In the Dark

PROLOGUE

Long, blonde hair fell in tranquil waves down her back, her white chemise shifting delicately against her balletic movements. Her bare feet moved slowly along the cold tiles as she hummed quietly to the bundle in her arms, her long slender hands carefully caressing the baby’s face. She appeared calm, almost regal to anyone that would look upon her. Happy, even, as she stared down at the soft, innocent creature she called hers.

But in her heart, there was chaos.

Soft, white curls, just as she’d predicted. And when she would finally open her eyes, she would see the world through amethyst orbs. They would appear innocent, benevolent, searching for the source of love and comfort that had nurtured her in its womb. And she would find these things for a brief moment before she would have to give her up.

She cooed down at her baby, reassuring her that everything would be okay, because it would be. Soon, everything would be fine, because she would take matters into her own hands. She would protect her baby, protect her family, protect herself, and above all else, protect the world. It had to be done.

But, oh, how she wished her predictions had been wrong. She sighed, as she gingerly touched the beautiful curls as soft and white as a blanket of snow over a meadow. She shed a tear at the sight of her full, pink lips taking small even breaths as she slept. And she waited patiently for those beautiful eyes to open, just once so she could see them.

She heard footsteps approaching and she knew time was running out. Her heart was a foreign object in her body, so cold and melancholic, its erratic beats barely keeping her alive at the moment. But she did not care, for how was she ever going to survive without her daughter? How would she be able to breathe again, eat again, love again after her?

She cried harder.

“Please, my love, open your eyes for mama,” she begged softly as the footsteps stopped in front of her door. And as though her daughter had been waiting for her voice to lure her out of the darkness, she finally opened them.

The first light that reflected against her amaranthine gaze was breath taking, like the first sunlight peeking above the horizon, scattering its brilliance in the water below like diamonds. She was captivated for a mere moment, unable to think properly. The word beautiful paled in comparison to the little being in her arms, like calling a god a mere mortal.

She was ethereal, she was brilliance, she was divine.

The banging against her door broke her reverie and she acted fast. She needed to do this quickly before they broke down the door. She walked briskly to the corner of her room, stepping over the lifeless body of the handmaid she had struck with her dagger. Her bare feet stepped in the blood that continued to pour out of the girl’s chest, but she paid no mind to it, even as her feet left crimson marks against the polished floors.

She had a mission, and it was going to be done now, despite the protests happening around her. She took her baby out of the warm blankets and brought her small body to the basin by the window. Her tears were an endless river pouring downstream, crystal clear and rapid with agony.

“This is for the best, my beautiful girl,” she cried, placing a kiss to her forehead once more before she positioned the baby in the ice cold water. Her screams were deafeningly painful to hear, mirroring that of her mother’s own harrowing cries, before she fully submerged her.

The winds outside slapped against the window angrily, while the pounding at the door became desperate. The rains swarmed down to the earth disastrously, while her own tears flowed endlessly. The moon shone its light on the scene accusatorially, while the light in her daughter’s eyes faded.

Her depressing wails could be heard throughout the castle walls as she said goodbye to her precious child, knowing that she would never be able to hear her first words, or watch her take her first steps, fall in love or get married. She mourned the loss of the memories that would never come, but at least content with the few that she had experienced.