The Queen's Mate

FIVE

Fire.

It was as if someone had let wildfire run through her veins and made a spectacle out of it for the rest of the world to watch. Her limbs felt like they were tied to boulders and she was sinking because of the weight whereas her eyes refused to open; behind them, four pairs of glaring red orbs haunted her to her core.

The worst pain was in her abdomen from where her blood dripped onto the floor surrounding her in a dark red halo of her own life source.

She did not know how long she laid there, how many hours passed as she laid there all alone and forgotten.

With each moment her breathing slowed down and her heart fought harshly against death.

Her mind was too occupied, even in her comatose state, visions of what she had seen before falling unconscious continued to repeat inside her head. Along with the horrific experience that included a verbal confession from Anderson about killing Mary and Daniel, Eleanor struggled to find an explanation for the demon-like creatures with glowing red eyes and the cause which Anderson talked about. However, the greatest confusion was the significance of the blue-hilted blade which seemed to be the reason of all ruckus.

She wasn’t so sure about the world she lived in considering that those demons surely did not look like something she had ever believed in or heard about.

As she laid there getting closer and closer to death, memories began to play behind her eyes; memories of situations she had never been in before. It was just like when she had met Adonis Morgenstern for the first time. A gush of memories and visions had come rushing inside from her subconscious and she was left questioning every detail of her existence.

The last thing Eleanor felt was that she was being lifted off the floor in two muscular arms. “I’ve got you, love. I’ve got you.” She heard a familiar voice whisper right before her eyes closed on their own accord and she slipped into a limbo she had never experienced before.

Eleanor found herself standing in the middle of a meadow surrounded by dense woodlands as small weeds and flowers brushed along her feet due to the calm breeze flowing around her.

She looked down and realized that she was no longer in the black sweats and crop top which she was wearing earlier but a beautiful, white-colored summer dress which fell to her ankles. Her brown hair was no longer in a bun but rather flowing wildly down her back as her skin felt much lighter and cleaner than the sweat and blood she remembered from when she was awake.

This was a dream. It had to be.

Or perhaps she had died, and this was the place nature took her soul to.

Whatever it was, she had no idea; she just felt so much at peace at the moment that she did not wish to leave.

What was most surprising was the fact that the sheer agony she was feeling just until seconds ago was gone.

Shocked, she touched her stomach and gaped when she did not feel any wound bleeding through the white fabric of the dress. There was no pain, not even a visible scar.

She was certain that she was dead.

That is how the world works. A trivial wound such as the one she suffered could have easily taken her life and now, here she was, in the afterlife.

She knew she was denying a whole fragment of her thought process by ignoring all musings about the demons she had seen but she couldn’t care less at the moment.

She had just lost her parents, the one person whom she thought she could trust, betrayed her and one of the four red-eyed demons had slashed his sword on the bare skin of her stomach and the gash had run deep.

There was possibly nothing she could do anymore but let go of all of her desires and just be there in the moment.

If she was truly dead then probably within a few days that will also become global news and soon all of the Sparks assets would be distributed to the various charities around the world due to the lack of an heir and the empire would be forgotten not long after.

As much as it pained her to think about her parents’ struggle into building the whole business, she had to agree that it was comforting to not be subjected to constant expectations.

She was no longer responsible for anything anymore. She was dead. Death did not come with responsibilities.

She let out a relieved chuckle shaking her head as her brown hair danced behind her back whilst she skipped through the enchanting meadow that surrounded her.

Her eyes fell on the long line of trees at the edge of the meadow as she made a beeline for it with a carefree mind.

She did not know what had happened before she lost consciousness, but she figured that she didn’t need to find out any more.

She was free.

Her feet took her to the far end of the meadow and into the dense forest as she began to carefully trudge through the thick roots of trees which seemed to extend into the horizon.

Her mind no longer occupied thoughts and her hands traced the moss-covered tree trunks while occasionally stopping to admire a budding flower or a butterfly flying by her face.

She had never felt so ethereal. Her heart had always connected her with nature but being surrounded by such amazements made her wish to spend an eternity in those woods.

A giggle escaped her lips when a ladybug flew right in front of her face without a warning, making her tumble on her feet a little before she balanced herself and looked back up in hopes of exploring the woods further.

That was when her breath got caught in her throat when she saw a pair of eyes staring back at her from behind the bushes.

Someone was here with her.

“Hello?” She called out but the person simply continued to stare at her with dark chocolaty eyes which eerily resembled the vast woodlands surrounding her.

The wind caused the leaves to move a little and she caught sight of a strong jaw with light stubble accentuating the man’s godlike features, but her eyes stayed fixed on his own dark ones.

“Hey, would you tell me what place this is?” She asked again stepping forward as his emotionless eyes hardened.

It was almost as if he was unhappy by her presence; angry.

“You should not have come here.” The man finally spoke and the utter coldness of his voice caused her to stop in her tracks as she stared at him with wide eyes.

She could still not see his face but something about his eyes made her feel torn between wanting to run away from him or staying right where she was.

She was confused about the entirety of the situation.

“Who are you?” She whispered. She wasn’t even sure if he could hear.

“Someone you don’t wish to know, love.” He replied in his steel tone but something about his words made her feel the opposite.

She wanted to talk to him; to know him.

“But then why am I here?” She asked again.

“Of that, I do not have an answer.”

“Is this what they call Heaven? I died and I…” She was cut off when a chuckle erupted from him and she clenched her jaw in offense. “It is not funny.” She spat.

“Oh, I am sorry, love. It’s just that I have never really heard someone talk about Heaven and Hell from where I come from.” He said stifling his laughter.

Eleanor glared at him. “Who even are…”

Before Eleanor could complete her question, she felt like her soul was being pulled back right before she opened her eyes again and a bright light came flooding in which made her groan loudly.

“Easy, tiger. Don’t get so excited about waking up; you’ve lost a lot of blood.” Someone said from beside her making her jolt up as she realized that she was in her own bed and not the enchanted forest anymore as she turned around and found none other than Adonis Morgenstern sitting beside her.

“What the hell are you doing here?” She asked instantly.

Adonis gave her a pointed look before rolling his eyes, “you’re welcome, Eleanor. Yes, it was no trouble saving your life.” He sassed sarcastically.

She furrowed her brows right before the incident came flooding back and her eyes widened as she once again looked down at her abdomen and this time she did see a wound, only it was covered in gauze.

“How did you even know that I was dying?” She asked in confusion.

“Because I came looking for you and found you lying on the floor in a pool of your own blood.”

Just like before, Eleanor was clueless about the things happening around her. She wasn’t even sure that she was in control of her life anymore or not. Things were just so confusing and it frustrated her.

“Okay, how about you start by telling me about who the hell you are?” She snapped shooting him a glare.

Adonis shook his head. “First you have to tell me how you ended up in this predicament exactly.”

“I asked you first.”

Adonis rolled his blue eyes. “We can go on like this for the rest of the day and not get anywhere. Or, you could tell me what really happened and then I can go on to explain the mess that is your life right now.” He offered.

Eleanor stared at him for a moment. She was not so sure that she wanted anything to do about the possible explanation he was promising.

She rolled her eyes and sighed in defeat.

“My butler killed my parents for the same key which you gave me. Then we opened a secret closet with that key and there was a blue-hilted dagger hidden inside a gold chest. Anderson, my butler, then took the dagger and muttered something under his breath when four demons appeared out of thin air and…”

“Wait, what demons?” He asked interrupting her.

Eleanor shook her head. “I don’t know what they were. I have never seen anything like it before. Their bodies were made of black smoke and they wore long cloaks with red glowing eyes. It was almost like a nightmare had materialized into existence.”

“That is exactly what they were,” Adonis informed.

She gave him a questioning look, not understanding what he was saying.

He sighed. “They are called the Mares. They always need a master to control them and the one who holds the blade holds power over them. They are vicious and vile creatures and don’t care about who they kill when it comes to pleasing their master.”

“But I don’t understand how they even exist…I mean, that’s not the world we live in.” She shrieked.

“I know what you must be thinking, Eleanor. I am a complete stranger to you right now but there are a lot of things that you should know about; especially now that Anderson has a weapon that could potentially unleash hell into this world.”

Eleanor didn’t know what to think as she sat up straight with his support and looked at him with troubled orbs. “Fine. Tell me everything.”