The long grass was trampled under Racheal's shoes as she walked through the meadow field just outside the castle back gates.
She was wearing a blue dress, her brown curly hair draping down her shoulders, and her green emerald eyes were fixed ahead of her as the evening wind blew and caressed her cheekbones.
The field stretched endlessly, and at its edge, the cliff dropped away into the restless sea—its waves catching glimmers of the rays from the setting sun.
The evening sun, glowing with a golden ray, leaned over the field, which drifted up to a cliff up ahead. The lily flowers swayed from side to side, dancing to the wind.
Racheal's gown brushed past the grasses as she slowly raised her gaze, and it rested on a lady standing some distance away, almost close to the cliff, the rays of the evening sun kissing her skin.
Racheal made her way to where the lady stood; it was Jazell. She slowly turned and then scanned her face, searching for any possible trace of emotion, and she found one…peace.
"Three days ago, I would never have thought that you would be standing next to me again." Racheal started off with a calm voice, shifting her gaze to the serene sea she could look upon from where she was standing.
The wind blew some strands of Jazell's blonde hair; she was composed, not sparing Racheal a glare ever since she got there.
"You thought wrong, Racheal; if anything less, I did expect you not to fall for my short-term mirage." Jazell replied in a low tone, her blue-colored gown flapping and waving around to the rhythm of the breeze.
Racheal smiled faintly… a sweet, bitter smile…
"You are a monster when it comes to playing games; I will give you that." She said, tugging some strands of her brown curly hair behind her ear.
"It was convincing…your little charade. You had us exactly where you wanted…persuaded and fooled." She added.
Jazell shrugged lightly…enjoying the detestable praise Racheal was throwing at her.
"What I did…"
"You did it for the realms." Racheal helped her complete the sentence with a snarl.
"You know me…too well." Jazell said, almost in a whisper, before clearing her throat.
"But this time you are mistaken. The actions I took weren't for the realms; they were self-centered." Jazell admitted it and then turned to look at Racheal.
Racheal peered into Jazell's eyes for a little while.
"Even if you had died, I would have still thought to myself that somehow you will find a way to come back to this world." Racheal said what was in her mind without leaving a word out.
"You did this to gain this king's favor? I must say, I admire your courage." Rachel said with a mocking tone.
Jazell looked down, glancing at nothing, before raising her face, a sly grin spread across her lips.
"Are you bitter? First it was Tamina, and now me?"
"The king knows how to switch favor to each of his queens faster than the crows in the air fly." Racheal admitted, sighing.
"I came here to take in the fresh air, not to dwell on the past." Jazell said, then slid her hair from the left side of her face, flipping it backward. She was wearing a dress hanging from her lower shoulders down to her feet.
On the top right of her left shoulder was a faint red mark…a hickey. The mark she got from her sexual encounter with Ragaleon last night.
Yes! Ragaleon had finally consummated his wedding to Jazell, after months of torture.
Jazell could still hear herself moaning from last night's steamy romance; it was that intense. Just the mere thought of it wets her thighs. So she shut her eyes and pushed the thoughts away.
Racheal was simply dazzled when her gaze fell on the mark on Jazell's shoulder, but her face did not fall; she won't give Jazell that satisfaction.
"Of course, fresh air. Find a way to push away your scheming habits from the air the breath of life offers." Racheal was simply bitter; she turned around to leave.
Initially she had come to meditate while seated on the grass, but when she saw Jazell, she decided to approach her, which was apparently a bad idea.
"You are leaving so soon; take a walk with me. There is a lot to catch up on." Jazell feigned a smile; she had purposely wanted Racheal to see that mark, just to spite her, and her plan worked.
"The only thing I can learn from you is how to plot and scheme within the shadows. I will save you the time, because I have no interest whatsoever in being around you… Jazell." Racheal said before finally turning around and walking away.
Jazell's eyes lingered on her for a while; she watched as Racheal walked away before slowly fixing her gaze on the serene view nature offered…the sea.
...
Nightfall in Decreash.
A knock came on Helena's door…twice.
Helena bolted in shock, her heart racing, as she quickly wiped her soft rosy lips, then covered up the bottle of medicine with the wooden lid on the dressing table.
As she scurried to her bed, she gave her maid a signal… and the maid got the message.
"Princess Helena is not feeling too well and needs some rest…come back later." The maid announces from where she stood, folding up the beddings. Helena was already tucked in on her bed, pretending to sleep.
Vinson felt rage running through his spine.
He pushed the double door open and stepped into the chamber. From where she stood, the faint candles in the chamber radiated on Helena's face; her eyes were shut, and her chest was rising and falling at a steady pace.
He gazed at her for a while, the woman that was going to become his wife tomorrow, and felt…nothing. The magnetic force that used to attract her to him had suddenly disappeared.
For several days, it has been the same excuses. Helena refused to see him; she was either sleeping or not well.
But he couldn't say for sure if it was on purpose or just a coincidence.
"What happened to her?" He asked, shifting his focus to the maid, who was baffled at Vinson's audacity to just barge into the room.
"Her monthly cycle is taking its toll; it will subside soon, but for now, my lady needs all the rest she can get." The maid had a sweet lying tongue; she lied with a straight face.
Vinson nodded curtly, then made his way out of Helena's chamber. The maid quickly rushed across the room and shut the door.
Helena slowly opened her eyes, a mix of guilt and sadness lighting up in them. She shut her eyes, which were glistening with unshed tears.
The night was heavy with silence, broken only by the whisper of the wind curling around the castle walls. The footsteps of Leah moving carefully along a narrow stone pathway echoed.
Her feet tapping faintly against the marble floor. The torch sconces along the walls were dim, their flames swaying in the breeze, casting long shadows that seemed to follow her every step.
She paused. Her breath caught. Slowly, she turned her head, eyes scanning the darkness behind her. The corridor stretched empty, yet the stillness carried a weight, as though unseen eyes lingered just out of reach. Her heartbeat quickened, but she forced herself onward.
At the end of the path loomed a wooden door, iron-banded and old, its surface scarred by age. She pressed her hand against it; the hinges groaned lowly as it swung open.
Inside, the air was cooler and damp. Leah began the hectic exercise of climbing up the numerous spiral staircases leading to the castle tower.
By the time she climbed up the final staircase, she was a bit breathless; she opened the wooden door in front of her, and a mighty wind hit her face as she stepped into the tower.
It was quite spacious and circular in structure, but dark. Today the sky was dark… the clouds covered up the moon.
Leah narrowed her eyes to dart around, and once again, disappointment melted her heart. He wasn't here; she had come all this way for nothing…again!
Leah took some steps forward and pressed her palm against the cold, rough stone of the tower wall, her other hand clutching the edge of her gown. For some reason she had thought he would come this time, at least to see her one last time before his wedding tomorrow.
After the wedding he would be gone, far from her reach; she would never see him again.
Dejectedly she turned around to leave when her body bumped into a hard figure. She almost screamed out of fright, but he enveloped her mouth with his hand, his other hand swiftly encircling her waist to prevent her from falling.
Leah's heart was racing as she raised her gaze, and her dark obsidian eyes locked with Vinson's blue eyes. She was shocked to see him.
She forced herself to pull away from him as she straightened up, her pupils dilating, refusing to meet his gaze for the second time.
"You gave me a fright." Leah said, turning away from him, she was angry with him but didn't have the courage to say it to his face.
"It's going to be a long night; you should be asleep." He says, strolling to where she leaned on the walls of the tower.
The castle had two watchtowers; the other one was heavily guarded by guards. But the one they were standing in was long abandoned.
"I am not the groom; I can sleep whenever I wish." Leah said with detest, not sparing him a glare.
"You sound angry. Did I say anything wrong?" He finally took notice of her rash attitude, very unlikely of her…towards him.
Leah scoffed.
"I don't know what you are talking about." She hissed, tapping her feet angrily against the stone floor, flipping her violet-colored hair backwards at the same time.
"It's my wedding tomorrow; the last thing I want is to end things badly with my sister-in-law." Vinson teased, and Leah's face reddened.
"Sister-in-law." She mimicked in a mocking tone.
"Go to your fiancée; I don't want you here." She says calmly and then takes a deep breath to compose herself.
Vinson's gaze lowered.
"Helena has been avoiding me lately." He says, and Leah arches her brows.
"Just the way you have been avoiding me?" She asked scornfully, and Vinson fixed his penetrating gaze on her.
"I have not been avoiding you." He said that, then turned away from her, focusing his gaze ahead.
"You can lie to yourself but not to me. You said it yourself, this was one of your secret places; you haven't been here for three straight days!
Leah wanted to explode, her hand balled into a fist.
"I have been busy preparing for the wedding." Vinson lied with a straight face void of emotions.
"Busy…" Leah scoffed bitterly, shaking her head from side to side.
"I will leave it to you then; be busy with your thoughts." She said, turning around swiftly to walk away.
Vinson caught her wrist and spun her around to himself. Her violet hair swaying in the process, and her face hit his hard chest, his scent making her weak in the knees.
One of his hands was now wrapped around
Leah, as he pressed her against the wall of the tower, tilting her backwards. Leah rolled her eyes to the side, without moving her neck, and glanced down at the tower's altitude from where she was standing to the ground.
If she were to fall, it would be fatal.
"What are you doing? Let go of me; I am afraid of heights." She admits her voice in a whisper. Vinson swiped some strands of her hair to the side of her face; leaning forward, he whispered in her ear…
"I won't let you fall."