Page 107 of The King's Queen

I see her too late. The force that pushes into my side is stronger than anything I’ve known, and for a moment, that dark power is completely vanquished, replaced by something warm. Light.

A scream fills the room, something inhuman and dark. The louder it rings out, the more I realize it is not a scream, but a screech.

I roll as I hit the ground beside the altar, the hem of my skirt catching the violet flame. It burns through the fabric to singe my leg, but it’s not for the wound that I cry out for. My eyes meet Tanja’s, glassy and wide, as she lay atop the altar with the dagger meant for me imbedded deep in her back. The blade slid through her ribs, barely missing her heart. The hilt rests on her back as the jagged tip sticks out between her breasts. She gasps for a moment, but it’s a hollow death rattle. Around the blade is thick blood, completely golden throughout.

Terror and despair like nothing I’ve ever felt before douses my body with a cold shock. How can she… She can’t…

“Tanja. Gods, Tanja,” I sob, leaping up to pressing my forehead to hers, letting my tears mingle with hers.

“Verosa,” she wheezes painfully, gripping my hand as a guard advances. “Vera.Run.”

I try to protest, to do anything other than scream as I watch blood identical to my own drip from the fatal wound meant for me. It should be my heart grating against that blade.

Everything begins to make sense all too late.

The last pureblood in the palace died nearly nine years ago, Rowan had said. And she had a daughter.

Tanja.

I press my forehead to hers. I won’t leave. I won’t run. I cannot live in a world where she’s not there, a world where she dies like this.

“I love you,” she murmurs, “So live. Live Vera.”

I don’t have time to respond when the first drop of her precious blood hits the altar. A blinding, violet light sears through the room, throwing me from my feet towards the door. I can hear her scream through the ringing of my ears. I can barely see her anymore, but her last words remain clear in my mind.Live. Grabbing a discarded sword that lay to my right, I bolt through the doors. The remaining guard starts to follow me, but Ophelus holds up a single hand, effectively stopping him.

“Let her bleed,” I hear him say, then they slit her throat.

I don’t dare look back.

I stumble blindly through the palace corridors, slashing blindly at anyone who dares try and stop me. Most of the palace staff look at me in confusion, then terror paralyzes their features when they see the golden blood on my gown and the savage wounds that litter my body.

I want to scream at them, blame them for letting her take that knife. Blame anyone and everyone for letting this happen, anyone but myself. Another sob tears itself loose from my chest when I pass my room. A room where, a few hours ago, Tanja and I had laughed and cried together, preparing for tomorrow. That room looks cold and unfamiliar now, just like the rest of the palace. Had that been the hallway where Torin and Tanja walked me from my gown fitting? Which way to the knights’ quarters, how do I get to that passageway? Why is there so much blood?

The world begins to spin as I find that one rock again, and as if by some miracle, the wall opens just enough for me to get in. I don’t care for light as I sprint through the darkness, grief overwhelming my terror. The ground squelches beneath my bare feet, when did I lose my shoes? I see the light ahead, if I can just get to the outer palace, I’ll be okay. Rumbling comes from above, and I watch as a chunk of rock falls from the ceiling. I leap ahead to narrowly avoid being crushed to death as the second begins to fall. Whatever Ophelus is doing, it might be powerful enough to bring down the whole castle. The grinding of rock on rock intensifies as I reach the end, the dying beams of sunlight still reaching out for me. But the walls are caving in, I’m not going to make it.

RUN.Tanja’s voice rings though my head.RUN, VERA. RUN. RUN. RUN. RUN. RUN. RUN. RUN!

With a final leap, I make it out just as the tunnel collapses, and run straight into a familiar redhead, rather, his horse. Seb struggles to hold tight to the reins as I crash into him and his mount, the mare tossing her beautiful head high in the air.

“Mei Reinhavich? What’s happening “

I clutch at his leg, the world spinning. Information filters through my head too quickly for my brain to comprehend. Palace crumbling. Purple flame. Father not my father. Tanja dead. Tanja…

“Dead. She’s dead, she’s…”

Seb takes one look from my dismantled state then the crumbling palace before a knowing fear crosses his face. Somehow, he knows just what is coming, and knows well enough to fear it.

“Mei Reinhavich, get out of here. Now.” I look up at him in confusion as he dismounts and draws his sword. From the passageway I just exited, I can hear the screams, and something guttural growls as it advances. I look down at the golden trail I left, leading straight to myself. Whatever is in the palace is coming this way, and it is coming for me.

“I’ll buy you time.” He pushes the reigns into my hands and helps me mount the mare quickly. Gone is the blushing squire who had to chase me through palace halls and escort me to lessons. Determination replaces any fear that had written itself across his face. “If any of us are going to survive, you have to.”

I don’t ask how he knows what he does, or what he means. Something tells me if he lives, he will seek me out one day to tell me himself.

“Find Torin,” I gasp. The knight nods.

“I will. Now go!”

I spin the mare around with a far too rough hand, the bit tugging harshly against her soft mouth. She tosses her neck in complaint but is quick to obey as I urge her into a gallop, leaving the palace far behind. I turn my back to the sun and chase the darkness Eastward.

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