The Dragon King's Hated Bride
Chapter 11: One Thing

Chapter 11: One Thing

>>Aelin

The water felt so still around me. The warm blood that seeped into it made it feel heavy. It felt like an embrace, one that I hadn’t felt in so long. My dress clung to my body, but even that weight didn’t seem to matter anymore. I let myself sink deeper, my arms limp at my sides, the sharp sting in my wrist fading into nothingness.

The ripples slowed, the sound of dripping water softening until all I could hear was my own heartbeat, sluggish and distant. My eyes fluttered closed as the world around me turned dim. For the first time in what felt like forever, I didn’t feel the ache, the pain, the emptiness clawing at me. There was just... silence.

I saw myself then, sinking into an endless, dark ocean. The water above glimmered faintly, a light I was leaving behind, but it didn’t matter. I welcomed the dark depths that seemed to stretch on forever. I reached out a hand, the light growing fainter, farther, unreachable as I found myself sinking into ocean water

This must be what peace must feel like,

The waves pulled me deeper. My limbs felt heavier. My breath was fading.

I didn’t even hear the knocking on the bathroom door. It was faint, like a distant echo in a dream. The sound barely pierced the stillness in my head. But then it grew louder, persistent, like someone was pounding on a door far, far away.

But my mind easily ignored it to let myself drift further down, but the sound wouldn’t stop. A muffled voice broke through the haze, followed by a loud crash.

The normal reaction to that would have been to flinch, to react, but I couldn’t. My body wasn’t mine anymore. My fingers twitched, barely, but I couldn’t bring myself to move. I didn’t want to.

The water around me stirred violently, hands grabbing at my arms, pulling me out of the dark ocean I had sunk into. I could faintly hear shouting, but it was garbled, distorted, like listening through thick glass. The air hit my skin, cold and harsh, as I was dragged from the bathtub.

"Wake up!!" The voice was desperate, panicked, but it barely registered. "What do you think you’re doing?!!" But I couldn’t help but notice how familiar and warm the voice was.

A man’s voice...

I felt arms wrap around me, pulling me close, shaking me. My head lolled to the side, and I caught a glimpse of someone’s face, but I couldn’t make it out exactly who it was.

"What did you do!!" I felt his hand come and wrap around my wrist, "Get the doctor!!" He screamed, "Bring the healer!!!"

Draegon...?

My eyes fluttered, and I saw a blurred glimpse of him screaming at the servants as he kept me close to him, his body heat seeping into mine. But my eyelids were too heavy to stay open. My chest ached with the faintest flicker of life, but it wasn’t enough to bring me back.

The voice called out again, "Stay with me!!" but I was slipping too far. The darkness was still there, waiting, pulling at me. My lips parted, but no sound came out.

Let me go... I want to go...

I thought weakly, but obviously no one could listen to my thoughts.

I felt a hand come to my cheek, some commotion, sound of running, but none of it I could process since I had slipped too far. After he had pulled me out of the tub, my blood was staining the tiles on the floor too while my dress was already mixed with it.

"Don’t!" That was the last faint muffled voice I heard before all my senses went blank and dark.

***

When I woke up, my body felt too light, like I was floating. The ache in my wrist was gone, replaced by a faint, prickling numbness. My throat felt dry, my lips chapped, and when I adjusted my vision as I lay in bed, I found myself back in my room in the main palace.

...

I tried to sit up, a sharp dizziness forced me back onto the bed.

"Finally awake," Someone said and that’s when I saw her. Alishay, seated by the bed, her face shadowed and unreadable. She wasn’t looking at me at first, but as I stirred, her purple eyes turned my way, sharp as knives.

I looked at her with a weak look, "Disappointed?" she said coldly, crossing her legs and leaning back in the chair, "That you failed?"

I didn’t respond.

Her stare bore into me. Then, with a tilt of her head, she asked, "Tell me something, Aelin. Did you try to kill yourself to fuck us all over?"

"..." I simply stared back at her.

"To plunge the two countries back into war!?" Her tone was so harsh it made me flinch.

The words hit me like a slap. My lips parted, but no sound came out. How could she ask that? To plunge the two countries into war again- I could never,

"I..." My voice cracked, barely above a whisper. "I didn’t—"

"You didn’t WHAT!?" she snapped, standing now, her towering presence filling the room. "You didn’t think? You didn’t care about the consequences of what happens when the wife of the demon prince—no, the human princess—is found dead in our territory!?"

Her accusation was harsh. I felt so small under her gaze, like a bug pinned to the ground.

"It wasn’t... because of that..." I managed, my voice trembling. "I...wasn’t thinking about the war."

"Then what were you thinking, huh?" she demanded to know, "You’ve been miserable since the moment you arrived. We all know that. But this?" She came and grabbed my face with her big clawed hands, squeezing it, "You really want to drag everyone else down with you?"

I clenched the blanket in my hands, trying to keep the tears at bay

Alishay stared at me, her expression shifting to something darker, almost cruel. Then, in a voice so sharp it felt like it could cut through my chest, she said, "Did you find out that you lost your baby for no reason?"

My heart stopped. The air was sucked out of the room, her words reverberating in my ears.

"What?" I whispered, barely audible.

Her lips twisted into a bitter smirk. "That must be it. Someone told you that Draegon’s precious victory wasn’t because of your baby."

My chest caved in. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. Her words rattled around in my skull like shards of glass.

"No..." I said, shaking my head, but the truth was sinking in, deeper and deeper.

My baby. The only joy I’d felt in so long. Gone.... And she’s saying it was for nothing???

No

No

No!!!

"You lied to me...?" I stared into her glimmering purple eyes.

She leaned closer, "Draegon’s victory came from reinforcements, not from whatever you had in your stomach. He didn’t need your baby at all."

I couldn’t stop the tears now, silent and hot as they slid down my face. I turned my head away, unable to look at her, unable to face the truth.

She let my face go but the sting of her fingers remained there for a few minutes, "Now," she said, her tone sharp again, "Do you see why you don’t get to just give up? Your miserable little life is still tethering two countries together. You may be useless in every other way, but you’re alive, and that’s enough to keep this fragile peace."

She turned and walked to the door, leaving me there to drown in her words.

But before she left, she paused, her hand on the doorframe. "Next time you think about taking the coward’s way out."

The world around me slowed, her words echoing in my head as my heart pounded in disbelief. My voice wavered, weak and broken. "You lied to me... about my baby saving Draegon..." I wasn’t even sure if it was a question, "Why would you do that?" More than anger, depression was bubbling inside of me. I weakly got out of bed, trying to stand on the floor.

"So?" she said with a shrug, her smirk digging deep into my skin. "It’s good you didn’t have that kid."

"Why?" I whispered, "Why would you lie about that?"

It didn’t make sense. Nothing made sense. My baby... my baby was gone because of her. Because of her lie.

For what?

"I didn’t want to see another filthy human here." She paused, "Wait, it wouldn’t have been a human. It was going to be some hideous abomination." She smirked, "You should thank me,"

The words hit me like a blow to the chest, harder than anything I’d ever felt.

"What?"

She crossed her arms, her tone sharp and cutting. "It wasn’t just me. No one wanted your half-breed abomination. You’re lucky I made it quick."

I couldn’t stop shaking.

My baby was gone. And for what? Because of who I was? Because I’m human and the baby would have been half human?!?

"You..." My voice cracked as my knees gave way, and I clung to the edge of the bed to stop myself from falling completely. "You did this because I’m human?"

Her smirk only deepened. "This palace, this race doesn’t need any more of your kind. You think that child would’ve been welcome here? No one wanted it. And neither did Draegon."

Her words twisted inside me, tearing me apart. Draegon. Had he known? Had he... agreed? Who told him?

...

Someone must have told him. Letters are exchanged even when people are at war. I was afraid they never told Draegon about my pregnancy. But, they did...

Of course, they must have...

"You’re a monster," I choked out

Alishay’s cold gaze locked onto mine. "I did what was necessary. You’re here for politics and politics alone. Don’t you dare forget your place."

There was a sudden rush of darkness and I didn’t even realize when I started to make my way to the dressing table. As I reached for the pen, my hands trembling with desperation, I didn’t even think about what I was doing. I just wanted it to end—this hollow, crushing pain in my chest, the unbearable weight that wouldn’t let me breathe.

The thought of another second of this agony was too much. But before I could plunge it into my neck, a sharp grip seized my wrist.

"Don’t even think about it," Alishay hissed as she wrenched the pen from my grasp. She shoved me back onto the bed, her monstrous strength pinning me down with ease.

"Let me go!" I struggled against her grip, but it was no use. My voice cracked as I shouted, "Why do you even care? You took everything from me! Just let me—"

Her hand clamped over my mouth, silencing me with a glare so icy it sent shivers down my spine. "You’re not dying on my watch," she growled, leaning in close. "I just told you why you can’t die you stupid bitch."

I froze, my breath hitching as her words sliced through me. She straightened, her expression cold and unfeeling.

"Why did you kill my baby?" I asked, "It was a baby!"

"I already told you why," Alishay’s lips curled into a cruel smirk. "That thing would have been a disgrace to Draegon and his bloodline. A stain to all of us. That’s why I did what I had to do. For the good of our people."

"You murdered her!" The words burst from me as tears streamed down my face. "She was innocent! She was mine!"

"And what would she have grown into?" Alishay snapped, "A weak, half-human embarrassment? Something for the demons to mock, for your own people to scorn? I saved you the humiliation. You should be grateful"

"Grateful?" I laughed bitterly, the sound twisted and hollow. "You destroyed me. You’ve taken everything from me—my child, my hope, my will to live—and you want me to be grateful?"

She leaned closer, her face inches from mine, her tone dripping with malice. "I want you to accept your place. You are nothing but a pawn. So stop trying to end your miserable life and do what you’re supposed to do—exist quietly and stay out of the way."

Her words pierced through my already shattered heart. I couldn’t stop shaking, couldn’t stop the tears from falling as I whispered, "Why? Why are you so cruel? What did I ever do to you?"

Alishay straightened, brushing imaginary dust off her dress as she looked down at me with disdain. "You exist. That’s enough."

I lay there, stunned and broken, as she turned to leave. But before she walked out, she paused by the door and glanced back at me. "Don’t bother trying something like this again.I’ll have people watching you at all times." She then looked at someone who stood outside the door and whoever it was there, she then gestured to her to go inside with her head, "Keep an eye on her."

And then I saw a maid, one of those who had whispered to me about being a bad wife to Draegon, come in and stand in the room. She was a fox spirit too, but a black fox with black hair, black eyes, black tail and black furred ears on the top of her head.

The door clicked shut behind Alishay as she left, leaving me in silence.

I curled up on the bed, trembling, my hands clutching my chest as I sobbed into the empty void of my existence.

The maid stood there quietly while I was left to my misery.