Page 140 of Once the Skies Fade

A pained howl pierced the quiet of my dimming consciousness, and I jerked my head up despite not being able to tell which direction it came from. The room had shifted to dull shades of brown and gray, and it took my full attention to nudge both of my hands toward the remaining two glasses. They floated to me, the only indication that I was the one moving them being the sight of my own hands gripping them tightly in my shaky fingers.

One of these was the antidote.

Something bumped into my leg, and I barely held them steady. I brought one up to my mouth as fast as I could beforeanything else could fuck this up. I couldn’t take them too closely together, because then there’d be no way to know which actually held the antidote. Carefully, I tilted the glass up, pouring some of the liquid past my lips.

There was no refreshing sensation this time, and while the water itself wasn’t actually hot, a searing pain shot through my tongue and throat, as if burning away the poison.

I hoped.

Clenching my eyes tightly, I willed myself to remain silent, swallowing back the agony.

This is temporary.

Only temporary.

I’ll either be cured soon.

Or dead.

The pain ebbed, fading as quickly as it had come on. I opened my eyes. The shadows had dissolved. The room had returned to its original state, except…not. I had emerged from my poisoned stupor to utter chaos.

While Calla still sat, unconscious, dying in her chair at the end of the table, Korben stood in the far corner, holding Isa’s arms tightly behind her back. She struggled to get free, and he sneered as he hissed in her ear, convincing her to still. Graham stood—his chair toppled over on its side—screaming at Ursula and Warren, who had joined her on the other side of the table.

“You can’t have him restrain the fucking general!” Graham shouted, throwing his arms out to the sides. Ursula shrugged while Warren waved a placating hand in the air.

“Thefuckinggeneral shouldn’t try to interfere with official trials. She’ll be released once the trial is complete. No harm done.”

“No harm done?!” Graham’s eyes flew open even wider. He pivoted around and tossed his hand toward Calla. “The queen is dying because of you assholes.”

His words hit me like a bucket of cold water after a night of too many drinks. Pushing away from the table, I turned, ready to take the antidote over to Calla, but I stopped short. Phillip lay on the floor, eyes closed but still breathing. At first I wondered if he’d taken the poison, too, but the eight glasses that had been in front of him were now scattered around him, water and wine spilled across his shirt. Kneeling beside him, I pressed my fingers to his wrist. He still had a pulse, though slower and weaker than normal. I rose, determined to get to Calla. As I stepped over him, Phillip must have come to, because his hand reached out for my ankle, tripping me up enough that the remainder of the antidote spilled from the glass.

A growl erupted from my chest.

I’d fucking poisoned myself and for what? Only to have it spilled and wasted?

Pulling my leg back, I prepared to kick the poor male on the floor, but I slammed my boot down onto the stone instead. It wasn’t his fault. He hadn’t intended to do that.

I spun around, my balled fists restrained at my sides.

Graham froze, half-turned toward me. His eyes drifted down to the four glasses still sitting at his place.

“Which one is it?” I bellowed, but he only shook his head, one shoulder lifting shakily.

“I don’t know. I’m not sure.”

“Pick any of them!” He hesitated, biting his bottom lip hard while he studied his options. Slamming my fist on the table, I snarled at him. “Who gives a shit about winning if she fucking dies?”

I just needed him to pick one. Even if it was only water, the trial would be over and they’d give her the antidote to revive her. Still he hemmed and hawed, though, his hand now rubbing at his jaw.

“Just pick one, Graham,” Isa yelled from the corner, but Korben rewarded that with pulling her arms tighter behind her.

“For fuck’s sake.” I charged around the table, ready to snatch one up and force it into his pathetic hand, but having poisoned myself like an idiot, I wasn’t as fast. Warren darted around Graham, stopping me with his finger jabbing into my chest.

“No. No helping each other in this trial,” he warned.

I screamed in his face. “I don’t give two fucks about him; I just want to save her!”

Graham gingerly lifted a glass and started to move around us. I might have sighed in relief that the prick had finally found his nerve, but I didn’t know how long it had taken me to find the antidote and how much time Calla had left. With Graham on his way toward Calla to test his pick, I attempted to push past Warren to grab the remaining three, but the fucker stopped me.

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