Before the Dawn (14 page)

She led the mortal girl through a door of
what looked like black glass and then the two of them were walking
along a familiar-looking corridor. Aline glanced through one of the
openings that they passed by and she was able to catch a glimpse of
the moon. It hung fat and round in the sky with a morose expression
on its face as it looked at its own reflection on the dark waters
of the lake. It caught her eyes for a moment and it tried to smile
at her, but whatever sadness it felt quickly rushed back to its
mind and it turned its back on Aline with a sigh.

"Ignore that pathetic creature, darling," the
woman advised. "No good ever came out of letting oneself be swayed
by its power. Or any power, for that matter. Especially if it is
love." She then winked at Aline as if they shared a secret. "It is
just a shame that things have to end this way now. But the
future—ah, who knows what could happen then?"

No words of reply occurred to Aline and she
just continued to meekly trail behind the woman. But there was a
buzzing in her head that kept distracting her, like it was trying
to remind her of something. However, every time she tried to focus
on it so she could make out what it was saying, the woman would hum
a tune under her breath that was so pretty she would forget about
everything else while she was listening to it.

Finally, they reached a pair of massive doors
that were made out of the same stone as the rest of the castle.
Before they walked through it, the woman turned to smile at Aline
one last time. "Remember, dear," she said. "Just don’t completely
lose yourself, even when you surrender."

The doors then swung open before them though
they never even touched it, and then the two of them stepped out
into the ballroom where a crowd was gathered. Aline saw faces both
familiar and unfamiliar, including her friend Gracelyn who was
smiling warmly at her as she leaned on the arm of a tall,
forbidding-looking man. Meran was there, too, standing beside Raven
who was smirking at her. And, of course,
he
was there as
well. The Prince. Tall and pale and dressed as ever in black. His
face was solemn as he stared at her then, slowly, he
approached.

He reached for her left hand and kissed it
reverently as his courtiers looked on. He nodded at the masked
woman and she bowed to him before she left Aline’s side and melted
into the throng. Then the Prince took her in his arms and, in a low
voice that only she was able to hear, he said, "Forgive me."

She looked into his eyes, confused. What did
she need to forgive him for? He was the man she loved. Wasn't he?
But she never got to ask any of the questions that had suddenly
sprung to her mind because he linked their arms then and, much as
the woman had done earlier, he began to lead her to one corner of
the ballroom that was illuminated more brightly than the rest of
the place. A velvet curtain concealed whatever it was he wanted to
show her and, with a small gesture of his hand, the curtain slowly
drew back to reveal its secret.

Two well-known faces gazed back at Aline with
blank expressions. Her father was sitting on a chair, his mouth
slack and his breathing deep and regular, like he was sleeping.
But, once in a while, he would put on a vague smile and murmur a
name that she hadn't heard him say in years. His head was thrust
back at an awkward angle though he didn't seem to be uncomfortable,
and he also didn't seem to mind the knife pressed against his
throat.

The other person with him, the one holding
the knife, was Trevor.

"These two," the Prince said into her ear,
"caused me great grief when they tore you away from me. I would
prefer to destroy them, but my hand has been stayed because of my
love for you. I know it would pain you if I harm them, but I will
not hesitate to do so if you persist in your defiance." He suddenly
squeezed her hand with enough force to break her bones. She was so
stunned that she even forgot to cry out. All she could do was stare
at him in pain and confusion.

"I now give you a choice, my Princess," the
Prince said loudly enough for his voice to ring throughout the
silent ballroom. "Stay here, with me, until the sun rises, and I
will release these two. I will even grant them the mercy of
forgetfulness so they will never be troubled by thoughts of your
fate." His tone hardened as he spoke his next words. "Defy me
again, and I will make your lover kill your father then turn the
knife on himself while you watch. Your answer will decide whether
they live or die." He released her from his grip then and she
collapsed to the floor, her entire body weak and trembling.

"Why?" she gasped, terrified yet furious at
the ease with which he wielded fear against her. "Why won't you
just let me go? I am not the Princess you loved. She's gone. She
let her memories and her love for you be erased to save your
miserable life. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?"

"I do not care," he replied gently, almost as
if he felt sorry that he was causing her such anguish. "I just want
her back. That is all I have ever wanted."

"If you are able to somehow resurrect her
feelings for you within me, that could make the witch's spell work
again. Haven't you ever thought of that?" she said angrily. "I
would then have the power to kill you." And she shot him a glare
that let him know she would be more than happy to hurt him in any
way she could.

He bowed his head. "That is a risk I will
gladly take."

The look in his eyes told Aline clearly that
he was telling the truth. He really didn't care what happened to
him, or how many lives he destroyed, as long as he would get back
the love he once had. Raven was right. The Prince had gone insane
from all the centuries of yearning for a woman who was long
gone.

As if he heard her speak his name in her
mind, Aline saw Raven move away from Meran's side. His amber eyes
were hooded as he gazed down at her, but she could tell that he was
looking pointedly at her chest. No. Wait. Not at her chest, she
gradually realized. He was staring intently at where the silver
leaf had been burned into and concealed within her skin. He was
frowning as he lifted his eyes and met hers. There was a question
in his gaze, one that she herself was asking.

Aline tried to search for the woman who had
been her companion earlier, but she didn't see her masked face
among the people watching her intently. Then she couldn't really
think clearly anymore. Everything was a confusing blur of dreams
and memories, and she couldn't even be sure if they were truly hers
or if they belonged to Rosamund. Her unbroken hand reached out to
touch the spot where the silver leaf had been hidden and,
remembering what had happened the last time she had cut herself
with it, she wished fervently that she had it in her hand instead
so she could escape. But she knew she couldn’t run away anymore.
Not this time. If she even tried, the Prince would be true to his
word and he would make sure she would never see her father or
Trevor alive again. So she couldn't leave them. What else could she
do?

She really had no other choice.

"Release them," she whispered, her voice
breaking, "and I will stay with you. I'll do anything you
want."

"Do you swear it?" the Prince demanded, a hot
light starting to burn in his pale eyes as he leaned over her.

She didn’t think she had ever hated anyone as
much as she hated him in that moment. "I swear," she said through
gritted teeth. "Just let them go. And my friends, too."

"I would not deprive my faithful courtiers of
their favorite dancing partners," he said, brushing her last words
aside like they were nothing. "Only these two will be released from
the spell because I do not desire to keep their company." He pulled
her up to her feet and kissed her on the cheek. "You have made the
best choice, my Princess. You will see," he promised, "we will be
happy."

He made her face the crowd. "My bride!" he
proudly proclaimed and they erupted into cheers. He looked at Raven
then and smiled. "Lord Raven, your service is finally at an end,
for my love has at last been returned to me." But it looked like
Raven didn’t even hear him. He was still staring at Aline with too
many questions in his amber eyes.

The Prince, however, didn’t notice this, and
he instead ordered the revel to begin. The musicians started to
play something sweet and lilting, and the Prince led her to the
middle of the room. They began to dance and, soon, everyone else
was dancing with their partners, too. Aline tried to see what had
happened to her dad and Trevor, but the Prince spun her around so
fast that she only saw colorful blurs whirling around her. His
voice joined the music and the song he was singing in a strange
language seemed to wrap itself around her physically, until she
felt as if she was cocooned by a layer of sound. And, eventually,
she stopped thinking about the people who were important to her and
she only cared about being held in his arms as they danced and
danced.

When the sun rose, they were dancing still,
and she was lost.

***

Chapter 15

She remembered seeing the sun rise. She
remembered a pair of strong arms holding her close and a voice
saying, "You are mine now." She remembered standing underneath the
glow of a pale green sky with stars twinkling down while the sun
peered at her from behind its veil for a moment and dismissed her
in that same instance as insignificant. She remembered a woman's
dark honey voice whispering, "Remember. Do not lose yourself even
if you surrender." She remembered an old man linking her hands with
the Prince's and intoning words that took on light and shape in the
very air then bound themselves around their wrists. She remembered
a kiss, and she remembered being lain down on a bed where one kiss
became many and she was soon gasping with need. She remembered that
a distant part of herself was screaming at her all throughout these
events to wake up.

Every night, they would dance. The Prince
would spin her around and kiss her breathless whenever she told him
that she wanted to stop and stay still for a while. Then he would
take her to their chambers and he would make her forget everything
with his passion for her. He would often tell her that he loved
her, and though she did come to feel something for him, the same
words never escaped her lips. He did not seem to care though. All
he desired was for her to acknowledge that she was his.

Sometimes, she would dream. Strange dreams.
Where she did not belong to the Prince. Where she looked up into
eyes that were not the cold blue of her husband's. She would wake
after these dreams with tears dried to pearls on her pillow and the
lost whisper of a name, her heart burning with silver light.

***

Chapter 16

When Trevor came home, the apartment was
empty. There were no sounds coming from the television in the
living room playing the evening news with the radio blasting away
in the kitchen while pots and pans clanged, telling him with so
much noise that Vera was home and making dinner. There was just the
silence waiting for him and, after his eyes took a moment to adjust
to the bright lights that he had switched on, a letter left on the
hallway table. And he knew.

She had done it. She had really done it. She
had finally left him.

A sense of numb unreality came over him then
as he picked up the letter and sat down on the couch. He just
looked at the letter for a long time, not wanting to open it and
read it. Because as soon as he did that, he knew it would sink in
and it would be real. He would be really alone. But after several
minutes of being a coward, he finally took a deep breath and read
what she had to say about leaving him.

It was quite short, but it was brutal. She
didn't make herself out to be a victim and she didn't turn him into
some kind of monster either. She was just honest and, somehow, that
seemed to hurt worse. He tore the letter to little pieces after he
was done reading, threw the scraps into the trash, then took out
the bottle of whiskey he normally saved for company and proceeded
to get drunk as quickly as he could. He was determined to stay
drunk for as long as humanly possible. He deserved it, after
all.

Just like that, it was over. Four years gone
to waste. He spent the next few days in some kind of fugue where he
walked around doing things automatically but nothing really
registered in his brain about what was going on. All he could think
about was one thought that kept going round and round his head and
laughing at him whenever he tried to get some sleep: Vera had left
him. She had gone and she had made it very clear that she wasn't
ever coming back. Not that he blamed her for her choice. If it had
been him, he knew he would have packed his bags sooner than she did
and ran as far away as possible without once looking back. Some
things, no matter how hard you tried, just couldn't work out. He
had never believed in that before, but he certainly did now.

"You look like hell," his agent, Matt, said
to him when they met up for lunch later in the week. It was an
appointment that he had had every intention of missing, but Matt
had then shown up at Trevor’s place to bully him into taking a
shower, putting on some fresh clothes, and going out. Now Trevor
glared at the other man resentfully across the table over his
untouched plate of pasta. He hadn't realized it earlier, but he had
ordered the dish Vera always got whenever they ate in the
restaurant Matt had picked. He scowled at Matt again. The jerk had
probably chosen to eat here too because he knew it was one other
way to torture Trevor. Bastard.

Matt, however, simply ignored Trevor’s scowl
and sipped his tea. "Listen, Trevor," he began after he had
fortified himself with a huge bite of garlic bread, "I know you
don't actually need to hear this shit right now but I have to say
it anyway: you are way, way behind schedule and you really need to
get yourself together if we still want to hit that January
release." He looked Trevor in the eyes then. "Well? Is that still
gonna happen?"