The Realms [Watty 2017 Shortlist]

Twist the Knife - Part 39

We emerge in Violet and Grayson's old bedroom which is full of rot and decay. I didn't even know that the Third Realm could have rot and decay, much less in the ruler's mansion. Everyone else seems to be getting their bearings, but I can't wait. I set out with purpose, leaving the others to follow me. I know where to find Grayson; he'll think it fitting to meet me one last time in the room where he and I changed our lives forever.

I take the chute, knowing that he'll know I'm there already. My mental block is firmly in place and I don't intend to give anything away. As my feet touch the ground, I hope that Ryan will show up, that I'll get one last glimpse of him, one last touch before it's too late. My path is set.

I stride into the living room and Grayson stands at the fireplace mantel, turned away from me. When I stop in the middle of the room, he turns around and grins. His smile is wide, unafraid; I can't wait to see the look on his face when he realizes he should be very, very afraid.

"Grayson."

"Hannah." He nods and moves a few paces closer. "Are you hoping that Ryan might appear to prevent your fate?"

Violet, Maizie and Odette enter the room behind me and Grayson's expression flickers with uncertainty. "Wife, you're looking rather...old." His gaze is mocking. I'm missing something. "I see my son has been well-fed."

I hesitate before looking behind me, reluctant to take my eyes off Grayson, but needing to see whether it's true. Ryan's power hasn't been coming from a diminished Grayson, but a diminishing Violet. She's giving her life for Ryan, so that he might have a chance to defeat his father. "Violet..." I breath her name and her blue eyes, a mirror of her son, soften with regret. Then, she turns her attention back to Grayson and the steel in her gaze is back.

"I see your little prodigy didn't know that you were the one feeding Ryan his powers. Interesting... I also find it fascinating that Ryan hasn't been entirely truthful with you." He gestures at me and the ice cubes in his drink clink the sides of the glass. "I guess that unbreakable love isn't so infallible after all."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Grayson and I don't care. I'm not going to be led into some conversation that probably isn't true and is just designed to hurt me. You need to step down and give Ryan his rightful place."

"His rightful place doesn't occur until he gives me a grandchild." He looks me up and down for a moment. "And said child would need to be born for that to happen."

Violet steps forward and holds my hand. Her soothing comfort envelopes me, allowing me to keep a level head. "You've lost control of the realm. Even you have to be able to see that."

He raises his eyebrows and takes another sip of the drink he's holding. "The problem, as I see it, is that I'm quite happy with how things are going. I have all those wonderful houses out there to live in. I don't have a pesky wife or ex-lover beating down my door – everyone stays away. Even the rebels don't bother with me."

"You're not worth bothering. You have no power."

Someone collapses behind me and Maizie cries out for her mother. "I wouldn't say that I have no power. Would you?"

"Did you..." I don't want to ask and I won't let myself turn around to look. I think of Maizie and Odette's reunion just hours before and a lump forms in my throat.

"Odette's in a better place. She made the wrong bet." He winks at me and strides back over to the fireplace. He's tall, which makes his paunch even more pronounced when he stands at the mantle full of self-importance. "Any last words before I watch you spiral back to the Second Realm?"

I swallow back my lump; I must stay focused. "Ryan will be a far better ruler than you've ever been. You're old and weak. You're seriously crazy. Ryan deserves to take your place." I know I'm starting to taunt him, but if I'm going to call for the knife, I need him closer.

He throws his glass and it shatters against the mantel. "Ryan deserves this? My son? The kid who gave all this up for a girl?" He takes menacing steps towards me, his dark eyes a stormy black and Violet's hand tightens in mine. He shoves his face in mine, so close I can smell his alcoholic breath. "I'm starting to think the only thing Ryan deserves is the horrible girl he continues to let tie him down."

With fire in my eyes and rage in my heart, I hold up my hand and scream, "Knife!" I look up at my hand, willing it to appear, praying that the keepers were right, that it'll be there.

Grayson laughs at my empty hand and his breath whispers across my face. "Hannah, did you really think--" he gasps. A knife sticks out of his abdomen and Violet pulls her hand back from her husband's stomach, leaving the handle of the knife embedded.

She puts her bloody hand on the side of his face as the portal begins to snake behind him and when it is big enough, she says, "I loved you so much once. Look what we've become. Look what we've become." There are tears in her eyes as she shoves him into the inky blackness. She watches him for a moment, until the blackness takes even the last glimpse of him from this realm. She turns her face to me, with a sad smile and a few tears leak out of the sides of her eyes. "I'm sorry, my dear, there was no other way. I had to be connected to you to get the knife; I couldn't let Ryan down again and we weren't going to convince Grayson to go."

The portal shifts towards her like a tornado; there is a cry from the back of the room. "Mother! Mother! No, no, no!" A wave of calmness comes over me at the sound of his voice. His pounding footsteps are the beat of my heart, but I can't look away from Ryan's mother. I don't want her to be alone as the portal closes around her; I want her to know that I'm there, that I'm grateful. I cling to her hand and at the last moment she looks towards her son and says, "I love you. Do better. Be better." Her hand is being sucked from mine and I try to hold on, to keep her there so that Ryan can touch her one last time, but the pull from the other world is too strong. The darkness sucks her in just as he reaches us and the portal closes with a soft whoosh. He collapses on his knees in the place where the portal was moments before and sobs.

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