Instruments of Mortals, page 13
"I haven’t done anything—" I insisted, still trying impotently to wriggle free.
"You must have!" The Queen insisted with a scowl. I felt her claws flex against my skin, dangerously close to breaking through it. "My Andrew would not do what he has done if you had not bewitched him. My Jaden would never question my word before you came along."
"Let me go!" I begged, tears prickling in my eyes. I tried to push myself away, but her grip was like iron, even stronger than Andrew’s or the Vampire’s that had grabbed me before. I struggled out of instinct, but she held fast. "I didn’t want any of this!"
"If I kill you now… it will all stop…" she whispered harshly.
All at once, I was a little girl in a bathtub, being held under the water by a cold hand that was more powerful than I could have ever hoped to be. That same helplessness gripped me, sank into my bones. All I wanted was to be free.
My body started feeling warm and my stomach hurt beyond belief. It was like someone’s fist was inside my stomach, squeezing it so tightly it was oozing between their fingers.
"No!" I yelled and suddenly my body was convulsing. My arms were on fire and my stomach roared in pain. I needed medicine, I needed help. Something was wrong. I tried to take deep breaths, clenching my teeth down shut so tightly I felt my jaw ache. Soon the pain started to subside, my legs felt as if they were jello and my arms only felt like they were smoldering rather than in flames. I calmed down and looked at the Queen to respond to her request.
Only I was surprised when I saw her face. I’d never seen her so pale, her eyes were so wide I could see all the white around her green iris’s and her lips began to quiver. She took a step away from where I was sprawled on the bed now, blindly reaching for the doorknob even though she was nowhere near the door.
"It... it can’t be true," she said as she backed further and further away from me. Knocking down the utensils on a tray and screaming. She ran out of the room faster than I had ever seen her move, even tripping over herself as she was.
I laid my head back on my pillow, tears were still uncontrollably falling from my face, but at last, I knew. I knew what they said was now true. The fear in the Queens’s eyes would only be because she was no longer the most powerful. For a moment I thought it sounded rather exciting to be powerful, but the pain that came with it was not mentioned. My bones now ached all over and I felt that my head was going to pop off completely. I needed sleep. My heart thought of Jaden, of how much I wanted to tell him. The questions I wanted to ask. He wouldn’t be scared of me, and I knew he would help me. I needed him now, but I guess it would have to wait. It is always bad luck to see the bride so close to the wedding.
Chapter 34
Raven[44]
My dress was nothing that I had ever dreamed of when I was a child. Though when I was a child I never really thought I would be getting married anyways. I always figured I would eventually die from the beatings my aunt would give me. Now that I stood here and looked in the mirror I thought that I was finally breaking out of prison, only to be put back into it.
I now understood the reference so many married couples make, only I don’t think they were in quite the same circumstance as me. I was going to be with Jaden, that much was true. Nowhere in my life could I remember someone who cared for me like this, maybe he was a little possessive at the start, but he has never hurt me, and his love for me is real. I trust him, this strange trust that I can’t explain. I don’t want to be without him.
"Why does it have to be brown?" I asked Delilah who was trying to pull the sleeves over the bandages on my arms.
"It’s our tradition. It is brown because we belong to the forest, so we must blend. Besides, the wedding is outside. I can’t imagine a white dress staying white for long out there," Delilah laughed.
"Can’t we take the bandages off?" I asked her. My arms were really starting to feel much better, they did not even burn anymore.
"Well let me look at them, maybe if I can re-bandage them with thinner wrappings it might not make you look so much like a pumpkin," she said seriously, though the quirk of her lips gave away her jest.
"Thanks, you know just what to say." I smiled and laughed, the first genuine laugh I’d had in what felt like forever.
Delilah began unwrapping my arm, I had come in contact with her almost more than most in the village, but I still had no idea if she was friend or foe. This was the first time she actually smiled with me in the room. I want to believe I won’t be as miserable here with the Queen, so if Delilah could be a friend, it would make everything better. Her blonde hair and round face made her absolutely stunning, I could not believe Jaden did not want her instead. I watched her green eyes change in shock as she finally found my arm.
"Oh no, it is bad?" I asked
"No. Yes. Well, look." She showed me my arm as if she didn’t quite have the words to explain.
"What the...?" My wound was nothing but a sliver of a scratch now. Something that deep should have taken weeks or even a month to heal but I was staring at nothing but a little scab.
"It’s true. It’s happening. You—" Delilah dropped my arm and backed away to the back of the room.
"Please don’t be afraid of me, too," I begged of her, I could not do this without a friend. I bit my lip as tears began to gather in my eyes. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing my only friend here.
"Too? Who else knows? I am not afraid of you," she said as she ran up and embraced me. She was hugging me so tightly. I wrapped my arms around her, too, and squeezed for all I was worth.
"Raven, you are going to save us. We will be ok." She hugged me again tighter.
“I hope so,” I said with a sniffle, stepping away from her to get a handkerchief to blot at my eyes.
"Who else knows?" She asked me again.
"The only one who had made a face like yours is the Queen last night," I told her. I folded the handkerchief in my hands and wiped carefully at my eyes to avoid smudging my makeup.
"So the Queen does know. She won’t like this." Delilah looked deep in thought but the bell began to ring. “We’ll worry about that later. Right now, your husband to be is waiting for his bride.” She patted my hand. “We’d best not keep him waiting, right?”
We gathered our things quickly and dressed me in the light brown wedding dress. The high collar of the dress felt constricting, and I had to fight the urge to fidget. It was hard not to feel like I was completely lost in the loose, flowing sheer lace on the sleeves, and the loop that hooked my middle finger through it did very little to mitigate that. The train was long, so long that I could lay down on it completely and still have room to spare. That was my favorite part.
We were ready. I was ready. We stepped out of the room, and into the next phase of my life. The center of the village was decorated. There had been no time to prepare, so I was rather impressed there were flowers hanging from every window and balcony. The aisle I walked down was nothing more than space between the people standing around me. It was far from opulent, but then that was never something I needed, anyway.
That was when I saw him. Jaden. [45]The brown of his suit matched my dress and brought out the green of his eyes wonderfully. His smile was shining from ear to ear as he came close and clasped my hands. Then he wrapped his arms around me, putting his lips close to my ear. "You look, beautiful."
"Thank you. You’re quite the vision yourself," I whispered back, feeling a delightful, delirious flush creep up my face.
"You are sure you want to do this? I don’t want to keep you here if you truly don’t want it," he whispered.
I looked around at the people. He was giving me the choice. I made eye contact with the Queen. Her eyes still as bright with fear as the last time I saw her, but she squinted at the sight of me with furrowed brows and a threatening stare.
"I want this," I told him. It was mostly true, I truly did feel some sense of belonging here.
It was only a life or death decision, anyways.
The wedding seemed to have gone so easily, too easily for my comfort. There wes actual applause and cheers that made me feel welcome. Delilah hugged me, the other women complimented me on my dress which I assumed was only out of respect. This dress was not cute, they could not think it was. They did compliment me on my hair though, that I did myself. Just a simple braid that went down over one shoulder.
"Well at least I only have to wear it once," I told them, then covered my mouth for speaking out like that about their traditional gown.
The women roared with laughter. "Well I hope our tradition will be changed by the time I get married." One of them said.
"Its alright, Raven, we all know the dress it horrid," said another.
I laughed with them as we joked about the dress and I felt content, hapy even. They began inviting me to go out hunting with them, and they offered to help me learn once I told them I had never hunted before. Everyone was smiling, drinking, laughing, and having a wonderful time. It was a nice change to have in the village. Everyone but my new husband. I walked over to him and put my arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.
"My husband looks unhappy. I don’t think I will ever get used to saying husband," I giggled.
He smiled at me and pulled me down to sit on his lap.
"Why do you look so worried?" I asked him. His eyes looked at me, so seriously. I tried my best to make my face so soft he would give in and tell me. It seemed to have worked.
"Andrew. He betrayed the tribe. He tried to hurt you— tried to kill me. Now I’m just… waiting, I suppose. I’m waiting for him to try to finish what he started… so I can do it for him." His voice was serious, straight-forward, and angry.
I wanted to tell him that it was going to be alright. That we would figure things out one way or another, and we would do it together. I wanted to be the soft place he could safely land… but there was still so much I didn’t understand. So much I couldn’t reassure him about, when I myself couldn’t even feel secure about anything.
But I could, at least, distract him. Just for a little while.
"Let’s dance then while we wait," I told him.
The music was just beginning to play, the sound of a few string instruments and a piano floating gently on the breeze. I grabbed Jaden’s hand and dragged him with me. He barely resisted, so I knew I had won. He swung me in circles and we twirled on the floor. I have never been much of a dancer but he sure knew how to move on the floor. I tried my best to keep up and I felt flawless, I felt like I was dancing like a real professional, even if I looked like a fool.
It was Jaden. Even at my worst and my lowest, he managed to make he feel like I was flying, like nothing else mattered and that everything would turn out well in the end. It was such an unfamiliar feeling, it was no wonder I had fallen so far, so hard, and so fast for him: he was the one source of comfort I could rely on in the world.
The music’s tempo picked up, a swell of music encouraging us to dance all the more, and we were spinning around and laughing. He grabbed my arm and spun me around and around, and around and around again, I began to feel dizzy but he kept spinning me around. Finally I began laughing and pulled away. Trying to maintain balance I realize the music had stopped. Looking for Jaden’s face I steadied myself and instead found a another familiar face, out amongst the crowd… and standing next to Andrew...
"Ethan?" I choked out.
Chapter 35
Jaden
That traitor had done it again. Somehow, some way, he had managed to completely and utterly throw what had been a celebration into chaos and strife.[46] I stood there on the dancefloor in complete silence, my eyes never once leaving the uninvited guests.
A boy, a human boy was here now. From the name I knew this was the human boyfriend Raven had before me. I was not jealous, no. I was furious. This was Andrew’s game. He was no fool: he knew what he had done to the boy. What he would force me to do to the boy— and to my bride.
"Raven? Are you alright? Oh my god we have been looking for-" Ethan tried to speak but was smacked in the back of the head by Andrew.
"Stop!" Raven pleaded as she went towards Ethan, her steps tentative and shaky.
"What have you done, Andrew?" I growled.
"Why, I’m only showing Raven what she will be missing." Andrew hissed back, his simpering smile grotesque in its undeserved haughtiness.
He shoved the boy toward Raven, and she was forced to awkwardly catch him before he stumbled to the ground in a pitiful heap.
Andrew knew what this meant. I looked over my shoulder, at all those gathered to celebrate what should have been a happy day for us all. Some of the servers were in their wolf form, some of the dancers as well, even a few guests had been in wolf form to enjoy their meal.
He has seen us.
He has to die.
"Where the hell are we, Raven?" Ethan choked out. Trying to hide behind Raven.
What a wimp, I thought. Raven looked at me, her eyes wide. She had a choice at this moment, run to me, or stay with him. She did not look scared, more concerned than anything. I wondered if she knew what I would have to do.
"You need to go to the doctor. How did you get here?"[47] Raven turned to Ethan, and I could see her take in the scratches and claw marks all over his body, all the torn pieces of his clothing showing where he had been hurt.
"Delilah. Take him to the infirmary. You know what needs to happen." I forced myself to say, my eyes still trained on Andrew.
"Raven, don’t leave me. Come with me.” Ethan sputtered out as he grabbed Raven’s arm. “I was just at home watching TV when it all went dark, then I was here. What the hell is happening and am I dreaming?" Ethan began, as Delilah grabbed him by the arm and tried to drag him away. He gripped Raven’s arm even tighter, managing to look like he was being pulled between Raven and Delilah.
"Ethan, let me go," Raven said sharply, pulling her arm free, but his grip tightened for a moment on the sleeve of her dress. She ripped it to get away, ran towards me and fell into my awaiting arms. As I held her close to my chest, I grappled with my swirling thoughts.
"A little wedding present for the married couple," Andrew said with a sick grin. "I do hope you enjoy it."
"Andrew, how dare you!" I snarled, already feeling my fur prickle on its way out from under my skin.
All I saw was red. All I craved was the taste of his blood as I bit down on his juggular.
"You know what you have to do, but does she?" He laughed, the sound shrill and maniacal. As if something had snapped in him. I couldn’t help but wonder what. "She will never forgive you now. She will never truly love you now!" he roared.
I lunged, grabbing for his shoulder. I[48] tried to stop him but he was too strong for even me. I had never known he had such power. Had he gotten it in his wicked dealings with the Vampires, or had he had it in him all along, and I had simply never noticed? In a moment he was gone. Too quick for me, I could not change in time. I saw him disappear into the night and my temper rose. It took more and more for me to become angry enough to change that quickly.
It was since I had encountered Raven, she was my cure. I turned around and walked towards my new wife. Raven. Even with all of this chaos she somehow managed to still look so beautiful. Her delicate hands wrapped around me, her warmth pressed against my chest. It was all that was keeping me from killin[49]g my own brother.
I knew what had to be done, my brother was right. She would never forgive me.
"Follow him as far as is safe. I would see him captured— or failing that, I would know where he lurks," I ordered my guards, and the words had barely left my mouth before they were dashing off into the treeline, after the direction that my brother had gone.
I clenched my fist tightly, so tight I could feel the pain of my nails on my skin. I felt Raven touch my arm, it was too much. I turned to her quickly.
"I am so sorry," I told her, with no more explanation but a kiss on the lips and I ran towards the hospital.
Raven didn’t follow, as if she already knew what was going to happen and that she could do nothing to stop it. I silently begged for her forgiveness as I ran further and further away from my happiness, back into the deepest pit of the castle. I arrived at the clinic and heard yelling and complaining from inside one of the rooms.
"Stop squirming." Through the strain of strapping restraints on our uninvited guest, Delilah did not sound thrilled to be in this predicament. None of us were. Doubtless she was wondering what this would mean for her friendship with Raven.
"Please, please stop! I don’t know what’s going on, it hurts, it hurts!" Ethan wailed.
"Delilah. Leave," I told her.
I could not do this with an audience. And the less Delilah was involved, the less guilt she would have to face with Raven. I was the Alpha, this was my burden to bear. In this instance, nothing could be beneath me. Not even murder, not if it protected the pack.
She did as I ordered, readying the syringe I would need to make use of before she stepped out and closed the door behind her.
"Dude, whoa. Who are you? What is going on here? Why were there giant dogs standing up! What the hell is going on?" Ethan’s voice squeaked a little at the end.
"I am Jaden. Alpha of the Darland. We are werewolves. You have now been to an area no human has ever lived to see. And you will not change that. I am sorry." I rolled up my sleeves.
"No. Dude. Like, I won’t say—" Ethan tried to object.
But it was too late, I had already placed the syringe in his thigh, he would sleep soon. A painless sleep and he would never wake up. Never.
It was the only kindness I could give him— a painless death. I hoped it would be enough to show Raven I was not a heartless monster.
All the same, I waited there at Ethan’s bedside. Waited, and watched, until the rise and fall of his chest stopped altogether.
