by R. L. Weeks
Alastair. He must be dead or dying for them to leave. Ash floated down from the sky and I fell to my knees. I watched as a lone horse galloped away, against the bleak horizon. They were all gone. The final screams died out and the kingdom was filled with an eerie silence.
All the power in the world couldn’t help me now. I had traded in everything I was for power.
I walked numbly into the castle. There was no bustle of people, traffic, laughter, music – only silence.
My heels clicked against the polished marble as I searched for the king.
Everyone was dead, but perhaps he had at least survived?
That’s when I saw him, lying on the floor, covered in blood with a sword sticking out of his chest.
This was all my fault, my doing. I looked down at the amulet and cried. Magic couldn’t help me now.
I ran to Alastair's side and fell to my knees.
Blood gushed in time with his beating heart, pouring through my fingers and onto the marble floor. His gaze locked onto mine with one question – why?
I couldn’t find the words to answer in my fuzzy state.
I heard his cracked breath as his heart thumped to a stop and the blood turned black.
Every muscle in my body screamed at me to get up, to run out of that ballroom and leave the kingdom forever – but I didn’t. Instead, I stared down blankly at the blood and remained as still as a mannequin.
In the corner of my eye, the dark stains swirled in a mesmerising fashion. Each drop that fell from my fingertips formed into dark red petals.
My hands wrinkled and my vision blurred.
“What can save me,” I asked through wisped breaths.
The word ‘Amore’ formed before the blood disappeared completely.
I picked up the rose that had formed and examined it. It looked just like the one Alastair had picked me the day we first kissed.
I took the rose and placed into a jar.
I saw them as I walked through the now deserted kingdom. Souls of those who had died because of me, lurking in the shadows, their eyes white and angry. They were here to haunt me, they were trapped, and I had to free them.
Not only were the shadows of those who had died because of me, they were the souls of those who had been killed because of every person who had owned the amulet.
I realised then why Alastair had ridden out of the kingdom each night – it was to escape the shadows that haunted, the ones that now haunt me.
Was it his plan all along to have me take it from him?
I was now The Enchantress – and I had to to find someone to break the curse without darkening my heart even more.
I walked down the empty corridors of the castle and noticed one person's soul was missing – Alastair’s.
My heart sunk as I heard a distant cry of a baby and I ran to my room.
I looked out of the window and saw a wall of thorns surrounding the kingdom, through the forest. I was trapped and the souls slunk in from the shadows, their fingers reaching for mine.
Someone had to come along and soon - someone who deserves the curse more than me; a man who deserves to be a beast.
Note from the author
This story is a prequel to the Beauty and the Beast story in The Enchanted Kingdoms. You can read The Enchanted Kingdoms on Kindle for only 99c/99p.
Thank you for reading The Enchantress. If you have any questions, please email [email protected]
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE