her then and more tears fell as she looked desperately at Maksim. "All I have ever done is love you."

"That is not quite true. You have also attacked my mother and I do not doubt that you had a hand in taking Remy."

"But I did everything for you!" A gust of wind whipped through her brown curls, tendrils floating like snakes around her face and shoulders. It was not coming from outside, but her. There was so much power in her that Maksim had never seen before, and never expected to see. Having her in front of him now this way made him feel as though the ground was swaying beneath his feet. Who else had lied to him? Who could he trust if not the kindest, gentlest person he knew?

"You did it for yourself! If you truly cared about me you would respect me enough to leave me alone when I told you that I did not wish to marry you. Instead, you went to my brother and tried to hurt the people that I love." He scoffed then and shook his head, looking around at the ruins of his kitchen and his unconscious mother. "You did all of this for your own selfish desires. You are so unused to not getting what you want that you would rather sacrifice who you are than accept it and move on. You are pathetic."

"No," she cried. "No, you are wrong. I love you, Maksim."

A window shattered behind him, but he did not flinch. He could do nothing but think about the despise running through his veins, and that meant he could not be scared of Annika's capabilities.

"You do not know what love is!"

"And you do?"

"Yes!" he yelled without thinking. Then, everything within him softened, for he realised that it was true— he was in love. He hadn't been sure, hadn't wanted to be before, but now he was running around desperately trying to find Remy, wondering how he might live with himself if she was hurt, and he knew. He loved her, and he was not afraid or shocked. He was eerily calm, because loving her was like breathing. Somehow, he had fallen into an orbit with her at the centre of it without struggle or realisation, and it was as natural, as easy, as it was for the planets to orbit the sun. 

"But you ..." Annika paused, confused, "you cannot. Not unless you love me. You do love me after all?"

"I love Remy," he whispered so quietly that he could not be sure she had heard. Then, he remembered why he had come here in the first place.

He glared at Annika, at her fingers that were blackened with the recent use of dark magic. "You can make portals with your magic, can't you? That is how my brother disappears so easily, how you have stayed in contact with him. No?"

"Yes," she nodded, the chaos around her having lessened at some point so that she appeared almost like her old self—if it were not for those eyes that gave everybody away eventually.

He pursed his lips together. "Good. Then you can make a portal for me."

"So that you can save your little mortal girl and leave me here alone? I do not think so, Maksim."

"No," he lied as best he could. "So that I can talk to my brother and my sister. If you truly love me, you will do this for me. You can even come with me, if you must."

"I knew you would understand eventually." 

She smiled sweetly and black smoke curled from her fingers. She was showing off for him, unknowing that her naivety would be her downfall. The blackness formed a ring around the wall that had not been shattered, and through it, Maksim could see the black cliffs of Nil Lake forming. The smell of black magic made him gag, but he did not look away

"Thank you," he said when he could breathe again, and took a cautious step closer to Annika. Her arms had fallen back down to her sides now; the portal was ready.

"I would do anything for you, Maksim. I hope now you can see that."

He nodded and cupped his hands over her cheeks with as much gentleness as he could muster. It was becoming increasingly difficult not to grimace, particularly when he felt her hot skin against his palms. "I can."

Before she could respond, his magic, still a cloudy grey colour, spread across her skin like a thin veil, causing her eyes to flutter shut. Maksim was not cruel enough to let her fall, though a part of him wanted to. He lowered her slowly, her brown hair fanning about her as he placed her onto the floor. 

"I thought you were better than this," he muttered, unknowing whether he was talking to Annika or himself. 

He shook his head and ran back to his mother, using a healing spell to wake her up. He would suffer for it after, using so much magic before going up against his brother, but there was nothing he could do. He needed his mother.

As though reading his thoughts, Hilda's eyes opened slowly, and disorientation caused her to blink. 

"Mother," he said urgently. "They are at Nil Lake. Tell the Council. Get as many people willing to help as you can. Promise me."

She scrambled up quickly, her fingers wrapped around Maksim's hand, which was still tingling from the magic he had used. Then, she glanced behind him, first at Annika's motionless body and then the portal, and fear contorted her features. "You cannot go alone, Maksim. It is too dangerous."

"I must. They have Remy. Please, go to the Council."

"No," she whispered as he stood up, but it was too late. He was already sprinting towards the portal. A flash of black consumed him as he stepped through it, and then he was no longer in his kitchen.

He was at Nil Lake, looking out over jutting cliffs and a jet black pool of water lying in complete stillness beneath grey clouds. Astracia was far behind him now.