Page 6 of The Broken Queen

“Find her, orelse.”

My head leaned against the door, my breath quickening as a dizzy spell took over. I guess all that action made me even more tired than I already was.

“Why are they after you?”

I turned around to meet his gaze, but my body fell to the ground in a thump. I swallowed to bring some satisfaction tomy dry throat but it didn’t work. Slade hurried to my side, but everything went black.

GROGGILY, I SAT UP. My hands clasped around my throat as I swallowed the burn.

“You’re dehydrated.” A voice came from my right. I looked over and Slade was sitting on the ground, against the wall, reading his book.

Realizing that I was sitting on his bed, I quickly moved, but sat back down as the dizziness hadn’t faded away.

“I know.” I said.

“I gave you some water I had in here, but when’s the last time you’ve eaten?”

“Don’t remember,” I replied.

My fingers grasped onto the edge of the cot for dear life. As my knuckles turned white, I glanced in his direction. He was studying me with a perturbed look on his face.

“Aren’t you the King and Queen’s daughter?”

I took a deep breath. “Yes.”

His face scrunched up. “Then why are you hiding? And more importantly, why the fuck are you all beat up?”

My brows raised at his choice of language. I had only heard the adults say it before, so that must have meant he was older. “Because Father forced me to do something I didn’t want to do.”

“Oh yeah? And what was that? Go to a party where you get dressed up for the world to see?” He snorted. “Poor little princess.”

A tear fell down my cheek, and I looked away in shame. My shoulders began to shake, and my lips trembled. “I killed someone.”

I swiped the tear and more began to fall freely down my face. The events of the past few days or weeks, in my own littleversion of what Mother called Hell, flashed before my eyes. I wanted nothing more than to feel the sunlight on my skin. To be in myownbed instead of sleeping on the hard ground. But more importantly, I wanted to be reunited with Mother. I missed her so much, and I just needed a hug from her to know everything would be okay.Did she even miss me? Did she question my absence and lack of communication?

Before I could blink, the floodgates opened and every emotion I had been holding in, released in a steady flow. A weight pressed onto the other side of the cot and the next thing I knew, I was in his arms. I stiffened, but steadily relaxed and let him try to comfort me.

“It’s okay. It’ll be okay.” He soothed, no judgment clouding his voice, but he was wrong. It wouldn’t be okay, my world would be forever tainted with blood.

Knuckles rapped against the wood. “Slade? You in there?”

I pulled back, my anxiety soaring through the roof.

Slade put his finger to his mouth, stood and walked to the door. Taking a breath, he cracked it open. “Yes, Dad?”

“I need you to suit up. The King has requested our presence in the throne room.” The man left without another word.

Slade quickly closed the door and locked it shut. I placed my hands in my hair and let out a silent scream. Father was going tomurderme. Could I even call him that anymore?

I looked up and sighed. Slade scratched the back of his head. “So, that was my dad, and he said I need to get dressed.”

I swallowed and stood. “Can you tell me a way to get out of here?”

He frowned. “Have you never been down here before?”

I shook my head.Why would I willingly come to a place where people are getting tortured and killed?

The corners of his lips tilted up in a sly smile. “Do you want to know a secret?”

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