Page 92 of Blooms of Darkness

The closer we got to my rooms, the fewer people we encountered, reassuring us the chaos might be over soon. Finally, reaching the last staircase, we made one last push toward the safety of my chambers. Cresting the landing, Ruppert took the lead, with Ian and I next, and Kade and Hale close behind.

Ruppert abruptly stopped in the hallway, and I ran into his back. Shoving him forward, I asked, “What are you doing? Don’t stop.”

I stepped around him, surprised he didn’t respond at all as he stood, unmoving. Insufferable man.

But when I finally looked up, I, too, stopped moving.

Stopped breathing.

Ian and the others hadn’t noticed the body on the floor yet. It was dark, as some of the lamps had gone out. The clothes on the woman blended into the rug lining the hallway.

Cautiously, I stepped forward. I knew that apron. I knew that greying hair.

“Elisabeth?” I whispered.

A faint moan was all I heard in reply.

“Elisabeth!” I screamed as I dropped my weapons where I stood, the clang of metal on the corner of the tile peeking beyond the carpeted floor, reverberated throughout the hallway, as I raced to her side.

Whatever happened behind me, I knew nothing of it. My world stopped. My eyes, my mind, all of it focused only on Elisabeth. I collapsed next to her, instantly feeling my dress dampen in the pool of blood forming beneath her body.

“No, no, no, no. Elisabeth.” I choked on a sob as it bellowed out of me. “You have to heal yourself. Ian,” I cried. “Ian, do something. Call another healer!”

I peered behind me, wondering why no one moved. Ian just stood there, his hand over his mouth, completely pale. He shook his head. Ruppert, Hale, and Kade all stood beside Ian in silence.

“Don’t just stand there,” I bellowed.

“My sweet, sweet girl.” My head whipped back to the woman who had practically raised me alongside my parents. “I love you with all of my heart.”

“No, no. This can't be happening!” My hands shook and I moved her clothing around, trying to locate where the blood originated in order to stop the bleeding on her side. Regardless of how close I inspected her, I couldn’t find a lone source. The bleeding stemmed from too many wounds. Wounds which covered her entire chest. There were too many.

I frantically searched for her satchel. Noticing it off to the side, I quickly rummaged through the bag. “What can I give you? Elisabeth, what would work?” When she said nothing, I whimpered. “Please, please talk to me. Help me.”

Elisabeth placed her hand upon my own, and I dropped the bag next to me.

Useless.

Magicless.

Useless when it mattered most.

“Hush now, child. There’s no coming back from wounds like this. I have mere moments more. Let me look into your eyes one last time.”

Tears streamed down my face as I stared into Elisabeth’s eyes. Her beautiful brown eyes dulled as the life drained from her body. “I can’t lose you.”

“I have loved you from the moment you were born. Never underestimate yourself, my child. Trust in the king and queen and trust in the prophecy. Find yourself a good healer, you’re going to need it.” She tried to laugh, but it came out as a choke.

“I don’t accept this.” I held my hands over her chest. “Give me something, now!” I argued with nature, pleaded, and begged in a way I never had before, not even for my own life in those damned dungeons. “I will honor you. I will make sure Brookmere adores you. I’ll give you anything. You can’t take her.”

I couldn’t see, the world blurred around me as my tears blocked everything. My body convulsed from sobbing so hard. I sat there, shaking, and repeating my oaths to nature over and over, until my hand dropped. Elisabeth’s chest slowed to an almost unmoving stop.

I rested my head on her chest, and she used energy she didn’t have to stroke my hair for the last time. With her dying breath, she said, “Love is the most powerful magic there is. Don’t let the darkness rule this land, or your heart. You are the light, my love. You are the light. And I will—I will always love you.”

Her body released one last, small breath, barely noticeable to anyone else. But I saw it. I felt it reverberate through every part of my soul as she left this world.

I heard screaming. Screams reminding me of torment and agony. I clung to her, not realizing they were coming from meuntil they muffled when I lowered my head into Elisabeth’s side, curling up.

I clung to her. The woman who knew me better than my own mother. Who had healed me time and time again, without question. She knew more about me than most, and I could not live my life without her.

---