Page 99 of The Heir
“Ah, you see. Now, that is an intriguing idea. Take the Crown Prince’s melody and fool the lot of them. That would make everything so much more dreadfully easy. You and I, brother, even look very similar. If I fix this crooked nose, I could pass myself off as Prince Shadrict. All but the eyes. But, they all think me dead and once I have a soul’s melody my eyes will no longer look like this–soulless.” He walked around his brother for a moment with a smile. “I still need to know how to get back there, and you won’t give me that information, will you, brother?”
“I know how. I came through the Dungeons of the Mist. I know where the cave is that holds the portal to our realm–back to Terra,” Shad confirmed.
Cade motioned to a guard to untie Ryker and Keil and to send them back down through the cave and to their freedom, and I couldn’t enjoy that small victory because Shad was ruining everything. “We do not need them to witness such an event, do we?” Cade asked.
No one replied.
“You have to promise to not hunt for Emma anymore. You have to promise to leave her alone,” Shad demanded.
“Yes, yes—I will have very little need of her if I have your melody. I assure you, I will no longer seek her out, but she may seekmeout,” he winked at me, and I glared back at him.
“I would never!” I spat in his direction.
He waved me off and chuckled.“Now, Emma dear, that is not how a princess should behave. Brother, let us get started before the Princess passes out or something. She is a little unstable. Here, you draw me the exact location of this cave and let me take your melody, and you and Emma may leave. If you are lying to me, brother, and this is not the right cave with the portal, then I will hunt her down and kill her in front of you. Deal?” he asked; then his hand rose as if he were going to give Shad a high-five. Shad reached out, placed his hand on his, and then they both placed their hands on their hearts. That had to be the way people in their realm made deals or something. I felt as if I had died on the inside.
“Shad, please. Please don’t do this!” I begged—pleaded, holding the bars of my prison–the only thing between us. He looked at me, tears in his eyes.
“Emma, as long as you are safe, that is all that matters. I can survive without a melody,” he said softly.
“Please, I need you, don’t make me hate you for leaving me.”
He smiled sadly and walked over to where I stood within my prison cell. “Hate, huh? That is indeed a strong word, and yet some say that hate is very close to love, Emma—How about you mourn me for an appropriate amount of time, and then you can hate me?”
“I mean it! Shad, you are going to kill me,” I pathetically whimpered.
“I am doing this to protect you. You are my soul, Emma; no matter what happens to me, I’ll always come for you, as long asthis body is breathing. I’ll still be with you, in here.” He reached through the bars and touched my heart.
“Yes, but without a soul? What kind of life is that?”
“If I don’t do this, and he takes your soul, it is as if he took mine anyway. And you are part of my soul, Emma. I will be alright as long as you are.”
“Exactly, you see—if he takes your soul, it’s like taking part of mine, too.”
“Emma, I have to do this. Please understand.”
“No! I won’t! I won’t understand. I can survive without a soul, mine was suppressed for my entire life anyway, so I have a better chance.”
He touched my cheek, catching a tear, and I pleaded in my soul again and again. But his mind was already made up.
“You are my best and dearest friend, Emma,”
I huffed in irritation. I did not want to hear that.
“Unlock it for just a minute, Cadian. I need some time with her, before—” He cut himself off, no doubt unable to speak of the horror of our situation.
Cade motioned to his guard, and he opened the cell, letting Shad inside with me, and then quickly closing it. Keil and Ryker were already long gone.At least they are safe,I thought.
“Leave us. We can’t go anywhere in this cage.”
His brother laughed.
“You have five minutes, but do not bond, or she is dead.”
I watched Cade leave the room, thinking that Shad had to have a plan to get us out of there:maybe the cage isn’t really locked.
“It is locked, Emma. Listen—” He pushed me, slowly up against the bars of the cage—of my prison cell; his body was flush with mine, his lips touched the side of my cheek right next to my mouth, erasing the touch of Cade that had been there. He was nearly an inch away from my mouth. He pulled away so that his mouth was a breath away from mine as he spoke: “Iknow what you are thinking in that head of yours. You think that you cannot survive without me. You think that what I awakened inside of you will be lost, that the hollowness you have endured and that the vile snake of misery will again overtake you when I am soulless.” I gasped. He knew so much. “But, Emma, that is not true. You do not need me. You do not need anyone to be strong.” He caressed my jaw, my neck, and his touch a fire to my heart. “I know you, Emma, and you are strong. You are a survivor. I know you can live, even if I am gone.”
I couldn’t help the sob that escaped my lips, the tears streaming in rivulets down my cheeks.