"You came to me
You were the sweetest apparition,
such a pretty vision
There was no reason, no explanation
The perfect hallucination"
Saw You in a Dream - Japanese House

🥀

I am standing above the Black Sea, and my arms are spread.

When the wind lifts my hair and turns my dress to marble, I take in a deep breath.

The waves below are anything but calm. Silver and blue depending on which perspective I take. And I am left to wonder, from the edge of the rocky cliff...

What if I jump?

My parents are gone. Killed by the daughter of the moon, who albeit lucid seemed without violence. I should have known better. Worse, I did not entirely blame her.

I would have done the same.

Taehyung does not like me as a friend, and never will. We butt heads, not in the way either of us likes. He refuses to place me on the council. Not because of my gender, but because he does not trust me with the next daughter of the moon. No matter how much I claim I have little ill will against her. That was the truth, at least for the moment.

I don't like Lily. The rest of the nobles avoid me because of the prince.

Then there is Jimin. 

"Avoiding me?"

Speaking of the fool.

"Do you just magick yourself whenever I want to be left alone?"

The man laughed, melodic. His footsteps were sure as he joined me by the cliffside. I wish I had not looked.

He makes my heart speak what I cannot say. It only heightens my anger, and it is as real as much as my other feelings towards him. One never overpowers the other, as they equally consume me. I can barely take it. I stammer with my irregular beat, moving back a step and stiffening my chin with pride. It is my only defense left.

"No, I came to say goodbye."

My heart jumped from the cliff, crashing into the waves.

"Where are you going?" Too many words, I should have just grunted.

But I cared to know, so much. I need to know. 

Jimin licked his lips, staring out into the sea. He's refusing to look at her. "It does not matter. I must ask you one thing before I leave."

It was strange considering for four years he had never asked her a thing. Just insults and mockery sent her way. All of that had trickled away with the announcement of her engagement. It was all the scrap of attention he would give her. Aera stupidly thought they could go on like that forever, even after her marriage. 

"And that is?" Her heart beat louder and louder. A constant thrum. Why was he looking away? Why did he appear so serious? Engaged to another man, and her chest sang wildly for his best friend.

Jimin shook his head, cursing under his breath. Before he turned to face her, his eyes intense and stealing away the last of her breath, "If you had no expectations to meet, who would you choose to marry?"

"The Prince."

I lie. It was what he wanted to hear. And yet somehow, I think I failed him.

"Good." His face is devoid of any emotion, "Because he is breaking off his engagement with you for the daughter of the moon. I will enjoy every minute of studying her, and knowing all of the reason he prefers a stranger to you." His dark eyes are impossibly cold, "Instead Garnett will be yours., as I have given my blessing and my best pick to the prince." 

I am unable to speak. All I want to do is scream, and still, it would not be enough. 

If I had known...

Taehyung did not even tell me himself. I will be the laughingstock of the court, and I will not be able to carry out the wishes of my late parents. Albeit handsome, I do not know Garnett. But with the prince, at least there was a purpose. I would gain a title, land. 

I would remain close to his advisor. 

My chest is hyperventilating, and my vision starts to spin. Why? Why is this happening? Why did Jimin choose to tell me in such a cruel way? So I ask the question that has been at the tip of my tongue since I arrived at the castle as a child.

"What have I ever done to you to make you hate me?"

Jimin smiles, and it shines brighter than any mythical sun. I hate it. I hate the malice and the disappointment and something warmer that I see in it because I cannot understand what it means. Because if he ever felt the same, if he cared, if he wanted me despite their abrasion, he would be down on one knee. Not running the other way. 

"You want me for yourself, and you are too much of a dastard to admit it." I hurl the accusation at him from a mouth that is at war with my mind. I am tired of pretense. Tired of this guessing game that has lasted for years, and seems to continue without end.

He changed the day their engagement was announced. It has now ended. Why did he seem to loathe me now more than ever? 

Jimin stepped closer to me, the heels of my feet now just starting to meet air. I swallow deeply, never afraid though deeply frightened. I stare into eyes, eyes that have appraised me a thousand times over. We never admitted that to ourselves. I know chose to say the unspoken aloud, and I would be punished for it. 

He cranes his head over mine, and I do not fall back. 

"You truly believe that?" The man licks his lips, his eyes flickering to her own, making her stomach flood with warmth even as the winter wind turns her hair into tiny blades against her face, "Obsession is not love." 

That is what he does. He hurts me and then pulls me close, so he can watch me bleed. 

I layer as much weaponry as I can into my voice, letting my expression settle into the emptiness that I feel, "Then we agree. I was tired of your childish actions, and I frankly found you suffocating. I only wanted you to admit of your commitment to hating me, and to let it go. My new husband would not like you following me around like a vengeful pet. Tell the prince that I graciously accept Garnett as my fiancé. I could not have thought of a more suitable man for my needs." 

My words are claws, and I rip across his flesh. I only can pray that they hurt him as much as he has pained me. 

The advisor offers no reaction. Only leaning closer to her, so that his nose brushes against mine, and I suck in a breath. I focus on his lips and they part, before pressing into a line. I can feel their heat from only spaces away, and I abhor them more than the rest of him. It is them as his tongue which spouts their vehemence, their truth and lies. 

For a moment, I believe he is going to kiss me. 

If he tries to, I will let him. 

I feel dizzy, and I fall closer. He catches me by my hips, his eyes closing as my chest presses against his own. I should hit him. I should push him away. I cannot, cannot as the sweetness of his breath tangles my thoughts.

"Goodbye Aera." He says near my lips, never truly touching, "Do not save a seat at your wedding for me." 

Then he pushes her off the cliff.

*

Aera is jolted awake by a rough hand before she hits the water. Disoriented by both her memory and sleep. 

Without thought, she is up in seconds from the hard cave floor. With all her royal training and Immortui ability, she can wrap her hand around the assailant's throat and push them to what feels like the flat of a wall while grabbing for her knife with the other hand. 

She bares her teeth menacingly, her eyes barely open as she moves her knife to the person's throat and lets her hand drop and hold the cloth at the middle of their chest. It is blindingly dark, too dark to see if Jimin left her to deal with the person herself. Figures.  

"So violent." A familiar svelte voice said disapprovingly, too close to her. 

The grip on her knife and his shirt does not lessen. She cannot see a thing, but she can hear him. Feel him, as his skin was immortality cold. His pleasant scent flooded her senses, letting her know that it truly was the ex-advisor whom she held at knifepoint. 

Instead of admitting fault and relenting, she pressed them closer to the cave wall. His faint grunt as he hit the rough stone made her grimace curve into delight. She felt his heartbeat thundering underneath, as he did not question her ability to maim anyone.

"Why were you near me as I slept? I thought you would never touch me on purpose."

Jimin's laugh rings throughout the spacious cavern. They had walked about a mile to get there, and as they were inhuman, were able to sleep without fire or bedding. Neither stayed awake long to discuss their predicament. 

"It is not my fault that you listen to everything I say." 

Aera's grip loosened involuntarily in outrage, "I do not!-"

Jimin knocked into her wrist, forcing her to drop the knife as her bone sang with pain. She cursed, wrapping her hand around it. Leaving the free man ample room to place his hand on her upper chest and push her into the wall. She opened her mouth to curse, unable to move as much as she thought she would. He had gotten stronger since they were children, teens, pushing each other for fun and sword fighting with wooden planks. She felt the kiss of his blade now angled against her neck. 

Would he finally end her, if she was that much of a bother for him? 

"As I was saying, you never ask me 'why' after. When it is the only thing that truly matters." His light voice is dark against her ear, his hips and chest held away from her. He pressed the knife even closer, and she felt it nick her throat. 

Aera grabbed at his hand, feeling it spread from the top of her cleavage to his fingers which split around her lower neck and collar bones. "I have asked you why before." 

Her dream. Her memory, of the last day before he left, and the day her life went into complete ruin. She had asked him why he hated her. Aera doubted he would even remember. When he came back, it was like he had never even known her in the first place. 

She couldn't see his faint outline in the dark, she could only feel him. His tenseness, the coldness of his body that seeped through layers of clothes. He tsked, trailing the knife up one vein of her neck. She shivered and he bowed over her, forcing her head to the side. 

"You had your assumptions, and who am I to dissuade you?" Aera burned with flagrant shame. He remembered, and vividly. Jimin spoke again, his tone now granite, "Threaten me like that with a weapon again, or I will show you why I do not touch you."  

Jimin pushes away from her with the flat of his palm, creating as much distance as possible. Aera fights to catch her breath, and quietly so that he does not hear just how much his threat affected her. She wipes at her neck, feeling slippery blood between her fingers at the small wound. 

It was not the first time either of them drew blood from each other. She cared little about it. Not when she will get him back ten-fold later. All he showed her was that her attack needed to be without the help of brute force, as he now one out with that ability. 

"So why were you near me at all?" Aera emphasized the word sarcastically, sliding down the wall so she could sit. She sent her magic towards her neck, speeding up the already quick healing process. 

And as easily as the fire burned between them, it was doused out within moments. She heard the man clear away some dirt, before sitting on the ground. Royal blood never thins. The cave opening revealed his shape and the brightness of his hair, but not much more. It was not discomforting, she knew every part of him even without the light from observation alone.

He sighed, "You were screaming, which interrupted my much-needed beauty sleep. I was hoping to wake you, not for your sake, but for my poor ears which almost began to bleed." She expected silence to ensue. Instead, he asked a question, "Why?" 

It shocked her more than his reversal of her attack. Aera knew better than to lie completely, "I had a nightmare where I was falling."

The man hummed in agreement, "I get those too. Except I am awake when they happen." 

Aera did not know what he meant. Being possessed must be gifted with the power of cryptic phrasing. She was too exhausted to call him dramatic, though she thought of the insult in her mind. 

When Leila broke the curse, they were still Immortui. But they were able to walk into the sun, and they fed for themselves individually without relying on the King to feed off of the daughter of the moon and other blood sources. Which meant, they had to feed less often, but they had to feed themselves. The last time she had blood was a week before, and there had been a stock in both the ship and carriage. 

"So when we get to Italy, what is our plan?" Aera asked instead, knowing that it would take a while for her to fall asleep again. 

"Our plan?" Jimin questioned dubiously.

Silly man. 

"Yes. I do not trust you as far as I can see you. We must come up with some way to intercept the Elder. Azita wasn't too forthcoming with information, so we have nothing but the initial order by the King and Queen to go off of. We lost the ship and the carriage. We cannot just get by on a whim."

"But we are doing so well-"

"Jimin."

"Why don't we just head back home and explain what happened to Leila and Taehyung?" 

They could give up now. But the thought of doing that turned her stomach. She never gave things up in the middle but saw them to their imminent end. 

"Not an option. You will be put back in exile, and I will have failed." Aera told the man through the opaque darkness.

Jimin cleared his throat. She did not have to see him to know he was looking in her direction, "What does it matter to you if I am in exile?" 

"Thank you for asking." Aera feigned a cheeriness to her voice, "It doesn't. I still do not know whether you could turn on all of us or not. And supposedly your bitch mother almost killed me using you, and I rather Nox and his line have that type of power over me ever again."  

Jimin said nothing at first, and she wanted to scream at him. Ever since he killed his mother, he had been silent on his innocence or guilt. He gave no true answer to any of the people that asked him. She wanted him to tell her, even now, if it was truly him who plotted against the crown, or if he would do it again.

Before, she could have counted on him telling the truth. No matter how ugly it was. 

"What if we don't work together?" Jimin's honey-slicked voice melted through the jasmine air. 

"What?" 

Aera could not deal with his stupidity now. 

"Not literally. We have to work together, at least to a certain extent. When we find the Elder, my grandfather, it will be a competition of who can end him. Only one of us will bring back the glory of ending Nox's reign, the other will go home empty-handed." Jimin chose his next words carefully, "And be forced into self-exile." 

"If I kill the Elder, you will leave the castle? No questions? No chance of exoneration?" Aera did not believe him. She did not even want to fathom the second scenario. The Otrava castle was all she had ever really known. 

Jimin spoke quietly, "Despite our differences, I honor your word. I believe if we make this agreement, you will let me go. If I am not the one to kill the Elder, both Leila and Taehyung will forever question me. I will be a prisoner in my own life. Therefore, it is either winning or exile. You are more likely to let me go."

How little did he know?

Aera almost pitied him, that he did not realize how much changed. How much she changed. Her rage incited within her, for he could not be so oblivious to her need for retaliation. He had come back after her wedding night after Garnett had forced her to be her pereche. Jimin had said nothing to her.

He barely even looked at her.

Still, it was him she had run to after that horrible night. She was alone. She felt indifferent to everyone else, and they felt the same back. Not a single soul would care about what he did. 

When she had gone to his room to tell him what the other man had done, he had been reprehensible. He turned her away. It was then she had realized he already knew, and that it was his idea of a getting her back. 

"No rules?" Aera asked, her voice sharp. 

The man of shadow answered convincingly, "No borders."

"Deal." Aera nodded her head, though he would not see it. 

"Deal." He said, more quietly. 

"Oh, only one rule. We don't leave each other's side." Aera suggested, her plan already unraveling just to be sewn into a different pattern, "Because I don't trust you. And there we are moments where we will find use in each other."

If they do not leave each other's side it will give her time. Time to find his weaknesses, and exploit them. Time to plot and find just when he was the most vulnerable. He would have no go into exile. Not after she ended him. It would be easy enough to tell Leila and Taehyung that he had turned on her, no matter if it were true or not. 

"Hmm, I'm not interested in the slightest," Jimin commented dryly.

Yes, you have made that very clear. 

"Not that you fool. I am a woman, I will be considered a prostitute if I'm traveling alone. And you are still a captive of our territory, who knows what eyes will be on you? We only help each other in those very common circumstances."

"Fine." Jimin fired back, irritation rising in his throat.

"Fine," Aera responded in the same way, hiding the rush she felt from deceit. Her brutal honesty, was now her greatest weapon against him. 

Jimin groaned, his body scraping into the floor. A sign that he was setting himself up to lay down, and fall back to sleep. "They should have sent Hoseok with you, your favorite plaything at home. He would love to pretend to be your husband now that you offed yours."

Her blood curdled at the mention of her ex-husband. The advisor obviously had no regrets of what he had given his 'blessing' towards, and what would eventually happen after. It was now a part of his onslaught of insults he could use on her. 

"They should have."

Jimin did not answer back after that.

Aera looked up into the darkness, her back against the cold floor. She thought about anything but sleep, as it threatened to pull her into her past, sleeping only a few moments away from her. 

Hoseok stopped seeing her, because of her cruelty to Leila. He believed it as evidence that she still had feelings for the prince. She did not fight to keep him, nor change his assumptions. Aera wondered why everyone so easily believed that it was Taehyung she had cared for. 

It wasn't the prince who had been walking Leila down the aisle on her wedding night.

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(A/N: I hope this makes sense, but the first part of the chapter is Aera having a dream about the last time she and Jimin talked before he left to stalk (lol) Leila for the first time. 

This story will go a lot faster after this chapter so get your popcorn ready!!!!!! There is a lot less plot to cover in this book than in Solace if you know what I mean.