Chapter 16

My face is crimson. I feel like I'm burning, I'm so red. I see scarlet. My face is flushed. I am filled with excitement as I gaze at Gertrude's coiled body, trembling and groveling. I want her to suffer. Her tears pierce my heart, and I realize that I want to hurt her even more. Every sharp note that they make just serves to fan the flames of my inner fire. They ring in my ears. I take up an iron mace from the weapons rack, its weight firm and heavy in my hand, and my movements don't even feel like mine.

I look at her intently. My desire is to strike her until she bleeds. She can't breathe, she won't stop crying, and all she can do is apologize profusely for all she's done. That's why I want to beat her.

I have no one observing me. Gradually, step by step, I move forward. Next up, another.

Next up, another.

I lift the blade. My wrist is being grabbed by someone.

I turn so quickly that I nearly run into the person who is holding me. Rough breaths are heaving in my chest. His golden eyes catch my attention even though my vision is so limited that I can hardly see them. Kohl's lips are pursed as he looks directly into my soul.

"Don't do it, Agnarys," he commands. My inner fire bursts up once more. With him telling me what to do, who the heck is he? I wrench my arm free from his hold and take a step forward again.

Once more, he grips me. I spin around, getting angrier. 

"You don't understand the punishments that will come with this. You already risk exile."

He speaks into one ear and then out the other. He finally pulls me back, his mouth so near I can feel the hot puffs of his breath against my ear, just as I'm ready to turn around again.

"This is not you. This is not the girl who helps injured birds out of the kindness of her heart."

All it takes is that. Those words quench the fire that was burning within of me in an instant. I convince myself that this isn't who I am. I'm not this person.

I let go of the mace.

With a loud thud, it clatters to the floor, and everyone looks at me. When I realize that Kohl has already moved away from me, everything becomes clear.

I study Gertrude's expression. It seems red, with angry welts and protruding blisters, as if she was burned. Her hateful eyes glare at me, but before I can keep my focus, King Galen moves in front of me.

My eyes trail along his physique. He is much taller than me. I don't feel at all safe right now.

"This is a disgustingly vile act against a Daughter of Gahndor!" he yells. I recoil from him, and all of a sudden I was nothing more than a hole in the ground waiting to be filled with earth.

I am fixed to the spot by his golden eyes. "This kind of treason calls for punishment. You, girl, are to be exiled from Raelia, and live out the rest of your sorry days as an outcast!"

The ground gives way beneath me. Banishment? No, I must not have heard him correctly. He couldn't have meant that.

But from the way he glared, I knew I had. I look around the room for my two sisters, but their dejected expressions are the same as mine. Althea appears to have seen a ghost, which surprised me as I had assumed she would be overjoyed to hear the news.

I turn to face King Galen again, and tears fill up in my eyes. I can't be a rogue, sorry. Rogues have terrible lives. They never find homes, and their lifespan is limited to a few years. Whether it's from being pursued down by other werewolves or the cold, they are invariably discovered dead in ditches.

Kohl leaps in front of me, giving the impression that the monarch is going to grab me.

"No," responds Prince Kohl. "You won't be exiling her. I'm taking her in as my maid." 

The monarch gives his son a fierce look, as if he might strike him with his eyes. "You cannot do that, boy."

"I can, actually," Kohl says tactfully in response. He knots his wrists behind his back, and his fingers are so spindly that it bothers me. "In case you have forgotten, this girl is of nobility. Had she not been pulled out of the Queenstrials, she would also be a Daughter of Gahndor, just like the rest of them."

"Need I remind you, father, that the Agnarys house is our closest neighbor and greatest resource. I do not think Lord or Lady Agnarys would be pleased to hear that their own king exiled one of their children," Kohl says as the king sneers and appears to be about to say something.

Stillness. The prince and the monarch are facing off in a quiet struggle for supremacy, and the tension between them is unbelievably intense. Finally, after what seems like years of looking, the monarch waves his hand and scoffs.

"Whatever. Keep your Invalid. You must ensure she stays on her best behaviour, or best believe I will give her something worse than exile, boy."

The king spins around and rushes out of the chamber at that point. He slams the door shut, and everyone in the room gasps in horror as they try to understand what has just transpired. Eventually, the expressions on everyone's faces reflect the perplexity I'm experiencing right now. Like everyone else, I'm staring at Prince Kohl's back, wondering why he just defied his father to save my skin. But before I can start to understand, he grabs hold of me and leads us out of the training area.

Silently, he leads us along a number of hallways. He lets go and pinches the bridge of his nose when we are alone ourselves. As I awkwardly stand there, he turns to face me, as if he's finally remembered me.

"You are such an idiot. Do you have any idea what you've done?"

I say nothing. I am aware that I have no right to respond snarkily, especially considering that Prince Kohl just saved me from what could have been the worst fate known to werewolves.

He starts to pace. "My father will not be happy with that. Not at all." He stops and looks at me. "If you know what's good for you, you keep your head down and your mouth shut, alright? Jeez, you don't just pour hot water on royal ladies!"

I'm perplexed now. "The water wasn't hot."