Page 73 of The King's Queen

Rage boils beneath my skin as I think of Lucius and his smile as he held the power to skewer one of the most precious things in this life. And for what, petty revenge or jealousy? Or was it something deeper?

I fight the bile back down my throat and decide to make myself useful instead. I pick at the scab on my arm, and when no one is looking, I drop a few droplets of blood into a cup of water and onto a damp rag. Quietly, I pass it to the physician, who tips it between Blaine’s lips, and I take to dabbing at his facial laceration with the rag. The wound slowly begins to knit itself closed, and Blaine opens his eyes.

“Hey, it’s okay. Just rest,” I coo, but he grabs my wrist and sits up, much to the ire of his physician.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he protests. “Someone, see the princess out.”

“Just lay back down, you’re fine. Everything is going to be okay, just let me take care of you.”

“Just leave.” Cold shock douses over my spine and sends a chill through my body.

“What are you talking about? Stop being ridiculous and lay down, I’m going to fix this.”

I try to take the rag again, but his grip is tight on my wrist, and I am forced to watch helpless as it falls from my grasp. As if on cue, Torin appears in the doorway again and places his hand on my shoulder.

“Ver, I think we should give him some time.”

I scoff. The last thing we need is time. For all I know, Lucius could change his mind and come murder him here right now. No, what we need is a plan.

“Torin.”

“Yes?”

“Get her out of here.”

The blonde knight looks over at me with such sympathy that it takes me a moment before I realize what’s happening. Blaine releases my wrist right as Torin grabs ahold of my midsection and begins to pull me towards the door.

“Torin, stop!” I feel those treacherous,helplesstears stream down my face again.

“Blaine, don’t you dare.Don’t you dare!”

The door is shut in my face and locked before I can even put up a fight. Somewhere on the other side, I can sense him slipping away.

The first time he awoke, there was still hope in his eyes before he slipped away into pain. There was love masking fear. Today there is only cold nothingness and resignation. The Blaine I thought I knew, the one I thought I was starting to get back, is gone. If he had died today, I could have found solace in the memory of his love. Now all there is left to haunt me is the image of hollow eyes and the sinking feeling that all of this is my fault.

Torin leans heavily against the door next to me, and I narrow my eyes.

“So much for loyalty.” I spit.

Hurt flashes across his face before he drags a hand down it. Then he laughs humorlessly in a tone I’ve never heard him use before. Every muscle in my body tenses.

“Honestly? You never know when to quit, do you?” The wood of the door creaks as it bears the brunt of his head, which lolls back against it. His tongue runs over his dry and cracked lips before he narrows in on me. My every sense is telling me to run or beg, but my feet remain rooted to the stone.

“You are the last person he wants to see right now, and honestly? I don’t blame him. You fucked his life over in so many ways, can’t you just leave him alone?”

If my heart can break into any more pieces than it already has, then Torin has just shattered it beyond repair. I stagger back as if stabbed and grab for something to steady myself on. When no stronghold finds my hand, I settle for falling against the floor and praying for the stone to accept my sacrifice.

“That’s not fair.”

Dammit why won’t my lip stop quivering? Why can I never seem to find the right words, the right ways to make things right? Why do I always make things worse? Why, why, why, why?

“Because you’re nothing.” A female voice whispers in the back of my head. “You’ve always been nothing but a pawn in a game much larger than your life. You are insignificant. You can’t save your friends; you can’t even save yourself.”

Torin blinks, and his face softens.

“No, it’s not. I’m sorry.”

“Worthless.”

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