Page 61 of Secrets & Curses of Cerithia

“I don’t understand why you would do this to me. I don't want the pain and confusion of loving you anymore.” I leaned my forehead against his hard chest and sobbed. I didn’t want to be this monster. My fists rested against his chest too, and my blood seeped onto his uniform from my wrists. Rain and forest filled my lungs, making me relax when I should be repulsed by him.

“Help me understand all of this."

I could pull his dagger from his sheath and kill him, but I wouldn't…because I still fucking loved him. I reached up and ran my fingers across his cheek. As soon as our skin made contact, though, memories hit me so violently that I fell to my knees as they flashed through my mind. But none of them were new. No, they were memories from our time during the trials.

A moment later, I heard the room bustling again. I hadn’t meant to stop the magic from keeping them frozen.

I glanced up from where I was kneeling and crying to see Cassius’ golden eyes locked on mine. He looked at me, kneeling and crying at his feet, then to where I had been before returning to me confused. I dropped the dagger on the floor, the noise ricocheting around the room.

I froze the room again quickly, but Cassius blinked at me. Reaching into my trousers, I grabbed the letters. It was now or never. I reached out, and he took the letters from me with confusion plaguing his features. I ripped them from his hand and shoved them into his shirt to hide the letters from Jesper and my father.

“Lavtan…” I started to tell him, but the magic started fading away. The noise of the room cut off my sentence."Forgive me." I wanted to apologize for not going to Crimson with him when I had the chance. I knew it was right now. Cassius and Della had been right, I needed to understand the secrets of Cerithia before I could truly see what was going on.

“My love,” he whispered so softly as his shadows swept out and caressed my cheek gently before I was yanked backward by my arm.

“That’s enough magic fun for today, darling.” Jesper wrapped the barbs tightly around my wrists again, making it nearly impossible to hold in the pain it caused. Blood dripped from my wounds as he yanked me up. He hugged me so tightly that it was crushing me, but to others, it looked like a loving embrace.

“I guess another punishment when we get home will be in order since you think you can use magic without permission,” he hissed, so only I could hear. This time, he slid his hand over my cheek and gripped the back of my neck, as if he might kiss me.

“Please stop,” I begged quietly.

“You should have thought about the consequences before disobeying me. What did you say to him?”

“He was frozen too,” I confessed quietly as Jesper pulled my face to his and kissed me softly.

“If you tell everyone here whatever pathetic declaration you had for Cassius, I will lessen your punishment,” he whispered to me.

No, he wouldn’t. I looked past him to the ceiling above me and waited for someone to step in and save me from this monster, but they wouldn’t. To them, he looked like he was proud of me and giving me praise.

“I’ll take my punishment,” I answered back.

“You see how no one came to help you, Thea? Because no one gives a fuck about you,” he laughed into my ear. I’m sure it looked like he was giving me a very long hug to everyone else in the room.

“I didn’t expect anyone to save me,” I whispered.

“Oh, but you hopedhewould,” he said back. “And that ends today. You will become my wife and belong solely to me.”

“I know.”

Silent tears fell out of the corners of my eyes as Jesper pulled me to him for a kiss, making a spectacle out of it. Fear trickled into my mind as I thought of what he would do to me later, what my father would do to me, but I said nothing else because he hadn’t threatened Exile again and I didn’t want to remind him.

“Cerithia and Kizar are now allied and will fight against anyone who does not declare loyalty to us. Thea only showed a fraction of her abilities to you all. There is no way to defeat her,”the king of Cerithia spoke as he stood. “I hope you all think this over seriously.”

Jesper turned me so my back was pressed into his chest and forced me to look at Crimson.

“This is the last time you will ever see any of them,” he whispered in my ear. “Alive, at least.” Jesper released me. “We hope to see all of you at our wedding,” Jesper called out to the room.

I could see the king of Crimson saying something to Cassius as shadows swarmed dangerously close to where Jesper and I stood.

Haden looked at me in a way I couldn’t understand. Cassius stared me in the eyes before closing them tightly in defeat.

Jesper then proceeded to drag me through the castle by my wounded wrists. Before we walked out the front door, Cassius’ shadows swept over my face with a gentle touch.

The gesture calmed my frantic heart. But it was short-lived because Jesper tugged me forcefully into the carriage and then kicked me when I tried to sit on the bench. I fell back to the floor and didn’t move.

The ride back to Cerithia was silent and tense. I tried to push the fear I was feeling away, but it wouldn’t let me be. Maybe the gods above would show mercy on me and end this suffering. I didn’t dare to sleep the whole ride home. Fear wouldn’t let me close my eyes. As soon as the carriage stopped back at the castle, Jesper grabbed me by the throat and tried to drag me inside, but I shoved him and started running. I was too weak to get far, both from using magic and not sleeping.

Jesper tackled me to the ground a moment later. I swung my arms frantically to get him off of me, but he grabbed them and pinned me down. His blue eyes were void of any sort of emotion as they looked at me in hatred. I still thrashed under him, yelling and crying to be let go.

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