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  "Bell, what are you doing here? What changed you? What did Albatros or I ever do to you? This is not you!" Laelliandir could not help himself.

  "Really? Who do you remember?" asked Bella, but she gave him no chance to respond. "A weak girl you persuaded to join your rebellion against the realm? You had me believe they were wrong, all the while you were working with Tragmont to take over Divox." Bella rattled her fist and spat in his direction. "You lied and put my life at risk when you had me join your crusade. I was lucky that Lonewolf convinced your uncle to pardon me. Luminear was lucky enough for them to pardon her. I thank Lonewolf for this. You trained me so you could use me as your weapon." As Bella recounted her version of events, her face reddened, and her voice grew more strident.

  "No, Bell-" Laelliandir began, but Bella interrupted.

  "And you." She glowered at Albatros. "Why were you ever with him? Why are you still? They trapped you in that marriage, and you're still right there with this cursed Javalla. Have you no honor? If the minotaurs are just now prepared to defend Tragmont, then you are too late. We expected you years ago. This war is over. Pick up what is left of your lives and go home. I repeat. It's over. Go back to Lamisdoria. And you can slide back under whatever rock you've been hiding under, Laelliandir. Live your life and be forgotten. It's over now. This is a desperate attempt that only shames you both." Bella finished with a mix of fury and bitter pity. Only an hour ago, she had been celebrating the end of this long war, making plans for her future, and now her joy was cut short by these traitors and their absurd scheme.

  Again Laelliandir would not let it go. "None of that is how it happened. What did they do to you, Bell? I never wanted you to ride with me to Magwhen. I rode against the tyrant who controlled the Maelor line, my uncle, but I intended for you to stay home and safe. Once it was over, I was coming home to be with you! Tragmont had nothing to do with any of this. My uncle used the rebellion as an excuse to go to war with Tragmont. They lied to you. Why can't you remember?"

  What sarding madness is he talking about? Laelliandir's words echoed in her ears. Nothing he said matched her memories. She was ready to fire back, but Albatros interceded.

  "You've been manipulated. Laelliandir did not force you to go to Magwhen. You followed him, and I came after you to bring you home to safety." Albatros backed up his friend's story even though he wondered if Bella's mind was too far gone to recall what had transpired.

  "You take me for a fool?"

  "Bell, why would I lie?" Laelliandir asked. "My story hasn't changed. I told you this years ago when I came to rescue you in Magwhen."

  "Rescue me? You’re a mad sarding liar!"

  "No, Bell. I returned to gather you, Luminear, Akelda, and anyone I could find to bring them to safety in Lamisdoria. Akelda was the only one I brought refuge." Laelliandir fought to jog her memory. He certainly hadn't forgotten it. Instead of being happy to see him, Bella had attempted to kill him. Yet, she did not recall this anymore either.

  "I haven't seen you since your treason at Magwhen. You lying shite filth!" Bella clenched her fist and again spat in his direction. Laelliandir and Albatros both knew something had happened to her but could not imagine what.

  "Why would either of us lie?" Laelliandir asked. "Do you think we are so foolish to expect you would fall for something this poorly thought out? Something happened to you in Magwhen at that battle. Something that changed you and what you remember. Think about it. What do I have to gain by lying?" Bella wondered the same thing. How foolish must they be to believe she'd fall for such a pitiful lie? "Bell. You and I were close once. Really close. You and me. It meant everything to me. That girl trusted me until the end, and I promised her I'd be true to her heart. The person I was and the person you were loved one another. We were going to be--"

  Bella guffawed, interrupting him. When she regained control, she came right back at him. "You and I were never anything! I was your student. If you expect me to believe that, you are a sarding fool. Treasonous sard!"

  Laelliandir shook his head, realizing she recollected nothing. The girl he loved was long gone. "You knew I was not a liar, and how much I disliked people like Lonewolf who cheat their way through. My code. I followed it."

  Bella recalled this. Laelliandir was stubborn about his honor, but she also remembered him betraying her, and forcing her to ride out with him to fight in Magwhen. After that, it was a blur. Somehow, she moved to Magwhen with Lonewolf, and her life was different. Lonewolf told her she had been injured in Magwhen's siege and had slept a month before returning to health. The more she tried to remember, her head began to throb.

  "I don't know why you are saying any of these things. I don't understand your agenda, but it won't work on me," Bella paused, experiencing sharp pain in her head. She squinted her eyes and fought the discomfort before continuing. "If you want to kill me, then do it, but I will not fall for this. I will report you both, and there will be a hunt to rid Murnia of you." Bella's words trailed off. Her head was pounding now, and her vision blurry. She reached up to massage her temples and then rubbed her eyes. She never understood why but trying to remember that day in Magwhen always caused her physical distress.

  "Then, don't believe us. You live the life you know now, but if you enter that city, you will awaken something terrible," Albatros said. "There is a beast of the old world that sleeps. The elves here say the beast protects them from an old threat that has been with them for ages. You break through that barrier, and you will waken an enemy who cannot be controlled." Albatros's warning broke through Bella's mind cloud.

  She blustered through her pain. "So that is it? You two have been with the elves, and this is a shite ruse. You cannot scare me with mindless threats. I've told you it is not up to me what happens to this land."

  "Why does it hurt you to recall Magwhen, Bell?" Laelliandir asked, taking notice of her squinted eyes and the way she'd massaged her temples. "What happened there? I swear on my life, your memories are false. I am here to protect you! I never stopped loving you, and I am still here for you, Bell!"

  Bella fought to shrug off her memories of that time, but they were like a plague festering in her mind. She ignored his questions and snapped back. "You are sarding insane! Love? You twisted dolt. I'm leaving. I will not suffer your lunacy any longer. Clear out of these lands if you wish to live. I am enforcing a hunt for you both. You can take your imaginary beast defender with you." Bella barked at them as she guided her horse to walk again.

  "Do what you must, but for yourself, try to remember what happened in Magwhen," Laelliandir advised. Bella glared at him as she rode past. Neither Albatros nor Laelliandir tried to stop her.

  “Concern yourself with your own fate," Bella shot back as her horse began to ride away. Despite her angry declarations to the opposite, she was confused and uncertain. It was a battle to keep her thoughts straight while her head throbbed in pain.

  Laelliandir shouted after her. "Create a false memory and ask Lonewolf if he remembers it. I'm sure he will even if it never happened! Ask yourself why it hurts to remember!" Bella did not respond, but she rode away, rattled and frightened.

  "Why did you do that?" Albatros asked.

  "Because she's a slave of something. She needs to know. She might help us still, but not as who she is now. Whatever twisted her memory must be undone. There has to be a way to bring her back."

  "Trauma. Some wounds can't be undone. But I hope you're right. I still think we should have just taken her by force to the beast in Crusayla." Albatros turned his head toward the shadows from where he had come and gave a soft roar summoning his white rhinoceros who appeared in the clearing.

  "I fear that is more of a fool's hope. Beast like that, and she may have called for another battle to face it. If we get Bella back, then we can use her help," Laelliandir argued.

  Albatros grunted as smoke unfurled from his nostrils. He climbed on top of his tamed rhinoceros and followed the trail Bella had come from with his eyes. "She might anyway if she is
convinced there is a minotaur and elf army left to fight her armies. I don't like leaving so much to chance. Where do you think she went down that path?" Albatros asked.

  Laelliandir looked in the direction Bella had come. "I don't know. Maybe another encampment. We dare not go that way tonight. Blast Cassenneth and blast Lamisdoria for not lending aid. No offense, Albatros. I am grateful you came."

  Albatros wouldn't have come except for the loss the two shared in Garroth many years ago. If he could make things right, he would try. As for Vanaris and his host of riders, Laelliandir hadn't a clue if they'd ever arrived. Not that it mattered now.

  "We need the Eastern Realm. I'll plead with Lord Elzeenor Zavon to talk sense into his Queen as I do not have a good feeling about what is coming," Albatros said.

  "I've tried that. I traveled the world and asked everyone who would listen. Even if they did hear you out, there is no time. We must put our faith in Bell and Lord Xio to guide her."

  "You focus on faith, and I'll focus on keeping us alive, my friend."

  "I can live with those odds." Laelliandir smiled back.

  Chapter Three

  Captivity

  Sour as lemons or sweet as grapes, my dreams leave me too often bitter and confused. They are not what I expect, and even though I know not what to make of them, I yearn for more. When I close my eyes, I hope to be carried aloft where I can take that strange but satisfying bite.

  In dreams, I feel safe and experience a sense of belonging I cannot describe. Like a mother's touch, as odd as it must sound coming from an orphan, I find dreams are my refuge. I'm reminded of a place I can't reach anymore, like when I nestled up to Bella when I was afraid or when Zynoa held me when I cried.

  These dreams of mine make no sense, but they are the one place I am free. The one place my sister visits me, but even here, something dark lingers. Something unseen terrifies but exhilarates me. Maybe what I fear is waking up.

  My life crashed down around me after I gave myself to the Twilight Prince. That very day I was taken away from all I'd known. Laella and everyone around me was killed or stripped of who they were. I tire of tears. I am weary of mourning and wishing I could go back. It does no good, but still, I miss Bella, Laella, Markus, Fern, Laelliandir. I miss the man I thought Wolf was. Zynoa too. Now it is all over. I'm alone and can only write if my new master permits me. Supervised and shackled, I remain.

  Dreams stopped making sense when I surrendered myself to my Twilight Prince. Perhaps they never made sense, and I was bitten by madness at birth. What I perceive in dreams I cannot trust, nor do my dreams offer a respite or comfort any longer. This Twilight Prince brings me no pleasure. He has betrayed my heart. He looks at me with disdain and keeps his distance.

  Much like my prison here in Magwhen, I live in a torment I cannot escape. I must have blessed him with power. I am unsure, but there's a potent ability within him I need to destroy. He does terrible things and ruins cities and uses his wicked ways to control those around him. Except me. He can't control me. I'm still his equal. Whatever I gave him, I remain his counterpart. I may have to kill him.

  Sometimes the horrid dreams where I share my broken heart with a despicable warlock I created fade, and I dream of this sister of mine. Sometimes I almost see her as Bella, but usually, she comes as the glowing Queen. So strong now. So proud and loving. It is she that comforts me and holds me as I cry. She is magnificent and pure, just as I once was.

  I'm broken. The power within me, which granted me the strength to fill voids with seas and forests and create life, is all but gone. I'm half of what I used to be. I can make so little compared to before. I make tears to drown myself, not great seas to swim in.

  I blame her. My sister. She brought them here. I created pure living things. She created wicked people that harbor seeds of anguish and torment and atrocious desires. Sometimes I look at her in envy and sometimes with hate. I want to go back. This world was mine—my sacred refuge. Now I can't tell which is worse, Icaz, Lonewolf, my wretched life, or my tortured dreams of despair.

  Only a few months have passed, yet it seems like a lifetime already. When will it end?

  ***

  Three years, four months, and twenty-seven days as a slave of both men. Twilight Prince of my dreams and Icaz when I awaken. The Twilight Prince is my sister's doing. I know this now. That was why I ran from her in that cave long ago.

  She created these hateful people. Flawed and corrupt, and like a virus, they spread, undoing everything I made. Tore down my paradise. My safe place. My dream. I will take it back. No longer will I sit aside and cry alone while he ruins the land, and my sister ignores his treachery. She says this is my mess to clean up. Be that as it may, she is responsible ultimately.

  I will end him and then her and take back the one place in this world that made me whole. And afterward, if I can find happiness here, I will escape Icaz. If not in the real world, at least in my dreams. Then I can live there and leave all this behind. Let them take my body, but my mind will be free.

  ***

  - Eleven years have passed. I've lost track of days and months, but eleven years sounds right. Ages since I've seen this journal. The one-piece of me I can look back on and remember fonder times. I'm surprised he didn't burn this.

  Icaz likely never read it. He kept it from me for so long I thought it existed no more. I could take this pen and ram it into my throat, but I see no point. These guards would be quick to assure it left me with little more than a minor injury, but I would take a beating so bad I'd wish for death. With the time I have with you, dear journal, I will behave.

  I may be vulnerable here, but I am mighty elsewhere. I stopped my Twilight Prince in my dreams. After a long struggle over countless nights that became years, I did it. He's gone now. As he used to be, he will never be again. However, neither will I. Part of me left a long time ago. The gifts I gave him can never be restored, and I remain as powerless as the day I surrendered to him in that pool years ago. Banished and stripped of everything, I smote him.

  Still, it changed nothing. My heart ravaged; my mind twisted in failure. There is only one thing left to do here. I'm forced to live my waking life in Magwhen while I am utterly defeated in my dreams. Not once have I seen my real sister in many years, dreams or reality. There is no relief from this burden I must carry.

  I don't blame Icaz anymore. I know he is ill, and I pity him now, but I blame the glowing Queen witch sister of my dreams. With all my might and what power remains, I will face her soon. I will take back my dreams, or she will forever end me.

  Whatever the cost, I will pay. It is all I have left. I may not have a choice here in the world of the living, but I do in the world of dreams.

  - Luminear's Journal

  "Blasted painting! How do you talk me into this? I can't do it!" Icaz screeched at Luminear, as he flung his paintbrush across a large canvas, splattering it with yellow. Whatever he was trying to paint was so incomprehensible the random splashes didn't hurt the artwork.

  "We can go over it again," Luminear whispered as raging winds bashed against her frail body, and rain hit her hair and face. Standing on the balcony in the rain was one of the few things Icaz allowed her to do that gave her pleasure. She hoped lightning might strike her during one of these storms so she could escape the drudgery of her life. This day she wore a long flowing black dress that matched her hair and dark, sad eyes.

  "I don’t want to anymore!" Icaz whined, plopping on the ground and hugging his knees. "I want to think!"

  "You can do that." Luminear preferred the silence but doubted Icaz would refrain from ranting. He was in a strange mood, and nothing seemed to keep him happy. "I’ll be quiet so you can think."

  "Good!"

  Icaz was High King Neighraellium to everyone else, but Luminear knew his secret. She wouldn't dishonor Laelliandir's Uncle by calling him by that name. To her, he would always be Icaz. Icaz also found this to his liking.

  The years spent here were not all terrible, altho
ugh the deplorable acts would forever taint the good. Now and then, Icaz and Luminear would talk and play games with pebbles, and Luminear taught him to read over long strenuous years of practice. In this way, she felt she was accomplishing something, and she took some small pleasure in that endeavor. Sometimes she would read him stories which always seemed to soothe him. Knowing Icaz enjoyed activities like this was why she talked him into painting this night.

  As she expected, Icaz's thinking didn't last long. Within minutes he was back up trying to paint again, rambling and fuming once more, but Luminear's attention was turned inward. She wished he would put his medallion around her neck as wearing it was a respite from the gloom of her life. She found it intoxicating, and this sensation she liked. Under its spell, fear and dread disappeared, and she would become a different person, more like the Luminear of old. She found things to smile about, and her curiosity reawakened, but Icaz didn't understand why she wanted to be put under the medallion's spell. He only agreed sometimes as he liked it better when she was her current self.