Blaire's Pov
I wanted to scream, and cry, and curse. And maybe throw some punches as I watched Indrik, spasming and muttering gibberish, head shaking from one side to the other, green blood now pouring more and more from his mouth and his nose? My heart stopped for a moment as even in the pale light of the moon, I could see his color draining away as his life slipped out of his grasp. The world spun cruelly as I looked from the doctor to Beta Green, to my mum, to the Zeta, to some other faces that my eyes were too blurry to let me notice. I could see the sad look on all their faces but I could not shake the thought that it was all hypocritical after all, if they really did care, they would not hesitate to help him. If only I could help, I would have gladly did but I had stupidly spent all my life before mirrors and brushes and now, I couldn't even save a drunken deer without being crushed into mashed up pieces. My eyes stung as the air stung with what felt like death. I couldn't shake the feeling that everyone here was just waiting for the final breath and the thought drove me over the edge making me want to scream, cry and fight all at the same time. "I cannot help him!" The Beta repeated, his words rolling over me, colder than the night breeze that was now blowing even more strongly. "I have to go!" He continued as he pulled away and started to hurry toward the palace. I noticed my mum hurry after him with barely seeing eyes as I stumbled toward the bed and cradled Indrik's cheeks which felt extremely cold to the touch. "Indrik!" I choked, my voice coming out jagged and raspy. My innards felt like they were turning to mush. Like I had taken a swig of that poison as well and it was slowly eating away at everything within me. I felt like I was going to cough up blood. It wasn't until I see water rolling down his face that I noticed that I was crying. There were so many things I wanted to say, like he should not give up. He should fight the poison like he had been fighting everything else in his life. That if he woke up, I was going to make sure that the one who had put him in this condition paid dearly. That I loved him. That it crushed me to see him like this. That it would shatter me completely if anything were to happen to him. Instead, all that came out was, "please," as I felt myself being patted on the back. Somewhere at the back of my mind, I could hear someone, no, several people speaking, trying to get me to stand up but nothing else mattered right now. I reached for Indrik's cold arm and squeezed it comfortingly as I brought it to my lips and kissed it. I struggled as I felt myself being pulled to my feet and away from there. I watched as the doctor bent over him and continued to attend to him. Once they thought I was as far enough away to not cause a problem, the guards released my arms and returned to Indrik's side to avoid anyone getting in the way. With their support gone, my legs suddenly felt too weak to hold up my weight as they collapsed under me, sending me crashing painfully to my knees. An especially cold blast of wind hit me in the face, successfully breaking me out of my trance. My head felt heavy on my neck as I raised them up to the moon. Through my puffy eyes, I couldn't help but admire the fact that it was sitting up there, round and glowing in all its glory, staring down at our silly affairs. I had a feeling that the goddess was sitting somewhere up there, watching all that we were doing. I had never been much of a believer. As a matter of fact, the only thing I knew about these things was that we served a goddess who watched over everything we did. But the concept of someone far away seeing everything we did all at once was too ridiculous and confusing for me to pay too much attention to it. But now, as I looked up at the moon with the groans of the person who mattered the most to me in the whole world etched in my brain, I shut my eyes and bared all my thoughts and desires. "Greetings goddess," I paused, wondering if I was doing it the right way. The last thing I wanted was to anger some powerful being into killing Indrik and everyone one else in my pack simply because a silly girl had abandoned her makeup and decided to start speaking with deities instead. I didn't think I had much choice though. With this thought, I continued, with each word risking the moon dropping out of the sky and flattening me and everyone else into flat, ungodly smudges. "I know I have been a disappointment to you but I hope you would consider the fact that I am not doing this on my behalf. I am doing it for my friend who is the purest soul in the world and has never done anything to wrong anyone despite all that life has thrown at him. Please, goddess, save him, please. If you do it, I promise to do anything, everything, to make it up to you. You can even take my life in place of his. Please, all powerful being." I remained there, my heart sore and hurting, distant voices and cries being recognized without being registered in my mind, having no idea what I was supposed to expect after having prayed. A whisper? Thunder? A baying wolf? Anything that could prove that I hadn't spoken to thin air? Or? A very warm touch on my exposed shoulder! My eyes flew open as I spun.Luna's PovMy eyes burned as red liquid spurted into my eyes. My head throbbed, my wrists and ankles burned as the coarse ropes bored into them, wound so tightly that they sliced into my skin, shredding it like meat in a grinder. My arms and legs were spread so far apart that my joints creaked with annoyance, each threatening to break away from my body under the strain. My back felt like a colony of fire ants had been let loose on it, each one digging its head into my skin and taking a good sized chunk out of my skin. I wondered if the guards would consider loosening one of my arms long enough for me to reach to my back and scratch the itch that was threatening to drive me crazy although something told me I wouldn't enjoy it very much. "Have you had enough?" One of the guards asked. My chest felt like I had drank a mouthful of oil and followed it up with some fire. My chest beat painfully against my thorax and my stomach felt like it had had all its contents pulled out and smoked on
Luna's PovSo far, I had been doing a pretty good job enduring the pain and getting on the nerves of my torturers but now, looking down at this blade, I wasn't sure I could keep up the front anymore. I swallowed as I breathed in deeply. "It is just a blade. It is nothing you can't take." I whispered to myself. The man laughed loudly as he turned to his comrade, "can you believe this? She is begging for mercy. Too bad. I expected her to go down with a smile but then again, no one escapes the great Baldwin without being broken." He thumped his chest so hard, I was afraid he was going to end up broken before me. I wondered if his name was a title or his parents had had some insight into his future to have given him such a fitting name. The thought was enough to brighten my mood as I started to smile and suddenly, the knife was not so scary. I thought about Indrik who was probably in his death throes, struggling with the poison that I had fed him and shook my head. What kind of master w
Blaire's Pov"Where have you been?" I spat as I came face to face with Jamil and Ulo. The two were dressed in black robes and had their swords around their waists. In the moonlight, I could notice strands of undergrowth clinging stubbornly to their robes. The two exchanged glances before turning to me. "What's going on?" Jamil asked, looking over his shoulder at the circle that was gathered a few feet away. Following his gaze, I frowned as I realized that the bed was gone and so was the doctor. I hurried over but all I saw were a group of guards huddled in a circle, no doubt discussing what had just happened. "Where is he?" I growled. The group looked at me like I was a stray before one of them replied nonchalantly, "the doctor has had him taken somewhere else."My head spun as I wondered how long I had remained on my knees, uttering a stupid prayer while the person I was so worried about had been taken away. He could have died for all I knew and I didn't know anything about it. T
Ulo's PovListening to Blaire tell us about how Indrik had been poisoned by his maid, my fists clenched as I bubbled with murderous intent. I had never liked that girl and now, she had just crossed the line by threatening the life of my friend. Listening to Jamil trying to defend her only served to increase my anger till I was practically steaming at the nose. Before I could bring myself to speak, thunder suddenly rumbled and rain started to fall. I would have been amazed if I wasn't so furious because we hadn't had rain in a while. As it continued to rain though, I started to notice something. The rain wasn't normal by any standard. Each drop that landed on my head, on my shoulders, on my feet, felt as hard as a stone although it didn't hurt. Stretching out my arm, I caught a drop in my hand and examined it in the moonlight. Like I had suspected, it wasn't a raindrop, instead, the tiny things that fell from the sky were more like pellets, diamond sized pellets. I would have dismisse
Blaire's PovI sat in Indrik's room, my hands tucked under my cheeks on his bed as I stared at him mesmerized by his sleeping figure. Sunlight streamed into the room, making him look even more amazing. I sighed dreamily as I watched his chest heave slowly accompanied by his soft snoring. He had been asleep for three days and his complexion was still pale from what he had gone through at the hands of his maid yet, he still managed a heart stopping beautiful look. His long black hair framed his face perfectly like he had been tending to it all these days, (which I might have been responsible for), his eyes were closed but they looked just as pretty as they were when open, his nose, a work of art that was honed to a point so sharp, it could cut you if you were not careful enough, his full pink lips that always seemed to be calling for a taste, his cheeks that were neither too plump, nor too thin, his perfect ears, his square jaw that always pulsed with power, even now, with ridiculous s
Indrik's PovI just had the most awful dream. My chest had been on fire and my blood had turned to acid, burning my skin away as it coursed through my veins. I groaned as my eyes fluttered open. My head spun as I stared blankly at the surface above me, feeling rather lightheaded. I shut my eyes as a wave of nausea rushed through me. Opening my eyes again, I started to register the scene around me. The image of a golden wolf approached me moving so fast that I freaked out, swatting it away with a yelp. That was followed with another groan as my hand moved a little too fast and hard, missing the target and slamming into my chest with a dull thump instead. I shook my head to shake the buzz in my ears that was serving to disorient me even further. Thump-thump! Thump-thump! A heavy sound drifted into my ears making me want to scream in frustration as I wondered what exactly was going on with me. I could hear the rustling of trees, the gurgling of water in a faraway creek, the chirping of
Luna's PovI had been here for so long that I had lost all track of time. In between the endless torture that the guards now seemed to do as a pastime and the rats that seemed to enjoy the taste of the dried blood that had crusted on the ground beneath me, I was surely having the time of my life. At this point, I didn't even know when I was awake and when I was dreaming anymore. I had grown lightheaded from dehydration and loss of blood. Which was why I couldn't figure out if I was daydreaming or really seeing Indrik walking in on spindly feet. Or if his call really was happening or it was my delirious mind working overtime. "Luna!" A warm arm wrapped around my shriveled one and started to untie the ropes around it. Okay, that was surely not a figment of my imagination. No imagination could be that vivid, or tangible. I tried to open my mouth but my days in the darkness without food or water had gotten to me. To even keep my eyes open was proving to be an herculean task. "Are you
Blaire's PovI paced around in Indrik's room, nearly running mad from my anger at Indrik. That fool! I gritted my teeth wishing I had spent a few days training so I could punch him so hard in the face that his nose would split into two (ok, maybe not so hard. I couldn't bear the thought of ruining his handsome face). Maybe then, his senses would return to him. How could he, after all that girl had done to him, (heck, she had almost killed him. Scratch that, she practically killed him before the doctor had brought him back to life. I shuddered as I recalled how Beta Green had blatantly refused to save him. He would have died if the doctor had not decided to risk everything to save him.) how could he still think about nothing else except her? Why!!!My eyes narrowed as the door opened and Indrik stumbled in holding her up in his arms. My eyes stung as my ears popped and I stomped toward them, intending to slap the grime covered witch back to whatever hole she had crawled out from but ju