Chapter 69

All of Heather's emotions were expressed in her eyes. Her tearful eyes only made Arkin's heart clench further. This was not what she deserved.
Not one bit.
“Heather, my child…” As Arkin began to speak, the lights went out again, and fear gripped him.
It was challenging to keep track of the seconds, which felt longer than the time he had actually been trapped here. He yelled and screamed for Heather's abuse to stop. He tried to break the cell, but nothing worked.
There was not a single sound of Heather, and it terrified him for her life.
Finally, when the lights came, he flinched back at the state of Heather's appearance. This was not the child he knew. She was completely broken, with no emotions.
She lay motionless on the floor, her eyes looking at nothing. Her face was bruised, and he could gamble on anyone’s life that her entire body, even her soul, was shattered and bloodied.
“Please speak up, Heather.”
But he was greeted with silence. Not even a sound of breath. The people near his cell were equally apprehensive at the state of Heather, with fear gripping every individual.
“Heather, you have to stay strong.” Arkin tried once again, this time with some encouraging words.
“How would that matter? Everything is done for. Alexander gave me the biggest betrayal of my life. He was supposed to be my anchor and my salvation, but instead, he became the very existence of my end.”
More than words, her tone set Arkin off. It was monotone. Just words spoken from a broken heart, said with no emotion in her voice.
“There might be a reason for his decision. You must give him the benefit of the doubt.” Arkin tried to justify Alexander’s action.
It did not make any sense. The Alexander he knew would not betray Heather, especially when he found his soul. If he had not met Heather, then his decision to marry Diona would have made sense, but after meeting Heather, it made absolutely no sense for him to continue his alliance with Diona.
It was impossible.
“My return to Warsavor was a benefit of the doubt towards him. Even though I knew our fate, I put all my trust in him, and he completely betrayed it. He enticed me to Warsavor and allowed his people to throw me in these dungeons. Maybe that was the plan from the very beginning. My ultimate demise.”
“Please do not come to a conclusion so fast, my dear child. There is a high probability that Alexander might not be even aware of your presence in these very dungeons.”
Heather let out an emotionless chortle. “That is highly improbable, Arkin. If Alexander can find me in just a couple of months in Boonsdock, he can very well find me in his own castle, but he did not come looking for me like I expected him to. If he truly cared for me, he would have noticed my absence and would have searched every nook and cranny of the place, but he did not. That is because he is not clueless about my absence. He planned it. The piece might not fit the puzzle as of now, but I am certain that Alexander had this planned.”
Arkin knew that no words of his would make Heather see from a different perspective, and at present, he was beginning to lose faith in Alexander. Even though somewhere he firmly believed that there has to be a logical reason for Alexander to agree with his marriage to Diona, at the same time, the present state of Heather was making him furious at the future king.
“Heather, I beseech you not to give up. I would not counter your refusal to believe in my faith in Alexander, but you cannot continue to live in the present state of mind. You need to fight back.”
“I have no energy to do so. And what would I achieve by fighting back? I have no purpose in this world. I have no family. I do not even have any memories to survive on. Alexander Diadem's betrayal has overwhelmed the memories I do currently have, and I no longer have the desire to carry on with such a mundane existence. What good a life is it when the people around you do not appreciate your efforts?”
“So, you are going to surrender your life for a man? Heather, I know, would have never done that. Heather, I know, would have fought back with everything she had. Heather, I know you do have a family—rock-solid people—with her. The people in Mystes are your family. And what about the people in Boonsdock? Did you not narrate your tales to me about them?” Arkin's words were dripping in anger. He would not let Heather succumb to the loss.
“Who is to say that was not done out of politeness and goodwill? They did accept me, which is what led to their acceptance, given that I am abandoned. Maybe if I were still in Mystes, I would have fought back. I had a purpose there, but here, I do not have anything to survive for. The universe is a cruel place, and the ultimate trust is my solitude in this life. And you tell me about my family. Where is my family, Arkin?”
Her question caught him off guard. He does not know how to answer her. But he did not know that he would not be able to answer her. He could not.
However, his silence spoke to Heather in a way it should not have.
“See, you have no answer for me because I do not have a family. Even if I did, then where are they? I had lost my memories, but they would not have. They certainly would have looked for me, but they did not.”
“They might have tried to find you. They might have desperately wanted to look for you, but circumstances may have prevented them from doing so.” Arkin said, looking down.
“You claimed that Mystes was the home of my ancestors, but nobody acknowledged me or even pretended not to know me. It does not make sense.”
“Heather…”
“I am tired,” Heather said, closing her eyes.
At present, she wishes nothing but to mourn her loss and identity and surrender her life. The willingness to fight for everything and to know about her past had, if not died, then gone for hibernation.
Further, sleep and succumbing to the darkness felt like a blessing, so tuning Arkin out took no effort on her side, and she drifted off to sleep. However, her sleep was soon broken as she felt another pain shooting in her arms.
Unlike other times, there was no physical impact of pain being inflicted upon her, but there was some magical substance in the air that put her in perpetual torment.
She did not know how many hours or days had passed, but constant suffering kept her alive. However, Arkin was present with her throughout. His concern made her almost question him, but she chose to stay silent. If she were to die here, she was glad that she had someone who worried about her. It may not be Mabel, but he was close to her, and she liked him.
She did wish she had her powers back so she could help Arkin out of this dungeon and reunite him with Mabel, but that seems impossible. Even without powers, she had a feeling that the end was close, and she was prepared to embrace it.
She may not remember most of her life, but she did have some beautiful memories, even if some of the precious ones were marred by Alexander.
As she was about to drift off to sleep again, she felt darkness all around her. She would have mistaken it for exhaustion, but being gripped by two people made her powerfully aware of her surroundings.
“You should not have been alive,” It was a familiar female voice, but unfortunately, it was hard for her to recognize it. Before she could even utter a word, she felt a hard slap on her face.
“Heather, you should not have returned, but you did." The woman gripped her hair tightly, making her cry in pain. "You should have been dead, but here you are still alive with a will to live. Alexander's betrayal should have killed you, but it did not. Even the slow death should have taken the life out of you, but here you are still breathing.”
“You will not be able to steal a life from her that easily." It was Arkin's voice, and it was filled with venom.
“Arkin, still standing tall, I see. But why all the animosity? You should be kissing my feet for allowing Heather to be your beloved neighbor. This is the least I could do for you. Further, I am giving you a golden opportunity to see her for one last time. But it is rather unfortunate that Mabel would not be able to see her ever again. It would be a true delight for me to see her face while I suck Heather's life in front of her.”
“Do not take her name from your filthy mouth. You would not be able to tear my family apart. Not this time.” Arkin's words only confused Heather, yet she could feel his resentment as he still adored his Mabel.
“Watch me, Arkin. I am going to kill Heather in front of your very eyes. If my guard's abuse and my spell did not work on her, this serum would.”
Before Heather could even realize it, she felt a woman’s fingers on her face as the liquid burned inside her throat.