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more-pokeimagines · 3 years

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Stone Cold Body [09] - Chapter 8

A/N: Here's the next chapter. A good portion of it is written from Carlina's POV, so I apologize if that's not your cup of tea. Please let me know what you think of the chapter in general! <3

Warnings: mentions of violence & death

Taglist: @piershoesz @alovestruck-fool @shaak-ti-s @spair-m [If you want to be added to/removed from the taglist let me know.]

Past

The days passed without anything special happening. Since their last conversation and his refusal to help her, Bede hadn’t seen Brigid again but he was actually quite thankful for her absence. It spared him from overthinking his decision once again, from wondering what would have happened if he had chosen to turn against his family.

Well. It wasn’t too hard to figure that out: she probably would’ve declared war to the king, trying to get the ordinary people who didn’t practice magic on her side by showing them that even their crown prince supported her cause. There weren’t many sorcerers left but still enough to tear the kingdom apart if they really wanted to – and if they could count on the other people to hide and protect them from the vigilant eyes of the royal guards.

Just the mere thought was enough to send a shiver down Bede’s spine. His father had oppressed and persecuted the sorcerers for so long, killing them without hesitation when he got ahold of one of them, and the thought of their uprising was more than scary, especially since they could probably take out a whole battalion with just a wave of their hand.

With that in mind, Bede managed to convince himself that it had been the right decision to keep faith with his family. Yes, he risked his own life by dismissing Brigid’s offer and it was likely that she would kill him sooner or later but at least, his family would be safe. Brigid was brave and courageous, yes, but she wasn’t stupid, and Bede doubted that she would dare to start a war without him as her ally, mostly because she needed someone like him to convince the people to support her. Someone the nation trusted enough to revisit their opinion about the sorcerers.

Except that Bede hadn’t agreed to help her. And judging from her reaction, she never expected him to refuse which meant that she needed time to reconsider the matter. Hoping that she would give up her plans to take revenge on his family would be foolish, and Bede wasn’t stupid. The fact that she had shut herself away didn’t mean that she surrendered; no, she was only trying to find another way to bring everything to an end.

From a tactical point of view, it would be wise to find more allies first. Maybe she would go around, telling the people the same story she had told him, attempting to weaken the nation’s trust in their monarch, just as she had tried with him. But the people had no reason to believe her; in fact, most of them wouldn’t even listen to her and report her to the guards instead. Surely, Brigid would be smarter than that.

Bede shook his head. It was a waste of time to wonder about her next steps, given the fact that he was still sitting in this dim cell. As long as he was in here, there was nothing he could do to stop her – and he doubted that he would ever get out alive, so it really was pointless to try to figure out her plans.

But, and he couldn’t help but shudder at the thought, it was better than thinking about the fact that she probably already gave out the order to eliminate him. Or would she prefer to do it herself? She didn’t seem like a person who enjoyed taking others’ lives but who knew? Maybe this was her way to take proper revenge for her younger sister, an eye for an eye, as his father always said when he tried to reason the things he did to the sorcerers.

And it wasn’t like Bede couldn’t understand her. If something would happen to Carlina, he would want revenge too, but all of this didn’t change the fact that he was afraid. It didn’t change the fact that he didn’t want to die.

The thought of death had always scared him but now that it seemed inevitable, it was even more frightening. He was still so young, and there was so much left he wanted to do; things and places he wanted to see in his life, and having these decisions taken away from him by someone who was only striving for revenge made him angry and sad at the same time.

Angry because it wasn’t his fault what his father did to Brigid’s sister and the other sorcerers. Angry because he could still understand why she thought that it was necessary to kill him. Why she thought that this was the only way to take vengeance on King Lewin.

Sad because he felt like every single dream he ever had was taken away from him in the blink of an eye. Sad because he knew how devastated his sister would be after she learned about his death.

Sad because there was nothing he could do to prevent the inevitable catastrophe.

When Brigid returned, night had already fallen. The full moon was hovering in the pitch-black sky, casting a cold, ominous light over everything. The expression in her eyes was just as cold, just as merciless, and Bede felt a shiver running down his spine as she stared at him through the bars of the cell door.

“Welcome back,” he greeted her, careful to hide every single emotion that was rushing through his body behind the arrogant mask he had worn for most of his life. Most of the time, no one was able to tell what he was actually feeling when he acted like that but Brigid wasn’t as gullible as other people. An amused smile tugged at the corners of her lips. “There’s no need to hide your fear,” she said, the soft tone of her voice a harsh contrast to her frosty gaze. “I can read your face like a book, little princeling, but I have to admit that it’s quite adorable how you try to act brave.”

Bede didn’t reply. There was nothing left to say, nothing left to do, and so he just stared at her and waited for her next move.

She let out a deep sigh. “You had the chance to help me and my people but you decided to stay loyal to your murderous father. You chose the wrong side, my dear, and you will pay for that. Your family will pay for that.”

“I know,” he stated simply. It was time to accept his fate; after all, there was nothing he could do to change Brigid’s mind. She would do what she deemed right, no matter what he said or did.

Her hands were shaking ever so slightly as she reached out to unlock the cell door but the expression in her eyes was still cold and calculating. When she raised her hand to touch his face, he flinched just the tiniest bit but the way her lips curled into a smile once again made it clear that she had noticed it nevertheless. “I promise it won’t hurt,” she said softly, almost as if she wanted to calm him down. “Well, not for long, at least.”

She took a step back, raising her hands in front of her face and pressing her fingertips together. With her eyes closed, she started to mumble something, words in a foreign language Bede didn’t understand, and then, a wisp of wind breezed through the cell. Brigid’s mumbling grew louder, the words now more audible, her hair flying in the wind as she folded her hands.

The next second, Bede felt a sharp pain in his chest, and he fell down on his knees. “What- what are you doing?” he managed to choke out. His heart was racing, every beat sending another wave of pain through his entire body, and he gasped for air. “I- I can’t breathe.”

He stretched out his right arm, trying to reach for Brigid to stop her from whatever she was doing. His hand felt numb, as well as his legs, and when he realized what was going on, his heart skipped a beat. His fingertips were covered in something that looked like stone; stone that began to creep up his arm, coating every inch of his skin and clothes. It felt like a hundred tiny needles stabbing his skin, and he blinked hastily to fight back the tears that were welling up in his eyes.

In front of him, Brigid sank to her knees, her breathing unsteady, her hands shaking. But she still continued the spell, even when she started to cough, barely able to get out the words.

Bede wasn’t sure if he started to imagine things but the ground beneath him felt as if it was shaking, and there was dust falling from the ceiling. A portentous rumble reached his ears, the wind grew stronger for a few seconds as the stone continued to creep up his body.

The pain was unbearable now; he felt like he couldn’t breathe, and by now, it was pointless to try not to cry. He couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. His heart skipped another beat when the stone reached his chest, then his neck and his face. The last thing he saw before he lost his consciousness was Brigid who collapsed on the floor, her eyes closed, her skin an sickly color.

And then, there was nothing.

“He should have returned days ago.” Carlina’s voice was filled with concern as she took a step back from the window and turned around to face her parents. Her mother looked up from the book in her lap, her brows furrowed. She didn’t like getting interrupted while she was reading but as soon as she noticed the sorrowful expression in her daughter’s eyes, her anger melted away and she reached out for Carlina’s hand to pull her towards the chaise longue she was sitting on.

“I understand that you’re worried about your brother,” she said, her voice unusually soft. With graceful movements, she brushed a strand of hair out of Carlina’s forehead. “But you need to stop bothering your head about him. He rarely abides by an agreement when it comes to his travels, as you know.”

Carlina let out a deep sigh. Her mother was probably right about that; Bede took every opportunity to get away from his duties as crown prince and enjoy the rare moments of freedom he could only experience while he was away from the castle. It wouldn’t be unlikely if he had decided to prolong his stay in Hammerlocke but on the other hand, she was sure that he would have sent a short letter back to the castle to inform his parents about his whereabouts, just like it was expected from someone in his position. Of course, he liked to break their parents’ rules but when it came to official travels and his reputation, Bede knew exactly that he couldn’t afford overstepping the mark. And since Carlina’s engagement party would happen in a few days, Bede’s presence was absolutely necessary.

He knew that, and he would never risk missing an event like that or make their parents furious with such actions, just for the sake of getting a few more hours of freedom. After all, he was a responsible young man, although he definitely liked to try their parents’ patience.

“But he surely would have informed us if he decided to travel for a little longer,” Carlina finally replied. “Maybe something happened to him. What if he is hurt?”

The queen raised her eyebrows. “You have quite a vivacious imagination, my dear. Who would dare to hurt their crown prince? Everyone knows that your father makes short work of everyone who doesn’t obey the law.”

Carlina bit her lower lip to stop herself from blurting out her thoughts. How could her mother be so blind? After everything that had happened over the past few weeks and months, after everything King Lewin had done to the sorcerers, it wasn’t farfetched to assume that they had something to do with Bede’s disappearance. They had nothing to lose, so they surely weren’t reluctant when it came to desperate measures – such as kidnapping the crown prince while he was alone and attackable.

If only her father were here… he surely would’ve listened to her concerns, contrary to Queen Alviva who was convinced that the sorcerers constituted a threat to the kingdom but refused to talk about political affairs with her daughter. Whenever Carlina had started to ask questions about it in the past, the queen always reminded her that topics like that weren’t suitable for a conversation among ladies before eloquently changing the subject. Most of the time, Carlina obeyed and didn’t mention anything like that for a while.

She knew that it would be wiser to keep quiet but that didn’t silence the voice in her head that tried to goad her into telling the queen about her suspicion. But maybe it would be a better idea to ask her father to grant her an audience. Surely, he’d listen to her concerns, maybe even consider to take action…

With that thought in mind, Carlina stood up and smoothed down the fabric of her skirt. “Please excuse me, mother,” she said, politely curtseying before the queen. “There is something I need to do.”

Three and a half weeks had passed since the kingdom had learned about the disappearance of their crown prince. Three and a half weeks in which the Royal Guard searched high and low, pursuing each lead as fierce as a dragon.

Every time the posse of searchers returned to the castle, Carlina anxiously waited for news, always on the verge of tears when she realized that they hadn’t found her brother yet. With every minute that passed it got more and more likely that he was already dead. Even her parents couldn’t deny it, although they still tried their best to pretend that everything was fine.

And then, five days later, two of the scouts finally returned with news. While they spoke to the royal couple, Carlina had been instructed to wait outside of the throne room where she nervously paced about, silently praying for good news. But as soon as her parents called her inside, as soon as she noticed the petrified expressions on their faces, she knew that something terrible had happened. There were tears in her mother’s eyes, something Carlina had never seen before, and even her father, the cold-hearted and composed king, seemed to be deeply upset.

“They have found him,” Queen Alviva said, her voice shaking ever so slightly as she reached out to place her hand on Carlina’s shoulder. “They have found your brother.”

Carlina felt a lump in her throat. “Where- where is he? What happened to him?”

“We don’t know for sure,” her father said. “But it seems that the sorcerers used some kind of spell on him to…” He cleared his throat and straightened himself before continuing, “They used some kind of spell to turn him into stone.”

There was a long silence, then. Carlina’s thoughts were racing; it almost felt like her brain was unable to comprehend the information she had just gotten. A spell… a spell that turned her brother, her beloved, loyal brother into – stone?

“I – I don’t understand,” she finally replied, her glance darting back and forth between her parents. “How is that even possible?”

“Magic,” her mother stated simply. “It seems we have made the mistake to underestimate the sorcerers’ true powers. No one knew they were capable of spells like this. If we had adopted more rigorous measures to stop them… maybe we could have prevented something like that happening.”

The king nodded, a saturnine look on his face. “They have sealed their fate now. I won’t accept this dastardly plot against our kingdom. They will pay for what they have did to my son. Carlina,” he added and pointed towards the door. “Please leave now. I need time to think about the way forward.”

In silence, Carlina turned around and left the throne room. Her hands were shaking, her palms sweaty, even after she tried to wipe them at her dress. With mechanical movements she made her way to the eastern wing of the castle and into her room. By the time she closed the door behind her, the tears were already streaming down her face, and she sank to the floor, her face buried in her hands. How could she live in a world where her brother couldn’t be with her? How was she supposed to accept the fact that she would never see him again? And – her breath hitched in her throat as soon as the thought appeared – did that mean that she would become Queen after her father’s death?

She wrapped her arms around herself in an almost desperate attempt to hold herself together but no matter how hard she tried to regain her composure, the tears kept on streaming down her face. All she could think about was that her brother was dead and gone.

– But was he really dead? What if… what if there was a way to save him?

A thought, a vague theory began to sprout in the back of her mind.

“They used some kind of spell to turn him into stone,” her father had said. A spell… Carlina gnawed on her lower lip as she tried to hold onto the thought before it could disappear again. She didn’t know much about magic but she knew that every spell could be undone. Maybe, and this was the straw she grasped at, this spell – this curse – could be reversed too.

She gasped for air, her heart racing in her chest as she jumped to her feet, not even bothering with wiping her tears away before she rushed out of her room and headed straight to the dungeons where the imprisoned sorcerers were held captive while they waited for their verdict. It was foolish to get her hopes up but she needed answers; she needed to know if there was a way to get her brother back. And the only people who could unravel that mystery for her were the sorcerers.

It wasn’t hard to convince the guards to let her pass, telling them that King Lewin had sent her to interrogate one of the prisoners about the crown prince’s whereabouts, although she knew very well that it wouldn’t be hard for them to convict her of lying. Her father would be incredibly mad when he found out that she interfered in his affairs but right now, she couldn’t care less. All that mattered was to figure out a way to save Bede.

She took a deep breath before she made her way along the hallway. The air was muggy, smelling like death and misery, and the few torches on the walls gave the whole place an ominous and menacing atmosphere. Carlina shuddered at the thought of being imprisoned here, just waiting for the king to hand down a sentence, knowing very well that every breath could be the last. This part of the dungeons had been exclusively built to lock up the sorcerers, although Carlina exactly sure how her father managed to suppress their magic. But maybe they were simply too weak, starved or sleep-deprived to use their abilities to attempt an escape. Hopefully, at least one of them would be willing to help her.

A thought that presented her with another problem. Her father had hunted them down for years now, mercilessly ripping apart families and killing them without hesitation. No one here had a reason to help her; if anything, they’d believe that Bede got what he deserved which meant that Carlina needed incredibly good arguments to convince them to give her some answers. Or she could try to bribe them. But what could she offer them? Money? No, they probably had no use for it, so it would only be a waste of time to even suggest it.

It was only then when it hit her. There was exactly one thing all of them desired: freedom. And with that in mind, Carlina approached one of the cells.

It took her two hours to find a prisoner that was willing to speak to her. His name was Emmeric, imprisoned for allegedly killing one of his neighbor’s children with a backfired spell, and although he held a deep grudge against the royal family, he agreed to at least listen to her request. He didn’t interrupt her once, even as she mentioned the spell and that she wanted to find a way to save the crown prince, although his dark brown eyes widened in surprise when she told him that she would convince her parents to bestow a pardon on him when he agreed to help her.

“No,” he finally said, shaking his head at her words. “A curse like that can’t be undone, at least not in the way you want it to. If what you say is true, I need you to understand that most of us aren’t even capable of spells like this one. It’s against the laws of nature to turn a living being into stone. No one I know would dare to even think about it.”

“So you say that it can’t be true?”

Emmeric chuckled hoarsely. “Just because I haven’t seen a spell like this with my own eyes, it doesn’t mean that it’s not true. You see, my dear princess, I consider myself being quite powerful but of course there are others who perform far more advanced magic. And the spell you told me about… well. There’s only one of us who would be capable to do something like this, and if this is really her spell I’m not sure if there’s anything I can do to help you.”

Carlina’s heart skipped a beat, a wave of disappointment washing over her. “I see,” she mumbled. “But thank you for considering it anyway.”

“Not so fast,” Emmeric said. “I’m not saying that it’s impossible. I might not be able to break the spell but perhaps I can mitigate against it. In exchange for my reprieve, of course.”

When Carlina nodded, he continued, “Tell the king’s guards to bring your brother back to the palace. I think there’s something I can do to help him.”

Quietly, he told her about his plans, not without mentioning that it was entirely possible that it wouldn’t work at all but Carlina didn’t want to hear any of that. “If there’s a chance,” she said, “we need to try it.”

“Alright. Then I’ll look forward to our next meeting. Now go and inform your parents. Meanwhile, I shall prepare myself for the spell.”

Even though there were tears welling up in her eyes again, Carlina didn’t feel as hopeless as before. A soft smile flashed over her face as she thanked Emmeric, knowing that someday, her brother would be freed from his prison by his soulmate.

Masterlist

#bede x reader #trainer bede x reader #bede pokemon x reader #original series #gn!reader #gender neutral reader #gym leader bede x reader #fairytale!AU

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