[ CHOICE ] receiver has to choose between sparing their own life or the sender’s . —from somnus to rhaeya bc i love suffering
rhaeya is on her knees, every inch of her is shaking as she takes in ragged breaths. her eyes are trained on the floor in front of her because she can't bear the sight of anything else. terror pulses through her in waves, shackling her to the ground despite her attempts to get up from the floor.
she is powerless, defenseless, useless under the scrutiny of amarantha's presence.
her heart is pounding hard in her ears, she can't hear, can't focus, can't understand what could possibly be happening. how had prythian fallen to her reign again ?
" i'm speaking to you, " amarantha says, her voice cutting through the fog of rhaeya's mind. she blinks once, inhaling a sharp breath as she looks up at her captor. somnus is at her feet, completely unconscious. tears spring to her eyes at the sight of him, and her thoughts jump from her father to the love of her life. no, no, she can't lose both. " so what it'll be ? " amarantha's foot presses hard against somnus' arm, and rhaeya lurches forward, desperate.
" stop ! please, " she heaves. " me ! it's me you want ! please, " she cries. somnus will never forgive her for this, but she will not be able to go on if it is him. amarantha's smile is wicked as she looks down her nose at rhaeya, and she has never felt so small in her life. she watches as the witch raises her hand, and then it comes down in a flash of light.
rhaeya's eyes snap open and she's inside her home. somnus is sleeping soundly next to her. her body is still shaking from the nightmare, and she presses closer to him, hands gripping hard onto the only anchor of humanity she has left.