جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 190

CelineI had no idea how long I had been in the mirrored prison. Time stopped meaning anything and I had stopped counting the moments between Charles’ visits and between the visions that clawed at my mind, threatening to pull me under. All I had left was the echo of my own breath, ragged and shallow and the promise I kept whispering to myself in the dark. But that promise felt very fragile the day the door was opened and as they came for me. The two guards were silent and their faces were hidden under silver masks as they walked to me. Their presence filled the cell like smoke… it was suffocating and oppressive and I stared at them, not blinking as my beaten pounded. For a minute, I thought they were going to drag me to another cell, or worse, to my execution. Instead, one of them spoke up, his voice hollow under the mask. “You’re to be prepared.”Prepared? For what? I asked myself, confusion swirling in me as my stomach twisted. My instincts screamed at me that whatever was coming

Celine They dressed me in silk and silence. Even after everything… the mirrored prison, the twisted visions and the voice of Charles echoing through my every waking moment, they still wanted me to look the part. Look like a queen. A consort and a willing bride. The vampire maidens barely spoke as they painted my skin with oil and pressed pearls along the curves of my collarbone. Their hands were cold, but just physical but also emotionally. Empty and hollow as if whatever humanity they once possessed had been drained centuries ago. And yet, something glistened in the air that night. Charles’ caste was always covered in shadows and blood, but there was something sharper now. A tension that didn’t belong to him and I felt it like a shiver under my skin, a current stirring under the surface. The blood moon outside the windows pulsed in and out of view, casting flickering light across the hallways as I was led to the Great Hall. When the doors opened, it was like stepping into a ni

CelineThe stairs felt like it went on forever as worn stone curved tightly around me, covered in shadows and the smell of mildew. I clung to the wall as I went down deeper and deeper into the forgotten wing of the castle. The midnight air licked at my skin through the cracks in the stone and even though silence wrapped around me, my heart was pounding loud enough to echo. Every step felt like I was doing something wrong. And every breath was like a betrayal and yet I moved downwards, guided by only a memory and a name I had not dared to say… freedom. The end of the staircase led into a narrow corridor that was lit by lanterns that were flickering, their flames bluish and strange. At the end of the corridor was a door, it was made out of wood and it looked simple and at the same time utterly out of place in this big, monstrous castle. It cracked open before I touched it and a figure dressed in black waved at me. They said no words and I asked no questions. And inside, the air chang

CelineMy heart pounded in my chest as I took the last steps into my chambers, the cage that had turned into a place of solace for me from Charles and his minions. Strangely, it had become a kind of wrapped sanctuary from Charles and the other monsters who followed him with blind devotion. The guards uttered nothing as I entered. They stood still like statues with blank, unreadable faces by the door and as I stepped in, it closed behind me with a small thud that had my heart skipping two beats faster than ever before but I forced myself to calm down because I was the same woman that I was when I got to this nightmare of a place. I was feeling more better and confident than ever, I had done some things that I never thought would be possible. Many in this very castle loathed Charles and his ways. Many wanted nothing to do with him and many wanted him dead and out of the way but also, many wanted their freedom from him and it had been hard but also easy to talk them into becoming alli

Celine I was taken into the ceremonial bath and I didn't make any move to fight them against it when they took me into the foul smelly waters, but this time they were much more persistent than ever before.I was scrubbed harder and harder than ever before and cleaned till my skin shone bright red, my hair was washed until I could no longer feel the weight of my hair on my head.My whole body shook with pains as I was brought out of it and their cold fingers moved on my hurting skin, rubbing lotions into it and it only served to make it more painful than before.I resisted the urge to bunch up my palms as pain filled me up before they once again took me back to the room and began to dress me up.These women were all like a created hollow body without any soul to direct them, they merely took orders and never gave out.They were unresponsive and unforgiving in their care for my skin, I was certain that Charles had ordered this and my eyes narrowed with anger and rage.They simply put o