Dante was alive?

It didn’t seem real.

Edvard had shot Dante while he was in the mortal world, and while Dante was in the mortal world, Dante, was mortal. So how had he survived a wound that should have killed him. Did Morgan save him? It seemed unlikely, yet, shockingly, Edvard didn’t appear that surprised after the initial shock. Instead he angrily stormed out the room after suddenly asserting that I had slept with Dante, which left me with even more unanswered questions. Why would Dante survive a gunshot after having sex with me? Stress, joy, worry, hope swirled around inside me. Was Dante going to save me? Was Edvard going to make me his Queen? And what of my unborn son? It seemed that only the fates could save me now.

Hours passed and nothing had happened. No dramatic rescue, no Edvard, nothing. I sat by the window staring into the forest trying to catch a glimpse of a shadow amongst the trees- a sign that someone was about to rescue me. Dispairing I saw nothing. After a time the footsteps of guards broke the heavy silence. The door of my room opened and Edvard walked in with two men. I stood up nervously- my intuition was telling me something was seriously wrong. I moved close to the edge of the wall as Edvard approached me.

“All I ever wanted was your love,” He said. “And you gave it to him. Now because of your choice he will have you forever.”

“That’s what I want.”

“I moved heaven and Earth for you Ebony. I don’t understand why you choose him over me. You probably don’t even understand what you have done by tying yourself to him.”

“Is it something to do with why Dante survived?”

“That would be an intelligent educational guess.”

“But am I right?”

“Yes. The consummating of marriage is the joining of two souls to become one. Once you gave your body, blindly I might add, his soul and yours merged. Now everything you are, he is.”

“What am I?”

“Not like me. Not like any of us. You are a law unto yourself.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. The dragon had once said I was different from other ravens, but she never specified why.

“Did you know Ravens are one of the oldest creatures in this realm? We are so old that for a long time we consider nothing but a myth? The truth is we were here when the old Gods use to walk the earth. They shared their power with us and for a while we lived in peace. But power corrupts and it wasn’t long until greed overtook us. We lost our souls and in disgust the old Gods left to build another world without magic- the mortal realm. For years we thought their power had been lost but unknown to many of us, the old Gods had favourites and they did not leave their favourites empty handed. You, Ebony were one of the favourites. They left you with powers that were not restricted by their own laws. You could use their power in this world and the mortal world. Imagine all that power bottled up in your pretty little body. I wanted it so badly, I was even willingly to overlook the fact you were my sister. Now Dante has merged with you, he shares your power. That’s why he healed in the mortal realm because of your power.”

I stood speechless.

Edvard smiled coldly, “I know you carry his son. “Don’t worry Ebony, I know how to undo this mess,” Edvard said caressing my face with a gloved hand. “I will sever the tie with a knife.”

Edvard often spoke in riddles and double meanings and when he used the term ‘knife’, I thought he was talking about something metaphoric. It never occurred to me that he might actually mean ‘knife’ in the most literal sense.

Edvard’s hand slipped under his jacket and all I saw was a flash of cold metal. The knife entered my abdomen until only the handle was showing. A kind of strange shock fell over me- Edvard had stabbed me. Blood began to seep through my clothing and I staggered back. He had killed my baby, he had killed my baby… the words echoed in my mind repeatedly, drowning out the sensation of the knife in my gut.

“I had to kill it. Only I can be the father of your children.” Edvard said reaching out and yanking out the knife.

I doubled over, bleeding profusely. Edvard killed my baby. He killed my baby.