She breathed in the sweet night air. White silks wrapped around her, billowing in the midnight breeze. Perfect black waves flew on the wind, trailing after her like a banner. The sweet new spring grass tickled at her bare feet as she glided, serenly through the moonlight garden. Unknown to her, her footsteps scorched the earth in their wake, leaving puddles of flame blackening each grassblade.
The chapel loomed ahead, each brilliant glass window aglow. She placed her palms against the dark wooden doors. They blazed blindingly for but a moment before crumbling into a fine black snow of ash. And he stood there, smiling, arms outstretched to her, dressed in his finest. Wild locks combed to shining perfection. The priest behind him beckoned her foreward. The gentle queen came to her side and locked her elbow with hers. "Come, child. It is time." She whispered.
A thousand candles lit the room, bathing it in warm gold hues. She breathed deep, then exhaled. The breath turned into a fierce hot wind that stormed through the room, extinguishing every light in it's wake. And within the rising darkness the room swirled, changed.
She heard the rush of feet, the yells of angry men. "Relight the forge!" A familiar voice boomed, echoing in her ears. Confusion lit her face and she turned to look at Danele. But her face flickered, morphing from herself, to Garnett, to Mereavus, then Eilella before finally the body blew out with the wind, snuffed like a flame before her eyes.
She reached for the smoke the body had left behind, only to find her arms pinned above her head. The great forge was ignited, bathing the dingy room in a greasy light. Brilliant blue gaze scoured the room, the robed men holding gleaming daggers in each hand, coated in crimson. A thousand hands, holding a thousand daggers.
The biggest of them came for her, his face bathed in the shadow of his hood. "No." She whispered, the greasy light choking her. "You're dead. He killed you!" A deep chuckle rumbled from him, but the voice was all wrong. The famliarity of it all struck her. "No, I killed you, Ilgnuit. Just like this..." She shook her head, confusion licking at her. This had been done before, twice... had it not? He merely laughed. Thick fingers brushed down her ribs, plucking the pins from her dress, and tossed the dangerously sharp metal onto the floor. The sound of their fall was deafening, booming ominously in her ears.
A genuine fear leapt up in her heart as he tilted his face up to expose those blazing forest green eyes. "Father?" She gasped. Wyld's rumbling laughter echoed as it sought escape from the stone walls, but there was none to be had, and it resounded long after he had ceased. He placed his palm on her cheek tenderly, fierce eyes holding only an ounce of pity. She screamed for the only one who could save her. But her voice was trapped and chased his laughter around the sealed room, then exploded through the mouths of the sea of acolytes.
"You did not heed me." Wyld said to her gently. "Mercy only extends so far." And Danele was at his side, looking at her like one would look at a bad puppy. "I'm sorry dear." And she held those wicked pins out to her husband. His rough fingers tightened on her throat, the other hand grasping the pins.
"I said you shall not see him again. I meant it. Breathe deep." The vicious tip of one of those long shards of metal pierced straight through her right pupil, and on it's heels the second, into her left.
The last she saw was blood, and the cruel smiling faces of the Royal pair. And the Acolytes screamed with her voice as the blackness engulfed her. But somewhere, soft and sweet, a child sang of fire.
Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:28 am