Page 122 of Once Upon a Crown
I was nearing the hill when someone bumped into me — a fighting soldier, a falling body, I wasn’t certain. The force was enough to knock me off my feet, causing my crown to fall off and slide across the icy ground.
My fingers dug into the mixture of blood and dirt as I attempted to push myself up, but the ground was slippery, and my dress was by no means helping.
“Here, I got you.” Two arms wrapped around me, pulling me into a standing position.
“Rhen, you’re alive.” I let out a breath of relief at his familiar face. And then I saw the dark eyes he shared with Cordelia and her dead body in a nearby cave. How would I tell him she was gone?
Before he could reply, an Argonian soldier came at him, but Rhen dodged and pulled me out of the way. When he tried to come towards us again, one of Uncle Arthur’s men stabbed him with a sword, but that didn’t stop the Argonian from fighting.
“You need to get out of here,” Rhen said, trying to pull me to safety.
“You think?” I cried out, still clutching the dagger, but the crown was left behind.
“I mean it.” Rhen’s grip on mine tightened. “We need to retreat.”
“Retreat?” I called out with surprise. “I know we’re not exactly holding the high ground right now but—”
He stopped to look me in the eye. “I need you to trust me, Elara.”
Of course I trusted him, but that didn’t mean I understood.
I continued to look at him with confusion when Rhen spotted someone behind me.
“Your Majesty,” he called out. I looked over my shoulder to see Cai running towards us. Relief flooded his eyes when he confirmed I was still okay. I didn’t know how much more of this I could take.
“I have a plan,” Rhen informed him. “But I need you to retreat with your men.” At first Cai appeared sceptical. But then something flickered in his eyes, as if in understanding.
He gave a brief nod and started calling for the retreat, helping me back up the hill behind him.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “Why are we retreating?”
Cai didn’t answer me, still calling out for his men to follow him. The Argonians seemed pleased at this, some of them killing our men even as they were running away. I looked for Rhen, until I spotted him not coming with us but running straight towards the middle of the fighting.
We made it to the top of the hill, out of breath and covered in blood. The archers formed a defensive line, keeping the Argonians from coming up the hill after us. My eyes stayed on Rhen. He was looking for something, jumping over the corpses to get there.
And then I saw it.
The Evernean crown in the middle of it all, its gemstones reflecting the weak morning sunlight.
“No,” I breathed out.
All this time. It couldn’t have been there all this time.
Rhen was still running, sword in hand, and I finally understood what he was about to do.
“No, he can’t,” I said, grabbing Cai’s arm. “It’s going to kill him.”
Cai looked at me with sad eyes.
Rhen had almost reached the crown. The third Myrgonite object.
“No, no, no.” I managed to take a few steps down the hill before Cai grabbed me, pulling me back.
“No!” I gave out a cry.
Rhen stopped in front of the crown as it lay on its side in the middle of the valley. He lifted his sword high above his head and then he plunged it down.
At first there was only a piercing light, so bright that I had to turn my face into Cai’s chest not to be blinded. There was a loud noise and then I heard the anguished cries from the Argonian men. Cries of pain and torture. Cries of death. I couldn’t watch.
