Leonie's Heart of Darkness

"Carnal desire mixed with dark and depraved inhibitions coursed through his veins as he grew bolder, waiting impatiently to release his magic on her. Knowing she didn't matter to him, he ignored her fears. A prop. That's all she was. Her innocence; irrelevant. Leonie. Sweet little Leonie was nothing more than a prop in his play, and he forgot all about her while he prepared the final potions." King Stefan, the Darkness ~ An excerpt from Chapter 1 ~ The Banishment ~ The Origins of Darkness

Adding the last of the ingredients to the potion, King Stefan concentrated on the elixir before him, ignoring the protestations of the maiden bound and tethered to the stone altar. She was a means to his evil ends and nothing more. Power, not love, invaded his every thought. Her soul, humanity, was irrelevant to his need to become the most powerful king in the land.

His eyes scanned the ancient tomb upon the dias. Its yellowed pages bristled in the wind as he chanted the incantation. He could feel the power clinging to his soul, intertwining their souls. Soon, his precious Leonie would fade from this world, leaving nothing behind but the empty vessel she unwillingly relinquished to the dark king.

Glancing from his potion, his silver eyes lingered on her as he watched her struggle against the ties that bound her. Her silent fretting amused him, but he knew the magic contained within her was insignificant to the power growing inside of him. Ancient curses knitted together the darkness that invaded his mind, leaving remnants of his humanity.

With the last words lingering in the air, the king lifted the golden chalice to his lips and drank his portion while watching Leonie's futile struggle. Whispering more to himself, he said, "My darling, it is time to knit our souls together forevermore. You'll see, there's nothing to fear."

Her silver eyes revealed the true depth of despair raging within her as he drew near with the potion in his hand. The pounding in her chest practically drowned out his words, but when he lifted her up, she knew damn well what would happen next.

The chalice touched her lips.

It was over.

Regardless of the fight she put up, the warm liquid fell upon her lips. Choking the liquid down, she immediately felt the bond knit their souls together.

From the edges of the forest, a bolt of lightning interrupted the darkness. Thunder clapped; ricocheted throughout the forest. A cloaked figure in the shadows chanted, and another spell was released. Before her eyes, King Stefan vanished without a trace.

Leonie was free of her tormentor, but the shadows in the woods arrived too late, for the magic that knit their souls together couldn't be reversed. Without King Stefan. her soul had fractured as if her true love had died.

Gathering her thoughts in the silence of the woods, she realized that the shadows had retreated, leaving her alone to wander and fend for herself. Their sole purpose was to banish the darkness, but they held no regard for his victim.

The stone slab had grown cold under the midnight sky. She decided to find what was left of the dress he had torn to shreds. As she tried to dress herself, she stopped and stared out into the dark forest, 'Who am I now that he has left me? Who will ever love me?'

There was an unexpected emptiness surrounding his disappearance. Instead of a feeling of relief, her fractured soul felt like shards of glass piercing her heart. It was almost unbearable, but she stumbled through the night, trying to cling to the distant hope that penetrated her thoughts.

How could she love this monster, the darkness within him? Or was it the power that he held that tethered her twisted thoughts to him? She didn't have the answers as she sat by the water's edge. Sleep was elusive as she sat alone and afraid, but eventually, her sleep-addled brain hoped that this was just a nightmare she'd wake from in the morn.

The morning light didn't save her from the truth. She wandered the woods as hours turned to days, and days turned into weeks. Time passed, but her fractured soul refused to heal until she was a shadow of the maiden she was on her wedding day.

If time had continued without interruption, she may have faded away, and her story would have been forgotten. When the mage saw her wandering in tattered clothes in the woods, he almost left her alone, for he was a solitary creature. Turning to head down the opposite path, he stopped and placed a hand upon his heart, feeling the mating call.

Facing her, he stood before this broken child, who feared his presence in her woods. Removing the cloak, his green eyes held the light within him, but would she trust him? From her appearance, he knew that she had been mistreated. The dark magic still clung to her like an unwanted virus, invading her thoughts and desires.

Her fear was palpable as he watched her decide if she should stay or run away before he took from her the remaining fragments of her pride. When he heard her breath hitch, he knew she'd made a decision, but he could not tell from her demeanor her decision.

His soothing words wrapped around her broken heart and calmed her frantic soul. "Dear little one, my name is Calvin. I'm a mage from the Forbidden Forest. I was passing by and would have kept wandering, but my dear, fate had other plans for us."

Nodding, she stepped closer to him and whispered, "My name is Leonie."

They remained silent as they pondered the gift fate had given them. A fresh start to heal her broken soul. As they stood there, her beating heart settled down, and she felt the mating call from deep within her. This was her true mate, not one created from potions and charms, but one given as a gift meant to free her heart from the darkness within.

Reaching out her hand, she tentatively took his hand and whispered, "Mine."

Taking a whisp of her hair, he playfully twirled it in his hand and said, "That's right. You're safe now."

Looking down at the ground, she closed her eyes and waited to hear the mating call again. She desperately wanted this to be true. Upon hearing it again, she looked up into his beautiful eyes and smiled.

From the darkness came the light to heal her fractured soul forevermore.

Written for May #4 Poem to Story Prompt

Here's a link to the original poem.

Leonie's Heart of Darkness - A Poem

Author Notes:

Hi Readers,

Thanks for reading Leonie's Heart of Darkness. Leonie appears in The Origins of Darkness but disappears from the book, as her fate isn't intertwined in the story. I have always wanted to expand on her story, so now I am taking her poem and turning it into a short story. One day, perhaps, she will get her own novel!

Here are a few of my favorite stories for you to check out!

Losing Lucian

The Magician

Shadows & Mist

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Here's a link to all of my stories: KA Stefana's Stories.