Bride To His Darkness-Chapter 300: Think Of Me

Carmela had not foreseen a straight-out declination from the child. His quick-witted response had left her unexpectedly speechless, to the point where all she could do was gaze at Marius who seemed just as taken aback as she was. The children in the cage watched from the corner where they had been huddled in, stupefied to their wits by the child’s unbelievable guts.

He looked merely about four to five years of age, but he just stood there, unsmiling, whilst his Amber-brown eyes that mirrored the setting sun, kept glancing at the surroundings he had found himself in. His lack of fear was what had Carmela and Marius pondering for some seconds, but, however, Carmela narrowed her eyes and simply assumed she had to sound more strict with her assertions– afterall, he was nothing more than a child.

"Are you listening to me at all? I said stand in the center," she repeated audibly, sounding more stern that it sent shivers down the spine of her captives, "this is not a request, child. You’re in my fortress, so you’ll have to listen to me."

"You’re not my mama! I don’t have to listen to you." Alain’s expression remained humorless as he retorted sharply, but it was almost comical to Marius, as he had never witnessed such an intriguing scene in his many years of living. Rather than fear, the little boy seemed irked that he got separated from his Mama and Papa. "I want to go back home, take me back."

"Do you defy the Queen’s orders? She can do horrible things to you if you keep up with your attitude. Haven’t you been lectured on the temperance of witches?" Marius crouched before the little boy, hoping to instill a little fear in him, but Alain simply folded his arms and tilted his head to the side, his Amber-brown eyes critically locking with the darker ones of Marius.

"I’ve heard about witches. They’re supposed to be all scary and stuff. But you’re not a witch, neither are you scary, you’re just weird. Like her." He pointed at the bewildered Carmela, and Marius struggled to suppress a smirk, unable to restrain his bemusement. Could it be that the little boy was never really afraid from the start? From his attitude, Marius could differentiate what he had seen from what he was seeing now.

"Perhaps a touch of fear would be in order." Carmela scowled through gritted teeth as she made her way to the little boy, and she grabbed his arm roughly. "You will listen to me, or there shall be consequences! Do you understand?"

"Consequences? Like turning me into a toad?" Alain’s pupils dilated critically, catching Carmela off-guard. "That would be cool. Then I can hop away from you." He deadpanned.

At this point, Marius couldn’t help but chuckle at the boy’s impressive audacity, he was tempted to keep him alive, but when he looked at Carmela who was torn between frustration and irritation, he knew he had to keep his opinion to no one but himself. The captives, who were initially terrified, found themselves stifling laughter at the unexpected absurdity brought by the child who refused to be cowed by magic or intimidation.

"You mannerless child!" Carmela seethed, but she restrained herself from acting vile. "It’s okay, that makes getting rid of you easier. Throw him into one of those cages with the rest of them, I’m sure after he spends a few nights here, he will come to his senses." She released Alain’s arm from her grip, and her grotesque minions approached from the darkness.

One of them grabbed Alain, and he was immediately shoved into one of the cages consisting of three children. Alain quietly sat, dusting off the dirt that had gotten into his black shirt, and his cellmates gazed at him in wonders. Unlike them who looked tattered and disheveled in all forms, Alain was the complete opposite– he looked like the peerless son of a noble, with his flawless skin glowing in the dimness of the room.

Aggrieved by her failure to intimidate the unflappable child, Carmela angrily stormed out of the secret chamber, whilst Marius pressed his lips together, concealing a smile as he followed her out. The boy’s energy was oddly faint, but it was there, and in no time, his powers would begin to progress. Before that happens, they’ll have to get the blood moon moving again.

"The barrier we planted around the blood moon must be broken by now." Carmela noted, her thoughts aligning with that of Marius, "but we have the boy now, so I am no longer bothered. While I focus on making the necessary concoction, that Orb girl still needs to be under your control."

She stole a glance at the unbothered Marius who walked beside her, and together, they stepped into the library room. On the table was the dark crystal Marius had used to communicate with Samantha’s subconsciousness in the Palace, the crystal that was capable of making her listen to his whispers, no matter how distant she was from him.

Gazing at the ominous crystal that glowed in front of him, Marius proceeded to whisper her name.

"Samantha."

—--

In the elf’s cozy cottage, Samantha lay in a deep slumber, whilst the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest signaled a peaceful night, one she had seriously longed for, but she never knew what anticipated her slumbers till it was already too late.

Deep in sleep, an ominous whisper began to weave its way into her consciousness, like a haunting melody that could not be ignored. The voice, barely audible at first, grew stronger with each passing moment, and that made Samantha’s heart automatically quicken. It called out her name with an eerie familiarity, echoing through the corridors of her mind, whilst she squeezed her eyes in apprehension.

Samantha stirred uneasily, as if the incoherent whisper had materialized into a spectral presence hovering above her bed. She tried to fight against the insidious intrusion, twisting and turning beneath her tangled sheets, yet, the whispers persisted, an intangible force that clung to the edges of her thoughts.

It beckoned her towards the unknown, like a siren’s call she struggled to resist.

As Samantha strained to ignore the eerie calls, green marks, like ethereal tendrils, began to weave a mystic tapestry from the corner of her eyes, tracing a mesmerizing path towards either side of her forehead. She struggled to stay sane, already aware that the one behind her predicament had to be Marius.

She covered her ears with her palm, hoping to silence the disturbing whispers, but they refused to leave. They sounded like a diabolical chant, a chant she would regret submitting to, despite not knowing the meaning behind it.

"Argh!" She winced.

Seeking help from her pet plant wouldn’t do much, as it was already recharging with another round of deep sleep.

"Go away." She folded herself while continuously trying to battle with the noise, but when her body was slowly starting to answer the ominous call, she remembered the words Ivan had told her.

’If you ever hear those whispers, think of me, and I’ll be there.’ his voice, she could remember it vividly, and that lit a beacon of hope in her panicked soul.

"Ivan." She mentioned his name in a trembling hush, trying her best to fill her mind with his thoughts, his words, his scent, everything about him. A lone tear slipped from the corner of her eyes, she needed him, and as she continued to fill her head with the vivid memories of him, the whispering stopped.

At first, Samantha was afraid to release her palm from her ears, her body trembled from the restrained aftermath, and when it felt like everything wasn’t over, Samantha felt the caress of someone’s finger on her face. The cool tip wiped off the lingering tears from her soaked lashes, and when her eyes fluttered open, she was met with a familiar crimson-red eyes staring right back at her. His fingers paused in his caress, and Samantha’s pupils dilated.

"Little Lamb." His lips curled into a smile, the same time a single tear escaped her eyes.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l