(Amaia)

"Entry 67

I discovered something horrifying today. I don’t know who to tell or explain to. There is a hidden place in the north tower, accessible through an abandoned corridor and a barricaded door in the northern wing. No one goes there, it’s a deserted area. The room is where the heinous acts are committed. I am afraid that something has been done to me, to all of us. We are no longer safe."

Alnilam and I exchange disturbed glances.

"We need to check it out. Maybe that place holds more clues."

The diary is filled with these entries and each one is turning out to be more disturbing than the previous one. But we can read the rest of the diary when we are safely back at the Academy.

"Let’s go. I need to see this place first." With determination, Alnilam gets up from the bed. Raw pain is rippling on his face.

I follow, closing the diary. Millions of thoughts are spiralling in my mind as we quietly leave the room.

If Saiph is Queen Adrnia’s son and Rigel’s twin, then he is also the legitimate heir to the throne.

"I know of this place. We never went there as kids because it scared us and as adults, I don’t even know why we avoided it," Alnilam says with a slight confusion.

But I think it’s similar to the spell that had been cast in the dungeon where Rigel was held.

With hurried steps, we arrive at the deserted corridor, mentioned in the diary.

It’s dark in this place as if no one has visited it in a while. I flip my fingers, letting the fire ignite on my palm again. We move forward. I don’t even care that the Istrale would know I have been using my magic.

Alnilam spots the old, rickety door which appears not to have been opened in a long time. Cobwebs hang from it, and the wood is cracked. A heaviness rests in this place, suffocating, propelling us to leave. Both of us feel it.

"This has to be it. You ready?" Alnilam asks. I give him a nod.

Holding the brass knocker he pulls, opening the door.

It creaks, slowly revealing dust-covered stairs. The gloom and musty smell welcome us. Dust mites dance in the air where the light hits.

Alnilam takes my hand and we begin to ascend.

With every step, a disturbing heaviness occupies my heart, and I feel myself drowning in despair. Like I wish to run in the opposite direction.

"Do you feel the dreadful feeling too?" I ask. Alnilam sighs with a slow nod.

"Stay strong. The spell to keep people away from this place is powerful." We drag ourselves forward, one step at a time, until we reach another door. Painted white with a black cross carved on it.

Alnilam tries to open it by trying the doorknob but it doesn’t budge. Even his hair is unable to unlock it like it did the door to Queen Adrnia’s room.

"Let me try," I ask Alnilam and step forward. Alnilam takes a step back, letting me take charge.

Extending my hand, I place it on the door. The wood hums under my skin.

My magic seeps forward, flowing like blood through the veins, and it spreads through the cross, making it glow a deep blue. The door pushes open with a small click; it doesn’t blast open or fly open, but creaks.

My magic understands the severity of the situation and hasn’t blasted it.

"How did you do that?" Alnilam asks from behind me.

"I just let my magic flow forward." Keeping my hand on the cold wood, I push it forward.

Slowly the door slides in and the room lying behind comes into view. I take a step up and enter the place, Alnilam follows me.

It has a haunting feeling to it, very similar to the one that I experienced in that dungeon where Rigel was kept.

The air is heavy with something putrid and rotten. A wickedness resides in this place which makes my skin prick. The hair on my nape stands up.

The jars with weird ingredients line the shelves on one side, ancient tomes on the other. There is a long window which gives a view of the night sky.

Alnilam is right behind me, his breath is heavy. I sense his gloominess through the bond. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

A flawless black marble table rests in the centre of the room with a globe perched on it—a soothsayer’s globe.

What purpose does it serve?

The heart feels heavy as if I am drowning with every breath.

I snatch my eyes away from the glass globe and they land on the front wall. Stunned, I am left when my eyes find a strange-looking frame perched on the wall. The wood is odd, it’s not black or brown but some shade in between. It’s not a shade I have ever seen. But it’s the contents of the frame that leave me baffled.

Two tiny wings are glued inside. Silvery at the edges with a hue of purple inside. The yellow light from my fire traces them like golden rays. They pull me towards them and my feet move. The magic inside me is being propelled towards them, like they know it, they know whom they belong to.

But Alnilam beats me to it. He reaches over using his long arms and snatches the frame from the wall like a madman. His knuckles have bleached from the force he is applying to hold the frame.

The rigidness of his jaw and intensity of his gaze terrifies me. His hair shoots out like wriggling snakes, gathering around the frame, crawling all over the glass, trying to get to the wings.

His vulnerability and grief flood the bond with such force that I almost double over from the impact. My knees violently shake.

The magic in my blood pulses, desperately trying to reach him. Placing my hand on his rigid shoulder I softly ask.

"What is it?"

Does he know whose wings they are?

My wings shoot out from the side of my dress and they wrap themselves around him, trying to comfort him. A sad hum I feel going through them. The hints of blue flicker across them.

They feel it, they sense whatever despair he is going through.

They cocoon him, slowly and gently rubbing his shoulder blades, arms and chest. It’s the same emotion I felt when Alnilam made love to me but my wings had attached themselves to his back.

A single tear falls on them, and the membrane turns melancholic blue where it slides down.

"Alnilam!" My desperate voice shoots out of me.

He finally turns, his deeply melancholic eyes find me. Tears glisten in them like pearls. Another falls and it hurts my soul to see him cry again.

He holds the frame towards me.

"You know what was the first memory that diary showed me?"

I hold my breath, waiting for him to complete his answer.

"It showed that I was born with these wings. But they were severed right after my birth and placed in this frame. It means I am part-fae and yet I was deprived of it."