chapter four

Run. Run away and never return."

Nimue waited in the forest glen near the borders of the farm, pacing back and forth with worry, her new black cloak encasing her in the cold night air. A shiver still went down the dark one's spine. Her mask had not covered her face that day, but in the bleak winter light her glittering face was darkened with worry. She should have been there by now. Tension cut through the air like her dagger. Signs of nature and divination had begun to show her that the time was coming for Elizabeth to become the light one and to take her place in the circle of life. Yet Nimue truly didn't give a damn about their roles. She was worried about the girl and she had good reason. Being the seasoned sorceress that the dark one was, she consulted every form of divination. All of them were giving the same reading through their different lenses. All of them spoke of the rise of a new king or queen, but there was something more ominous and foreboding.

When she had consulted the tarot about the girl's immediate future, she had drawn the sun, the stars, and the emperor…all signs pointing to the rise of the light one. However, in the same spread she had drawn death and the three of swords. It was a card indicating great sorrow and suffering, made obvious in illustration by three swords having been stabbed through a bleeding heart. Every rune reading brought indicators of power and change, but the stones were face down. Nimue knew perhaps more than anyone that all magick came with a price, and becoming the light one would be no exception. Becoming the dark one came with a price so why would becoming the light one be any different? However for once in her life in the shadows Nimue didn't give a damn about power, their mantle or their destiny. For the first time in her life there was something that mattered more.

Nimue and Merlin had always wanted a child of their own. There was only one problem. It was against the laws of magick for a dark one and light one to breed. The resulting child would just be too powerful. That power always came with a price. It was the collective will of several gods of different pantheons that upon becoming the light one Merlin was sterilized. Not only that, but Merlin had been asexual in nature. He had been willing to lay with his love simply to provide for her needs(the dark one was a sexual creature by nature) and to give them a family, but upon becoming the light one and dark one it seemed those dreams of motherhood left her. Elizabeth had given her hope. The first time she felt the girl's love for her despite all of her darkness, Nimue had felt loved for the first time in a long time. Every time she met with her in secret the bond became stronger and stronger. It became so strong that Nimue's supposedly dark heart ached every time she had to hobble back to her abusive parents. The dark and light one bond was supposed to be strong, and they were supposed to be each other's true love. This was simply another form of that love. Whatever the signs told her, the lady in black's worry wasn't for their mantle or destiny. It was the worry of a mother for her child.

Nimue wished more than anything else that she could simply kill her parents and take her from that awful place, and to give her the life that she deserved. It was their damn curse that prevented her from doing so. Elizabeth would never become the light one if she simply took her away. Becoming the dark one was an act of cowardice, a mantle granted by the taking of power by taking a life. According to the book of the dark one, becoming the light one came with just the opposite. It had to be done through an act of bravery and sacrifice. Therefore she knew deep down what needed to happen for the girl to earn her crown. She needed to prove herself by saving herself…she needed to escape the farm and her parents' clutches completely on her own. It was the only way she could truly rise to power. She had to be brave and find the courage within herself to face the danger of leaving her awful situation. It was a test she had to pass, the ultimate test of bravery.

Nimue however knew the danger it entailed. As the dark one she was the perfect killer, and her soul was as black as night. However, no matter the darkness within, she would never ever harm her own child. She couldn't even bring herself to harm her own sister despite how wicked the Blue Fairy could truly be. The girl's father however was the definition of evil. Nimue was harmless compared to him. That religion was his was just a justification of his abuse. It was all an act. And the dark one had very little doubt that he would abide by "Thou shalt not kill.". Her child was in grave danger, especially if she tried to escape. It was the only way.

What Nimue didn't realize was that the danger was the same if she stayed. It had never been more clear than when she heard wheezing and grunts of pain in the trees nearby. Elizabeth came out of the foliage carrying a lantern in her hands, and what Nimue saw illuminated by the light was something that would haunt her forever. She looked awful. It had been a month since she last saw the girl and in that month she had been ravaged as if by a storm. Her clothes were thin, tattered and torn, and even with her old cloak around her shoulders she was shivering. She was moving stiffly as if every step brought agony. She could hear her joints cracking like an old woman's. She was leaning heavily on a walking stick. She was so thin that she looked like a skeleton covered in pale skin. Her father was no longer taking pains to hit her where the bruises wouldn't show. Her scarred eye was now blackened and swollen shut. Her ankle above the rags that served as shoes was swollen and ringed with a blistering red scar as if it had been fettered. It took her great effort to breathe normally. She was swaying on her feet and her brown eyes were glassy and far away. She smelled of urine and blood and had obviously soiled her clothing more than once.

The dark one gave a strangled cry in her throat as she rushed to her sweet young friend's side. "Elizabeth!" She cried out in anguish, her Scottish accent becoming thicker with grief as she caught the girl in her arms and immediately tried to surpress her own tears as the poor creature buried her face in the dark one's neck and sobbed. She buried herself against the so called evil imp as if she was a warm blanket. She let the young one bury her face against her ample bosom and cupped the back of her head. "Oh child…" she whispered as she tried to keep herself from shaking, to be strong for the wee one who had always been her daughter. "You are ill." No wonder the signs pointed to death. Elizabeth was sick. And the abuse had obviously become worse. She was being chained, and she was very ill. She wasn't eating. She might die if she attempted escape, but if she remained on the farm death was certain. As the poor girl cried into the dark one's clothing Nimue put her hand to her forehead. It was burning from fever but the dark one tried to see inside of the girl's body. What she saw was the worst thing she could possibly see. Malignant tumors were spreading across her skeleton, weakening her and threatening to strangle her organs…

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