Bride To His Darkness
Chapter 150: Eyes Of Many

Chapter 150: Eyes Of Many

—

It took some time before Samantha’s knees sank to the green grass below, an overpowering wave of exhaustion taking a real toll on her frail body.

The drizzling rain hadn’t shown any sign of stopping, and the clouds above continued to make rumbling sounds with a flash of lightning in between. Samantha could hear the sound of the rain connecting with the earth, and it came with a strange melody that she was perceiving for the first time. She had never experienced rain before, the feeling of it dropping on her skin like this, it felt refreshing, and so she remained under its embrace with closed eyes, carelessly allowing her dress to get soaked with each drizzle that showered upon her figure.

When she opened her eyes again, her vision was vague and blurry. She felt light-headed and nothing seemed clear to her eyes anymore, however, that didn’t stop her from noticing the nature that had returned to their land..... the land where she was born and raised. Although she had to discover life through the hardest way of living, that didn’t necessarily mean she could abandon the land and what it had taught her.... The blood moon bore significance to a new era, and it has proven that by returning what they had lost many years ago.

Slowly, Samantha lifted her hands so she could look at her quivering palms, the blood moon had painted them red, whilst her green eyes sparkled with an otherworldly light. She smiled within, as if she had gotten her answer.

"Sam!" Finally snapped out of her trance, Samantha turned her head to see Maurice standing a few meters away from where she knelt. Just like her, he was also drenched from head to toe, but when she made attempts to stand up so she can go meet him, her knees buckled involuntarily, and she found herself dropping weakly to the ground again, a soft cry leaving her lips due to how powerless she had been rendered.

She could hardly get the mist in her eyes to clear off.

"Maurice.." His name left her lips in a breathless whisper.

Her heart no longer bore the pain, but it felt heavy, excruciatingly heavy for her own body to carry. Before she could succumb to the heaviness on her eyelids, her blurry vision was able to make out the silhouette that silently dropped to a landing not too far from where she stayed, and when she blinked so she could get a better view of who it was, she noticed the large magnificent wings that spread wide as the figure headed in her direction, whilst a wry smile curved her lips as she presumed the figure to be an angel of death.

"Am I going to die today?" She questioned, asking no one in particular before collapsing to the cold ground.

—

In the Chevalier Palace, Ivan walked in with an unconscious Samantha in his arms. He avoided the throne room where the guests were gathered and took a different route, an anxious Maurice trailing behind him until they made it to Ivan’s chamber. Maurice had opened the door for him out of mere instinct, but when he realized all too soon that he was helping Ivan tend to his sister, his eyes narrowed into a glaring slit, yet he could not say a word since he was the only one who could tell him what was happening with his sister.

Carefully, Ivan laid the unconscious Samantha on his bed, not minding the fact that she was soaked to the skin in her green dress. Maurice moved to the other side of the bed so he could stare at his sister’s face, and then he glanced at Ivan before mustering the courage to ask.

"Is she fine?"

"I’m not a Physician but yes, she is." Ivan responded without looking in his direction. His eyes was also filled with relief after confirming that she had only passed out due to her exhaustion, and thankfully, there was nothing critical about her current state. He had managed to somehow stir her away from the guests outside, and now that she was out of harms way, Ivan stole a glance at Maurice who stayed by his sister’s side, gently stroking her hair before taking his hand away and pursing his lips.

Clearly, he had something in his mind to say, but Ivan chose to ignore his silent judgement and proceeded to speak first.

"She’s not going anywhere with you."

"You don’t get to decide that." Maurice responded, his eyes shifting to Ivan who locked gaze with him. "I just witnessed her do something that I haven’t... it’s unbelievable, and I can’t leave without knowing what is going on here. She was normal before we got separated but now she’s–"

"If you want to accuse me of something then do it without having to beat around the bush." Came Ivan’s retort as he pulled the duvet over her body, "you think I turned your sister into one of my kind."

"Didn’t you?"

"Not yet." Ivan clicked his tongue, and he could sense Maurice’s brown eyes glaring at him. "Your sister isn’t human like you, what she is and her true origin, I’m yet to figure that out, but all I can tell you is that she possesses the power of the Missing Orb. I won’t go deeper since you’re familiar with the Orb yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean your sister isn’t leaving." He repeated, moving from where he stood so he could face Maurice who was also looking him dead in the eyes. Ivan could hardly believe that the petrified boy he had seen at the cottage was the one standing in front of him. The resemblance was the still there, but it felt strange standing in front of someone whom he had viciously threatened all those years ago.

"I understand that you care for her, but taking her away from here can put her life at much greater risk." Ivan calmly explained the situation. "She turned EmptyHollow back into GreenHollow, she made the impossible possible, without the Orb. If you take her away this Kingdom will crumble– the kingdom needs her, but unfortunately, the Kingdom won’t be the only thing that needs her as she will become a target to the eyes of many."

"Eyes of many?" Maurice only seemed to grab that phrase. "Are you playing tricks with me?"

"No." Ivan answered straightforwardly, "if she possesses the power of the Orb, she’s not meant to be anywhere else but here."

"Can’t the powers be taken from her?"

"It doesn’t work that way." Ivan’s gaze returned to the unconscious beauty, and a slight worry flickered in his eyes. "How about a deal?"