Page 27 of Framed in Florals (The Emerald Realm 3)

With a sword pierced through his heart.

chapter seventeen

“Father!” I screamed at the top of my lungs as I watched his life drain before my eyes.

Screams echoed throughout the ballroom as we all witnessed the horror unfold. The masked man pulled his sword cleanly from my father’s lifeless body, and I felt the blood drain from my face as his eyes hinted at a wicked smile beneath his mask. He stared straight at me, his eyes darker than the night sky. I wanted to scream at him, wrap my hands around his throat and make him beg for mercy, but he disappeared behind the velvet curtains before I could even blink.

Every bit of my body felt as if it had been ripped apart and reattached with fire. Anger and pain seared through me with such vigor that my knees had buckled underneath me. Who would do such a thing?! How did he get past the guards!? Why attack the king and not me!?Tears burned behind my eyes as I stared into the empty eyes of my beloved father and king.

“No—” I choked out the words as chaos ensued around me. The guests ran wild in panic, while the guards formed a protective circle around me.

“Nobody leaves!” one of the guards shouted. “Lock the doors, gather all the men! Don’t let him escape!”

The words floated through my mind like the haze of a nightmare. Pain twisted my stomach into knots as I felt the urge to scream again. Women and girls were crying from terror as the guards corralled them in the center of the room. The noise was almost deafening as the entire nobility mourned the loss of their ruler all at once. My body shook and trembled from the fury and shock that overwhelmed me.

The king is dead.

I forced my eyes to look back up to the box seat, but the space was already crawling with guards. There’s no sign of the murderer. How did he slip away so quickly?I stood to my feet slowly, still feeling nauseated and unsteady. As I rose, a new strength filled me as I pictured the monster’s eyes.

“Find him,” I said to the nearest guard, my voice steel. “Find him, and anyone who may be associated with him, and bring them to me now.” I took a step forward, commanding the guards to step aside from me with a single glare. “And get me a sword.”

Within moments, the cluster of men broke away from me, joining the hunt for the killer. A sword was thrust into my hand by a faceless guard and I clutched the hilt so tightly my knuckles went white. My chest tightened with flooding grief, but I pushed it down for the time being. I’m not going to let them get away with this.As the guards spread out, I began to finally take in my surroundings. Most of the guests had been herded to the middle of the room, but a few remained at the top of the staircase. My eyes went wide as I focused in on the couple standing in front of the exit.

It was Daisy and another man who I had never met. Upon closer inspection, I saw that he, too, was wearing a mask, and he had a firm hold on her hand. Fear surged through me as I began to comprehend what I was seeing.

“Guards! Arrest that man!” I commanded over the stirring crowds.

My heart lurched as I noticed the absolute terror on Daisy’s face. She looked as white as a ghost. I can’t imagine how afraid she must be right now. I rushed forward behind a cluster of guards as they raced up the steps. The masked man instantly turned and fled out the doors, dragging Daisy by the arm behind him. Rage burned me alive as I forced my feet to climb faster. They had already taken my father from me, and I wasn’t going to lose Daisy, too. As I reached the top step, I noticed the guards had come to a halt. When I stepped forward to investigate their pause, I saw that the entry hall had been lit aflame.

Smoke billowed out from the doors as the rugs, curtains, and tapestry glowed red with heat. I shielded my mouth and nose from the smoke as I stared deeper into the flames. From the back of the room, I could barely see the swish of a flowered skirt spur around the corner. Without thinking, I tried to race forward into the flames, but one of my men caught me by the shoulder.

“No, Your Highness! It is far too dangerous. We need to douse the flames first.” The man pulled me back as a group of guards stepped forward with large jugs of water from the banquet table.

“We don’t have time for this!” I shouted in frustration. “The man is getting away, and Daisy is in danger!” I considered fighting through my guard, but they were all too focused on me. I was the only leader they had right now, and they weren’t prepared to lose me, too.

As I impatiently waited for the flames to be smothered, the captain of the guard ran up the stairs to join us. I anxiously turned to him. He had been positioned on the exterior of the castle, so perhaps he had been able to apprehend those who escaped.

“Prince Jasper,” the captain said breathlessly. “We were unable to capture the assailants, Your Highness. They were too well trained for our forces; five of our men have been struck down due to injury.” His voice cracked for a moment, and I instantly felt the realms crash down upon me.

“What about the girl?” I asked desperately. “What happened to her? Is she still with them?” My eyes pleaded with the captain, and his face grew grim.

“Your Highness…” His face darkened. “The girl leftwiththem.”

My frustration and panic flooded over inside me, and I grabbed the captain by his collar. “Where!? Where did they go!? We need to follow them; we can’t let them kidnap Daisy!” I shouted desperately, but his expression remained bleak.

“Your Highness... I don’t believe the girl was kidnapped.” I released his collar and backed away, horror filling my face. The captain straightened. “Moments before the attack, I received word that a girl by the name of Daisy, in a flower dress, was seen sneaking around the royal offices.”

I felt my face go ashen.When she stepped away… She couldn’t have… She wouldn’t…My breaths ceased entirely for a moment as a new wave of sickly realization flooded over me.All her letters… all the times she hinted toward something being off… Had she been associated with them all along?

“No,” I whispered in denial, “that can’t be possible. It must be a misunderstanding. Daisy would never—” My words choked off as the pieces began to force themselves together in my mind.

“Your Highness, there’s more,...” He looked at me with such sympathy that I nearly collapsed again. “We found solid evidence that she broke into the king’s office.”

My bare feet stung against the cold ground as the clock tower resonated its twelfth chime. The flaming palace rugs had scorched my exposed skin as the man dragged me through the fire. I desperately hunted for Pumpkin in the dark, looking for where the men claimed to have hidden her. I could almost still hear the twisted man’s whisper ringing through my ear, along with the phantom sting of his blade in my back.

“Don’t make a sound. Just stay beside me until I drag you out the door. You only get to live if you cooperate.”

I hadn’t had any other choice. My heart shattered at the sight of Jasper’s desperate run toward me. I had wanted to run straight into his arms and cry with him over the loss of his father, but if I had so much as flinched, I would have been killed, too. Two other men in guard uniforms had set the entry room on fire while we stood on the ballroom steps, and I was forced to run through the flames. Once we made it outside, we ran past at least five other masked men. They gave me confused looks, but we didn’t slow down long enough for them to ask questions. Once we were far enough away from the palace, the man stopped, allowing me to catch my breath.

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