Heart of Darkness

Roxana watched worried as the witch examined Alexander. They all surrounded him and he lay in bed waiting to hear from her.

"There is a lot of darkness contained within him." She said at last. "Is he cursed?"

"Yes," his grandma nodded.

"That explained why he was able to consume the dark power. Only darkness can attract darkness. He saved us. Those spirits would have wandered earth and possessed people."

"But what happens to him?" Roxana asked.

The witch tilted her head. "Magic has consequences and sacrifices have to be made."

"No," Roxana said standing up. "He will be no sacrifice. He will wake up."

"I am sure he will, but in what state? All that darkness is within him. It will consume him. Either kill him or force you to kill him."

"No. No one is going to kill him AND he can fight it. He is a defender."

The witch paused. "A defender?"

"Yes!" Roxana said her hands clenching into fists.

The witch watched her curiously. "How come a defender has dark powers?! She became thoughtful. "It must be the curse. Then he is no longer a defender."

"He is. A curse is not stronger than what you were born to be." Roxana was hot from the fury burning in her. Alexander could not leave her. She refused. He would fight it.

"Hmm.... perhaps you are right. Time will tell. We shall see when he wakes up."

"Is there nothing you can do? Can we not remove the darkness?" His grandmother asked.

"We need to put it somewhere. Reopening the portal will have to wait until the next full moon and there is no guarantee it will work. It could go wrong again and more dark powers could seep into our world." The witch explained.

Roxana couldn't believe all of this. Why was this happening to her?

"He will be fine. No portal is needed." She said now just being angry. She refused to let anything happen to him.

Ignoring them, she went to find water and a cloth to clean him up. They were in Rayvens home and Diana was still compelled to sleep while she had been awake the whole night. Soon her sister would wake up, and she would have to arrange for her to go back home.

Vitale explained that too much compulsion could cause long-term confusion. Angelica was kind to take care of that matter as she was feeling overwhelmed at the moment. Especially with her sister having an abusive husband that also needed to be taken care of, but that would have to wait for a while.

Roxana washed him clean and waited for him to wake up. She didn't know how long she had been waiting until she was called for breakfast.

"Oh, my dear. You have to sleep Roxana. He will wake up." Angelica said when she found her still awake. "Come," she dragged her away to eat something but Roxana had no appetite.

"Diana.." she said.

"Vitale and Rayven took her back home. Solved the last compulsion. They think you are at work now. You will have to go back home for some time otherwise it will be strange."

"I can't leave him," Roxana said.

"We are here for him," Angelica assured.

Roxana kept going back and forth between taking care of Alexander and staying with Diana, uncle Ben, and Fanny for several days. She even lost count of the days and keeping track of lies and worrying weighed down on her.

In the castle, people just thought the king was sick. Again. According to the Lords, now they just wanted him to wed fast and to produce an heir if he kept getting ill all the time.

She chuckled sadly, feeling helpless. She looked at the sapphire ring in her hand. The beautiful jewel. If he could only open his eyes so she could see the real ones.

"Alex. My rare jewel." She sat on the bed beside him, caressing his cheek. "Wake up for me." her eyes burned with tears. "Don't leave me. I need you."

The tears streamed down her face.

"Roxana," his grandma came to his room. She walked over to her. "Are you crying again?"

"Grandma," she sobbed.

"Come here," she drew her into a hug and Roxana cried.

"He will be alright," his grandma assured her, stroking her back. "He is strong and we will help him."

Roxana nodded. "We have to." She said afraid of what they would do to him if he woke up with those dark powers.

The next day as she bathed him, she noticed that he lay in a different position than the one she left him in. She loomed over him. "Alex."

He didn't respond. She shook him but his body was limp. Maybe she just forgot in what position he lay. She often spoke to him like a mad person while taking care of him, telling him about her day.

"You know, our cats missed you." She smiled. "They missed rubbing themselves on you."

She cleaned his fingers. "I miss you. So hurry wake up., If you sleep too long, you won't need our enjoyable afternoon naps. It is no fun to miss them."

Roxana fought back the tears again as she took the bowl away. She went to the kitchen to help Angelica instead and keep herself occupied. The house was full tonight and most of the lords were here to have dinner with them and Alexander's grandma. Soon the beautiful female punisher joined them as well.

Roxana served the table and Acheron helped them swiftly.

"How is Skender?" The punisher wondered.

"Still the same," Roxana replied.

Punisher, a grandmother who also used to punish him, parents, who brought a curse on him, it was too much and Roxana was just angry he had to go through so much. She wanted to go somewhere she could yell out all her frustration.

She sat at the table with everyone else, not being in the mood to eat. She had no appetite at all. She picked at the food and forced it down her throat.

The chatter at the table was only background noise for her until it stopped. She looked from her plate, sensing the tense atmosphere when she caught sight of Alexander.

He walked toward the table, looking like he had just walked out of the shower, and threw a shirt on without drying himself. He had at least combed his wet hair although a few wet strands fell at the sides of his face.

Everyone watched him carefully, trying to access the situation but he just drew a chair and sat in front of her casually. His face was passive and his eyes dark eyes fell on her with no emotion in them. He looked at her for a while before his gaze swept over the table.

"Relax. I won't eat you." He told everyone.

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