Dying Embers

—Present Day—

Visenya lay sprawled on the stone-cold floor of her dark and dreary prison, her mind consumed by an endless loop of the day's events. She painstakingly dissected every action and word, desperately searching for where it all went awry.

Time seemed to stand still in the depths of her confinement. One night spent in the abyss felt like an eternity of purgatory, and no matter how many times Lucian subjected her to this torment, it never grew easier to bear.

Her heart leapt as the sound of the hatch creaking open reached her ears that morning. Relief flooded over her, grateful that Lucian had decided against leaving her down there for days at a time, as he had done in the past.

He freed her wrists from their iron restraints and lifted the blindfold from her face. His eyes met hers, colder than ever before. He wasn't the least bit surprised to see that she had cried the whole night through, but he told himself that he would never fall for her phony antics again. She played her role well, even had him fooled there for a moment. But now he knew it was all an act to get what she wanted.

He had let his guard down with her, exposing his very soul, only to discover that all she wanted was to run off with some other man. Now, everything made sense to him... why she had been so meticulous about preventing a pregnancy and why she had never revealed to Caspian that he was her mate.

Perhaps, it would have been best if he had remained buried in the ground. Or better yet, maybe he should have perished alongside the rest of his kind. Anything was better to the crushing weight of this reality that now haunted him.

Visenya pulled herself up, her sad, doe-like eyes fixed on him with expectation. She hoped for some kind of explanation. Perhaps, even an apology, but deep down, she knew it was too much to ask for.

"Are you not going to say anything?" Her voice cut through the thick tension that enveloped them.

Lucian kept his heart hardened, refusing to be bewitched by her any further. "Your duties here have been reassigned as of today. From now on, you will be in charge of cleaning the stables, tending to the crops, and keeping up with the hunting. Is that understood?"

"You're making me an outdoors slave?" She exclaimed.

"You're a clever one, aren't you?" He snarked back callously.

"I don't understand." Her sweet, innocent voice cracked as more tears fell from her distraught face, but he wasn't buying any of it this time.

"What is it that you fail to comprehend?" His tone dripped with irritation.

She hastily wiped her tears with the back of her hand, as if hoping to stop the rest from falling. "Why are you being so cold to me all of a sudden?"

He could have made it known to her that her hopeless little lover boy had spilled everything to him. But admitting that she had wounded a domineering force of nature like himself would require him to acknowledge his own vulnerability, and Lucian was far too proud to ever let himself appear weak.

"Because... it's who I am," he replied heartlessly, his voice dripping with disdain. "What did you expect, huh?"

He closed in on her, backing her into the wall, asserting his power and making sure she knew who held all the cards... who owned every part of her. "Did you really think there would be some fairytale ending for you?"

The more he dwelled on the thought of her with Caspian, the more his anger boiled within him. If she harbored any illusion of being with Caspian again, she was gravely mistaken. As long as Lucian still breathed, Visenya would forever be his possession, whether she accepted it or not.

Visenya, on the other hand, took Lucian's words quite literally. She believed he was shooting down any chance of them living together harmoniously. Little did she know, he had been deluded with made-up scenarios of her and someone else. The truth was, she had never harbored those kinds of feelings for anyone... except for Lucian himself. How ironic that she would feel this way towards someone who didn't deserve it.

"But I thought that..." Her voice trembled with each word. "I thought that things could be different... for you and me."

"And why the hell would you ever think that?" He retorted.

"Because," she answered sincerely, "I'm your mate."

He looked at her as if she had a lot of nerve using that as some kind of leverage over him, and was completely unmoved by her award-winning performance. "You... are nothing to me," he declared, his words cutting straight through her heart.

He might as well have plunged a dagger right through it and given it a good twist while he was at it. She couldn't help but weep, her heart feeling too heavy to bear. Lucian almost felt sorry for her, until he remembered that she had played this game with him before, and she was damn good at it too.

"Go on now, dog. You have work to do," he said authoritatively. "And stop crying... you look pathetic."

Visenya couldn't handle another second in his presence, so she bolted out of there and ran straight to her room. In the sanctuary of her own space, she allowed her tears to flow freely, her shattered heart pouring out its pain. She cried until all her tears had run dry.

Delilah did her best to envelop her in warmth and love, but the truth was, they were both hurting. Nobody understood how Visenya felt more than Delilah, for their hearts and minds were intertwined.

Delilah had always been her source of strength, so Visenya felt like she owed it to her wolf to be strong as well. She lifted herself up from the floor, and entered her lavatory in search of the basket that held the emberberries. There it was, on the floor next to the sink, but it was empty.

It hadn't occurred to her until now that someone had picked up all the scattered berries from the floor yesterday. She walked over to the small trash bin in the corner and emptied its contents, hoping to find the emberberries. But once again, they were nowhere to be found.

Trying not to panic, she reminded herself that she could simply go out and pick some more. Leaving the palace, she immediately transformed into her wolf. Normally, she would go to the stables to undress and preserve her clothing, but right now, none of that mattered to her.

All she cared about was reaching the nearest emberberry bush. She had already made up her mind to devour twice as many this time, even though she knew it would likely make her sick. She had to compensate for the two days she had gone without any.

There was one thing she still had control over: the decision of whether or not to bring children into her miserable world. Right as she affirmed to herself that no one could take that right away from her, she abruptly halted, a gasp of horror escaping her lips as she beheld the sight before her.

The once flourishing expanse of land, adorned with countless emberberry bushes, had been completely burned to the ground… every last inch of it.

"You don't think..." Delilah's voice trailed off.

Visenya struggled to form a coherent thought, still in shock by the charred remnants of a once beautiful landscape. She couldn't even recall how she had made her way back to the palace, or when she had shifted back to her natural form. She found herself walking aimlessly towards the front entrance, completely exposed in her nakedness.

All the men outside immediately averted their gaze, having been well-trained by the intimidating Dragon Lord. Grace was hanging linen out on the clothesline when she noticed Visenya. Without hesitation, she rushed over to cover Visenya with a sheet.

"Are you alright, My Queen?" Grace asked, her voice filled with genuine worry.

Visenya didn’t speak, nor did she acknowledge her presence. Her gaze was distant, devoid of any emotion. Grace gently guided Visenya back inside, leading her towards the steps of the palace doors. As they walked, Visenya's eyes met Lucian's piercing gaze from the balcony. He glared at her with an intensity that surpassed his already simmering anger.

He'd probably punish her again, but it didn't matter. Nothing seemed to matter... not anymore.