Page 46 of The Kingdom's Crown

"Please," I whispered, gesturing to the bed for them to take my place. I would want my Chosen at my side if it were me. Stars, I wanted themnow.

My mother wept into the bedding as Hector and Vincent settled at my grandmother's side, Hector kissing her hand, Vincent her forehead. We waited in the quiet, the seconds piling up between each breath, my head counting them, my own breath trying to match my grandmother's.

It wasn't until my chest burned and my vision went blurry, my head losing track of the count, that I realized another breath wasn't coming. I gasped, swaying in place, and turned away from the bed.

Camellia had backed away too, close enough to the mantle that the tensing of her muscles, the anxious shifting of her feet was clear in the dark room. She looked as though she was about to shatter, but it wasn't sorrow for our loss in her eyes. It was Hunger, and she was going mad with it. Her eyes flicked up to mine, and she bared her teeth at me. My heart stopped in some kinship with my grandmother, and Camellia turned on her heel.

My sister left the room, my mother's cries fading to sniffles, and I sank to my knees, my back leaning against the shuttered curtains, my head empty and echoing with the sound of the ticking clock.

* * *

I didn't knowif it was my mother or my grandmother's Chosen who informed them, but Aric and Daniel came to find me eventually.

"Come on, princess. They're about to let the vultures in for viewing," Aric murmured.

Daniel scooped me up from the floor with ease, cradling me to his chest, carrying me into the too-bright sitting room where the others waited. I pressed my face into Daniel's shirt to hide my dry cheeks.

"There's a back hall and stairs we can use," Cress said. "I'll show the way."

In the shelter of the dark hall, with no one but my Chosen around to hear me, I lifted my head and searched the shadows for Aric.

"Here, princess," he said, a soft shredded note in his voice.

"Aric, did I hurt her when I tried to use magic to help her?" I asked.

"Of course you didn't!" Cosmo answered immediately, but I waited for us to reach the light of a lamp on the wall, and then pushed against Daniel's shoulder until he set me on my feet again.

Aric's expression was grim, gaze hovering above my head as he remained silent. I thought he might lie to save my feelings, although that wouldn't be like him, but when he finally looked me in the eye, I straightened my shoulders and prepared for the worst.

"No, princess," he said. "I think her own magic reacted defensively, but I don't think your attempt did her any harm."

There was no exact reason to believe Aric, except maybe that I wanted to and that something in his face promised he would've told me an ugly truth, if only because he knew I trusted him.

His hand reached out, fingertips lifting my chin a little higher. "Whatever struck your grandmother ill did harm that couldn't be undone so far along. There are things magic just can't repair."

I let out a shuddering sigh and nodded, and Aric bent a little to kiss my brow.

"Let's go to the suite. Now isn't the time to analyze what happened," Thao said, stepping up and wrapping an arm around my waist, leading me forward and nodding to Cresswell.

I opened my mouth, the question of what itwastime for on my tongue, and then closed my lips again. The back halls through the castle were long and narrow, but Cresswell appeared to have taken the time to memorize the routes, leading us down a side hall and to a winding staircase until I recognized the wallpaper as a match for what we'd passed after the assassination attempt.

There was a hollow feeling in my stomach, and I realized I had no idea what time it was, how many hours had passed in my grandmother's suite since I'd been called there that morning. It wasn't until Cresswell opened the door into a private resting room in my suite and I caught the notes of feminine voices through another door, that I remembered what today had been.

My back bristled, that feral feeling of the Hunger rising, and I turned and pressed myself against Thao's chest, halting our movement. His arms wrapped around me, patient as I settled myself.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I forgot they'd be here." There was a nervous, soft laugh from the next room. Nora, I thought.

"We'll dismiss them," Thao said with a shrug.

I shook my head, pulling away slowly, my eyes drawn down to the floor, strangely shy of the men around me as I headed for the door. I wanted to tell them to wait there so I could deal with my new ladies-in-waiting alone. I was all frayed at the edges, my control unraveled in the wake of my grandmother's death, but I couldn't really leave all my Chosen sitting in a room that was meant for me to retreat in.

The voices died immediately as I stepped into the doorway of my dressing room, and I lifted my eyes to see Nora and Morgan straightening and stepping together, falling into low curtsies. They were already dressed in black, and it struck me that noble families must already have had their mourning garments ready once the news was released of my grandmother's illness.

At the heart of my dressing room was a long wide bench, Nora and Morgan standing on the far side of it, with a great black gown draped across its surface. For me.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here to receive you upon your arrival," I said, my voice sounding far away and echoey.

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