Chapter 242
CASSANDRA
When | awoke. | couldn’t move. | tried to stretch my limbs and make sense of where | was, but it was impossible. | felt as if | was
tightly bound to a bed, strapped down with no hope of excipe. It was dark, so | couldn''t tell for sure, but | wondered if maybe |
was in the bed that I had seen in Raven’sb in the prison tower.
My breath was so thin that | felt as if | could die at any second. My body was burning, a horrible, aching feeling that | never
wanted to experience again. It was almost like | had returned to the inferno in Rosepetal. Maybe | had never truly been saved at
all, and everything that had happened to me past the point of the ze was nothing more than a mere hallucination before
death.
Suddenly, | felt my inner wolf groan. A painful groan, followed by anger.
“Why have you been so weak and cowardly?” she growled at me, her voice fierce like Cora’s. “Where has your warrior’s spirit
gone?”
She then scolded and cursed me. “You aren’t this person. You aren’t a weakling. You''re a daughter of Felix, not some small.
snivelingmon wolf. So, why are you acting like this?”
| wanted to speak to reply back to her and tell her what had happened to me, but | couldn''t. | didn’t have the strength to do so.
My body waspletely numbed, though my mind was clear. If only | could call out to her with my thoughts and reassure her.
tell her that deep down within me, | was the same warrior I’d always sworn to be. I''d tell her that even though I’d merely served
as a healer since the ze had taken my life from me, that hadn’t meant that | wasn’t a fighter.
But then again was | still a fighter?
Had 1 cast aside my warrior instinct in favor of surviving?
Suddenly, my wolf appeared before me. Her thick, plush fur was snow white, her body was muscr and strong. Her eyes were
the same green as mine. My wolf form was just as beautiful as it had always been
| admired her for a moment and felt a longing in my soul. Seeing her again was likeing home.
My wolf stopped cursing and shouting and simply red at me with her glowing eyes.
must fight now, she insisted as she took a step toward me. “Fight for our mate, our country, and our future You cannot hade in
the shadows and be a coward anymore”
Suddenly, | heard the sound of a machine a series of fast beeps apanied by voices in the far distance.
Sure | wasn’t sure if | was dreaming or not. | couldn''t tell it had opened my eyes, though | knew | probably hadn''t.
| saw my soundings
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Then, | heard Kaleb. “Stop this. This is too much, Raven,”
“This is what has to be done if you want to get it.” she argued. “I won’t lose this opportunity, Kaleb. You should trust me
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Then, there was a screech | didn’t know what happened, but the space was filled with horrified gasps and angry mumbles
Suddenly, | felt someone lift my body, holding me away from the bed, but the moment | rose from the mattress, my min went
nk again, and | slipped back into oblivion.
When | finally woke up. | wasn’t in theb, but | wasn’t in my own chambers either. | was in arge room with a high ceilir that
had an borate mural of the Moon Goddess upon it. | stared at it for a moment in wonder and then | heard Kaleb’sExclusive ? content by N(?)ve/l/Drama.Org.
voice.
“You''re awake,” the king of Yurene stated, his tonecking any sort of emotion
| moved slightly and turned my attention away from the mural. Kaleb was standing not too far away, his navy blue eyes
unamused as they regarded me.
| opened my mouth to speak, but my throat was too dry. Kaleb immediately grabbed a ss of water from a table and brought it
to me. As | carefully sipped from it, | regained some of my energy.
| suddenly remembered that when I''d fainted, | was on Ronald’s terrace. Would that make Kaleb suspicious? Did this mean that
our alliance had been exposed?
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| expected Kaleb to question me, to demand that | confess, but instead, he asked me nothing. He took a seat on the chair beside
me and leaned forward.
“You fainted because you aren’t used to the weather in Viokwell,” he assessed. “You''ve been exhausted these days. | may have
pushed you too hard, and for that, I’m sorry Cassandra.
He rose from his chair and stared down at me. His golden brown hair fell loosely over his shoulders and gleamed under the light
that streamed in from the window. He was dressed more casually than usual, and | was surprised at the sight of him. Despite his
cool demeanor, he seemed fairly calm, if not bored. His expression didn’t seem like one of anger or betrayal.. so had he not
suspected anything after all?
“| had Raven check your condition and you''re fine, though | didn’t send you to your room because | didn’t want to worry your son
Kaleh revealed. “Thest thing | wanted was for him to get upset over nothing, though | wouldn’t me him. He’s been under
much stress, as you so clearly have been.”
Though part of me thought it was incredibly considerate that the Northern king had considered the feelings of my son, a lump
formed in my throat as the rest of his statement settled in
So, it wasn’t a hallucmation? Were the machines, the tubes, all of it were they real? Had it been real? Were the researchers
studying me, probing around, and trying to push me to some sort of extent?
| simply nodded, unable to do much more.
My mind continued to spin in circles as | tried to understand what exactly had happened to nie. Ed supposed that my wolf had
been a parafestation of whatever my bram was trying to sort through, but the rest? What was all of that about?
“M. konn will get you something to eat Eatch continued and then he turned and
tradict himmelt on the doorway and spoke over bsubder
| don’t thank you should go to Homald a ce spate, he alsised
| toward the door. Before he left
to host among “My and Helene will be
y tey befor the wedding Hay have such to do and | did ink they could be bothered.”
11:50 Fri, Feb 23 0.
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