Page 20 of Princess Takes Academy
Then Auntie Shara had taken him through the tree.
She’d taken my Blood from me.
I scrambled out of bed, wrestling free of blankets that tried to slow me down. My trembling legs wouldn’t hold me at first. Panting, I fell into a pile of pillows and stuffed animals. Pushed back up. Staggered. Swayed. My eyes throbbed and black spots floated in my vision. I didn’t know if it was the damage to my eyes, or just that I was lightheaded. I didn’t care.
I had to get to the tree. I had to get to Keras.
I didn’t think I could manage the stairs right now. Not with my legs acting so funny. So I stumbled to the window.
“Xochitl, no!” Mama yelled. I heard Papa’s claws scratching the floor as he raced to me.
I threw myself out the window. My fingers brushed the rough bark. Leaves and limbs slapped my face and torso. I tumbled down through branches, scraping and scratching my skin, ripping my nightgown.
I was falling. The heart tree wasn’t going to catch me. Time seemed to stop, and I had an eternity to wonder how many bones I’d break when I hit the ground. If I’d hit my head and crack my skull open.
This was just another example of me being thoughtless and reckless. Risking my life for no apparent reason. Leaving behind my parents and everyone who depended on me to become the next Zaniyah queen.
None of it mattered if I didn’t have Keras.
I jolted to a halt with a painful yank on my scalp. My body swung around to slam against the tree trunk, scraping my cheek. But I stopped. I didn’t hit the ground. I laughed brokenly, tears running down my cheeks.
The heart tree had caught me after all.
“Keras!” I didn’t know how long ago they’d taken him, but maybe he could hear me. Wincing, I reached up and tugged my hair free. It felt like I left half the hair on my head behind, but I finally slid free and landed on my feet before the dark hole in the trunk.
I stumbled inside.Take me to Keras. Wherever he is.
I ran into something hard and unforgiving. It felt like wood. I ran my hands around inside the circular innards of the tree. It was only a large, hollow trunk. No magical tunnel led me to adventure.
The heart tree was only a tree.
Was it because my power was gone? Sobbing, I sank down to my knees. I closed my eyes and searched through myself, trying to find my unicorn. If I could shift, I would feel magic coursing through me again.
I imagined her glossy white coat. Her silky pink and purple mane. Her shining eyes that looked like melted rainbows. The hard spiral of her horn.
Red with the vizier’s blood. Sticky and clumped with his brains.
I choked and buried my face against my knees. I’d killed a man with my unicorn. I’d used something perfect and innocent and beautiful to kill. No wonder I’d lost her.
A hand touched my head. Gentle fingers slipped beneath my chin to tilt my face up. Auntie Shara leaned down to kiss my forehead, but I jerked backwards.
“You took him.” My voice rang inside the hollow tree. “Didn’t you?”
Her beautiful eyes shimmered, even in the darkness. She nodded. “Your mother asked me to take him to a place of safety where he could grow into a fine young Blood. Which will give you time to grow into a fine young queen.”
“You. Took. Him!” I swiped away angry tears. “He can’t control his rhinoceros without me.”
“I leashed his beast so he won’t be able to shift. Once you’re old enough to embrace him fully as Blood, you can easily remove it.”
“But….” I couldn’t think. I couldn’t get the words out. I was too angry. Too hurt. She was supposed to be my friend. My confidante. My partner in crime sometimes. We’d giggled and whispered and plotted mischief together.
And now, she’d taken my Blood from me.
“He’s MINE!”
“I know, sweetheart. He’s still yours. He’ll be waiting for you to claim him in a few years.”
A few years?! I had to live like this foryears? Alone? Wondering if he was okay? Wondering where he was? Unable to feel him anywhere?
