Dear diary,
I have found myself obsessed with him. Though it has always been so, he has begun to creep into my dreams. When I lay with Calira, it is his father's face I see. I often wonder what goddess thought it amusing to curse the Tyliquin race with the burden of love. Undying love, even if that gift was stolen from you. Am I to be punished for a crime I did not commit. The love I wish to have for my true mate will forever be tainted by this tragedy so forcibly placed upon me. I can only hope that one day I will not have to live this lie, and that my heart will truly belong to my one and only."
A knock came upon the door, and Tonisa found herself scrambling to hide her journal underneath several spell books. She replaced her quill into its ink and stood to greet whoever it may be at such an ungodly hour. The latched unhooked with a click, and before she had even begun to welcome her, Zalia came striding inside. The door shut, and Tonisa secured its lock as her sister took a seat.
"Tonisa, we must have urgent words." The expression upon her beautiful face was one of a woman betrayed. "And what might we need to speak about, Zalia? It late in the night, you should be in your own chambers." She stood her body restless. "This can not wait!" There was urgency in her tone, but she tried her best not to speak above a whisper. "You are more to the dragon than you have us believe. And do not dare begin to lie to me." Tonisa's face burned as the words passed her sister's lips. How had she managed to find out? "Whatever do you speak of ?" A fake chuckle of ignorance came to meet Zalia's ears. "I talk about you and Calira plotting to take that child's life. That was never in our plans."
Zalia so flustered failed to notice what her sister in magic just so happened to be hovering over. "No, my sister, it was not in our original plans. Those words you have passed are right beyond reason. But with time, things change." Tonisa opened a jewelry box slowly and silently. Within it rested a dagger, one cast in the finest of steel, Its hilt a work of originality, crafted by the hands of the King's personal blacksmith. Her hand caressed the hilt of the blade as she unsheathed it. "Tonisa, my sister, please I beg of you. Enlighten me on the current situation. I wish only to help you advance, to help our race once more rise to power." "You are lying to me, you have come here because your own foolish curiosity willed you to do so."
Her eyes ran over the carving of Calira. His powerful draconic form engraved into the shining steel of the dagger. "Well, of course, I am curious. You have fallen for him, or so it seems. If you have placed him under some sort of charm, then I see no problem. But if you have actually grown close...to this..." "To what? This monster? This man? What is it that you see when he speaks to you?" "I see a beast, one claimed to the races which left our people to die with the damnation of slavery and torture." She crept closer now, wondering as to why her old friend could not look into her eyes.
Tonisa's grip tightened on the blade the insults pertaining to Calira beginning to tear into her heart. "Then you do not know him as I do!" Zalia froze in her tracks, the sudden rage in Tonisa's voice frightening her. "Tonisa, keep your voice down. Any of his men could be listening right outside that door." She placed a gentle touch upon her back and finally closed the gap between them. "I only wish to know so that I may understand or...so that I will not get in your way." The daggers tip pressed into her index finger as she twirled it in hand. Her body pulling away from her touch and moving to rest before the large fireplace. Her eyes washed over its black and gray brick and the small photos of her as a young girl. Could she trust her with such information? Her mind yelled no.
"Tonisa, please tell me what the two of you are planning. I have a right to know. I left my daughter in the hands of her father to aid you. A man who would sell her for a meal and a mug of ale. I have made enough sacrifices to be told what may lay ahead for me." "You dig into the past, and in doing so, you will find something quite unsettling. I do not feel you will be able to handle what we really have planned." "You will only know if you open your heart and trust me." Tonisa turned to face her, her expression as hard as a stone, her eyes wondering upon something unseen. "The child Abigelle carries must die in order to sustain the longevity of my spell. With the sacrifice of his own blood will come the blessings of Dovium. He will grant him one power in exchange for such a loss. This authority will be the ability to kill that bastard Ramsra Raye'zore! With him out of the way, Calira being the first born would take his place and gain rule over not only Crystal Springs but Evernia as well."
"Tonisa, you are a strong woman and an even stronger Tyliquin. Why would you ever give your heart to a beast who hates you? It runs within his blood. And what I fear most is that...in your loving him, you have laid with this..." She couldn't find a word to call him, she was at a loss for words, all she could do was stand there stunned. "Yes, I do love him. I have always loved him, and I will die to love him. For love, I would sail upon Aquation's waters and spit upon his Kingdom. For him, I would walk the tomb of the dead and dare their souls to challenge me. For him, my dear sister, I would slay even you. But what you fail to realize is that I love another as well. And though it is against my will, my blood bids me prisoner to it."
Tears filled her hazel eyes, the memories flashing back to her. "Wait...how can that be? A Tyliquin witch is forever bound to the first man who—" Tonisa cut her off. "Yes, the first man who takes her maidenhead. May it be of her own free will or not." "Tonisa, what are you trying to explain." "What I am saying is that I want Ramsra Raye'Zore dead. I want his head upon a spike in my chambers." She bit her lower lip and tried with all her might not to cry, but the tears fell anyway. She felt as if someone was smothering her, the pain of her past now sucking the very life from her future. She hadn't heard the words pass her lips, but she knew. She could feel it, she had shared the same burden, and now she regretted ever questioning her.
"He took your maidenhead didn't he, Tonisa?" Teary eyes came to look upon a pained expression. "Yes, he did, on more than one occasion." She embraced her in a hug, all of her wishing there was something she could do. "Tonisa why? Why did he do it?" "Do men may they be beast or human ever have a reason? Perhaps it was what I saw or maybe the fact he knew his only son was deeply in love with a witch. Knowing such things could shame his name. It was his way of...his way of..." She trailed off her emotions running ramped.
"His way of what?" Zalia said through swallowed tears. "His way of showing me what a worthless creature I was. His way of showing me a fraction of the pain he could place upon me. That is why I want him dead." She had so many questions to ask of her but now did not seem the time to do so. "Tonisa, my sister, I will help you. I will take his life myself if given a chance, but you must be fully honest with me from now on. Tell me from the beginning what happened." Tonisa ripped from her grip and began to pace nervously. "I was but an abandoned baby, one ripped from the arms of her parents due to the war. Many laws had been passed that all Tyliquin witches be burned or hung, or at the worse, drowned. My mother being sickly obsessed with the draconic breed begged that Ramsra and his loving wife, Eldealia, take me in. Being a kind female and without children, Eldealia agreed. For years, I was tended by her. She always told me that one day in return for her kind gesture, I would serve them as well. She was not my mother, but she was the closest thing I had. The years passed by so quickly I barely recall them. As I grew, the Empress became pregnant and gave birth to her very first clutch of eggs. Ramsra was overjoyed. I was but seven then. And in the late nights, she would allow me to visit them."
"You must have been very close to her. It is said a female dragon will not allow any other than their mate to come near their unhatched." "Yes. Well, she knew I would not harm them, but there was one, in particular, I enjoyed seeing. His egg was much larger and darker than the rest. And as a child, you wouldn't understand why, so I asked her. And she would never truly give me an answer. When they hatched, it was the most gruesome thing I had ever laid eyes on. The egg I had favored was the most violent of the hatchlings. Out of his seven nest mates, only he and his sister survived. All others were torn to pieces and eaten before my very eyes. But even still, the little thing held a special place in my heart. He was different much different. A beast with a dark complexion and an even more mysterious personality." Tonisa took a seat, a faint smile upon her full lips.
"He was no longer than this very dagger. But he did not stay that way for long. As I reached adolescence, he had become a grand young Drake. Big and proud, he seemed to grow much faster than his sister. To my eyes for every year that passed, he gained three, and before we knew it, he had become the same age as I. The love between Ramsra and Eldealia had begun to dwindle away. They fought daily, often times resulting in the destruction of the castle in which we lived. But within their own darkness, Calira and I found light," her voice had softened, the memories of better times and true love between friends softening her.
"We had come of that age, the place in time where all you think about is the opposite sex. Every day I woke was for him, every breath I took was no longer one of regret of being granted life, but one of gratitude. I knew that every day when I completed my duties, I could go and sneak off with him. Until the day the truth came to view the light of day. I was attending my regular duties readying myself to present the Royals with a midday meal. I remember turning the corner and seeing Eldealia struggling upon the bed. Ramsra had her pinned by the throat, he was attempting to kill her. I was frozen I could not move." "Tonisa, why didn't you run? Why didn't you call for help." "I attempted but could not find words. When I did rip my eyes from the horror before me, I heard the sound of steel cutting through flesh. The sound of blood spilling onto sheets. She had stopped moving when I turned to peek in. And that is when he noticed me."
Zalia's hand came to rest over her mouth. She could not believe what she was hearing. She couldn't come to understand why Tonisa hadn't run. "I dropped everything. I remember listening to the clangs of the silverware and tray hitting the ground before he grabbed me. His hands were covered in blood, his fingers cupping my mouth. I could taste her, the taste of salt and copper. He pulled me into the room and slammed the door. It went without notice, of course, the doors were always slamming. Her body was so warm, and as the smell of death filled my nose, I looked into its eyes again."
"Tonisa, do not tell me anymore. I can not stand to hear that you have suffered such things." She gripped the dagger all of her wanting to just stab Zalia in the same fashion as she had witnessed her stepmother murdered so long ago. But she refrained and spoke sternly. Part of her needed this. No one had ever known until now. "No! You wanted to gaze into my past, you do not get to back out now." Zalia nodded her stomach sick, and she couldn't help but wonder if her daughter was to share a similar fate.
"He threw me onto the bed and told me if I screamed, he would kill Calira and me both. So to protect him, I bit my tongue. Her blood ran thick around me, her eyes yet open with fear. He didn't bother to remove my clothes or his. He simply unhooked his britches and slid roughly into me. The pain was indescribable, I just remember praying that it would end soon. There was so much blood already I didn't know which belonged to me or the second mother I had lost."
Her hand slid between her thighs, the pain still there. "When he was done, he kissed me. He seemed to have switched from killer to lover. Until he uttered the words, "Now I have a woman who will be faithful to me for all eternity." And with that, he slid out of my body and into the study. I realized what he had presently stolen from me, what he had stolen from Calira. He had taken my future. I stripped my clothing and took a gown from the Empresses' closet. After I got dressed and cleaned up, I returned to my chambers where Calira waited for me. I sent him away. He did not know why, nor did I ever tell him. When her body was found months later, the crime was placed upon me. And I was sent out to fend for myself. After several years, Calira tracked me down saying he had forgiven me. And upon that night, we made love. He was the only one for me. Since the beginning, it was always him. But through the love we had, the curse of our people bound me to his father."
What had she done? Zalia's head went to rest in her hands. She had left her daughter to embrace the same fate, not to better their race as a whole but to seek personal revenge. Now she had lost everything including the faint possibility of ever seeing her child again. She came to stand praying hands hiding her nose and mouth. When they finally fell, and words came through, she was half the woman she once stood.
"Tonisa, you must allow me to leave. I must find my daughter before it is too late. I came here and gave up my entire life thinking I was going to make a change in the way we are forced to live. But instead, I find that I have endangered my only child for revenge." "Oh, you will greet your daughter soon, I assure you." Tonisa's tone had become that of a person demented in the head. Her speech carried a hiss within it. Zalia found herself slowly backing away as Tonisa plunged the dagger's endpoint into her chest. The two fell back with a slam Tonisa's hips moving to cover the woman's pelvis. The blade entered her again and again and again and again until the two were surrounded in a pool of blood. The Tyliquin began to drown, but in her dying breath, she spoke. "He will never love you."
She coughed up blood, which came to rest on Tonisa's nightgown. "He may find warmth between your thighs, but his heart belongs to...to Abigelle. You will pay for this." Tonisa's hand soared above her head waiting to finish her off. "You will never be Queen or an Empress. He is a dragon, and you a witch." The beast of carnage smiled and rocked her hips slightly. Her pupils turning to slits within her skull. The eyes of a reptile now gazing down into that of an actual witch. "No, Zalia. I am a Tydran." Her eyes grew wide in horror and in her last moments, it all made sense. The blade came to puncture her throat, and with its blow, her life was claimed.
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