“Are you alright?” Hendrik asks as soon as we exit the throne room, closing the door behind him as he holds the small of my back. “Elora, talk to me.”
I can’t. I don’t want to open my mouth. I’m not even sure I heard him properly, what he’s been saying and what he just said right now. It seems like there are cotton balls stuffed inside my ringing ears, allowing me to block everything. My heart is beating too fast, and I have to gasp for breath as we start to walk along the hallway. My cheek is still stinging, but I’m already numb inside.
Tomorrow will be my last day here in the palace. I will be out of this place forever. It’s what I wanted since I came back, right?
Then why am I still hurt?
Did I kill the baby? Was that the reason for my subtle exile? Is this why I’m getting banished? Did I—?
“No,” Alistai suddenly says. “You didn’t.”
&ldqu
The world seems to have frozen for a millisecond, allowing time itself to slow down and almost sputter to a stop. It's almost in frame by frame that I see my nails digging into the priest's robes, ripping the fabric and exposing his chest. The tips of my nails graze his skin, leaving long open lines that spurt crimson seemingly everywhere.Sheer shock makes me stumble back. Disgust makes me get down on the platform. And fear, so thick and so opaque that it's blurring my vision, makes me bolt towards the exit.As I run, I hear the priest's body hit the floor when he falls unconscious. I hear the gasps of Father and Uncle Osman. Then, I hear the swift footsteps of Hendrik behind me."Elora, don't run!" he says in a panic, trying to grab my arm. "Elora!"I don't listen to him. I keep running, reaching the arched door and bursting into the early morning like a bird freed from its cage.The cold wind caresses my face, making my skin feel tingly, perhaps a
My brain stops working. I can’t quite comprehend what I’m seeing. I’m shaking badly, but at the same time my body feels incapable of any kind of movement. All I know is that I can’t look away from the creature slowly crawling out of the sewers, its legs as thick as branches. Its face is pale and just . . . wrong.It has eight eyes like a regular spider, black and beady and scattered on its forehead. Its hair is long and flowy, and I don’t know if it’s just me, or if it has that blurry, crawling quality that makes my skin prickle.I can’t believe such a creature still exists, and I can’t believe it’s lurking here in the open. I can’t believe no one has seen it yet.But that’s not true, because now that I stare closely, I can see mangled bones littering the sewer floor.I reach for Hendrik’s hand, too scared to mind what I’m doing. I just want to feel someone next to me, someone a
Sheer shock invades my body like a lightning strike. I blink rapidly to make sure that what I’m seeing isn’t just a product of wishful thinking, and I’m right. The one I’m looking at right now is no other than Jossie.“I see Jossie,” I whisper, pulling Hendrik’s hand. “I see her.”“Who?” He frowds as he follows my line of sight. “I don’t recognize anyone. Is she an enemy? Should we go?”“She’s one of them,” I say. “One of the Supernaturals.”Hendrik’s face lights in realization. I look back at the spot where Jossie was standing but she’s no longer there. All I can see is the back of her head as she runs in the opposite direction. She must have seen me, and that’s probably what prompted her to leave.Before Hendrik can react, I run after Jossie with my heart pounding in my throat. The only thing I’m following now
“Where are we going?” I ask anxiously as Jossie leads Hendrik and I deeper into the forest. “Where are you taking us?” “Just follow me,” she replies curtly, which doesn’t help my nerves at all. “That’s not reassuring,” Hendrik mutters, still with his sword drawn. “I’m telling you, one wrong step and I will—” “Poke me with that sword? I’m telling you, I can break that shit in half. Now shut up.” Hendrik looks at me with a “let’s get out of here” expression, but I’m too in my head to take notice. The forest of Corrin is not much different from those I’ve seen, but the beginning of fall is already making a mark on the leaves, turning their edges orange and yellow. The glow of the afternoon is setting them ablaze, but I can’t see any kind of beauty. I’m nervous. My heartbeat is a wreck and so is my head, even though there’s only one thing that’s been inside my mind since I saw Jossie. “Will I. . . .” I falter, taking a deep breath. “Will I
Hendrik and I exchange glances. He looks terrified and scared because of the threat, which I didn’t expect at all. Still, it’s not something I can blame him for. I myself am scared to the bone.I’ve been dreaming of seeing Alistair again. I’ve been longing, yearning, and praying for this moment. And now that I’m here, now that he saw me, all he wanted to do was to get me out of his sight.Tears start to form in my eyes. I blink them away, my throat tight.“Elora. . . .” Jossie touches my shoulder with a sympathetic look on her face. “I’m so sorry. I don’t want to obey him but. . . .”She trails off. I can tell she means it, that she really doesn’t want us to go. I don’t want her to receive Alistair’s wrath, but at the same time, I can’t lose him again. Never again. Not until he hears me out, until he realizes that I’ve never betrayed him.Without giving
⇼ E L O R A ⇼“No way!” Hendrik yells, stepping back and toppling his chair in the process. He pats around his hip for his sword, but it was confiscated from him. Instead he picks up one of the knives and points it at Jossie as well. “You are not touching us! Come on, Elora, we’re leaving!”He tries to take my hand, but I don’t move from my seat. I just watch as Jossie’s lips twitch. “Hendrik, I don’t think she’s serious.”At that, Jossie lets out a huge cackle. “Relax, I’m not going to slice your faces open. Jeez. I’ll just give you both a trim and a little bit of face dirt to make you truly one of us. Also, those clothes have to go. They kind of give away that you’re not from around here.”I look at Hendrik, who is sporting an expression of a mixture of relief, anger, and grudging respect, and tell him, “See?”He goes back
⇼ E L O R A ⇼The heavy footsteps behind me makes me lift my head from Hendrik’s shoulder and look around. There I see Alistair, who’s approaching with his hands clenched. Hendrik and I jump to our feet out of sheer surprise.“Alistair,” I mumble. “Why are you—?”Smack.The sound of his fist hitting Hendrik’s face rings in my ear, unnaturally loud and alarming. I let out a strangled scream which I hurriedly suppress with my hand. Hendrik stumbles back, stares at Alistair who’s glaring at him and breathing hard, and lunges at him in full speed with punches of his own.Hendrik delivers a blow to Alistair’s nose, which immediately starts to bleed. Another scream escapes me. Even now I’m not sure what I’m looking at and how it came to be exactly, and at this point I don’t really wish to find out. All I know is that I want them to stop whatever this is, because I don&rsq
⇼ A L I S T A I R ⇼“No,” I manage to croak at last. Dread is flowing through my veins like a deadly poison, corroding my veins with each passing second. “Don’t tell me she really thought that. I don’t know why I said it. My wolf just took over and I—”“Cut the excuses, will you?” Jossie interjects. “What happened happened. It’s done. It’s over.”“No,” I say again, this time with more conviction. I cross the room and stand in front of her, taking her shoulders. “You have to convince her not to go.”She scoffs and swats my hands off of her. “You don’t think I didn’t do that? Of course I tried to talk her out of it! She’s determined to leave.”“But if so. . . .” I trail off, deeply pained about the things I’m about to say. “Why can’t she just go with Hendrik peacefully? Why does she need to