1 ONE

Love is a double-edged sword which cuts through the bravest hearts. It's a silent assassin, creeping into the strongest souls, rendering them defenceless. In the battlefield of love, someone emerges victorious while another is left defeated to bear the scars of emotional atrocities. The cruel game of life dictates a winner and a loser, an unspoken rule of strength and weakness. The loser in love, like a wounded warrior, endures every trial, crosses burning bridges, and goes to extremes for a taste of love, even if fleeting. The loser, desperate for love, resembles a parched traveller in the vast desert who is looking for an oasis, wanting to quench his thirst. Similar to a parched traveller perceiving mirages in the desert, love has the ability to create illusions that render the weaker to believe they might eventually attain that love at some point in life.

In the end, love kills you. 

Athlea was merely a ten-year-old child when she had come across the first example of what it meant to be weak in love. The example had unfolded from none other than her mother. What a tragedy it was that humans don't learn from others' lessons!

"Henry, you must give me an answer, "Althea heard her mother scream aggrievedly. It was nothing new for the child as she had seen her parents interacting in such a way all her life. It was always her mother who was begging and crying for her father but the man would just look dead into her eyes. 

"What answer do you want?" The man asked, pushing her back. He growled as she tried to fight him back. 

Althea, who was watching the scene from the crack of the door, shivered as she felt his bloodlust. Her father was an intimidating man with a taller and broader frame. When he caught her mother by the throat, tears trickled down her cheeks. She wanted to run to her mother and save her but she was told to not come near him, no matter what. It was instilled in her mind from a very young age that no matter she could not come near him, even if it was the last resort. 

Thus, Althea merely watched everything from the window, praying for someone to come and save her mother from the harm that her father was inflicting on her. As if her prayers were answered, Janette, her caretaker who had gone for a moment to bring water, arrived on the scene. Seeing the gruesome scene before her eyes, she dropped the water tray and fell on Duke Hamliton's feet to beg to save the lady's life. 

Janette was aware that Duke Hamilton meant no harm to his lover but when he was emitting bloodlust, he needed to be snapped back to reality. Violence was second nature to him. On constant imploring from Janette, he left Matilda's neck and she fell on the ground with a loud thud. 

"Lea is your daughter. How can you be so cruel to her?" Matilda whimpered and fell on the hard ground. 

Duke Hamilton, who was on his way, turned back to say, "If she was not, she would have been long buried with you."

Once he left, Althea pushed the door open and came crying to hug her mother. 

"Lea, you must never love someone so much that you let them harm you again and again, "Matilda said, hugging her daughter. 

"Mother, you are hurt," Althea whispered. She touched the wounds on her mother's neck and a greenish light emerged from the tip of her finger. The wounds were healed with her magic. 

"Lea, do not overuse your magic. You will faint," Her mother scolded her. She forgot her pain as worry overpowered her as she saw Althea using her powers. "Your core is weak. You can't put your life in danger again."

Althea was born with a weak core but an immense talent for magic. It was a pity that the overflowing capability inside her did not have a vessel to stay. 

"But–" 

"No ifs and buts, my child." Matilda was a powerful healer of her time, though forgotten and banished. She could treat these tiny wounds on her body. "Promise me that you will never do this again. I taught you all I know so you can use them on you one day if you are in danger. Promise me that you will never use your magic on anyone again?"

Althea did not wish to but it was her mother who was asking for a promise. Thus, she agreed. "I will not use my powers on any human."

"Mother, when can I meet my father?"Althea whispered one night. 

"Why do you wish to meet him?" Matilda asked, controlling her emotions. 

"Because everyone has a father, except for me,'' was her answer. No matter how cruel he was, it did not change the fact that he was her father. "When will we go back home?"

"Lea, this is our home," Matilda said. "You cannot go near him. He is a violent man. I don't want him to hurt you. You should learn to forget him because he will never be a good father to you."

Althea did not learn the lesson that her mother tried to instil in her. After all, she was her mother's daughter and despite all, she loved her negligent father. 

A few years later, tragedy befell on the child when her mother died. In a world where she was left lonely and miserable by a dead mother and an abusive and negligent father, she had no one to call her own except for Janette who was there to take care of her. 

 Life was difficult for little Althea but with a strong and determined heart, she was making way for her. After her mother's death, she was banished to live in a haunted castle in the wilderness. 

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