Chapter Two

Serafina

Internally, I debated myself after the old man left. I was outside - the world was right there, and I now was expected to turn away and return to my secluded life. But if it were all true - if something was going to happen and allow me to lead my own life, then I could wait.

I walked back through the tunnel, returning to the gallery. As I reached the door leading towards my wing of the castle I was thrown back by the scruff of my neck. My palms scraped the panels to halt my sliding. There was a fair chance that I would find splinters in them.

Before me stood a woman with a dark brown braided plait and near black eyes, wearing a long burgundy frock. A guard to the queen, and she had a crazed gleam in her eyes. My throat ran dry as I assessed my escape routes. The door behind me led right to the Queen’s Wing, where Zander lived with Regina. Behind the guard was more ideal, as it would take me back to my own rooms. Then there was the window. It would hurt. It would maim me horribly. But if I became desperate enough…

“You stray too far little bastard.” Her high-pitched voice taunted, like a cat playing with a mouse.

“I got lost.” I pulled myself up, my hand reaching towards my dagger, wishing I had enough sense to pack extras.

Her eyes strayed towards my grip on the pummel. A malicious chuckle filled the narrowing void between us.

“I’m sure you did. And if you were still some bastard nobody I would probably have let you walk out of here and let you return to your nice soft bed.” She paused, her hand lifting towards her own dagger, eyes twinkling in twisted delight.

“Then let me. No one has to know we even crossed paths.” It took all I had to not tremble before the experienced soldier before me.

“But you see, you have become more of a nuisance lately.” She carelessly waved her blade before her face, like a toy.

“There is only one true heir and that’s all there will ever be now that my mistress…” She trailed off not wanting to accidentally insult her queen. Her eyes flickered with fury.

I should have ran when I had the chance! Cursing myself inwardly, I eyed the door behind her but it would be impossible to reach it with with her in my way. So, I readied to defend myself.

“I have no desire for the throne.” I said, although it would be pointless. The queen’s guards tended to have a one-track mind.

“That’s good to hear. And now this way we can be sure of that.” Her voice was sickly sweet. She was utterly mad.

Violent vibrations shot through my palm as our blades met. The light of the moon kept me from being completely blind. She was quick, steady, and far above my experience level with combat.

Throwing my satchel towards the wall, I began to match her maneuvers.

“You know,” I began in between her slashes. “Even if you manage to kill me you will only follow me once the ax-man gets a hold of you.”

Even though it was pointless to try and reason with her, just a chance of her listening was worth a try.

The woman paused in her movements, allowing for me to create some space between us, certain the reprieve wouldn’t last long as I scanned for openings.

“I will be a martyr for my sacrifice for my prince and queen. It will be well worth it.” She said with a lightness in her voice. As if this night will be worth it for her no matter the outcome. That she contributed to a worthy cause.

Lunatics. Everyone who had come after me had all been raving lunatics.

“Now, do our prince a great service and die please.” Her voice was so calm and collected as she lunged for me again. It was unnerving and made my skin crawl.

Of course, it was only a matter of time before this happened. I went from some lowly bastard nobody to a perceived threat to my brother’s claim to the throne. Why any of them thought I wanted the throne was beyond my understanding. She was throwing her life away over a conspiracy theory.

Bouncing off my heels, I leaned backwards as the blade slashed towards my forehead. Using my forearm I blocked a punch when her lunge failed.

“Just die!” She cried, becoming more furious with each missed slash.

Rounding towards her back I flung my leg at her side. A hand shot out and grasped my ankle. I pulled back but her fingers held firm. Pushing off my stable foot I managed to leap towards her, using my held foot to push past her hand and into her abdomen, forcing her to free me. Pulling my foot back I launched myself forward on the pads of my feet and slammed my head into her face.

Crack!

Stumbling back, she shrieked as her hand flew up to put pressure on her nose. Blood poured down the rest of her face.

“You fucking bitch!”

She howled like a beast and began lunging towards me again, slashing sporadically at the air between. I continued to jump away from her.

This was becoming more dangerous by the second. The angrier she became the less likely I was going to be able to foresee her movements. Another slash towards my face. Not fast enough. I wasn’t fast enough.

The sting to my cheek was mild compared to the quick muscular shin that made contact with my middle.

Crick!

Flying backwards to the floor I quickly rose to my feet, only to regret it. Sharp burning erupted from my abdomen.

How many ribs was that? Two? Three? Gods dammit. Air burst through my chest, stinging when I tried to inhale once more. I needed this to end. I needed to make more noise. Perhaps someone would come.

She was on me within seconds, the blade coming down on me, aimed for my heart. I dropped back to the floor and, as swiftly as my body would allow, buried my blade into her thigh. A blood curdling shriek erupted from her as I began to roll my body away and crawl towards the gallery door.

“No you don’t!” She screamed at me.

A firm grip clutched my ankle, flipping me onto my back, the back of my head hitting off the wood. My eyesight became speckled as she dragged me towards her.

“DIE!”

Searing blinding pain ripped through every pore in my body. This was it. This was the dream that caused me to sneak out. I was really going to die.

The guard pulled the dagger out of my side, preparing to strike again. As her arms raised above her head, blade aimed for my chest, I took my chance and thrusted forward. Pushing through the protests of my ribs, the continuous cracking of them filling my senses, I gripped my dagger and plunged into her chest. A shriek of shock erupted from her as she stumbled backwards.

“You bitch! You bitch!” She kept repeating, swinging her arms towards me. I dodged each swing and swish of her blade as her movements became fatigued. Blood splattered with each movement from both of us.

Pulling back and ripping the blade from her chest cavity, I threw it into the side of her neck. A gurgle escaped her lips as I extracted my dagger, her blood spewing up like a freshly dug spring, spraying over the wooden floor. She faltered back and I shoved her away to straddle her and pinned her down. Pain coursed through me but I wouldn’t let it waiver. When I gazed down at her, time went still. There were no more sounds. Her eyes widened in fear and realization. She was not going to leave this room to even make it to the ax-man’s block.

“I hope it was worth it.” I said through gritted teeth as I grasped the leather of my dagger with trembling hands and threw it above my head to slam it back into her chest, being sure to twist it into her beating heart.

Light faded from her eyes. I pulled away when it was gone completely. Attempting to stand, I was brought back down. My knees cracked on the floor below me. A metallic flood rushed up my esophagus and out my mouth, coating all down my neck and chest. I tightly clutched my wound, attempting to stop the seeping of blood on my night dress that now clung to me as if it were fused with my skin.

This was really it. Twenty-years-old today and adulthood comes to an abrupt end.

On the floor below me were small crimson puddles that seemed to be growing with each flutter of my eyes. My mind floated as I attempted to stumble to my feet again.

I lifted the hand from my wound. So much red. My gaze went towards her, the queen’s guard. Still so much red. The dream, the premonition, came true and I was going to die.

My legs buckled from under me. I fell forward, using my palms to brace for the impact. The flood of my heart pumping thumped in my eardrums. I focused on the floorboards, now flooded in crimson. Focus. I had to keep myself from blacking out.

In the distance, or was it all that distant?, the door from behind me burst open. Dread consumed me as my mind registered which direction I was facing. It was the door to the Queen’s Wing. If I wasn’t dead yet, I would be soon enough. There was no chance of anyone coming from that wing to call for help. No one except perhaps…

“Serafina!” It was so distant, that tenor voice.

I turned, stifling a cry to see him petrified in the doorway. The moonlight illuminated his olive skin, his curly charcoal mop nearly obscuring his silvery-steel eyes that went wide with shock and concern.

“Zander…” my voice trailed as I weakly extended a hand towards him, droplets of crimson rained from my fingertips.

Floorboards shrieked as his footsteps thundered towards me. He laid me against his white tunic over his chest. At least it was white before he cradled me close to him.

With a large hand he gripped my hand that was holding onto my wound and applied more pressure. His other hand cradled my head, holding my gaze with his own. I wanted to speak. To tell him that it was going to be alright, but I was only able to cough up more blood.

“SOMEBODY COME NOW! MY SISTER NEEDS HELP!” He bellowed, holding my ear close to his chest as he began to panic. His breathing became shallow and quick.

“PLEASE!”

He held my gaze.

“Whatever you do, Sera, do not fall asleep. Help will come but you have to stay awake.”

Not that I didn’t know that from my previous brushes with death. But this was the first time a potentially fatal blow had been dealt onto me.

“What were you even doing here, and without any guards no less?”

There was the urge to scold me in his tone.

“I got lost.” I gasped out.

It wasn’t a convincing lie, as I could tell from his skeptical expression. Although, I would rather lie and take the tunnel with me to my grave rather than tell the truth. I didn’t want my father and brother to seal it away.

Footsteps creaked towards us from the Queen’s Wing. The sight of her had me thrashing and pulling as hard as I could away from my brother’s grasp. Pain be damned. I wasn’t going to allow her to come so close. With blood gurgling in my throat and seeping out my lips, I managed to escape my brother’s hold and crawled backwards towards the other door. A bloody trail followed me. My arms buckled and I collapsed. Zander howled at me, his eyes flashing with frustration.

“Sera, stop! You’ll bleed out!”

He approached me again, gathering my failing body into his arms, holding me tightly. I attempted to thrash, but my body wouldn’t obey. Fatigue began to take over as I fell into involuntary shivering. By the sight on the floor, the shivering could be expected from that much blood loss.

Behind his broad shoulder, I saw her. Queen Regina De Durant. Zander’s mother. She clasped her closed burgundy night robe against her slender frame. Her face was young and her skin, a couple of shades darker than Zander’s, clear of any blemishes. Her silvery-steel eyes were striking, and, unlike Zander’s, struck fear into my heart.

Cautiously, she approached, a lit candle lamp in hand. Long dark chocolate hair lay on the side of her head and down the front of her in a long braid.

“How bad is it, Zander?” Her voice was silky and that of a young woman. It was difficult to believe that she had recently ended her childbearing years.

My brother turned his gaze towards the corpse and up to his mother.

“I’m not sure. The wound looks deep, but she’s still conscious.” His voice cracked as he continued to firmly press his hand against my side.

“Just stay awake.” He whispered, eyes pleading. I had never seen him so panicked.

A scrape of metal coming off the floor sparked my nerves. Regina held the guard’s dripping dagger. She was going to finish the job. I was sure of it.

Digging my nails into Zander’s shoulders, I tried to loosen his hold of me, adrenaline rushing through every fiber that I had access to.

“Sera! Stop it!” Horror and fear pushed through his words, but I didn’t care. I’m not ready to die yet!

Two hands came up firmly gripping my head in place. Zander’s gaze bore into my eyes. So much fright in those eyes. Or was I seeing my own terror through his?

“Listen to me.” His voice strained slowly.

“She isn’t going to hurt you, I swear on my life that you are truly safe now. But you are going to die from blood loss if you don’t stop.”

He moved a hand to cradle my head once more and the other to my wound. His gaze didn’t leave mine as he whispered mantras of staying awake. Telling me I was safe. I couldn’t find my voice, my throat still coated with blood.

Regina knelt down beside her son, dagger in hand. I kept my focus on that blade, hoping that I would have enough energy to move if she were to strike.

“It’s poisoned.” She said quietly, covering the blade with an elegant embroidered handkerchief with a naga on it.

“Then we’ll get an antidote.” Zander spat harshly but Regina shook her head.

“There isn’t one. It’s from my homeland and the only way to have any sort of immunity is if your blood already contains it.”

My head was swimming. Was she confirming that I was going to die?

A fit of coughing raked through my lungs, burning erupting from my abdomen.

“Shit.” Zander cursed as he sat me up so I wouldn’t drown in my own blood as I retched.

Darkness invaded my vision as I rapidly blinked to stay awake. My limbs were so cold, fingertips completely frozen. Zander’s features softened as a cacophony of footsteps came through the door.

“Bring the flatbed!” I heard the elderly voice of Cicero, the royal physician, bark to his colleagues.

Zander gave me a small smile.

“You’re going to be okay, Sera. Cicero is going to patch you up.”

I wanted to respond, ask about the poison, but keeping my eyes open was becoming impossible. He cursed.

“Stay awake.” He gently shook my shoulder.

I faintly sensed Regina move over towards me but had no energy to move away. My limbs were numb and all sound was starting to fade. My body was shutting down. A soft feminine hand touched my cheek… Whack!

With wide eyes I saw Regina pull her hand away from my face to slap me again. How odd. She once hit me out of sheer anger but now she was seemingly attempting to save my life. The world surely had turned upside down. Unfortunately, my eyelids kept growing heavy.

Regina’s lips were moving, as if speaking to me, but all sounds were becoming dull. Her attention pulled up as foreign hands came near me. Zander’s grip loosened as they hoisted me onto something firm and flat. The last thing I remember was the sensation of my body being floated away from the gallery. To where, I didn’t know. All that kept me tethered to any form of my senses was the pressure of a hand holding mine as I continued to float. But even that sensation started to fade as my eyes drifted closed.