3. Betrayal Hurts

SAGE The voice of Dorian’s mother made me flinch in his arms. But it was him distancing himself from me that hurt me the most. It was as if… as if he was prohibited to touch me.   Then again, he probably was. Didn’t he just say that he heard already? Everything just happened. Where would he hear it from? News travel fast, it was true, but I was sure as hell that they did not travel that fast!   The realisation was painful as I looked at him, noticing the pain in his eyes. And also the shame.    He knew! Dorian knew everything!   So, this was why he was late for my party. Although it probably wasn't the right choice of words. He was not late. He was not coming at all! He was saving himself from the humiliation of being seen there with me as my father and all his knights were dragged out of the house.   “You knew,” I whispered as his mother stormed in our direction, “You knew it was going to happen. And you... didn't tell me…”   “Sage,” he moved closer but this time I backed down. Somehow I did not want him to touch me anymore, “I couldn't tell you. They made me give a word.”   “Give a word?” I let out a loud snort, “Is it even worth much? As far as I remember you gave me a word too. Many of those, if I recall correctly. And yet here we are.”   “Sage,” his mother finally reached us. I bet it wasn’t easy in that many skirts. But she was always on the over-excessive side of fashion. “You cannot be seen here! Not anymore! We are sorry for what happened to your family…”   I didn’t even wait for her to finish the sentence as a loud resounding laugh escaped me.   “Sorry? You?” I looked at both of them. Lady Riverflame clenched her lips at once. “Looks like you are just fine with what is going on! And you swapped sides quickly!”   “Sage,” my probably already ex-mother-in-law took a step towards me, “You need to understand that if Dorian stayed by your side, you would just drag him down with you. Is that what you want? Is that what your love for him is about? Would you want to ruin his life and career? He has a bright future ahead of him! A position at the court is already waiting...”   I couldn’t help but smile at both their faces. Years in a mental institution couldn’t be dragged out of me even after all the time I spent in this world. I probably looked crazy to them now. But I didn’t have to care about what they thought of me anymore.   It was painful. I did not want to lie to myself about that.   In my previous life, it was a heartbreak that tipped me in the direction of madness. So, when I got my fresh start here, I decided not to rush things and not to fall in love.   It was relatively easy at first when I was just a teen with the mind of a grown woman inside. I just couldn’t look at the boys that way. It was… gross.   But Dorian was different from everyone else. He became my friend first. The noble future marquis from the Sapphire marquisate. Always perfect and righteous, he earned my trust through his deeds. When one of my frenemies tried to humiliate me at some party, he was always there for me, taking my side and protecting me. When a drunk guest at a party wanted to get too close to me – he defended my honour. When I wanted to run away from the house to have a day at the nearby town just like a normal person – he would cover for me and go with me to make sure that I was safe at all times.   I trusted him. And slowly it started growing into something else as we got older.    So, when a proposal from his house arrived, I was in a trance for a few days not knowing what to think of it. He came to see me in disguise at night to confess his love. It was like a scene from a very cheesy movie, but… I fell for it. He seemed so sincere back then.   What an i***t I had been!   I snapped out of it. The trip to Memory Lane was over.   The reality was painful. Dorian betrayed me and my trust. Those little things he did in the past did not matter much. But when real trouble knocked on my door, he left me alone.   “Just by being here you may place a stain on our reputation!” his mother went on as he stood there, not saying a word. And for me, it spoke volumes.   “Ah!” I sighed, trying to hold back a laugh, “We wouldn’t want that, would we?”   They both seemed startled by my reaction, but his mother came to her sense rather quickly.   “I am glad that we are on the same page here,” she said through a forced smile.   “Of course, you are,” I chuckled, “You probably already have a new fiancée in line for him, right?”   She clenched her lip and so did he.   Wow, they worked fast! Just a week ago there was an article in the kingdom’s most popular paper about our upcoming wedding. And today they already had a new betrothed for him.   “Just out of interest,” I smirked, trying not to show how hurt I was, “Who is the lucky bride?”   “Sage, it’s not what you think,” Dorian furrowed his brows and stretched his arm to me which I ignored completely.   “Oh, no,” I disagreed, wrapping my cloak around me tighter as it suddenly got very cold, “I think it’s exactly what I think. So, who is she?”   “I will reply just out of respect to our families history,” lady Riverflame said, “It’s Giselle Irland.”   I would have probably whistled if it was appropriate. But it was not, so I held it back.   Giselle was one of those girls who hated me the most. We were always friendly in public, but I hated turning my back to her because I always expected her to put a metaphorical dagger in it. And she never disappointed.   Well, it was a great match for a traitor now that I thought about it.   “Oh, gods! Lucky you!” I sneered, looking at my now ex-fiancé. My sarcasm was not lost on him. We spent hours laughing at how fake and cunning Giselle was. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one.   “Well, excuse me for the disturbance then,” I gave them the most elegant curtsy I could master, “I do apologise for the inconvenience and would be leaving now.”   I turned on my feet, not waiting for them to reply. I heard lady Riverflame huff in annoyance and also heard the clicking of her heels as she returned to their house.   I was almost back at my carriage when Dorian caught up with me and grabbed my hand.   “Sage, wait!” he said with some kind of desperation in his voice, but I tried to release myself from him. Unsuccessfully.    “What?!” I turned and glared at him. Really not ladylike. But at this exact moment in time, I did not care about looking like a lady. You can take a girl out of the modern world, but…   “I am sorry, Sage!” he said in a shaky voice, “I am an heir of my family. I had no choice.”   “You are the only heir of your family,” I reminded him, “What are they going to do? Take a super distant cousin of yours instead? Your mother loves you too much for that! You always had a choice, Dorian. And you just made it. It’s just… You didn’t choose me. That’s all.”   The fingers around my arm unclenched themselves and I distanced myself from him.   “It was really nice to see you, lord Riverflame,” I gave him a cold smile and got into the carriage, "Although it was clearly a mistake to come here."   “Sage…”   He wanted to say something else but I slammed the door right before his nose, signalling for the coachman to start moving. Luckily, he did not need me to repeat and we left the marquisate rather quickly.   The girly part in me wanted to cry about being betrayed, about my broken heart and all that. But I had more important things to do on my mind.   And that was my father.   It was obvious now that I needed a new plan to free him and a new alliance.   He used to keep me away from politics and now it really backfired for the two of us as I wasn’t informed enough to make the next move. I needed time to think, to see whom I can trust.   I was in the middle of my thoughts when the carriage stopped abruptly. I didn’t even know how long we had been travelling. I was, however, sure that it was too early for a stop.   And I opened the small curtain to look at the coachman through the tiny window and ask him what was going on.   However, when I did this, I choked on the air as the glass was all covered in something red…   Blood!   Thinking hectically, I grasped my artefacts and waited. If I was under attack, then…   I didn’t even get to finish my thought as the door of the carriage opened and a dirty looking man in worn-out clothes grabbed me and pulled me out roughly, throwing me to the cold ground. It was snowing heavily even though it was too early for that in the year.   Looking around, I saw a group of men who looked like thugs. And I knew that this was bad since we were in the middle of nowhere.    We were somewhere in the woods and I wasn’t even sure where exactly that was as I did not recognise the surroundings at all. The coachman’s body was lying not far from me.   “Look what a nice little doll we have to play with tonight, fellas,” one of the bandits said, coming closer to me. His intentions were written all over his face and I knew that now would be the best time to use my one and only chance.   Not thinking twice, I moved the stone on one of my rings. It was an artefact that I created with my own hands for self-protection. It was working on everyone but the person who was wearing it. So, when it blinded the men with a huge stomp of light and paralysed them, I knew that I had to run.    Unfortunately, it could give me only a few crucial minutes as I made it back when I was nine and never bothered upgrading it to something more powerful. The joke was on me.   I didn’t see any horses other than the ones used in the carriage and it was too risky to try and get one of them out. So, I just ran as fast as I could, not caring for anything else.   I ran and I ran, hoping to find some kind of an escape route or a hiding place.   But it was just an unknown forest with not too many possibilities.   I heard the screams behind me and knew that they were already looking for me everywhere. They knew that I wouldn’t be able to get too far.   When the voices got closer, I realised that the little advantage that I got was over. So when I saw a very small steep hill, I jumped down, not caring for my clothes and landed in some bushes. Then I leaned my back over the tree roots that were poking out of the hill, hoping to be able to hide there.   My family possessed the Earth element and I summoned it now, making the roots and bushes grow and cover me better.   Unfortunately, I was not the strongest mage out there. So, I couldn’t do much. But at least, it was something.   “She must be somewhere here!” I heard a furious voice at the top of the hill I was under and closed my eyes as if it could help me in any way. I even forgot how to breathe, praying for them to go away and never notice me.   But when a branch right next to me started burning with flames, I knew that I was not that lucky. They found me after all!   A big hand grabbed and pulled me out of my little hideout.   “Nice try, dolly!” one of the thugs smirked at me.   But I still had some cards up my sleeve even now. So when volts of electricity went through his body as I touched my bracelet, he started convulsing in shock.   Yeah, that was another artefact of mine and I took my inspiration from… well, a stun gun. I never used it for real before, so it was shocking to see it in work. But I was so happy now that I put it on in the one hour that I was given to gather my things back at home.   I started running again. I got a second wind and had no intention to stop even when I knew that my pursuers were right behind me. They were swearing at me and throwing their threats. But I was aware that even if I stopped, they would not go easy on me. It was probably better to die than getting into their hands… Maybe I would get reincarnated again…   Just the thought of my father was giving me the strength to fight and keep going. I couldn’t leave him alone. Not like this!   I ran out in a frosty clearing that looked white and lifeless. Everything was wrong today! It wasn’t supposed to be so cold so early in the year! And it wasn’t supposed to be snowing so heavily! Steam was coming out of my throat as I ran not even knowing where since it was too hard to see anything now.   Unexpectedly, I slipped on the icy grass and fell down to the ground, cursing under my breath. It was all over now…   The voices were too close to me and I knew that in just a second they would get me.   Tears were forming in my eyes as I saw something shining in the mist before me. Those shiny things flew right next to me, only letting me taste the wind that they created. I turned to see what that even was when I noticed the bandits falling one by one as if they were hit by arrows. The white ground was splattered by their ruby blood.   I still didn’t see any arrows… Instead, pieces of ice were poking out of them… Ice shards!   I covered my mouth with my cold hands to hold back a scream that was desperately trying to escape me when I heard the sounds of the horse’s hooves beating over the ground at a distance and saw a dark figure in the snowy mist in front galloping in my direction…    AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi, guys! Chapter 3 is up. Now the app forces me to make the chapter names for this book (it may be some kind of a new glitch but I couldn't post it with just chapter and number as I usually do). So, I may need some help with the names for my chapters. If you have any good ideas after reading it (and the previous two) - let me know in the comments. I will be very grateful. I stopped naming my chapters because sometimes it took me longer than writing it lmao. So, any kind of help would be greatly appreciated. For those who read Dragon's Ice - the events that take place now are 5 years after what happened in the Epilogue. More will be explained later as the story unfolds. But what happened to Regina is a bit different to what happened to Freya. For those of you who never read Dragon's Ice - don't read all this lol. You will learn everything there is to learn in the course of this story.