Arastella POV
My fingers were laced tightly with Castel's as he led me through the quiet stone corridors of the palace, but my heart was beating a frantic rhythm against my ribs. Where is he taking me? Every instinct I possessed—the raw, wild dragon senses buried in my blood—screamed that he was lying.
He had that smooth, effortless smile on his face, the one that meant he had already woven a trap and was simply waiting for me to step into it.
We rounded a corner into a secluded, high-walled courtyard, and Castel finally came to a halt.
Standing in the center of the courtyard was a tall, strikingly handsome man with sweeping blonde hair, intense light eyes, and a light beard framing his sharp jawline. He wore a sleek black and light grey tailored jacket. The moment his eyes landed on us, he immediately bowed his head in deep respect.
On the stone floor surrounding him were dozens of large, woven baskets, practically overflowing with fresh food, salted meats, and dense loaves of bread.
I stopped dead in my tracks, my eyes darting from the man to the massive supply of food. "I thought you said we were going to see my family," I said, my voice cold with suspicion.
"No need to rush, my love. We are," Castel murmured. He reached up, his fingers brushing toward my cheek to tuck a stray lock of hair behind my ear, but I sharply pulled my head away, flinching from his touch.
My eyes snapped back to the blonde stranger. "Who is this?"
"Don't worry about his name," Castel replied smoothly, dismissing my question without a second thought.
He gave a slight, imperceptible nod to the blonde man. Instantly, the stranger stepped forward and raised his hands. Golden, shimmering ripples of raw magic began to hum around his fingertips, tearing through the very fabric of the air. With a low, resonant tear, a swirling, violent portal of dark energy ripped open in the center of the courtyard, revealing a dense, forest on the other side.
Castel looked down at me, a mockingly polite smile on his lips. "Shall we, my dear wife?"
With his grip still tight around my hand, he pulled me forward, and together we stepped through the threshold of the portal.
The transition was instantaneous. The stone ground of the palace courtyard vanished, replaced by the damp, mossy earth of a dark, shadowed forest. The trees here grew tall and suffocatingly thick, blocking out almost all sunlight. But it wasn't the trees that caught my attention.
Standing directly in front of us, twisting and warping the very air of the forest, was the Void.
It was a massive, tearing scar of absolute nothingness, a swirling abyss of pitch-black gravity that seemed to swallow the light around it.
The moment my heels touched the damp forest ground, a sudden, blindingly sharp pain exploded in my chest. It felt like a physical spear driving straight through my heart, echoing with a hollow, weeping agony that wasn't my own.
"Ah!" I gasped, clutching my chest with my free hand as the sheer force of the pain nearly brought me to my knees. I instantly ripped my hand away from Castel's grip, unable to bear his touch while my soul was screaming.
Castel immediately bent down, his hands catching my shoulders to steady me. "Are you okay?"
"Get off of me!" I snarled, shoving his chest with just enough force to make him step back. "This is your doing."
Ignoring his piercing stare, I staggered toward the edge of the swirling black abyss. The raw pull of the Void hummed against my skin, calling to me. Trembling, I raised my hand and pressed my palm directly against the cold, vibrating barrier of the black rift.
Deep, waves of hunger, agonizing pain, and absolute, crushing loss flooded straight into my consciousness. I could feel it all—the slow, agonizing fading of my people.
"Patéra… esie durf akou ota?" I cried out into the dark, my voice cracking with desperation. (Father… can you hear me?)
The Void seemed to ripple in response to my voice. From the deepest, darkest depths of the endless abyss, a low, rumbling echo vibrated through the stone beneath my feet, carrying a warmth that instantly brought tears to my eyes.
"Ota imi ris, veim aidi."(I am here, my child.)
I let out a massive, shuddering sigh of relief, my hand pressing harder against the barrier. Even though the darkness of the Void kept me from seeing his face, just hearing his voice was enough to keep my heart from shattering completely.
"Speak where I can understand," Castel demanded from behind me, his voice dropping into a harsh, commanding growl.
I whirled around, my eyes flashing with a dangerous fire as I glared at him. "How dare you ask such a thing of me! I will speak to my father in whatever language I choose."
Castel's mismatched eyes narrowed, the gold in his left eye gleaming with a chilling promise. "I told you to think wisely before you act, Arastella. My patience is wearing incredibly thin."
"Fuck you and your fucking patience," I spat.
Instead of flying into a rage, Castel's lips slowly curled into a dark, amused smile.
I turned my back on him, pressing my hand back against the hum of the portal. I could feel the life forces inside weakening by the second. "Posika morva?" I whispered, my heart aching. (How many have died?)
The response from the dark was heavy, carrying the weight of a dying empire. "Hiliades."(Thousands.)
Hot tears finally spilled over my eyelashes, burning my cheeks. I could literally feel them—my beautiful, majestic dragons, starving and fading away into nothingness in the dark.
I turned back to face Castel. He was still standing there, watching my agony with that same, sickeningly handsome smile.
"If you say you truly love me..." I choked out, the tears streaming down my face as my pride crumbled under the weight of my people's suffering. "If you have any mercy in you... you will help them. Please."
I was crying openly now, completely stripped of my armor. "Karapalo… Ota imi iketevo esie," I pleaded, my voice barely a whisper against the hum of the rift. (Please… I am begging you.)
Castel's smile softened. He walked over, his steps slow and deliberate, and gently reached out to wipe the tears from my cheeks with his thumb. "If I help them... in return, you will share my bed."
The utter disgust that pooled in my stomach was instantaneous. I snatched my hand off the Void and raised it, swinging with everything I had to slap the smug look right off his face.
But Castel was faster. His hand shot out, catching my wrist in an iron grip just inches from his cheek. He pulled my hand down, but instead of hurting me, he leaned down and pressed a slow, lingering kiss to the back of my knuckles.
"You disgust me," I whispered, my voice trembling with hatred.
"I love when you flirt with me," Castel murmured, his eyes locking onto mine with an unhinged, burning intensity. "It turns me on."
I violently wrenched my hand out of his grip, stepping back.
Castel looked past me to the swirling abyss, his expression turning cold and businesslike. "What shall it be, my Queen? It doesn't seem like they have much longer to live."
I looked at the Void, feeling the agonizing, dying gasps of my family. I had no choice. I would walk through fire, I would sell my soul, and I would suffer his touch if it meant they survived.
"Yes," I cried, my voice breaking. "Yes, I will. Just help them, please!"
Castel let out a laugh—a dark, echoing sound that made the hairs on my arms stand up and my skin crawl with pure dread. He stepped closer to the Void, raising his hand and pressing his palm flat against the black rift. His eyes immediately flared, glowing magic began to warp the barrier.
He cast a sharp look over his shoulder at the blonde man, who had just stepped through the portal behind us, carrying the heavy baskets of food.
The blonde man rushed forward, holding Castel's free hand while touching the vibrating edge of the Void. Suddenly, a blinding flash of golden and violet light erupted from their joined hands, weaving together like threads of a cosmic tapestry. The raw magic tore open a small, stabilized pocket-portal directly inside the dense darkness of the Void.
Working with practiced, dizzying speed, the blonde man began grabbing the massive baskets of food, shoving them one by one through the glowing tear and into the dark abyss where my people waited. The magic crackled, humming with a heavy, pressurized force until the last basket was pushed through, and the blonde man quickly sealed the tear with a sharp, outward wave of his hand.
I stood there in absolute amazement, my mind racing as I watched the remnant sparks of magic fade. What the hell just happened? How did they bypass the Void's defenses so easily?
Castel slowly pulled his hand away from the barrier, the glow in his eyes dimming back to their normal, mismatched colors. He turned to me.
"Since we missed lunch... how about dinner together, my dear?"
"I would rather die," I snapped.
"That's not an option, sweetheart."
In one swift, effortless movement, Castel stepped forward and swept me up into his arms, cradling me against his chest. I didn't fight back—not because I wanted his touch, but because I knew I would lose, and I couldn't risk him reversing the aid he had just given.
I glared over his shoulder at the blonde man, who silently raised his hands to open another swirling portal back to the palace.
But as Castel began to carry me toward the shimmering gateway, I forced my head around to steal one last, desperate look at the dark abyss of the Void.
And there, deep within the swirling black currents, the shadows parted for a second. I caught a glimpse of a pair of massive, burning red eyes—the terrifying, magnificent red dragon form of my father, staring back at me through the darkness.