Emira opened her eyes slowly and let her gaze drift across the room. The first thing she felt was annoyance. Councilman Aldren really was a fool. Did he truly believe that a silver-induced needle would make her lose consciousness for a long ti. hat it would be enough to bring her down so easily? Yes, she was a wolf. That part of her was vulnerable to silver. But she was also a witch. A powerful one. How had he forgotten sothing so obvious?
She glanced at the ti, only an hour had passed since she had landed and been abducted. Which ant that they were still in the Stormhold territory or close by.
She pushed herself up little by little, ignoring the faint ache in her limbs, and took a slow, steady breath. The air was damp and stale. Then she stiffened.
There was soone else in the room.
Her head snapped to the side at once, her instincts flaring, only for her to see Ryn lying nearby, completely still, his chest rising and falling in slow, shallow breaths. Still out cold. For a brief mont, her shoulders eased, but the relief did not last.
Because she felt it again.
Another presence.
Her lips curved into a small smile as she closed her eyes, her fingers twitching slightly as she murmured a spell under her breath. The words were old and familiar, slipping from her tongue without effort.
At once, her shadow stretched unnaturally along the floor, peeling itself away and moving silently toward the door.
For a mont, it worked. Then the shadow froze.
A soft glow cut through the darkness, halting it in place, and a quiet laugh echoed through the small, damp room. It was light, almost amused, but there was sothing sharp beneath it.
"Still using the sa old magic tricks. You haven’t learnt anything new, Mira."
Emira stiffened. She recognised the voice. She had been waiting for the voice... With a click of her fingers, several illuminating butterflies rose into the air, lighting the entire place as she t the cold eyes of the woman sitting there, on the other side of the door... Shiqi Stav.
As Emira looked at her, the woman looked back coldly before snorting, "My... The Goddess is really kind to you. She made you look even more delicate and fragile in this life. Sa face and sa tricks. Tsk tsk... It won’t be fun defeating you..."
Emira sat up then and smiled as she leaned against the wall, while staring at the woman," I wish I could say the sa for you, Shiqi Stav...The ti and the Goddess have been really unkind to you."
She saw the woman stiffen and smiled," What? Did you think that your false glamour spell will work on ? A white witch who has used her talent to bring about harm and even used the worst of the dark arts... of course the repercussions are visible on the face... You’ve turned quite ugly Shiqi..."
For a single mont, the beautiful face across the room flickered.
The smooth skin darkened. The illusion cracked. Jagged scars appeared, running unevenly across her cheeks and jaw, cutting through what little softness remained. The eyes looked harsher then, hollow and bitter, filled with sothing twisted and old. The sight lasted only a heartbeat. Then it was gone. But in that mont, Emira knew she was right in that mont. No magic was without side effects.
Even though the scars lted away as if they had never been there, and Shiqi continue to smile Emira knew that her mories had not betrayed her. The woman was just as full of vanity now as she had been then.
As if realising that she was being analysed as well, Shiqi Stav laughed. But there was no warmth in it.
"It doesn’t matter if my spell works on you or not," Shiqi said calmly. "It works on all the other fools."
She tilted her head, studying Emira with open interest, "The three princes, the Counciln, the Warriors. They all see what I want them to see. They always have."
Emira did not look away. Her smile remained, but her eyes hardened. "And yet you still feel the need to hide. Makes qite concerned for you, Shiqi."
Shiqi’s smile sharpened. "Don’t worry sister," she replied smoothly. "I won’t let your concern go to waste."
She rose from her seat then, the movent unhurried, almost graceful. The light from the butterflies reflected off her skin, making her seem unreal, "She walked a little closer to the door, stopping just short of the barrier between them.
"I will especially steal your beauty," Shiqi continued. "After all, you have been blessed far too much already."
Her eyes drifted over Emira, slow and calculating, as though she were inspecting sothing she already owned.
Emira exhaled softly and shook her head. "And do you think that if you steal my beauty, you will get Aron?"
Shiqi exploded then, "Shut Up! You do not have the right to utter his na! No right at all! Do you think that you are his bride just because a lousy prophecy said so? You are nothing but a ans to an end! A tool for him to extract revenge on ... The only reason he is returning is ..."
Emira smiled then," HMmm... It is indeed true. You are the reason he has returned. To finish you. Isn’t that what you wanted? Hmm? Since you could not have him love you with all his being, you wanted him to hate you with everything he had. But tell Shiqi, is the price that you paid for it, worth it?"
Shiqi laughed then," Yes! It is worth it! Love is but a fleeting emotion. He loved you and then forgot you. But all these years, trapped in a prison of my making, he has hated . Which ans I have been part of every thought in his mind. I have been living there for an eternity! Even if he has been freed by you today. Even if he loves you again, his hatred will over power everything! His hatred for !"
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