To Wed A Monster

Chapter Six

CELESTE D'ARDEN POV

I wasn't the religious type but for the first time in years, I made a wish to the goddess.

"If you're up there, please rescue me from this monster's home." I whispered weakly as the female attendants wiped me dry and forced me out of the dress.

They rubbed oil on my body, applying more pressure around my back intentionally to make me hurt more.

"Wash the dress and keep it safe" One ordered the other. "She will be wearing it for the wedding."

I was holding my breath and gulping in the air in my lungs to stay quiet although I felt like screaming, tearing through the deafening silence of the room.

It felt like my lips were sealed shut with a padlock, now speaking felt like a load was placed on my tongue, a threat that any word could determine my life and how much pain I'd receive.

The door swung open and the sight of Sera made me wish my silent torture with the attendants had lasted longer.

With a whip wrapped in her hand and chains in the other hand, she grinned at me. "Enough pampering, it's time for you to return to your cage."

I gritted my teeth, hot breath bursting through my parted lips. This masculine lady was working so hard to be a thorn in my flesh since I came here. Besides King Lucien, Sera was the next in my most hated list.

The whip cracked in the air and she flexed with it. "Get moving, ugly. I've got other things to attend to."

With slow feet and hesitant hands, I wore the ugly green overall with my cage number on it. The female attendants walked away with bowed heads, shivering as they passed Sera. She was a living nightmare so I understand why they were terrified.

I wasn't afraid of her and I think she could tell.

She sneered at me, displaying her nasty set of teeth coated with tartars as thick as clay.

" I'm sure you had a good time with the King, didn't ya?" She asked, closing the distance between us in a dramatic way, cracking the whip in the air.

I remained still, my eyes fixated on her.

"Hope you don't think you're special?" She added, her lips curling to a stern frown. "He might wash your feet with oil or even kiss your lips but that doesn't count." Her eyes moved to the pool and for a millisecond, she stared at her reflection. "I may not be the prettiest lady but he values me." Lifting her gaze to meet mine, her face stiffened. "He values more than he'll ever value you. You're just a pun to him, a game he wants to play with and dispose."

If envy had a face, it had to be Sera's. It was written all over her in bold scripts. Was she in love with King Lucien? Or just simply obsessed? I had no idea but I didn't want to meddle with whatever it was.

"Don't worry, I'm quite certain the King loathes me." I scoffed, wincing as she bounded my hands to a rope. She lifted her gaze and i could see the relief in those saggy, bloodshot eyes.

She didn’t say anything after that. Just smirked like she’d won some pathetic battle and shoved me forward.

The walk back to the dungeon was the usual parade of humiliation; stone walls that reeked of old rot, the occasional sneer from a passing guard, and the clank of my chains brushing against my thighs.

I hated the North. I hated their air and the heat waves even at night, i hated how archaic the castle was, I despised their art and how they depicted women in them like s****l objects.

Sera dumped me on the cold floor of my cage, laughing as I groaned at impact. "You're strong, ugly one. Most slaves don't make it twenty fours in here."

Curious, I asked. "How many slaves like me has King Lucien had?"

She sighed and shrugged. "Over a hundred or more." Seeing thr terror in my eyes, she laughed out again. "Like I said, you're nothing special."

It was obvious Sera hadn't heard about the King's wedding plans, and judging from her attachment to the King, i surely didn't want to be the one to relay the news to her.

Atleast not tonight when my body ached like it had lived ten years in a day.

As soon as Sera abandoned me in the dim, depressing lighting of the cage, I curled up with my bones pressed to stone floor.

Exhausted and hungry, the moment I shut my eyes, the world slipped away and I crept into my dreams.

---

It started with light.

Cold and endless moonlight, pouring from the sky and through the night clouds like water.

I was barefoot, dressed in white gown that kissed the wet ground of the field I was in. The air smelled of lavender and jasmine, the same scent i grew to love although the scent wasn't from my own skin or hair. It was from her; the woman in front of me.

Kneeling at the center of the field, her long silver hair tangled with leaves, her robes soaked with blood. She clutched her stomach, breathing heavily with her chest rising and falling unevenly.

Beside her was a small boy, crying into her lap. His tiny shoulders shook with grief, praying desperately for help, a savior, a miracle...

I tried to step closer, but the ground felt like mist and every movement dragged like I was walking underwater.

The woman lifted her head slowly, as though she already knew I was there.

Her eyes were not mortal. They were void with silver thread-like matter in them.

“Moonborn,” she whispered.

I stopped breathing.

Her voice curled around my spine, echoing in the depths of my mind.

“You are the last one, the chosen one. You must save him…”

“Save who?” I whispered, heart pounding hard against my ribs.

She gestured to the boy, who now stared at me with tearstained cheeks and fury in his darkening eyes.

“My son,” she rasped. “He is falling.”

Blood spilled down her side, soaking the soil like ink. The moon dimmed overhead, and shadows began to slide in from the trees—long, finger-like things with hollow mouths and whispering voices.

“You must protect him,” she said. “From the Darkness. From himself.”

The boy stood now, older somehow—his innocence peeling away as rage wrapped around his features. He looked so familiar with cold, feral eyes that lacked emotion.

I reached for her.

And that’s when I saw a glowing mark at the centre of her palm. It looked like a half-moon surrounded by thorns.

She lifted her hand toward me and although I was terrified, her eyes compelled me to do the same.

The moment our hands met, a searing heat stabbed through my skin. It was the worst pain I had ever felt, borning through me like I was set ablaze.

I screamed and the dream world shattered like glass.

---

I woke with a jolt, panting heavily, sweat dripping from my forehead.

Shaking, i sat up and looked around, sighing in relief to be in the dungeon. I had never thought I would be happy to be here but compared to the fright and terror of my dream, this dungeon felt relatively safe.

"It's just a dream. Only a dream." I muttered to myself.

My body had stopped aching and the only pain I felt was on my left hand. It was the usual ache, rather it felt like a burn.

The candle was far from where I was so it was seemingly impossible for me to have gotten burnt. But regardless of logic, I felt the pain of a burn on my hand.

Lifting the oversize overall, i opened my left palm and froze.

Cold ran down my spine as I stared with unblinking eyes at the glowing mark on my palm.

It was the same as the one in my dream. The one the woman had on her.

"Hello Celeste."

Gasping, I blurted out. "Anexia, I had the worst dream. I-I..."

I paused, my brain realizing the voice wasn't Anexia's.

"Celeste..." The voice within me whispered again.

I shook, my heart in my throat. "What are you?"

"I'm Moonborn. Your true wolf."

I held my hair and shook my head franticly. "This can't be real. I must still be dreaming."

My hair band snapped and my hair flowed down around my shoulders.

My breath hitched, trapping in my lungs as I stared at the waves of hair down my shoulders.

It was no longer brown and dark like mahogany. My hair was pure silver, bright and shiny—just like the lady in my dream. Just like King Lucien's mother.