Her Dawning Empire: The Prophecy

Epilogue

Epilogue

I kept my dead gaze forward, the wind blowing through my hair as I looked to the scattered stars in the sky from my position on the terrace. Footsteps sounded below and I looked to see Emut stalking out of the courtyard again, in the dead of night, just as he had been doing for the last few days.

We had been back for five long days and, in all that time, Emut spent no time sitting. The only time I had seen him sat was when I had walked to my room, seeing Emut sat in Demir's room, his gaze fixed on the wall. A part of me had wanted to comfort him then, but I knew I didn't have the capacity to; neither did he. He was either holed up in Negus's office, looking for any clues on why Anouke would need Demir or he would be outside, questioning people about their whereabouts.

After Demir had disappeared, we had made our way to Althueben with more weapons and a strategy, but we were met with nothing. It was as though Anouke hadn't existed and, by relation, Demir. Althueben was clear of darkness and Anouke now and the people of Withania and Centurae province had resulted in fighting over the land. The very thought of their greed made me scowl, but I didn't have the energy or effort to do so. Neither did anyone else.

Ayla had spent her hours in her room, crying herself to sleep. I knew she blamed herself for getting caught and, in turn, letting Anouke get her hands on Demir, despite what we told her to refute this. After 3 days, the tears ran dry and she pushed Emut to help yet he was hell-bent on doing this alone as he didn't want to risk anyone else.

Abrax had tried to console her at this, but she pushed him further away than before. Abrax too had spent more time focusing on training, keeping his distance from Ayla in the latter days.

Maya, on the other hand, had made home in the training hall, the sound of her training sessions running through the air in the dead of the night which probably disrupted no one, seeing as none of us were too focused on sleeping. I had walked into the hall once in passing and saw how she had burnt down all the dummies, her breathing heavy and eyes glistening. She saw me then and we shared a look before I moved on. I couldn't find it in me to speak to anyone.

I listened to the familiar trickle of the fountain: a sound that I had associated with home, but now it was a lonely confinement of the ever-dwindling loved ones. Slowly by slowly, I was losing each and every one of them and I feared that it was all just a nightmare, one that I would wake up from and fate would laugh at me.

Turning my gaze, I looked to the large tree in the corner of the courtyard. Ayla, Arun and I had planted it long before any mishap had taken place: a better time. At that point, Negus had said it was a symbol of the life within these walls and I sneered, hating the very sight of it. How could it represent life when all we had been plagued with was loss?

The sound of footsteps sounded behind me, but I didn't care to look, only turning my hateful gaze back to the sky.

"You should come inside, it's going to rain tonight." Ayla whispered tepidly and I would have smiled at the concern in her tone, had it not been for the circumstances. I let out a sigh of relief as Ayla sighed before retreating. For the first two days, Ayla had persisted and was only met with silence on my end. It seems as though she knew now what to expect.

I didn't feel much like answering her when she came, choosing only to keep my gaze on the stars and the action reminded me of what Demir would usually do when we conversed on the terrace. The very thought of it made a lump of tears form in my throat and my body heat with anger.

Anger at myself, but mostly at Anouke.

Had it not been for her, I wouldn't have had to cry over any of the losses we experienced in the last two weeks. She was the reason we had lost Arun, Negus and then Demir. The thought of us all laughing and eating together only made me even angrier as I looked around to the empty terrace where I would usually see the 6ft black-haired male, his silver eyes burning through me.

Those very eyes were now a faded memory and the thought of him brought an ache to my heart, something that hurt deep and I found that it was yearning. The tears built in my eyes at the flashes of memories in my head- smiling and running with Arun; being held in Negus's fatherly hold and Demir's teasing smile.

My skin throbbed with pain and the heat was pulsating off me in waves, so much so that I couldn't even see straight, my eyes flitting anxiously around as I thought of the memories. A cold heat ran through me then and I wiped harshly at the falling tears, praying that they would all just come through the gate. The cold heat had filled me and I let out a sharp breath as a shudder ran through me before the tears stopped. They just stopped and I looked vacantly back to the tree in the courtyard yet my mind was on her.

Anouke.

Her smile was in my mind and I scowled as the cold heat fizzled, thinking of all the ways I wished I could hurt her like she hurt me. Without thought, my mouth opened and the words slipped out of my mouth unconsciously.

"A'max." I let out in a gravelly tone that sounded far different to my usual voice, but I kept my focus on the tree in front of me that combusted spontaneously into orange flames, making the tree wilt and wither to the ground. I watched the sight with dead eyes, the heat from the flames, warming my icy veins and I scowled to myself at the destruction in front of me.

It was her turn to hurt now.

                        __________________

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