Page 23 of Of Vows and War: Special Edition
“Asher, I need you to breathe. You are confused. Nearly a year-long coma can do that to a fae,” she whispered, moving forward with open arms. I froze then, facing her fully.
“You brought me up from the dungeons a year ago?” I squealed in horror. Had the war already happened? Had Bellamy lost?
No. Please no. That could not be. Please, let—
“Asher, you were never in the dungeons. I would never put you there. I am not sure why you would think such a thing. It must have been the magic they hit you with.” Now she was nearly upon me, but my mind was racing. Her words were not making sense. The time was confusing me. I could not think.
“Magic? What magic?”
“Demon magic. Black magic. You have been asleep since demons attacked your wedding, my flower.”
II
Act II
Love and Hate
Chapter Twelve
Asher
“No. That—that is impossible. Bellamy took me from the wedding. He did not hurt me. It was you who nearly killed me. You have been hunting me for months. You!” I screamed the final word, jerking when Mia reached out to soothe me. “Do not touch me!”
“You are scaring me, Asher. Please, calm down.” Mia’s voice was filled with terror, but I knew how capable she was of spinning lies. I knew my mind. I knew my truth. I knew Bellamy. I knew it all.
I knew.
Without thinking, I pushed off the wall and shoved Mia. She flew back, her body slamming into one of the four golden posts that made up my canopy bed. Her shout of pain was startling, so soft was the noise that for a moment I believed it. Only a moment though, because then I recalled all she had done and knew better than to pity her. Not sparing her another glance, I ran towards my double doors, clawing at the gold upon my body to free myself from its torment.
Tish walked through just as I grabbed for the golden handles, and I was forced to stop mid-step. My memories of her wan face and deteriorating body did not line up with what was in front of me. The Healer looked immaculate, her skin now ivory rather than gray, her short brown hair silky again.
She looked as she did the night before my wedding.
My heart raced in my chest, and I found myself gripping my hair again. How had it grown back? How long had they kept me asleep? On instinct, I looked down at my arms. The skin there, once more a light brown rather than the darker shade it had become from so much time outdoors this last year, was free of the jagged scars.
No. It could not be. I knew what was real.
“What have you done to me?” I asked. Begged.
“Asher, I do not know what you mean. Please, get in bed and lie down. Then you can explain to me what it is you think happened, and I can tell you all that has occurred since the attack.” The queen gestured to the lush golden bed, a small frown of concern thinning her lips.
“No, I know what happened. You tortured me, Mia. You nearly killed Bellamy!” My bellows echoed off the high ceilings, a small wind coming in through the slightly ajar windows behind me. Perhaps I could jump, then they would not be able to use me for whatever sinister game they had begun playing.
“My flower, I do not know who that is. Please, you need rest. The realm will be so glad to hear you are finally awake after so long, but you have to be well-rested and calm to address them,” she cautioned. I continued to back up, once more allowing myself to be cornered.
“You claim not to know your own son now?” Each word was a knife soaring through the air with jagged slashes, missing the mark. Mia did not grow angry like I had hoped, did not do so much as gasp with offense. Instead, her blue eyes watered as she stumbled back. As if in pain. Fake. All of it fake.
“How dare you, Ash!” Xavier’s voice cut in. I whipped my head to the right, catching a glimpse of the king as he rushed in to aid his wife. He embraced her, a gentle touch born not of love but of familiarity. Just as they had been before my wedding. “You know how hard the loss of Baron was on us. What could we have possibly done for you to throw out such hateful lies?”
Genuine disbelief slackened his face, as if he truly could not think of something he had done that would warrant such an offense. As if none of the last year had occurred.
Impossible. I could not have dreamt up the life I had lived since my wedding. I was…I could not have.
Bellamy was real. Our love was the most real thing I had ever known. Yes, it was real.
“I think Princess Asher needs space to rest,” Tish said, looking at me as if I were a rabid animal. Lies. All of it, lies! I wanted to scream at them that I was not stupid, but Mia sniffled and nodded. The three of them slowly and steadily left my chambers, six eyes trained on me as if looking away would mean being mauled to death.
By the time my mind registered what they were doing, it was too late. I ran at them, trying to stop them from locking me in. Xavier ripped the doors closed, the sound of the lock clicking into place ringing through the space just before my fists hit thedoor. I pounded on them with a desperation I had not known in so long. When my knocks failed to free me, I began punching into it, the bite of the splintering wood as it gave beneath my strength unable to deter me.
