Chapter 193

The feeling was just like blinking.

One moment, Aire stood in her chambers, trying to reach Mate, and the next second, everything was gone.

Nate was gone.

The world simply vanished.

Aire stumbled, pushed out of the portal.

Cold air slammed into her face, and the portal disappeared before her. She was welcomed by the sight of Morrigan facing her and looking all calm.

The ground beneath her boots was black stone. The stones were smooth and wet as though it had been polished by centuries of rain.

Her stomach lurched.

For a second, she thought she might be sick.

She spun around instinctively, and there was nothing behind her. There was no portal anymore.

The world she knew had disappeared.

Aire’s breathing quickened.

Her wrists burned, and when she looked down, dark green vines wrapped around both of her wrists.

They looked alive.

The tiny black thorns pressed against her skin and the moment she pulled, the vines tightened.

Pain shot through her wrist and straight to her arms in the blink of an eye.

Aire hissed.

The vines around her ankles tightened too.

“Don’t.” Morrigan’s voice floated ahead. “If you struggle, they tighten. Now you wouldn’t want to bleed, would you?”

Aire lifted her head.

The fae woman walked calmly before her. She was not even looking back, yet she remained composed, as if she already knew Aire couldn’t escape.

Aire swallowed, then she forced herself to look around.

The moment she looked around, she immediately wished she hadn’t.

Nothing grew here, and the sky that stretched endlessly overhead was not blue, or gray.

Rather, the sky was a strange color somewhere between ash and bruised flesh.

There were no birds, no sounds, and no life. The trees that dotted the landscape were twisted things of black trunks, and white branches.

There was not a single leaf.

They looked less like trees and more like skeletons reaching toward the sky.

Aire’s stomach twisted.

This place felt wrong. The world felt like it had been built incorrectly. The realization made Aire skin crawl.

Morrigan continued walking.

The vines tugged at her wrist every second.

Aire had no choice but to follow.

Eventually the path narrowed, then narrowed again as they kept on walking, with Morrigan standing walking tall before her.

Until she realized they were crossing a bridge. More like a causeway. It was a long strip of black stone stretching endlessly forward.

Water surrounded it on both sides.

Aire glanced down, and immediately regretted it.

The water was black. As black as a liquid shadow.

She couldn’t see the bottom, couldn’t see reflections, or even see ripples. The surface remained perfectly still, as though it wasn’t water at all.

Aire quickly looked away. Without a doubt, the water terrified her.

Morrigan noticed.

A smile touched her lips. “Don’t fall.” She warned.

Aire didn’t respond.

“Most people scream on the way down.”

Aire looked at her.

Morrigan looked amused. “They keep screaming after they land too.”

Aire’s throat dried.

The bridge continued, and continued, long enough for hopelessness to settle inside her chest, and make her realize just how far from home she truly was.

Eventually something emerged from the fog.

A massive black fortress with towers pierced the dead sky came to view. Its jagged spires were twisted upward, and the entire structure looked grown rather than built.

Aire stopped walking.

The vines immediately yanked her forward.

Pain shot through her wrists again.

She stumbled.

Morrigan never slowed. “Keep moving.” She commanded, almost with a scrowl.

Aire obeyed. She didn’t want to, but she had no choice.

The gates opened before they reached them. There was no servant around, and the enormous doors simply groaned open on their own.

The sound echoed forever.

Aire stepped inside, and if she thought the air from earlier was cold, this air felt colder.

The halls stretched endlessly. Silver touches and purple flames filled the halls.

The deeper they went, the more eyes she felt on her. Yet, she saw no one around.

Doors lined the corridors. Hundreds of them, and every single one of them were closed, and silent.

Aire hated this. She hated all of it. She couldn’t believe she placed herself in this situation.

She let Marsili in.

Finally they reached a pair of enormous doors.

These ones were different, and covered in silver carvings vines, crowns…. and bones.

Morrigan stopped.

For the first time since arriving, she looked directly at Aire.

“Try not to embarrass me.”

Aire stared at her, still speechless by how much everything had changed.

Morrigan smiled. She pushed the doors open, and the room beyond was enormous.

Aire realized it was a court.

A long black table stretched across the center with dozens of fae sat around it.

Some were beautiful, some were terrifying, and some were a mixture of both.

Some had gold hair, some had Violet hair, some had midnight black hair, and more different colours, but none had silver hair.

Most of them eyes glowed, with no pupils. Some eyes were entirely silver.

Aire felt her pulse quicken.

Every head turned towards her, and the conversation died instantly. All eyes moved from her slowly, then rested on Morrigan.

Silence filled the room.

Then, everyone stood.

Aire blinked at them.

The entire court rose to their feet, and began clapping.

The sound echoed through the chamber.

Aire’s throat went dry, as she watched them clap for Morrigan.

The realization landed heavily. They were celebrating a successful hunt. A hunt she made successful by being so foolish.

Morrigan smiled proudly, like a general returning from war.

One of the fae laughed, another raised a glass., and several bowed their heads at her in respect.

The applause continued.

Aire felt smaller with every second.

The room felt enormous.

Airw realized deeper that the trouble she was in wasn’t temporary. It wasn’t even a misunderstanding, or grown on hate.

It wasn’t something that would be fixed tomorrow just because she begs to be released.

This could last a very long time.

A very, very long time.

The applause finally stopped, and sudden silence returned.

A throne sat at the far end of the chamber made with black stone. Silver crown carved into the back, and a figure sat upon it.

Aire felt every instinct inside her scream at her to kneel, and submit.

The vines around her wrists tightened, and several fae stared expectantly.

Morrigan glanced toward her. Her eyes were sharp with warning and stern command. She wordlessly asked Wire to knee.

Aire understood. However, she did the only thing she had left.

She remained standing.

The room became very quiet as everyone stared at her.

Morrigan’s smile disappeared.

Aire’s heart hammered, and fear flooded her veins.

Yet, she stayed where she was. She refused to kneel, even if it was the last choice she would ever get to make.