AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"But you're a ghost," Ianora said, confused. "What happened?"
"Castor rejected me," Mitron said simply. Her wistful expression was turned to one of sorrow. "He told me, with genuine regret, that his heart had been reserved for another. There would be no wedding between him and me, and that he had never come to an agreement with my father. Though my father was insistent. I was humiliated ... but not enough so that I gave up. You see, I was persistent because my father was not a good man. Immortality was not good for him. He pushed me, threatened me, and said I would have no home if I did not secure this marriage. This went on for years, and the longer Castor went without his true love, the darkness in Castor's heart set in. One day, he had enough of my games and attempts to win him over. He snapped, and the rest is history."
"And the coffin?" Ianora prompted.
"My father had it sent here after he heard the news of my death. I was to be buried in it," she said, gaining a wicked look on her face. "But, my father knew that Castor would not oblige. By that point, he had become a horrible, cruel monster, so twisted by the desire to find his lost love that he could not afford me the simple courtesy of a burial. However, my father's cruelty rivaled that of the king, you see. He knew what he would do if he were in Castor's position, and so he laid a trap within the coffin, expecting Castor to claim it for himself."
"But it didn't work," Ianora observed. "Or else he wouldn't be running around, ruining other people’s lives."
"It worked for a while, you know. It was made to put the one inside into an eternal, deathlike sleep. Castor laid inside, but before my father could ransom the king's escape, one of his servants broke him free, and Castor killed my father, too." Mitron scoffed. "Deserved it, he did."
Ianora looked down at her hands, unable to look at Mitron anymore once her story had concluded. Shame and guilt burned inside her like a fiery torrent. She knew with absolute certainty that if Ianora had made better, or at least different, choices when she was with Castor, Mitron would still be alive.
Back then, Ianora and Castor had the chance to find love, real love, but rather than embrace her fear and the dangers following her in the darkness. She had ripped the opportunity to shreds. She had thought that they would survive the shadows chasing her by not being with him. However, seeing what her rejection had done to Castor, she knew now that it had been the wrong choice.
If only she could go back in time and undo that single mistake. The decision not to trust Castor with the choice that had drastically affected their lives since then, none of this would have happened.
And worse, turning Castor away did not change the fact that Johnathan was still out there looking for Ianora, too, with far worse intentions than Castor's.
"I'm so sorry this has happened to you," Ianora said. "I wish I could undo the harm done to you and your family."
"What's done is done," Mitron said. "The future, though, is for you to decide."
Mitron slid down the side of the coffin, and when she raised her hand, the lid popped open to reveal a pristine crimson interior. Despite the age the coffin must be, nothing about it looked old or used at all.
"The coffin does not kill. It puts whoever goes inside into a deep sleep. You could use it to escape Castor for good," Mitron said.
Ianora stiffened. "What do you mean?"
"You would be put into a coma, a stasis-like state. You could sleep inside for centuries without blood, unbothered by the passage of time. So long as no one finds you, Castor included."
An escape. Not the kind that Ianora had imagined, but if she could not run from him, wasn't it second best to fall beyond his reach? With the curse, Castor could not harm Ianora's family even if she disappeared on him. They would be safe, and here, he would be unable to touch her.
"But doesn't Castor know that the coffin is here?" Ianora said. "He did, after all, sleep in it for a time. Surely, I couldn't escape him in that case. I would still be his prisoner and perhaps in a worse state than I am now."
"That was over twenty years ago. He hasn't come to this part of the castle in longer than that. He doesn't know it's here, princess. He would never even know to look."
Ianora's fingers brushed the soft interior of the coffin, tempted by the promise of evading Castor forever. They would never be wed, he would never take her virginity, and she would never be forced to debase herself to him.
She felt strengthened by this prospect, the possibility of withholding everything he coveted from her. Herself, her body, her heart, and her mind.
But at the same time, sorrow also carved through her stomach and chest. To fall asleep in the coffin would mean giving up on the dream she had once had of being with him again. Of escaping her past and reigniting their love.
Coming to Pheazar had not been a choice. But here, she was presented with a genuine choice for the first time since the engagement contract had been signed without her consent.
"I would still be Castor's prisoner, even if he doesn't know it. There has to be another way. What about the other tunnel? You said it leads elsewhere?"
"Nowhere good, unless you favor a watery grave rather than the comfort of a nice bed." Mitron tilted her head. "I know this is not a good decision to have to make, but I assure you, it's the best one. And ..." She twiddled her fingers. "You would be doing me a favor too. Instead of being trapped here for no reason but to endure the constant pain of my murder, you could give me purpose again. I could be your protector. The guardian of your resting place. And when Castor is gone, I can find someone to let you out."
Ianora nodded, but she realized, it was very possible that several more centuries could pass, and Castor could still be alive. "I understand, and I'll think more about what you're offering me. But I need to know for myself that there's no other way before I agree to anything. Otherwise, I could rest in doubt forever, wouldn't I?"
Mitron floated back toward the entrance of the chamber. "By all means, let me show you the other way. But you're not going to like it."
Ianora followed the ghost, her heart heavy with the decision she might have to make. If there were truly no other way out from these tunnels, then she would have to take Mitron up on her offer and hope that one day, someone would find her and release her from this prison. But first, she had to know if there was another way.
The second tunnel was much like the first, dark and dank, with a musty smell that made Ianora want to gag. Ianora took a deep breath and steeled herself for whatever horrors awaited her down the left path before stepping forward into the darkness. The deeper she went, the less space she had to move, flattening herself against the wall to squeeze through at some point, crouching low at others where the ceiling and walls allowed for room barely larger than a crawl space.
And then there was the water. Puddles at first, and then past her ankles, the cold, icy touch growing more powerful and deeper the farther she went down the tunnel. By the time the water reached her waist, and she was swimming more than walking, with still no sign of an exit, she began to doubt her decision to go this way.
