Page 149 of Hawthorne

Blaring alarm sirens ring, overpowering the orchestra that quickly stops playing, followed by the slamming of the wooden double doors.

“Security has been breached!” one of the guards yells, running towards us.

Everyone starts shrieking as more guards come inside, creating chaos around us. People rush around, trying to leave the premises. The present guards try to keep order, but it’s quite difficult with how scared most of the crowd is.

“Your Majesty,” the guard exclaims, grabbing her roughly by the elbow. “We need to go!”

Camilla gasps at the sudden contact that detaches her from my body but doesn’t complain. She just nods and starts following him. Without giving it much thought, I follow them towards one of the small doors that lead to some private areas in the palace.

Once we reach the door and walk to the other side, the noise is muffled, and the chaos from all of those running people dissipates. The corridor is wide, filled with doors, paintings, and vintage furniture.

It’s not as luxurious as I had imagined, but it still oozes wealth.

The alarm sirens stop, and the palace becomes quiet.

Too quiet.

Looking at Camilla right in front of me, I notice her arm still attached to the guard’s hand, the skin turning white from the tightness of the hold.

“At ease, soldier,” she speaks finally. “We’re safe in here.”

“Not until we reach the chambers.”

His voice sounds robotic, stoic, which, should it be, but instead, it worries me.

“You’re hurting her,” I grit, grabbing his arm and forcing them to stop walking.

The guy lets go of her and slightly bows, apologising. “Here,” he directs, opening a door. “It’s safe in here.”

Camilla frowns, unsure, and I can’t help but instinctively grab one of her shoulders from behind and lean towards her ear to whisper, “I’m here. I got you.”

“What happened out there?” Camilla asks the man as he carefully scours every corner of the division.

It looks like one of those dozens of unnecessary rooms, fully furnished but with no real use. When he doesn’t answer, she looks at me, confused.

“Do you know what happened?”

“No,” I answer.

It was too quick to understand, and my only thought was to come with her.

“Was your mother trying to ruin the event just for me to look bad?” she questions, heading for the chair on our right-hand side. “I don’t bloody care about a stupid coronation party and if it ends on a poor note.”

“Hmm, doesn’t sound like her,” I mumble, pensive. She’d want to do something bigger. “She’s more the effective kind of person.”

“Well, it’s probably controlled by now. The security is tight here. Right?”

The guard straightens up, looking at the both of us with a stoic face before answering. “Yes.”

“See?” She smiles at him before looking back at me. “You can go…now.”

“Oh, yes…Of course,” I stutter like a fool.

Something is off, but I have no other reason to stay here any longer.

“You…will be an amazing queen, far better than I could ever be,” I admit.

“Thank you,” she mumbles, looking down at her hands.

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