Broken Vows
Chapter 17:

Willow POV

When I come to, I think for a moment everything was a dream, but the reality comes crashing back as soon as I see him standing on the other side of the cell door. I’m locked up in the same cell Cadmus was in. I think of him for a moment, and I feel this strange pain in my chest.

Hadeon laugh. “What is it, Princess? Are you in pain? Now that I have lifted a few of the spells binding you to me, you are feeling more of your shattered bond with that animal.”

“What have you done, Hadeon?” I’m so angry I can’t see straight and I wish I could make him pay.

“You killed our child, Hadeon. What was that monster that took her? What the hell have you done? You are evil!”

I try to stand; I feel so sick. I want to scream. I want to rip his smug face off. How did I not see him for what he is? How did I not know? I feel a rush of rage and adrenaline, and I throw myself at the bars, managing to grab his shirt and catching him off guard. I try to pull him into the bars when he hits me with a large blast of energy.

“Well, you are being a naughty girl now, tisk tisk.”

Hadeon shakes his head like I’m some naughty child he’s disappointed in.

“I thought I had you trained better than that. As for what I have done: I did what I had to do. This world was meant to be mine to rule, and that is what I will do. I will burn the world just to remake it into something great.”

“You are deranged, Hadeon. You killed Serena.” I feel the pain in my chest stronger than before. The pain of losing my child and the shattered bond are a pain like nothing I have ever felt before. I kneel on the floor of the cell, holding my chest and trying to breathe.

“She isn’t dead. I can feel her power in my veins. They all live in me now. Their power is mine, and I am so much more because of them. I am King; I am Death; I am God.”

Hadeon’s face almost seems to contort into a demon-like smile. His blue eyes glow and burn. Something genuinely evil lives in him now. It’s clear that there is nothing but darkness left in him. Perhaps that was all he ever was, and I was blind to it. My world has shattered; for the first time, I can see things as they are. I realize I was so foolish.

“How many others, Hadeon? How many lives have you destroyed?” I really don’t want to know. But at the same time, I have to know. The burning pain in my chest is growing so strong that I feel like my heart is on fire and my chest may erupt.

“Now, now, Princess, don’t you worry about that. The way I see it, you are really of little use to me. I have drained you of your power. I’m surprised you haven’t succumbed and died long before now. If I’m being honest with you, I don’t understand what is keeping you alive.” Hadeon looks at me, puzzled.

“Well, I will just have to kill you later. Right now, I have more urgent matters than you to deal with. Letting you sit here for a while might be fun for me; I have wanted to see you break for so long. You became so weak and pathetic that you disgust me. I thought you could have been my Queen for a moment, but you are too weak.” Hadeon glares and looks at me like I’m the most disgusting thing he has ever seen.

When he leaves, I let myself break down. Crying on the floor of the cell, all I can feel is the pain in my heart. How did I not see the monster he could be? He is cold and distant with me. He is harsh with his words. He has a way of making me feel so small and stupid. I always wanted nothing more than to make him happy and for him to love me, but as his spells slowly lifts, I feel the pain of the broken bond from my rejection of Cadmus. I wonder if this is the pain that I put Cadmus through. Now, I also feel the burning pain of the vows that Hadeon made to me breaking. Everything in me is shattering like glass.

As I cry out in pain and pound my fist on the stone floor, I pray for death. It seems a fitting punishment for the many mistakes I have made. This was not what my life was supposed to be. It was going to be perfect and beautiful. I fell for his every lie and believed that I was the crazy one. I let him convince me that I was always the problem in everything, that things were always my fault, and that I wasn’t good enough.

I pound my fist on the floor as I scream and sob. He stole everything from me. He stole who I was, made me nothing, and stole my daughter from me. I want to just die, but I want to take that bastard with me.

“My lady.” The soft voice of the little maid catches me off guard.

“I came to get you out of here before he comes back.”

The panic and fear in her eyes only adds to my pain. This little human maid clearly knows how evil Hadeon truly is. She quickly unlocks the door and rushes in, helping me to my feet.

“My lady, friends are waiting for us, but we must get to the woods. Are you strong enough for this?” The maid asks as she helps to hold me up.

“I will be fine, but who are these friends?” I question, but she doesn’t answer right away. I almost wonder if Hadeon is playing some cruel game with me. I think he might be waiting and watching for just the right time to expose this game and crush me again.

“Lady Rana sent me to the castle a few months ago. She was worried for you. She and her family had heard some awful rumors: that lord Hadeon had been responsible for the destruction of many of the shifters. The bear clans are all nearly gone. I don’t know if they will ever recover. My name is Molly, by the way. I never did get to speak to you. Lady Rana just wanted me to watch you, and well…” Molly trails off. I know what Rana wanted to know. She wanted to know if I was just as corrupt as Hadeon.

I can’t bring myself to even respond. I just can’t believe how stupid I have been. I let him blind me, and I lost everything important to me. I lost my magic, my family, my child. I have nothing left but growing hate and pain. Now, I want revenge.

We walk as quickly as I am able, and Molly seems to have the route out of the castle planned. She takes every back hall and a few secret passages that only Rana and I knew about. We head down one passage, and it seems to go on forever. The tight space and my frail body make every step difficult. I’m breathing hard, just praying we will get to the end of the tunnel soon.

This passage leads right out of the castle and into the woods, but I feel like I may collapse at any moment. The pain in my chest is all-consuming. I want to give into the ache. I know if I do that, though, I won’t get to exact my revenge on Hadeon. I let this hate for him consume me. I don’t care if it destroys me; I have nothing left to live for. Just as long as I take him with me, that is all that matters.

As we near the end of the tunnel, my heart races with pain and exhaustion. When Rana pushes the curtain of greenery that hides the tunnel out of the way, I rush to her. She still looks just the same as the day she left the castle. Her beautiful dark hair and blue eyes dance in the dappled sunlight.

I wrap my arms around her the moment I reach her. And as she holds me, I can’t stop the sobs that escape. I just want to collapse in her embrace. She was my sister, and I betrayed her. Now, she comes to save me. How did she even know I would need to be saved? I do know I don’t deserve her love.

“Molly, where is the girl?” Rana murmurs over my sobs. I just cry harder.

“He killed her. Hadeon killed her.” Molly declares sadly.

I pull out of Rana’s arms. The look on her face kills me. She must blame me and know that it is my fault. I let that monster near Serena. I am the reason Serena is gone. I should have protected her.

“Oh, Willow, I should have gotten you out sooner! We had been waiting for him to leave. It took time to penetrate some of the defenses he has surrounding this place now. I can’t believe...” Rana’s eyes brim with tears now as well. I want to say something, but what can I even say? I thought she would blame me as much as I blame myself.

“We need to get out of here,” Richard says. I turn to see him standing by a small cart.

“Ma’am, we need to go now. I’m sure that monster will be back all too soon, and I want to be well away from here. We need to get you somewhere safe, Ma’am. He’ll be looking for you.”

I nod. Molly and Rana help me to the cart. They help me in and cover me with a blanket. Molly climbs in with me as Rana sits next to her father. We start heading through the trees, and I don’t fight the tears and pain.

I cry until my body shakes. I feel sick. The whole while, Molly sits with me quietly, stroking my hair. I know I don’t deserve this compassion, but I’m grateful for it all the same. I don’t know when my body finally gives away to fatigue, but it does. When we left the tunnel, it was around noon, but when I open my eyes, the stars are just beginning to dot the sky.

“Where are we?” I ask, trying to sit up.

“We are nearly home,” Richard says. “You should be safe here. It’s protected with heavy magic.”

I look around, and I know these mountains; we have come to the dragon’s stronghold.

“The dragons Rich? Are you sure this is a good idea? I don’t think I’m someone they will want to see.”

“I am sure. They know you are coming. They said you can stay, but they won’t help in any way other than a safe place for you to hide. They say whatever Hadeon is up to isn’t their problem.” Richard sounds frustrated and a bit angry as he relays this to me.

“I would think they would want to help, considering.”

I’m puzzled by the dragon’s response to what is happening in the world. If Hadeon is destroying the shifters, that would also affect the dragons. My head is spinning, but I feel too drained to try and think about anything. I can feel the tears threatening to fall again, and I fight to choke them back. Crying won’t help right now. I will have plenty of time for tears later. As we enter the border into the dragon’s stronghold, the magic is so strong even I can feel it. I replace myself wondering if there is a way I can tap into some of this power and help bring my own magic back to me.

Before I can think too hard about it, my body is racked in pain. I didn’t think it could hurt any worse than it did already, but I was very wrong. As I scream in uncontrollable agony, my vision blurs as I see Rana rush to me. I can’t hear her through my own screams. The pain is so intense that I start to lose consciousness. Just as I feel like I might burst into flame, a strange woman comes into view. I can’t see her clearly, but it doesn’t matter. She waves her arms, and that is the last thing I see.