Grant Me Your Grace

Dahlia shivered as she crouched in the corner.

It was a dungeon, the most notorious of all the prisons in Baran, filled with unpleasant dampness and the smell of stale moss. 

Saltar had imprisoned her in this dungeon for the sole reason that she had cut Prince Hayad’s face on the cheek.

Ever since her divine powers manifested, Khankundra and Saltar have kept Dahlia in this dungeon for days at a time whenever she refuses to listen to them.

The dungeon, built deep in a lime cave, was a hell where not even a handful of light was allowed. 

A chill worse than a desert night wrapped around her flesh, and horrific screams came from unknown directions.

In the pitch-black darkness, the only senses to rely on were the eyes. 

My blinded senses were even more sensitive, soaking up the unpleasantness around me like a sponge.

Ten days in this dungeon, a place that would kill her in a heartbeat, and as far as Dahlia knew, only two people had ever made it out alive.

Herself…

And the captive boy I had seen so long ago.

If I could, I’d ask him how he’d gotten out of this place alone, how he’d gotten out of this hellish place with his body, whose terrible screams echoed through the caverns.

Tap, tap, tap—

Then, with the sound of footsteps, a light began to appear in the distance. Dahlia drew closer to the cage and peered eagerly at the glow on the limestone walls.

A figure emerged with a torch.

“Dahlia, I am deeply distressed to see you imprisoned here again.”

Saltar sneered and approached. Dahlia gripped the bars tightly and spoke in a desperate voice.

“Please, brother, let me out, you don’t have to do this.”

“Why not, you dared to hurt the prince of a kingdom.”

“I didn’t do that on purpose…!”

“Lower your voice.”

Saltar wiped the smile off his face for a moment, then glared down at Dahlia.

“If you behave yourself, I’ll get you out of here tonight.”

“Why, why…”

“Why did they lock you in here again?”

Saltar’s lips twitched at the sound of Dahlia’s voice, shaking with tears. He slowly bent down to meet her eye level.

“Why, you have taken divine power from me.”

A primal fury shone in Saltar’s eyes as he spoke. Dahlia’s breath caught in her throat as he threatened to snap her neck at a moment’s notice.

“Do you have any idea how precarious my position as Crown Prince has become because of the manifestation of divine blood in a maiden like you?”

Ever since he realized that the divine blood had manifested in Dahlia’s body and not his own, Saltar had been tormenting her to death.

With a large blade, he slashed at the young Dahlia’s body without mercy, and squeezed the blood out of her until her face was white.

Luckily, the Emperor had promised him the throne because of his promising aptitude as a prince. 

Otherwise, Saltar’s inability to trounce her would’ve killed her long ago, claiming her divine powers.

Saltar was raised to be Emperor from the day he was born.

All his life, he has cared about nothing but ascending to the throne, and that has made him all the more obsessed with it.

When it became clear that the divine power was not his, the obsession that had built up quickly turned into twisted fear and anger. 

And it was all directed at Dahlia.

“You should be grateful that you’re at least getting married. It’s no good keeping you in a cage like an animal.”

Saltar bared his teeth like a beast and shook his head in exasperation. 

Then, behind him, his beast, Khalfani, opened the gate and stepped inside.

“Come on, let go of me, now, ugh!”

Despite her protests, Dahlia was quickly gagged and bound, and soon an old man, blind and deaf, was brought inside.

“See to it that she doesn’t get any sore spots.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Khalfani bowed and brought the old man before Dahlia. The box the old man held contained a small dagger and several vials.

Saltar said coldly, “If you don’t want to do the same thing again, you’d better obey.”

A pitiful, gagged whimper escaped Dahlia’s terrified mouth.

This was what she feared most about the dungeon. 

Tied up like an animal to be slaughtered, blood drawn for an indeterminate amount of time, 

Saltar knew this better than anyone else, and this was how he’d freely imprisoned her.

Saltar looked down at Dahlia, who cried out in terror.

‘I’ll call her every chance I get, even after we get to the Kingdom of Hayad, but it’s always good to be prepared.’

Saltar left the dungeon, leaving Dahlia’s sobs behind him.

✨

It was the next morning when Dahlia emerged from the dungeon.

Only a day had passed, but she hadn’t seen the light and had lost track of time, and it felt as if she had been trapped in the dungeon for days.

Dahlia shivered and crouched down. The sun was blazing down on her, and her body was shivering like she was in ice water.

“You’re too weak.”

Saltar wrapped his cloak around Dahlia like a shroud. 

Not for her sake, but to cover the blood splattered all over her clothes from the ‘task’.

“Lift your head, Dahlia.”

When Dahlia shuddered and didn’t lift her head easily, Saltar growled in annoyance.

“You want to go back in there?”

Saltar gestured toward the dungeon. 

Dahlia sucked in a breath and looked up, startled.

The horrible things happening in the dungeon gnawed at Dahlia’s sanity. No one came to her rescue as her body was cut and bled nonstop.

No wonder. People believed she was locked away in a cell in some palace, and it was only natural to assume that she was spending her dignified time alone in a cell no larger than a bedroom at best.

Saltar looked into Dahlia’s horrified eyes and spoke.

“You should know that if you reveal to anyone what happened in there, as you have been doing, you will immediately lose your marriage, and whatever little respect you have as a Princess.”

Saltar, who had warned her sternly, added with a sneer.

“I doubt anyone will believe you.”

Saltar smirked and left the room.

✨

Barely making it back to the palace, Dahlia’s legs gave out as soon as she reached her bedroom.

“Your Highness, are you all right?”

Unaware that Dahlia had been imprisoned in the dungeon, Bertha was surprised to see the Princess suddenly collapse and rushed to her aid.

The Princess was too weak to handle the luxurious solitary confinement of the royal family, she thought to herself.

Even though she was bathed and dressed thanks to Bertha, Dahlia couldn’t fall asleep easily. 

She stared nervously out the window the entire time, and as soon as darkness fell, she grabbed her robes. 

Dahlia was headed to the temple.

“Your Highness, I’ve received word from the Crown Prince that you’re to be placed on house arrest for the time being.”

Despite Bertha’s pleas, Dahlia was insistent, that if she spent the night locked up in the palace like this, she would truly go mad.

“Bertha, please…”

At Dahlia’s desperate plea, Bertha was helpless.

“You must be safe, Your Highness, please.”

“Thank you.”

Eventually, Bertha pulled out her robe. Dahlia hurriedly donned the robe, put on her face covering, and exited through the back door of the Princess Palace.

Dahlia frantically made her way to the temple, the path so familiar that she felt as though if she turned her head for even a moment, she would be lost.

The situation she was in was very precarious.

Barely reaching the temple, she knelt before the statue of the Nuit goddess, her voice trembling as she plaintively recited a prayer.

“I believe that the Nuit Goddess is always with us, so please protect us and keep us away from evil…”

She prayed, desperately trying to suppress the anxiety that filled her heart. No, actually, it was more than anxiety, it was fear and resentment.

It was anger at Saltar for oppressing her all her life, fear that she would never live like a human again. 

Resentment toward the divine powers that were not of her own volition, and finally a sharp thorn in the side of God.

But in the end, Dahlia, who couldn’t blame God, could only suppress her feelings repeatedly, over and over again.

How long had it been like that?

As she prayed, her hands trembling, someone came up behind her.

Silently, he blended into the darkness and reached out to her.