"Aw… I'm sorry, love."
"It's okay." I narrow my eyes and stand from the bed, setting the platter aside. “Is there anything on the news about the Amara kingdom?”
Lumi raises a brow before taking her phone out of her pocket. “Let me see.”
I wait a minute before she gasps. “The prince is getting a cleansing ceremony. That's new!”
I bare my teeth. Those motherfuckers. “Let me see.”
She turns her phone towards me, displaying a video of people on the news. I grab the phone and bring it closer to my face.
“Tonight on theKnowingStars, we've been given some shocking news when it comes to the prince of Amara,” a middle aged man in a neat blue business suit states.
A black haired lady in a green blazer follows him up. “Indeed. It's now been announced that Amias, the grandson of the Gift of Love, will be cleansed in three days. Seems like the Amara kingdom is living up to the cult rumors, and the prince is no exception!”
I growl, my eyes straining. Didn't Amias say his family didn't believe in that shit? Because there's no way he's choosing this himself.
“Unfortunately we can't interview the royal family ourselves, but we do have clips from theLoveLettersnews from the Amara kingdom, where they have the clip of the Gift of Love herself addressing the ceremony.” The man says before a star slides over the screen and replaces him with a clip of Amara in front of a podium wearing a shiny pink dress, straps hanging off her shoulders.
I scowl. Amara of Cosmo. That bitch.
She stares soullessly into the camera in front. “I've come to hear some disturbing news about my grandson in recent times. I never thought I would hear of this happening, and I apologize on behalf of Amias for the chaos.”
I lean in closer to the screen. This is chaos you've caused, Amara. Not him.
“Amias has been manipulated by a dreamscreecher.” Her eyes water as she squeezes her eyes shut. “He's been a victim of sexual abuse and mental torture, causing him to say outrageous things about dreamscreechers.”
My teeth stab my tongue. That’s not the abuse he's suffering from.
I recall him on his birthday. The tears, the self degradation, the panic. She did that to him. I have no reason to doubt that there's more she has done than what I know.
She continues,“That's whywe'vedecided it is best to have a cleansing ceremony in three days. It's the only way he'll heal from his dangerous ideologies and live a normal life. We invite all of Amara to witness the ceremony that will bring healing to him.”
Bullshit, bullshit, and more bullshit!
The clips cut off there before going to the hosts of the Knowing Stars. I grunt at the fact I didn't even get to see Amias.
Something's wrong. There's definitely something fucked up going on.
I look up to Lumi. It took me seven days to get here. I can't get back in three with the way I came.
But Amias has stood up for me, and it's not hard to believe this could be his way of saving me. Maybe he's trying to prevent them from coming after me.
Now it's my turn. “How do I get to Amara City in three days?"
She quirks a brow. "You wanna go back to that cult?”
"Yes, and I can't get caught by anyone."
She glances at me sideways. "What are you? A dreamscreecher?" She shakes her head. “You weren't talking aboutthatAmias, were you?”
"It's a long story.”
She flinches back, her brows lowering. “If you're that dreamscreecher they're referring to, you shouldn't go. That's a death sentence. You know the stories of Rayden and Lydia were real records, right?”
“They're only more motivation to go back.” A scowl twitches my lips. “George died for love. Lydia was forced to be cleansed. All the reasons to stop the ceremony.”
“They make your lover forget who you are and murder you! You’ll die by his hand! That's what happened to Rayden, and countless others. It's been happening for centuries.”
