Page 86 of Edge of Wonder

Shock paralyzed her long enough that I broke my bonds and reached for the dagger hidden in my boot. In one smooth motion, I pressed it against her throat. Her eyes widened; chest seizing on an inhale.

“I already faked my death for you once. How does it feel to fall for it a second time?”

“Shire, get the lights!” Sebastian shouted, and over our heads, the chandeliers winked out. A commotion sounded on the stairs outside as the room plunged into darkness. The doors burst open, and our rebel guards rushed into the room, holding flickering torches. Shouts echoed through the chamber as her soldiers were cut down.

The lights glowed back to life as Sebastian hauled the queen off me and restrained her hands. I climbed to my feet, still holding the blade to her throat.

“You never answered my question. Good thing I don’t care what you think.” I tossed my dagger to Peter, who took my place. Another guard relieved Sebastian, and they dragged her from the room.

I rubbed at the aching spot on my chest and winced. “You’re right, Sebastian. The plan worked, but it wasn’t great. Even with the blunted end, that hurt!”

“At least the trigger didn’t fail,” Shire piped in. “It would have hurt a lot more if the blade didn’t retract into the hilt. But I really enjoyed your performance, Alice. Squeezing the bloody rose was a nice effect.”

“Thank you, Shire. I thought I’d nailed it.” I scrunched my nose. “Even if it was a little messy.”

“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up while the chaos dies down. There’s a fountain outside, and Duchess brought you a change of clothes.”

When I returned, I faced the crowd gathering in the hall. They were still pouring in through the doors. Hundreds of faces, waiting expectantly for the new queen to rise. I unclasped the chain from around my neck and removed the keys. They were symbols of everything gone wrong. A lost childhood and so many lost years. Players gone before their time. A kingdom ravaged by a power-hungry queen.

Never again.

This was the last time they’d be used to restart the clock.

As silence descended in the hall, I walked toward the first keyhole. The key slipped inside, and I twisted my wrist. Gears turned, grinding behind the faceplate. Key number two ground the gears again. The crowd held their breath.

I held up the last key, watching it glimmer in the light. Then I thrust the key into the lock. A cheer roared through the hall as bells chimed.

“All hail, Queen Alice!” The crowd sank to their knees, bowing their heads. Sebastian took my hand, bringing my knuckles to his lips.

“So, what now, Alice?” he asked.

“A queen needs a king, right?”

His gaze burned into mine. “Are you asking?”

“Are you accepting?”

A mischievous glint filled his eyes as he tugged me closer. “I don’t know. I have to see the castle first.”

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing and smoothed my hands up the wall of his chest. “What if it’s filled with mice and spiders?”

Sebastian stroked a finger down my cheek and smiled. “Then I guess I’m marrying you for love and not money.”

Epilogue

Sebastian

“We’re going to have to remodel this place completely,” Alice said, disgust lacing her tone. “This is what happens when you inherit a castle from an evil queen. Nobody warns you of this fact.”

I stared at the arched stained glass window depicting a bloody battle. The scene was gruesome. But it didn’t hold a candle to the wall of vile sculptures. Stone heads with gaping jaws full of giant teeth were hung floor to ceiling, and they were vaulted ceilings, so there were a lot of heads.

“We could demolish it and start over?”

Alice sighed. “I don’t know. It does have good bones, and the hearth in our bedroom is nice.”

I chuckled low in my throat. “I think you mean the rug in front of the hearth is nice.”

Alice blushed, which amazed me considering it had been her idea to try it out. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and steered her away from the ghastly stained glass window. We’d been making the rounds through the kingdom, meeting its people, and hadn’t properly moved into the castle until recently. Now we were stuck with the castle from hell that even mice and spiders wanted no part of. Not even my worst haunted house was this bad.

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