Chapter 14

  Dreams

  I couldn’t tell if I had truly woken or if I was still adrift in a dream. The world around me pulsed with an ethereal light, soft and golden, like a place untouched by time. The trees whispered songs of ancient magic, their leaves shimmering with colors that didn’t belong to any earthly spectrum. The grass beneath my feet was impossibly soft, almost as though it were alive, welcoming me with every step I took. The wind, light and fragrant, carried a sweetness that felt like the very essence of peace, as if it had never known the harsh sting of pollution or the weariness of the world.

  The air itself seemed to hum with possibilities, like the fabric of reality here was woven from dreams, and nothing—nothing—could touch me. I could breathe freely, feel untethered, as though I were part of the very magic that flowed through this place. No shadows, no fears, no regrets could follow me here. I was weightless, free, suspended in a world that was mine to explore—untouched, pure, and perfect in its dreamlike serenity.

  I took a deep breath, allowing the cold, fresh air to fill my lungs, and in that moment, I felt… home. The world around me seemed to pulse with warmth, as though the earth itself was welcoming me back. My gaze shifted from the vibrant, lush forest before me to the towering castle that loomed just at the edge of my vision. A strange feeling stirred within me—an odd, heavy sensation of doom, of death and destruction. Yet, I couldn’t look away. It was as if the castle was calling to me, pulling me in with an undeniable force.

  Instinctively, my feet began to move toward it, but as I stepped forward, the dreamscape around me began to unravel. The lush beauty I had reveled in vanished like a fading memory, replaced by something far darker and more ominous. The grass beneath my feet had lost its softness; it was dry, brittle, and cracked, crunching beneath each step as though it hadn’t felt the touch of rain in decades. The trees—once vibrant with shimmering hues and bathed in light—now stood like hollow husks, their branches reaching toward the sky in a desperate, barren grasp, stripped of both leaves and magic. It was as though the very life of this place had been sucked away, leaving only a haunting emptiness in its wake.

  The air grew cold, biting at my skin, and the wind howled with a harshness that seemed to carry a warning, as if it were telling me that I wasn’t welcome here. My breath crystallized in the chill, and the very atmosphere felt hostile, as though the land itself rejected my presence.

  “You should not be here.”

  The voice echoed in the wind, its tone sharp, yet there was an undercurrent of something softer—a warning wrapped in a kind of reluctant care. I wanted to turn, to see the source of the voice, to meet it head-on, but my gaze remained fixed on the castle, that looming structure that pulled at me with an unexplainable force.

  “Why have you come, Princess? There is nothing you can do here.”

  The words were heavy with a sorrow I couldn’t place, but my mind remained locked in a single direction, unwilling to look away from the silhouette of the castle.

  “And exactly where is here?” I asked, my voice strained, as if the question itself held more weight than I was ready to bear.

  The wind seemed to still for a moment before the voice answered, its tone thick with centuries of hidden truths.

  “No matter how many times you come here, you still don’t remember. This is your prison.”

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  The words hung in the air like an oppressive fog, suffocating me, each syllable a weight pressing down on my chest. I closed my eyes, fighting the surge of panic rising within me, trying desperately to shake off the sensation that the voice was right. I wanted to deny it, to believe that this place wasn’t the one I feared, the place that had haunted both my waking hours and my dreams. But even here, in the twisted calm of this dreamscape, I couldn’t escape it. The castle... my prison. A place where I had been shackled for years, no matter how far I ran, no matter how deeply I hid within the sanctuary of my mind.

  With every ounce of willpower, I forced myself to step forward again, towards the castle. My feet felt heavy, as though the ground itself was reluctant to let me go. I could hear the voice take in a sharp breath behind me, its footsteps following me like a shadow, always just there. But I couldn’t stop. I had to confront it, confront the place that had stolen my freedom.

  When I reached the castle’s walls, I ran my fingertips along the cold, jagged bricks. The touch sent a shiver through me, not from the chill, but from the anger embedded deep within the stone, an anger that mirrored my own. I wanted to turn toward the voice, ask it why, demand answers, but something in the very fabric of my mind screamed at me not to.

  His magic. His land. His tricks.

  A bitter sigh escaped me as I pushed the heavy door open, bracing myself for what I’d find inside. I expected emptiness, silence—the kind of hollow stillness that only a forgotten place could hold. But when I entered, I was met with something unexpected. Life.

  The instant the people inside sensed my presence, they stopped what they were doing. The room fell into a strange kind of stillness, the quiet hum of their work interrupted. Without a word, they dropped to one knee, bowing deeply in respect. And then, just as silently, they returned to their tasks, as though nothing had changed.

  I stood there, frozen for a moment, the full weight of their actions pressing down on me. There was no hiding the frown that twisted my face. This place—this kingdom—was mine, but it was also not mine.

  “Your Majesty.”

  I turned at the sound of the voice, finding a small blonde boy, no older than ten, dressed in fine clothes. He bowed deeply, a look of reverence in his eyes.

  “Welcome back, Your Majesty. The King is waiting for you in the main chamber.”

  “The King?” My voice felt foreign in this place, unsure and unsettled.

  The boy nodded eagerly and tugged at the gown I found myself wearing, pulling me forward. With a slight dip of my head, I adjusted the fabric of my gown, its weight unfamiliar, and followed him through the castle’s grand halls. As we moved, my mind raced, sifting through memories of men who could possibly occupy the throne. None of them matched the figure I was about to meet.

  We arrived at the main chamber, the doors swinging open to reveal a throne room bathed in shadows. I bowed instinctively, my body moving before my mind could process it, and in doing so, I took the king by surprise. His eyes flashed with something unreadable, then he smiled, a smile that felt both welcoming and cold.

  With a subtle wave of his hand, the courtiers who had been watching us slowly filtered out, leaving the two of us alone in the heavy silence.

  “I see you’ve come to your senses and returned home,” he said, his voice smooth, almost too calm, as though he were simply stating a fact.

  I straightened, my heart pounding in my chest. “This is not my home. And you are not my husband, Kai. You took me from everything I loved.”

  He stepped forward, the distance between us closing like a cage being slowly shut. “I’ve done it time and time again, haven’t I? And yet, you always return, almost as though your mind is driving you here, pulling you back to where you belong.”

  I wanted to lash out, to fight him, to scream, but my throat constricted. The words wouldn’t come. Something inside me—a force I couldn’t fight—held me back. It was as if my body refused to act on its own will, trapped in a cycle I couldn’t escape.

  And then, in a flash, a sharp pain jolted through my chest, pulling me from the dream with such force that I gasped for breath. The soft sheets beneath me turned hard, the distant sound of Kai’s voice fading into the background. I shot upright, my heart racing. The familiar walls of the bed I had been tied to loomed around me—cold, suffocating, and real.

  The dream, like all the others, slipped away into the darkness, leaving only the remnants of its torment behind.