As the sun started sinking quickly into the horizon, darkness flooded into my room. I looked out my window to see the orange and pink plumage from the sun slowly turn into soft shades of blue. I watched as the last of the sunlight disappeared, leaving only the glowing crescent moon.
I pulled the curtains closed, turning on the light as I made my way across the room. I twisted the faucet of the bathtub and soaked a cloth in warm water before bringing it to my face to wipe my tears away. I knew this was goodbye, but I just didn’t understand why.
It had been six months since I had first met my mate. Six months since he had walked into my life, instantly taking the only piece of my heart that I had left. I shouldn’t have admitted how I felt after six months, but I did.
He was going to be my husband, the father of my future children, but that would never happen. I had seen it, the truth, and I couldn’t go on living like it didn’t exist.
I stepped into my bath, letting the water consume my body. I closed my eyes, trying to block everything out as I let the warm water soothe my aching muscles, if only for a few moments. I sunk deeper under the water, burying my face in my hands. I prayed for a swift death.
I had been Queen for almost ten years. It was my duty, my responsibility to ascend the throne, according to the laws of my kind. I was supposed to be honored and relaxed with joy, but all I felt was sadness and emptiness. I had tried everything to convince him to stay, but no matter how hard I tried, he didn’t love me.
I turned the faucet, letting it run steadily as the water cascaded down my body. The cool liquid ran down my skin, chilling me to the bone as it traveled over my curves and down my legs. I couldn’t stop my tears from flowing as I remembered the one time he said he loved me. It was several months ago, and I would have remembered it forever if he wouldn’t have taken it back.
He tried to convince me that he was only willing to take the mantle of King to keep me at his side. He said that I was all he had ever wanted and he would do anything to keep me at his side. I had fallen into his arms and clung to him. The feeling of complete and total happiness was short lived as he looked into my eyes and tried to kiss me.
I pushed him away and told him that I had no interest in him and could no longer be his queen. At the time, I thought he would disappear and I could forget about him, but he didn’t, he stayed. He stayed, even though I told him that I would never be his.
I sank into the water, letting it cover my face as I slid under the water. My heart clenched in pain as my lungs tightened. I couldn’t breathe, the water was seeping into my lungs, eroding my insides as it traveled. I did this; this was my fault. I tried to see into my future, and instead I saw nothing.
I knew I would be buried in the archives in the kingdom, but it was still not resting in peace. I swam past the marble columns, scraping my skin as they caught me. I lost track of time, but when I emerged from the water, I was stiff and sore. I looked at the bathtub and saw a red stain trailing down the side, no longer water, but blood.
The awful, cold reality of death surrounded me. It would be almost a year when I would be too weak to survive and I would be buried in the private section of the archives, the section reserved for the only thing King Soren’s desire was to rule, death.
I was the queen of the dead. The title didn’t make sense until you knew the truth. I was the Queen of Death and Soren was my King. He was my life, my love, my soul. I reached for my reflection in the mirror on the wall across from my bathroom and saw the empty shell of my existence.
I saw the truth about my world, about the world I created for so long. Soren was the only one who could see beyond my façade. The only one who asked me to love him. He was the only one who saw me as my soul, my King.
My soul. That was the only way I could explain him. He was brutal and cold, according to society, but he was warmth, life, happiness. When my world became cold, he warmed it. He was the only one to see me, not the Queen of Deceitfulness.
I cried for hours, trying to clean my mess and stop the bleeding. I had a lot of secrets that I was able to hide from everyone except Nexa. She, like me, was a demon, which was why she could see things the way I could. She could see my pain because she saw my future.
I walked into my closet and found a black cloak, it was the only long sleeved cloak that I owned. There was something about it that made it stand out in the crowd. Something I couldn’t describe, but that made it amazing. Nexa had picked it out for me and added a charm to it. She said it would keep me safe wherever I went, and I now hoped that it was the only thing that would keep me safe.
I stepped out into my courtyard. The air was cool and crisp and the stars were beautiful, dying slowly as the light shined on them. I hoped that they were shining bright tonight because they were supposed to be here. I waited in the moonlight, knowing that they would not be able to come until the sun was up in the morning. When the first rays of light broke over the horizon, I turned to face the sun.
My eyes burned and my skin was on fire as the light shone on me. I watched as the people died all around me. I watched as Soren’s army fell, one by one. I watched as the pain took my life.
I had been dancing with Soren at our wedding when my soul took over, flying in between my party. I found myself in a room that I had never seen before, protecting two small children. I knew right away that they were my future. The older one, a girl, spoke to me.
