26. Chapter Twenty-Five - 2

"Yes, yes,"

Cadian continued. "Well, as it turns out, there are secret passageways in the Dungeons of the Mist, brother, and would you know it—I found myself here in this world. It seems the Ancients who sent you here left something behind."

he held out a shard of mirror that reflected the golden light in the cavern. "I have made a rather nice place for myself,"

he said as he tucked the shard of mirror into his suit coat pocket. He traveled to this realm through a mirror? If so, how did he still have it? Something about that felt off–wrong, just like him. "This cave is only temporary, on loan I guess you could say. I have a few homes set up here and there, many servants and such—life on Earth is rather easy for me, other than the fact that Emma exists to taunt me, and of course, now, you are here, brother."

"How nice that things are going so well for you,"

Shad spoke in his calm voice, but I could sense his soul, and he was beyond upset—beyond furious—beyond confused.

"Indeed, I am due something for all the pain Father caused me, am I not?"

He raised a brow.

"What happened to you?"

Shad asked, confused. "We were told you died–and then there were rumors–"

"Of course, he said I died."

He laughed without any humor in it.

"You were–you were corrupt ,"

Shad said. "There were reasons you were sent away, but we all mourned you when father told us you had passed."

"Ha! Reasons?"

He played with a cufflink. He was dressed very well for someone living in, or even just visiting, a cold, dark cave. He wore a tailored navy blue suit, a white shirt, and a blue tie. Another similarity between the two of them, I thought. He wore formal clothing like Shad. Shad, who stood beside me in a white shirt and tie, must have already taken his armor off without me noticing.

Emma, we are nothing alike, Shad nearly growled into my soul.

I know that. I felt guilty for finding any similarity at all between them.

"Emma, do you want to know the reason my father, the king of Embra, sent me away?"

Cadian asked.

I didn't move, didn't speak.

"Because I didn't—have a melody. He sent me to the dungeons of Haleston, because I did not have a melody when I was born—as if I was Corrupt from my infancy. Oh, excuse me–in this realm, the term would be evil ."

He folded his arms across his chest.

"You are Corrupt. Look at what you have done, even here,"

Shad shouted.

"Oh, Shadrict, please. Do not even get me started. Corruption is made, not born; maybe I am a tad bit corrupt, now—"

He raised his hand and fingers to gesture a small amount . "But that, I was made to be."

"You murdered someone, which had not been done in—"

"Yes, yes, blah, blah. I murdered someone—big deal. In reality, they gave me no other choice, and to be honest, here, they really give you the benefit of the doubt when you are defending your own life. Could learn a few things from this realm, we could. I know I have."

"I don't believe anything you say,"

Shad snarled at his brother.

"Now, I am sure that is true, so let's get to the point, shall we?"

He clapped his hands together and rubbed them, stepping into the lamplight even more, so that his every feature was in full view.

I hated to admit it, but he was incredibly handsome, other than the dark glint in his eyes, of course, which confirmed that he was this corrupt they were speaking of. His crooked nose was the only thing, other than his soulless eyes, that was physically off about him. It looked as if he broke it once, and it never healed properly. I hoped that when he broke it, it hurt like the fires of hell.

"Emma, sweet? Come here, will you?"

Cadian cooed at me, causing bile to rise in my throat.

"She goes nowhere near you , Cade,"

Shad growled at his brother, holding me closer and tighter.

My melody swarmed, reaching out to Shad. Our melodies met together and spun around each other as I tried to calm him down. His chest was rising and falling so rapidly that his whole body shook with a rage I'd never seen or felt before.

"Ah, this is interesting,"

Cade rubbed his chin with one hand as he paced around us. "I had not really been able to pick up on the connection between you two. Could it be—?"

he questioned while looking at Shad.

"You have us here, trapped. What is it you want?"

Shad's voice was calm again. My melody still lingered within his own as I tried to sooth him.

"I am getting to that. Do you really want to rush our reunion, brother?"

He looked at Shad, and I watched as Shad glared at him, still holding me tight. Cade turned to me: "You are aware that I have been watching you, dear? In your room. You never minded that I moved your rose about, did you, Princess?"

I turned to him, glaring. It was him . He was the one who had moved the roses that Shad had given me around my room, toying with me, spying on me, and taunting me. My blood boiled as that realization hit me, and it hit me hard. He had been in my room. He had been in the bathroom while I was having a shower when he placed my father's watch on the bathroom counter. It felt like spiders were crawling all over my body at the thought of him, that evil man, being so close to me, and I hated him.

Shad's arm pulled me even tighter against himself.

"Yes, brother, I have been watching her—and you. I was aware of a connection you shared, but this is remarkable, is it not? How long ago was the last souls—"

"Get to the point. I know you want something; get to that part,"

Shad interrupted.

"I am sad to say that I will have to end that little connection of yours, no matter how tender. It gets in the way of what I want."

"What do you want?"

Shad spat back.

"So impatient. You should really work on that."

He stopped pacing around us and stood directly in front of me, while his eyes continued to lock onto Shad's. "It's simple, really. I want her . She is the only way I can go back to Embra and be crowned King."

"No one would ever crown you King,"

Shad spat.

"Oh, brother, with a melody like hers at my side, not one person would object to me ruling the kingdom, no matter what was in my past."

"I am not going anywhere with you,"

I shrieked at him, responding for the first time since he had entered the room.

He smiled. "She has spirit, doesn't she?"

He walked closer to me and placed a hand on my cheek, but before anything else could happen, Shad had him pinned to the floor.

"Don't you dare touch her!"

Shad bellowed, his voice echoing around the entire room.

"Okay, okay—no need for violence."

Cade sat up, leaning back on one arm as Shad walked back to me. Cade fixed his twisted, navy blue suit coat, tugging on the fabric to straighten it, and I watched as he dusted off his sleeves.

"I can either have her at my side or take her melody for my own. You see, if I had her melody as my own, well, that would be even better."

"That cannot be done,"

Keil spoke for the first time. I looked at him next to Ryker, who had passed out from blood loss. I hoped that somehow we could save Ryker, even though leaving that place seemed an impossibility.

"You see, on Terra, they fill our heads with so many untruths: we can't do this, we can't do that—when in reality, we can do it all."

"You will upset the balance of the Ancients—"

Keil said.

"The Ancients ? You actually think they are real? They are made up tales to keep us all in line. Who has seen one since the curses were done away with and the blessings began? Since the truth came out?"

Cade waved a hand at Keil as if he were an immature child.

"They are among us. I have met plenty, just because they do not show themselves to the corrupt like you–"

Shad spoke up, defending Keil with his words.

"Ah yes, a believer ; you are just as soft as Mother. Well, no doubt, you will suffer for that one of these days, but for now, I will let you live in your little fairyland world. Truth is—I can strip her of her melody in no time at all and be on my merry way."

He stood up and walked to the far wall where a metal shelf had been fastened. He reached into one of the boxes there and brought out a small, black crystal.

"Here—you see, brother?"

Cade continued moving the crystal in his hand, so it caught the lantern light. "The midnight crystal."

"No,"

Shad gasped, pulling me into his arms, until I was pressed firmly against his chest.

What is that, I asked.

That is the crystal I told you about; it's one of those crystals from Soul's Island which extracts melodies. It can create a Soulless. His voice seemed to shake at the end as he spoke into my mind and soul.

Is he going to use it on me? I thought you said those are rare? That no one can get one off the island except for a king or a queen?

Yes, that is what I thought; I don't know how he has one—perhaps, things are worse in our realm than we ever realized.

"Yes, yes. So you see, now. I can have whatever I want, and I will take it. I need a strong melody, one that will set me apart."

"How will you return? You really think that I will believe that a shard of a mirror will do anything? A broken piece of an Elvan mirror cannot propel you through the realms,"

Shad said. "What is the point in all of this when there is no way to return to Terra?"

"Humm—well, you see, that would put a damper on all of this so very easily; however, little knighty-boy here, he knows the way back to Terra, don't you?"

He walked over to Ryker and kicked him in his side. Ryker awoke and moaned, and I screamed.

"Leave him alone!"

I ran to Cade, ready to hit him with everything I had, but Shad had me in his arms again almost as quickly as I had left them, and I was unable to move.

"You care for him?"

he asked, nostrils flaring under his crooked nose. "I thought you cared about my brother?"

He shook his head. "Now, I did not take you for a tease."

He shook a finger at me.

"I am not. Ryker is my family—you—please, you took my parents from me. Please, you can't hurt him."

"He had a choice, Emma. He could have told me how to get back to Terra, and he wouldn't have been beaten. He chose the beating, and it was a sad thing, too, because I hate ever so much to get my hands dirty, and he is a bleeder, as you can tell. Father did always teach us that using our words was a much better approach to conflict. Seems that Mr. Noble-Knighty-Boy wasn't raised like us, Shadrict, huh?"

He shook his head and looked at Shad.

"Let us go, please. He will die if I do not get him cleaned up and warmed," I begged.

"You see, I would let him go, but he still has the information I need. Don't you, Ryker, you sad excuse for a guardian knight? You were supposed to keep Lamont safe–his family–Emma, how does it feel to have failed so miserably? How does it feel to see her here, now?"

He pushed Ryker's head hard onto the ground then stepped on his face, causing blood to ooze from unhealed wounds.

"Stop it! You are a monster! He doesn't even know anything! Take my melody. Take me for all I care; just let them all go."

"No, Emma, what are you doing?"

Shad shouted, that time aloud.

I pulled away from Shad's grasp.

He was so shocked by my words that he let me go for just a moment, and it was just what I needed to stand firm. I couldn't see a way out of it—no other way than for me to give Cade what he wanted. I was what he wanted. If I went willingly, maybe he would let everyone else go. I could save them all. The guards around Cade moved to Shad, to hold him back from taking me.

"Ah, what a smart girl we have here,"

Cade said with a smile, as he walked over to me.

"Please, let them go. It is me you want."

I was meant for this, I thought . I survived the crash, maybe, because I was needed at this moment in time to save them all. Perhaps, I will finally see my parents again, and all the pain and all the sorrow will be over, forever. I stood firm, convinced.

"It is indeed, dear, but I do still need a way to return home, or my plan is ruined. You do see that?"

he asked, cupping my cheek in his hand. His touch sent my stomach coiling, and my body wanted to convulse. He touched a finger to my lips, and it took everything in me to not pull away. He leaned in close, his breath on my lips. "I do see the appeal you have; you are a beauty, aren't you? Hard to see you this well when I was doing all that sneaking about."

He turned my face to the left and to the right. "You would make me a wonderful Queen."

He kissed my cheek, and I could not handle his touch any longer.

"Don't touch me. You murdered my parents. Do you not remember that fact? I despise you. I will come willingly, but the pure hatred and disgust I have for you—that will never change."

Cade laughed. "You find me handsome, do you not? I am, after all, where Shad gets his good looks."

I shook my head.

"No? I am offended, and I dressed so well for the occasion of our first meeting."

"Just get this over with,"

I said with clenched teeth.

As if he had not heard me, he went on: "Yes, yes. I did not, however, kill them—your parents–dear, no. I did not kill them. Unfortunately, it was one of my men who hit them—a true accident. I will admit, we were following you, and, yes, one of my men got a little impatient, wanting to know if you were the one. After your parents died, and the shield your father had on you dropped, we knew you were the one. So although it was not on purpose, it did help in the end."

I reached out my hand and slapped him across the face.

After the slap, he grabbed my wrist, holding it in place.

"Now, I will let that one slide, seeing as your parents did die, but that was your one and only free pass, Princess."Cade motioned to two of his guards behind him, and they were on me in moments. Shad groaned and jumped to my side quickly, finally breaking away from his guard's hold.

"Leave her alone,"

he shouted as he pulled the guard away.

"Shad, please, I am who he wants,"

I called out to him.