Midnight's Song (50 page)

It had been replaced by a pristine,
mirror-like sheet of glass. It was like one of the doors
underground, yet it wasn’t. It was something much larger and more
luring in nature. From behind its glassy surface there was an eerie
green light emitting a hue that engulfed the entire
room.

“Who are you?” I
sternly asked, struggling against the chains. It was as if my
rational self was attempting to break free and regain complete
control. Yet, it couldn’t. There was something greater than my
senses at work here, something completely
hypnotizing.

“I am the one who can
determine your destiny, Elissa,” the voice audibly uttered. Now it
was even more luring, a deceitful kind of singing. I looked over my
shoulder and then once around the room just to see if this might be
a result of some kind of human trickery. This couldn’t possibly be
real, could it?

“Tell me what’s going on!” I demanded,
this time fighting the pull of invisible chains the felt twice as
strong. When I didn’t see anyone else behind me or to my side, I
looked into the glass more closely. There I could see something
barely – just barley – that resembled a person’s
silhouette.

“Do you wonder why you have been
awakened in this manner?” The figure slyly asked in response to my
demand.

“Tell me,” I asked weakly, my mind’s
strength and clarity clearly beginning to lapse into
numbness.

“This room is under an enchantment.
Your lover is under a spell, fast asleep so that I might speak with
you uninterrupted,” the voice explained. “I promise not to harm
you. Only come closer to the glass so that I might speak with you.
Then, you will know the truth of what is happening around
you…”

As cautious as I was and as much as I
had been fighting it; the magnificence of it all did something to
me. The chains became too strong for me to resist their pull. The
spell temporarily took my concerns and buried them in the back of
my mind, numbing my senses. The green light and the booming voice
seemed to cast a spell on me that heightened my emotions and
drugged me so that I had no grasp over my cares.

In a curious daze, I heard
the call of the voice and walked toward the portal in the wall. As
I came closer, I could see the silhouette more clearly. I could
vaguely see a young man, one that looked a bit like Aurelian. Even
though he looked to be the same age, something about his demeanor
seemed to be more advanced – perhaps because of some sort of
torture that lurked underneath it. He was of the same height and
build, though his coloring was very different.

His skin was snowy and
lifeless, yet it contained a silvery undertone similar to
Aurelian’s. His hair was like a raven. Beneath his eyes were tallow
bags, sunken and tormented. There was a ruggedness to his
appearance that testified to a certain determination that he had.
It was one of pain and obsession.

More than anything
else, I noticed that his eyes were like Aurelian’s. Though, unlike
Aurelian’s they didn’t seem to be cat-like or change color. They
seemed to be darker, more human in appearance. Instead of changing
color they emitted an eerie
silver
glow. Their silver glow pierced me, causing me to
stop in place as my spirit recognized their evil as something that
I had been met with before. Sensing my sudden hesitance in a way
that could only be supernatural; the figure smirked and introduced
himself.

“I’ve found you
both, Elissa. There is nowhere left for you to hide,” he said. His
gaze caused a sudden pang of fear to run up and down my spine. I
tried to pull away, but now the invisible chains gripped my hands
and feet so that I couldn’t move. “Do you still wonder who I am?
You should already know. I am the one with the power to take and
give life. I am the
true
King of the Night Kingdom.”

Before he even said his name, it
already occurred to me. The realization caused me to jump back. I
shuddered, feeling as if an icy breeze had blown over me through an
open window on a cold winter day. My skin went pale, my insides
cold. It was him.

“That means that
you’re…you’re…”

“King
Faolan
,” he smirked at me as I shivered.
His tone was low and intense, no longer the inviting song that it
had been prior. “The true heir to the throne of the Night Kingdom
and all of the Other Worldly realms!”

“What are you doing here?” I suddenly
snapped, my defenses freeing themselves from their spell long
enough to begin fighting again. Using all of the strength that I
could, I pulled away and ran to Aurelian’s side like wildfire. I
came within just a few inches of his sleeping body so that I might
nudge him awake, but before I could touch him Faolan stopped
me.

“I wouldn’t try to wake him, Elissa…”
Faolan wickedly trailed off. “If you do, it might very well kill
him.”

Just nearly about to
reach for Aurelian’s head, I froze.
Kill
him? Surely this had to be a
trap. Everything was happening so quickly that I could hardly
process it, but I reasoned that it might have been a lie. Perhaps
he was only saying it to save himself from being discovered…but,
perhaps he was right. Even though I wanted to deny it, the warning
caused me to stop and turn around. This was the jealous monster of
Aurelian’s tales, I realized. What kinds of disastrous powers would
be unleashed on him if I disobeyed?

“Kill him?” I slowly
started, shaking in horror as I turned away from my Prince and
walked cautiously toward the mirror again. “What would kill
him?”

“Many things might kill him, my dear,”
Faolan snidely remarked once more. After that, he let out a wicked
laugh. “There’s presently a spell over him…so waking him yourself
might have very deadly results. Though, the spell is not nearly as
deadly as what I intend to do to him. Now that I’ve found where
he’s been hiding I have no choice but to kill him
myself.”

“Kill him? Why?” I helplessly shook,
looking into the silvery eyes of the monster on the other side of
the glass. I asked him why, but inside I already knew. This was
what Aurelian had been running from…he was a monster, a beast. I
was standing face-to-face with the curse itself.

“Oh, Elissa…I must do so, it is the
law,” Faolan explained coolly. “My brother is a coward. He is a
fugitive…you know that better than anyone else in your world. As
much as my brother has confided in you, has he not confided in you
that he faces death for breaking the laws of my
kingdom?”

“Aurelian has broken no law,” I
snapped at him. “You’re a liar!”

“Am I a liar,
Elissa? I am the King of my people...it is my duty to bring
lawbreakers to justice. It is my duty to rid the world of all of
those who threaten or monarchy. Perhaps Aurelian has told you that
I am the face of evil, that I have taken his throne and his
power….But, has he told you the true reason that he has been
running from me? That his refusal to take the throne is considered
a
crime?
” Faolan
raged on, spitting out words that I knew were
lies.

“No,” I shouted in
return, “But he
has
told me that you intend to kill him in a jealous
rage!”

“Has he?” Faolan questioned in return.
“Well then, you must know that I do indeed hold the power to do
so…and since I have found him, I have the power to do so right
now.”

I fell silent. Faolan eyed me
intensely, soon drifting his gaze to Aurelian’s sleeping guise. His
glare was unforgiving and undeniably threatening. The power of the
chains on my mind had worn away; the power of the enchantment on my
emotions was still strong. I didn’t know it, but the spell still
had me wrapped around Faolan’s finger. My emotions were heightened
to a dangerous and irrational degree.

I fought it all that
I could, but there was no way for me to fully fend it off. Now I
felt terribly powerless, something that Faolan could clearly see. I
didn’t matter what he said from here. I had been made weak enough
to fall prey to his lies and actually believe them. This was what
Faolan wanted – what he
needed
in order to manipulate me into getting his
way.

“No,” I pitifully sobbed, powerlessly
pleading. “Please, don’t! I don’t understand why Aurelian’s actions
are deserving of death…but even so, I’m begging you! Why add to
your kingdom’s habitual bloodshed? There has to be another
way!”

“I regret to do it…but now that I’ve
found him, if I fail to kill him now I must bring him back.
Unless…” Faolan trailed off, smirking.

“Unless what?” I
sobbed. There was silence. “
Unless
what?”
I repeated.

“Unless…someone were to take his
place.”

“Take his place?” I
echoed again. “You mean, like as a
human
sacrifice
?”

“If you’d like to think that,” Faolan
nonchalantly explained. “Though, it doesn’t have to be. I must
either take a life or bring one back with me. Perhaps it would mean
death…or perhaps it could mean something different. There are many
things I need…and if you would be willing to give them to me…I
might spare him.”

Now I understood what this was. I fell
into silence and looked back and Aurelian. He was still peacefully
asleep, seemingly unaffected by any of this. All I could think of
was his life. I could sense that there was a choice looming over me
at that moment that would either save his life or end it. I knew
now that unless something grand happened, Faolan was either going
to be leaving with a victim or leaving with his victim’s blood on
his hands. If I truly cared for Aurelian, I couldn’t let the blood
be his.

“Alright, alright,” I let out, feeling
a chill run through me. “You can stop playing the games now. Just
tell me what you want from me. What do I have to do in order to
keep you from hurting Aurelian?”

At the end of my sentence, a sly grin
rolled across his face. Faolan’s tone became low, narrowed and
intense. His silvery eyes met mine in an intimidating
stare.

“Come back with me and agree to become
my wife. Then, I will spare him.”

My whole body became
cold and clammy. I clutched the ring around my chest before looking
over my shoulder one last time. I loved him so deeply, so much more
than I could even understand! I knew I had promised to marry
Aurelian…but I had also promised him that my love for him would
never end. Would it go against my promise to Aurelian if I left
with this man? If it was, I would be betraying the one I loved.
Yet, if I didn’t I’d still betray him. His blood would be on
my
hands. It all came
down to me now.

I knew what Faolan was capable of. I
could sense the evil just from looking at his silhouette. Now I was
the piece that determined the picture in this puzzle, the game
piece that guaranteed this game’s outcome. Whatever move I chose to
make would end in a loss. There was no way to win.

But, just because I
couldn’t win didn’t mean that Aurelian had to suffer. How could I
say that I loved him if I wasn’t willing to protect him myself?
Whatever I’d said or done, I had to be brave now. I had to let him
live. I was
compelled by love
to protect him.

“I will go with you,” I told Faolan
soberly.

“And you will marry me?” Faolan
hastily asked me in return.

“Yes, I will marry you. But, only if
you promise not to hurt him.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” he deceitfully
assured me before letting out a gloating laugh. “Now, leave with me
before I change my mind.”

I took a few steps forward before
stopping. Now that I had made my decision, the invisible chains
which had bound me became loosed. I looked over my shoulder again
with tears in my eyes. There was no other way, it seemed. This was
the only way that I could save him. I still couldn’t bear the
thought of parting from him. Without thinking, I darted back to
Aurelian’s side. Faolan became agitated in an instant, threatening
to go back on his word if I didn’t leave with him at that
moment.

“I only want to tell him goodbye,” I
solemnly expressed.

Remembering my promise, my mind
flashed to the ring again. If I gave it back it would surely be
another reason for my desperate heart to inch closer to Aurelian
just long enough to give a satisfactory goodbye. I clutched the
ring around my neck, sternly turning to Faolan and trying to make
it seem as if I was only turning to give it back. When he saw what
I was doing, he gave me a hasty but aggravated nod of approval
before warning me to make haste.

I bent down at Aurelian’s
side, the prince still fast asleep under his enchantment. Although
he wasn’t cognizant, I still whispered into his ear. Perhaps there
was a slight chance he would hear me as he ran across the fields of
his dreams; a chance that my voice would remain in his thoughts and
somehow help to mend his broken heart when he later woke to find
that I wasn’t there. I opened my mouth to speak, but at first I
couldn’t muster it. I broke down, put my head on his chest and wept
before I was able to compose myself enough give him a clear
message.