The Lonely God novel Chapter 28

-HER-

"I don't want to be here," I groan as Archander leads me through dark corridors. After showing me to the council, Arles commanded Archander to 'take her there'. I am still wondering where 'there' is. It could be anywhere ranging from hell to heaven but the latter seems the last place Arles would likely send me.

As we walk through the dark and deserted corridors, I couldn't help but notice that this place is so eerie and has an uncomfortable silence that's creeping under my skin and bothering me. Archander is silent as he walks in front of me.

Several doors line the walls on both sides of the corridors. Some doors look warm and inviting while some doors have a haunting air to it, daring anyone to open it and find what's on its other side. Blazing torches hang on the walls, providing some light in the darkness.

After several turns, we finally reach a huge room. This is different than other rooms. A huge door sits on the other end of the room while the dead and decaying vines cover the walls. There's a colorful dome above the room which is projecting colorful patterns on the floor.

Archander heads to the huge door on the other end of the room while I look around this eerily beautiful place. If the vine trees were alive then this place would have looked more beautiful, bringing out the green and warmth in the room.

Why's everything dead here? Is it because of winter? It can't be possible. Not everything is dead in winter. There are some plants which could sustain winter. This place seems so gloomy. It feels as if happiness never existed here. Everything seems dead inside out.

I surface the pool of my thoughts and near Archander who is arranging some symbols on the door. After having a closer look, I find that there are golden symbols inscribed on the door which are movable. It looks like a language. After aligning the symbols in a circular formation, he steps aside.

Next, he takes my hand and puts it in the center of the circle. Suddenly the symbols start to glow, making me gasp. With a loud creak, the door clicks open. Archander lets my hand drop to my side before pushing the door open and leading me inside.

My mouth hangs open as soon as I step on the other side of the door. This place is so huge. Bigger than the courtroom. It's a circular room with a fountain at its center. The fountain is dry. It's covered with an odd black crust while the dirty white marble peeks from beneath it at several places. There's again a big dome instead of the ceiling, made of tinted glass that's projecting colorful patterns on the floor.

There are three doors at the other end of the room. I follow Archander to the middle door before he opens it and leads me inside to a dark corridor. We start walking and are stopped by a door at the end of the corridor. The door looks huge and there are some things inscribed in gold on it. It has a regal air to it.

But Archander doesn't open that door. Instead, he opens another door which went unnoticed by me. It's on the left wall, slightly smaller in size. It looks warm and is a shade lighter than the other door.

He gently opens the door and leads me in. My jaw drops to the floor as I take in my surrounding. This room is unlike the whole palace. Its walls are light in colour, gentle to the eyes. There are even flowers and other things drawn on the walls.

There's a regal couch at one corner with a tea table, accompanied by a small book shelf. A full size painting of a young woman I don't recognize, hangs on the opposite wall. Her face is grim. She is holding a dead flower in one hand while a red cloth in the other. Her eyes look eerily familiar. I have seen them before; I just can't quite place it. I look around the room. It looks like a sitting room. There is couple of vases lined by the corner and some more seats. Another door sits at the end of the room and he leads me to it.

As I step through the door, I find myself in a bedroom. There's a huge window sitting at the end of the room. I am instantly drawn to it. As I look outside it, I am surprised. It looks different outside from here. The sky is clear and there are leaves on the trees outside. Some birds fly by the window as the sun shines lazily in the sky. The snow is glistering in the sunlight. The whole scenery looks different. It looks like a different place than what I have actually seen outside.

"That window is charmed." Archander speaks behind me, answering my doubts. I nod before turning around and studying the rest of the room. The walls are light colored and the bed is four postered with some cravings at its head and wood.

There is a huge dresser by its side and other furniture as well.

"You'll be staying here," Archander speaks, snapping me out of my daze. This place looks more beautiful and welcoming than the rest of the palace. He shows me the bathroom and gives me instructions before leaving.

As soon as I hear him close the door outside, I collapse on the bed like a dead plank.

What am I going to do next? I have no idea. But I have already sorted out what I am not going to do. I am not going to mate with Arles or be his queen. I'd rather die. I think that I was lucky before. Now I regret not getting killed by the basilisk that night. Everything might have ended that day. I would have been free, maybe incarnated somewhere else with a more loving and caring family.

At the back of the closet there are drawers and cases filled with jewelleries. There's so many, I haven't seen so many altogether in my whole life. This is too much. I can't find normal pajama pants so I settle with a black cotton dress with golden embroidery around the neck.

I walk out of the closet and look at the dress. It looks simplest compared to the rest of the heavy ones hanging inside the closet. Surprisingly they fit me perfectly.

My eyes are drawn to the hickeys on my neck and all the events flash in front of my eyes. I squint my eyes close and clutch my head.

I hate him so much.

Why did he do that? What was the reason behind it? He is so twisted. He's so evil. I don't know what he plans for the future. There must be many twisted and dark things in his head. I don't know. He terrifies me. He scares me.

The fact that he put the third task for me to be his queen disgusts me. How could he do that? Mate or not, love takes effort and trust. I can't trust him. I can't love him. The idea of loving him seems so bizarre to me. It seems impossible. All efforts would fail and to start with, I'll never give into the bond. Ever.

No one can love a man like him.

I feel a piercing pain in my chest. I can't believe I got paired with him. It feels like a punishment. A curse. I feel suffocated.

I want a way out already.