Chapter 4
When I awoke from the haze of pain, my wounds had already been tended to.
The estate matron hurried in, cradling a bowl of steaming tonic in her wrinkled hands. “Why do you insist on clashing with His Lordship?” she muttered, worry thick in her voice. “In all my years serving Lord Thorne, I’ve never seen him this shaken–punishing someone so harshly, then turning right around to summon the physician himself, pacing outside your door all through the night.”
I accepted the bowl.
The liquid scalded as it slid down my throat, but the burn paled in comparison to the bitterness blooming in my chest.
I rasped, “I wouldn’t dare oppose him.”
The matron let out a heavy sigh but said no more.
Then clamor outside. The sound of hurried footsteps. The steward’s voice burst through the door, panicked.
“My lady! It’s your brother–he heard what happened last night and he’s come demanding justice!”
I stumbled out the door in a panic, only to find Elias already pinned in the mud. One of the guards had his boot pressed against my brother’s pale face. Blood pooled beneath him from a mouthful he’d just coughed up.
“Let him go!” I screamed. “Get off him, all of you!”
But no one listened.
Elias’s gaze found mine through the dirt and agony. His face was drawn and bruised, but his voice remained steady. “Don’t be afraid, Seraphina. I’ve come to take you home.”
Alaric stood just beyond, arms around the delicate Celeste, watching with wordless disdain.
I didn’t care. I dropped to my knees in front of him, all pride abandoned.
“Alaric, whatever grievance you have–take it out on me. I won’t resist. I swear I’ll obey you in all things. Just… just let my brother go.‘
Celeste tilted her head with mock concern. “Oh dear, is this the young master Vale? What a pity. Hasn’t anyone taught him respect? To lay hands on the regent is treason.”
I fell apart.
I threw myself at Alaric’s feet, forehead striking the stone until it bled. “Please, I beg you don’t hurt him! He knows nothing. He had nothing to do with what happened years ago. When you fell from that cliff–don’t you remember? It was he who carried you back. Carried you for miles, bleeding and starving!”
Alaric’s expression faltered. His lips tightened into a grim line. I could see the memory flickering behind his eyes.
Celeste, sensing his hesitation, burst into tears.
“Alaric… even in death, our child would be cursed. They’d say it deserved to die. Maybe it’s true–maybe our baby was never meant to be born…”
Elias cried out again as the guards struck him. One leg bent at a grotesque angle, blood soaking through his trousers.
I collapsed fully onto the ground, desperate and sobbing. “It’s my fault. I’ll do anything, anything at all–just let him live. I’ll leave the estate. I’ll disappear. You’ll never have to see me again, Just let him go…”
“Leave?” Alaric’s voice was tight with rage. His brows drew low, his mouth a hard slash of disbelief.
“You hate me that much?” he growled. “You truly want to leave me that badly?”
“Fine,” he hissed. “So be it.”
I trembled, unable to speak.
Chapter 4
The moment I didn’t deny it, he let out a hollow, twisted laugh–then kicked me square in the chest.
I tumbled down the steps, bones screaming in protest.
Elias roared in fury, eyes bloodshot. “You bastard! She gave everything for you! She begged on her knees to save your wretched family! She bled for you–lied for you–sold herself for you!”
“Alaric Thorne, Celeste Hawthorn–you vile, pitiful demons. I curse you both! May you never know peace, not in this life or the next!”
Alaric’s jaw clenched. A vein pulsed in his temple as his hands balled into fists.
“Gag him,” he barked. “Beat him until he never speaks again.”
The soldiers raised their clubs.
Wood cracked against flesh, again and again. Elias spat blood but kept screaming, shouting every truth no one dared say aloud.
About Alaric’s betrayal. About Celeste’s cruelty. About our father’s cowardice.
I lunged forward, but the guards held me down.
4
I screamed until my voice shattered. My nails clawed at the stone as I dragged myself forward, but the blood smeared beneath my fingers was the only thing that moved.
All I could see was Elias–still smiling at me.
Smiling as his color drained.
Smiling as he whispered, “Don’t cry, Seraphina.”
His voice faded to a murmur. His eyes lost focus.
The guards finally released me.
I crawled through the mud and blood and pulled what was left of my brother into my arms.
His body was limp. Paper–thin. His warmth already slipping away.
“Help!” I screamed. “Someone fetch the healer! Please!”
But Alaric was gone–already inside, comforting Celeste.
No one answered.
Elias’s hand brushed against my cheek, wiping away a tear.
“Live,” he whispered, “live happily,”
I tried to lift him onto my back. Tried to carry him the way he once carried Alaric.
I staggered.
I fell.
And I felt the moment his breath left him.
My scream tore through the air, ripping the heavens apart.
I hated myself.
Hated that I was too weak to save him.
Hated that I ever let Alaric Thorne into my life.
collap
When the physician finally arrived–sent by Alaric himself–I collapsed beside my brother’s corpse. Chapter 4
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Blood gushed from my mouth.
Two bodies, side by side.
One cold. One breaking.
