☽♟☽
SERENYA
My heart stopped for a second before it picked up.
Thump thump thump thump—
The succession of every beat was followed by an even harder and faster one.
"Y-" I forced myself to breathe as I pushed myself from the door that I'd subconciously used to seek stability. My head was spinning. "You made a bargain with a Fae?" My voice cracked. "And brought me into it?"
He nodded, his brows narrowed as he stared me down, like I was overeacting. "I did. I had no other choice."
He had no other choice??
"Corin…" I exhaled. Breathe, Ser, breathe. This can't be real. "Why?"
And though I tried to keep my voice stable, my voice cracked in more ways than one.
"Why the hell not?" He seethed, all kindness gone from his features. "Did you think I could put mother's or our little sisters' lives on the line? All you do anyway is spend all the money I make and flaunt around town with your fucking pretty face and pretty dresses thinking you're worth anything." My eyes began to burn. "Now, you can finally be useful. Be grateful I found you useful for something once in your fucking life."
He'd walked to the threshold of the room, right beside me, as I tried to force the tears from pouring down my face—and I was failing miserably—before he spoke again, his voice softer now but it had lost all the warmth I'd grown accustomed to through my life.
"You should be ready, he will arrive tomorrow night to collect you." He continued and I refused to look at him. "I advise you not to put up a fight, like you always do."
He turned to face me but I denied the reciprocation, his voice quieter. "You should understand that I am telling you this in the first place because I want things to go with no issues. Liora and Cerys will be told that you have an urgent travel to the North for a suitor and you won't be back for a long while. They will look at you and say you're admirable. I'll take care of mother. Simply do yours and I'll do mine. Do not try to come back until he lets you, Serenya. Do not be a fool."
With that, he left, the last sentence he made echoing in the silence he'd left me in after shutting the door on his way out.
Do not try to come back until he lets you, Serenya.
Don't be a fool.
The moment the sound of his footsteps could barely reach my ears, I could no longer find any strength left to hold back my tears. So, I sobbed.
I sobbed harder than I'd ever in my entire life. Because it was in that moment, that I'd fully realized I was truly and irrevocably alone. It was then I knew I was beyond the love that I thought I deserved from the people I called my family.