The Veil of Darkness
Chapter 314: Finding Answers (Part Two)

Chapter 314: Finding Answers (Part Two)

Annalise’s question was followed by a dead silence and when she turned her attention to look at Esmeray, she found the man staring back at her in shock.

A little smile appeared on her lips but the look in her eyes was filled with sadness as she spoke again - "When we talked last time and you told me the story of Light and Darkness, you kept talking as if you were a third party in their story, but even back then, I knew exactly who you were Esmeray... or I must say... Darkness itself."

Esmeray still didn’t say anything and just sat there in silence while looking at her as if she was speaking in a language foreign to him.

"From that day, I kept wondering why things have come to their current state. The Late Light Fae Queen was obvious about the conspiracy that was brewing in her own Realm to take her and her people down. But what about you? Did you know nothing about it all? And then she did everything in her power to save as many of her people as possible and also the rest of the world. But again, what were you doing all that time?"

Not being able to hold herself back anymore, Annalise pressed again - "Why are you helping them, Esme? Instead of stopping the murderers of your mates, why are you..."

She didn’t get to finish as the man suddenly threw the dagger and it flew right past her ear, damaging a little strand of her hair on its way.

For a while the only sound Annalise could hear was that of her wildly beating heart. As for the man who was behind the terror she was experiencing, he was calmly sitting in front of her like he did absolutely nothing.

It took Annalise a while to calm herself down and remind herself that Esmeray would never kill her no matter how angry he got.

This time, however, she remained absolutely silent and just waited for him to finally speak. And thankfully, he did speak but only after taking a whole lot of time.

"You are really something to speak to me like that." - these were the first words he spoke while glaring daggers at her.

"I just want to know the truth." Annalise muttered while fidgeting with her fingers.

Esmeray let out another sigh before he finally spoke - "Back then, I was indeed oblivious to everything. Somehow, she kept everything a secret from me, even the mate bond didn’t gave away anything. Everything was just so perfect. Then, right before the night of that incident, she sent me to the Primordial Realm to find a magical stone. My task was to get that stone and place it here in this castle at the first ray of sunlight in the morning. Little did I know that when I returned to her to tell her about the completion of the task, I won’t be able to find her ever again."

His voice became hoarse and he almost choked by the end of his sentence. His eyes were brimming with immense sadness, hurt, and anger.

"So... you are saying that she purposely kept you away... knowing that..." Annalise couldn’t finish as she was unable to even imagine the helplessness and sadness that both the Late Light Fae Queen and Esmeray must have gone through.

"Fine. You were a victim back then too and couldn’t change anything, but what about once you find out the truth. Why did you not take down those behind yhe conspiracy? Why are you still allowing them to do as they wish? You keep saying that you have your reasons, but what are they?" She wanted so badly to know the answers to these questions, because only then could she decide if he was a friend or a foe.

Most importantly, their world wouldn’t be able to survive an enemy like Esmeray.

Esmeray again didn’t reply immediately, but he eventually did gave her the answer she so desperately seeked. "Trust me, Annalise. I wanted to kill all of them so badly. I wanted to torture them and make them suffer in the worst way possible, but I held myself back all these years and pretended to not be against them, because they can help me get my mate back."

"You no longer believe that I’m your mate?" Annalise asked as she closely study his expression.

A small twitch appeared at the corner of Esmeray’s lips as he looked directly at her and spoke - "You also no longer believe that you are her."

That was true. She no longer believed that she was, in any case, the reincarnation of the Late Light Fae Queen.

"I can’t be her. If I was her, my soul would have recognized you as my mate, but that didn’t happen. If I was her, at least a part of me would have felt something familiar as I read through her diary, but that didn’t happen either. And if I’m her, then what about about the light that’s hidden and sealed deep inside the Seelie Realm. I may have something to do with her, but I’m not her." Annalise told him as she placed the Late Light Fae Queen’s diary on the table and pushed it toward him.

"I think after her, you are the only person with any right to possess this diary. I would have apologized for reading it but I don’t actually regret it because only through its help, I finally have the answer if I’m her or not."

Esmeray picked up the diary and his fingers glided across its leather cover as if he was caressing his mate... and her memories. "You are right, you aren’t her. But... you are definitely related to her. I’m sure one day, we will be able to solve the mystery that you are, Annalise."

Annalise didn’t respond to his statement. She just wished that she could eventually unveil the truth about her origin someday.

"You said you have your reason for not stopping them, that they can help you to get back your mate. May I ask how?" She finally diverted the conversation back to her questions.

Esmeray gave her a look which didn’t explain much of his thoughts but he did reply almost immediately - "They have two goals - to get their hands over the sealed dark energy in the Seelie Realm and to find the sealed Light energy. However, what they don’t know is that no one can handle the dark energy. What they have seen and used so far is just a little fragment of the dark energy."

Annalise listened carefully as Esmeray continued - "If I want to get to the hidden Light first, I will need someone to distract the dark energy and that’s where our enemies will play their main role in my plan."

"What will the dark energy do to them?" Annalise asked, knowing fully well that it won’t be anything nice.

"It will consume them, take over their mind and soul, will leave them desperate for death but won’t be able to die unless the dark energy will allow them to die." Esmeray answered and there was a satisfying smile on his lips that appeared way too cruel.

"But what about the other people? The innocents out there who will also get affected by this sick plan of yours? Aren’t you completely ignoring their safety?" Annalise asked as she stared at Esmeray as if she was looking at some stranger.

"The rest of the world is not my concern, Annalise. I only care about my mate and if getting her back mean I have to sacrifice the rest of the world, I will do it without a second thought." Came his reply which didn’t sit right with Annalise.

"But..."

"Don’t even think about using emotions on me, Annalise. You have no idea how it feels like to lose your mate. For her, I can build an entire world and destroy the same if required. Nothing matters more than her to me." Esmeray made his stance pretty clear and for once, Annalise couldn’t find any word to contradict him despite knowing that what he was planning to do was so wrong.

She wanted to argue how he was destroying the very world his mate tried to save at the stake of her own life, but she couldn’t make herself say anything because she was in no position to speak.

After a couple of seconds later, she finally spoke - "Fine. I will no longer expect you to help us in stopping the dark energy, but... can you tell me if there’s a way to stop it before it devors the entire world?"