I was looking at a map of the castle. I could see my bedroom and bathroom in the blueprint. I could see Axel’s room, Trin’s office, and some rooms I had not yet discovered.
Then my eyes fell to the part of the map that showed the basement. I knew immediately how the rebels had entered the castle. There was an escape hatch in the basement that led to the village that was in front of the castle.
I’m not sure how we missed the hatch when Axel and I rescued his mother and sister from the dungeon. The hatch was right next to the staircase we hid them under.
The rebels somehow knew this hatch was here and used this to get into the castle. Were there still rebels hiding and waiting for their next chance to use the hatch? I couldn’t allow that.
Still in my robe, I stormed into the hallway and to Axel’s room.
When I opened the door, he was face down in his bed. He had been super busy, and I hadn’t seen him in days.
I’m sure he is tired; I don’t want to disturb him. I can find someone else to handle this.
I tried to back out of the room as quietly as possible, but that didn’t matter. He had heard me.
“Leaving so soon?” he asked, his voice muffled by his pillow.
“You are sleeping; you need rest. I don’t want to disturb you. I’ll find someone else to take care of this,” I told him.
He lifted his face from the pillow and looked my way. He took a moment to take in my appearance. He looked at me like he was seeing me for the first time in a while.
“Have you been crying?” he asked me.
Of course, that would be the first thing he asks.
In my haste to get over here, I forgot that I had been crying. My great grandmother left me an answer to one of my problems from beyond the grave. Crying was no longer a blip on my radar.
“Yes, but that’s not important. I have to show you something,” I told him.
“You crying is important,” he said.
He patted the spot on the bed beside him. I walked over and joined him on the bed, with the diary still in my hand.
“It’s only important because it led me to this discovery,” I said as I handed him the diary, open to the page he needed to see.
At first, he sat there, taking in the information on the page. Then he tensed up and raised his eyes to look at me. His eyes told me he saw what I needed him to see.
“That is how the rebels are getting into the castle. We need to block off the entrance to the tunnel that starts in the village, but also the entrance in the castle. We can’t allow any more attacks. We might not get so lucky next time,” I told him.
“How did I not know about this?” he asked me. “It’s my job to know about things like these,” he added.
“Eduard obviously didn’t want anyone to know about it,” I tried to comfort Axel.
I didn’t want him to feel this was his fault. It wasn’t. Edward had been holding out valuable information from me. This was something I wouldn’t let him get away with.
“I will see to it that this is blocked off,” Axel told me.
“I have faith in you,” I told him.
“Yes, against your better judgment,” he teased.
“Nope, it is one of the best decisions I have ever made,” I shared.
“Is that so?” he asked.
“It is,” I said.
I snuggled up closer to him, and he accepted me into his arms.
After not seeing him in days, this is what I needed. Sure, Victoria’s diary made me feel that I wasn’t alone. Someone at one point had understood my problems. Laying here with Axel made me think that I would never have to worry about not being understood, he always would. He was on my team for the good and the bad. Right now, we were just riding out the bad, but we would get through this.
When we figured this whole thing out, maybe I would be able to figure out how to blend Axel into my world. We could both travel every night and live in both worlds together. The thought was enough to make me feel warm inside. I’d hold onto that hope. That’s my inspiration for getting through.
Eventually, I fell asleep. I didn’t realize Axel left until a knock on the door woke me from my sleep. The bed next to me was empty and cold. He had been gone for a while now.
“Come in,” I called.
Trin opened the door and raised her eyebrows at me. “When Axel told me I could find you here, I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing. He didn’t stick around to elaborate, but this is enough of an explanation,” she teased.
“You know this isn’t what it looks like,” I told her.
“I know, you aren’t that type of girl,” she stated.
“That’s for sure.”
After changing into an appropriate gown and redoing my hair, I made my way into the dining room. I was the last one to make my entrance. I glanced at the King and Queen beside me and smiled at them. Trin made a speech on my behalf, that amazing woman, and then the food was placed before us.
A very intimidating man bowed before me as he placed a steak and glass of wine in front of me. When he smiled, he had a gold tooth. It struck me as odd.
How much about dentistry did they know here?
I made a mental note to look into it later.
When all of us at the table had our meal, we began to eat as food. I chatted quietly with the King and Queen, enjoying my steak.
I took a large gulp of my wine, and I instantly felt something was off. The King and Queen took a sip of theirs before I could warn them not to touch it. My head began to swim in my own thoughts, and the world swayed back and forth in front of me.
The last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was Clarissa’s face fall into her food.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Axel
Ikept my eyes trained on Violet’s table. Things have escalated since the rebels infiltrated the castle and attempted to kill Violet. I don’t think I will ever be able to relax.
I could tell that Violet was running herself thin. Her travel between worlds was exhausting, but she never complained, even if the dark circles under her eyes gave her away.
I could tell that Violet enjoyed having the King and Queen here. She was such a new Queen and had so much to learn; I could see that she respected and looked up to them. I just hope they didn’t screw her, and our Kingdom over. They seemed like nice people, but I can’t take any chances with Violet’s safety.
Violet smiled right before taking a sip of her wine, I am assuming in response to something Queen Clarissa may have said.
Then Violet looked alarmed and immediately turned her head towards the King and Queen. She opened her mouth to say something, and then nothing. Her head became loose on her neck like she was extremely drunk, despite it being her first glass of wine.
I watched in horror as Queen Clarissa’s face fell into her food, and King Thanian fell sideways out of his chair onto the floor.
All at once, everything broke out into chaos. I felt myself let out an involuntary gasp; then my training kicked in.
“Knights lock all castle exits. Man the dungeon as well. No one is the enter or exit this castle until we find who is responsible!” I shouted to the room.
I was already next to Violet checking for her pulse, and I let out a happy tear when I barely felt her pulse below the skin in her neck. Her father had finished crossing the room and was beside me on the ground on his knees, begging Violet to wake up.
I looked up into his eyes and could see the horror in them. I only suspected him for a moment, but you can’t fake the emotions I see in his eyes. He is devastated and in a murderous rage all at once. He may find and kill who is responsible before I do.
Next to me on the floor, the King and Queen’s advisor and guards were tending to their leader, and I could only hope that they too were able to hang on.
Just then, Wisdom came busting through the doors to the dining hall. He got down on his knees next to me, opened Violet’s mouth, and poured a liquid down her throat before I could even question him.<
br />
He looked up as if he could tell I was questioning his actions, and he gave me a look that said, ‘shut the hell up.’
“Sir Axel, grab Queen Violet at once. We need to get her upstairs to a secure location.”
I directed Violet’s father to stay here. He complied but gave me a look that stated he wanted to murder me for making that call.
I shoved my hands under Violet’s back and legs, and I lifted her into my arms. I ran out of the dining room with her flopping around and unresponsive with Wisdom on my heels.
I saw Trin crying by the doors; she looked as lost as I felt. I jerked my head in her direction, telling her to follow me. She was one of Violet’s best friends and needed to be with her.
Trin
I couldn’t believe what was happening. I watched from the corner of the room as Violet lay on the ground with Axel, her father, and Wisdom bent over her. King Thanian and Queen Clarissa’s staff were bent over them.
Suddenly the men stood up and looked utterly defeated. They then all got down on one knee and placed their hand over their heart in a moment of silence. In that instant, I knew that the King and Queen were gone.
They had been poisoned and had not survived. I was so encompassed in what was going on with the King and Queen that I almost missed Axel running by me with Violet in his arms.
He nodded in my direction, and I knew what that meant. There was nothing I could do here, but I needed to be with my best friend. I followed Axel and Wisdom up the stairs and followed them into the hospital room.
Wisdom knocked everything off a table, and glass hit the ground and shattered as Axel set Violet down on the table. I rushed to her side and grabbed her hand, which was turning cold.
Axel assured me that she was still breathing, but barely.
I could feel the tears streaming down my face and willed them to go away. I needed to be strong for Violet, and for Axel, who looked like his world was falling apart all around him.
Wisdom was moving faster than I have ever seen him move in my entire life. He was throwing ingredients into a jar and mixing it around. He gave a satisfied grunt and then poured the liquid into Violet’s mouth. He said some chants in another language that I couldn’t understand. Then he put his right hand on her forehead and the other on her heart.
I watched his hands remain still, as I heard him shift from a chant to a prayer.
I automatically recognized the prayer to the Goddess.
I kept my eyes on his old beat-up hands as I joined in on the prayer. The prayer is typically used in desperate times when there is nothing else to be done besides ask the Goddess for help. As Violet would say, “we need a hail-Mary.”
The fact that Wisdom was reciting the prayer told me a lot about this situation. Violet was hanging in the balance of life or death, and there was nothing else we could do to help her.
I heard Axel join in the prayer. He was holding her other hand, and tears were streaming down his face. I had never seen someone as strong and brave as Axel cry, and it shook me down to my core.
Not only did Violet’s life hang in the balance, but so does ours. Should she not make it, Tate will swoop in and steal the Kingdoms in their weakest moments, and there won’t be much we can do to stop them. We would all be shattered from the devastation.
When we got to the end of the prayer, we all three looked up at each other, and then back down to Violet. Then we restarted the prayer and kept going until our throats began to ache.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Violet
Icould hear voices all around me. They were hushed tones, talking too fast for me to make sense of what they were saying. Occasionally I heard a word my mind could grasp onto. Words like ‘Queen Clarissa’, and ‘rebels’ would bounce around in my head. It hurt too much to try to concentrate on them.
I wanted to make sense of what they were saying, but I just didn’t have the strength. I put all my focus into trying to open my eyes to no avail. Instead, I groaned in frustration and pain.
“Oh! She is coming to! Violet, can you hear me?”
It sounded like Axel, but his voice was distorted. Was it my hearing, or did his voice sound strained, like mine did after I sobbed?
I groaned again to answer him. I tried squeezing the hand someone was holding. It was faint, but it must have been enough.
“She squeezed my hand,” Beetie said.
Oh, Aunt Beetie, how I missed her. I would love to have a conversation with her right now, but I couldn’t talk even if my life depended on it.
I groaned again, hoping to express how miserable I felt.
“Hush, honey,” she told me.
I stayed silent in response.
“I am going to tell you what we know, and if it is too much, you just squeeze my hand again like you did before. Squeeze my hand again to let me know you understand,” she said in a soothing voice.
Didn’t she know how much it took just to squeeze the first time? I wanted to know what she was going to tell me, though, so I painfully squeezed again.
“Wonderful,” she said.
“I don’t know how much you remember, but we were all at dinner. You and the King and Queen were having a good time, but someone poisoned your wine. We didn’t think you were going to make it.”
She sounded like she wanted to say something else, but Wisdom cut in.
“Violet, do you remember who served you your wine? If so, squeeze Beetie’s hand,” he said.
I squeezed, sort of remembering what he looked like with a gold tooth. If I saw him again, I would know him.
“That’s great, we are going to need you to rest up so you can accuse him when you are well enough,” Wisdom said.
Someone took a cold, wet cloth and dragged it across my forehead. It felt refreshing, like a cool breeze.
I wanted to let out a small sigh of relief, but instead, I groaned.
What was I accusing him of? Attempted murder, breaking and entering? I squeezed Beetie’s hand again, hoping she might understand what I was asking. Are the King and Queen waking up like this too? Didn’t they remember what he looked like?
“Should we tell her?” I heard Trin ask.
“I don’t think now is the time,” Axel answered.
“She’s the Queen, we can’t keep these things from her,” Beetie said.
Oh, I love that woman.
“Honey,” I heard her say.
“The King and Queen didn’t get as lucky as you. They both had too much of the poison. They are gone, I’m so sorry.”
Just like that, my brain overloaded, and I blacked out again.
☼
When I woke up again, I was in a much better place than I was the last time. I was able to open my eyes and my mouth. My vocal cords felt heavy from the lack of use. I tried clearing my throat, that’s when everyone ran to my side.
“Please tell me I am dreaming,” I said as Wisdom helped me sit up. My voice didn’t sound like my own.
“I wish I could,” he answered me.
“So, they are really dead?” I asked, unable to believe it.
“I’m afraid so,” he said, sounding so remorseful.
“What’s going to happen now? They were our allies, my friends,” I started to get all choked up.
“Shhh, its okay,” Wisdom cooed.
“Actually, your highness, I am here to talk business with you,” a man said as he bowed in front of my bed.
“Now isn’t the time,” Wisdom said.
“On the contrary, we have specific instructions we must follow. It was the Queen’s final wishes,” he replied sternly.
The Queens final wishes? Was she able to talk before she died?
“Let me hear it,” I said to the man, trying to sound confident.
“As you might be aware, the King and Queen wished that should anything happen to them, you take their throne. You are now to become the Queen of Urbem Glacies. When you are well, we will have your coronation.”
I had completely forgotten about th
at agreement. This was earth-shattering. Never in recorded history had one monarch presided over two Kingdoms since they all split. While Morthsoul and Morthshadow were separate lands, they had always been apart of the same Kingdom, the Morthlands. While there were technically five kingdoms, in reality, there are four.
This agreement was only supposed to be a safety net, and never come to fruition, but here we are. Now there were three monarchs for five lands, and I hold the monopoly. If Kennan didn’t want me dead before, now he certainly does.
I want to puke.
I have difficulties running my own Kingdom. How can I run another from a different land? I can’t be in two places at once. Well, more so than I already am with traveling in my dreams.
The inside of my head felt like a raging ocean in a horrific storm. Lightning strikes and crashes of thunder occupied my head, and somewhere in the waves, holding for dear life is me. I was struggling to keep my composure amongst the storm.
How will I ever survive this?
This only paints a bigger target on my back. If I hadn’t just almost died, I would think about how grave the danger I face is, but since I was poisoned, that ship has long ago sailed. In reality, I have been in danger from the moment I told Kennan no back in Arlington; I just had no idea.
“She also asked me to give you this,” he raised a box. He set it in my hands and backed away.
“I was their advisor, and today I feel a great loss. I trust her majesties judgment, and I pledge my service to you, should you choose to accept. A couple of weeks ago, she took a lot of time to plan for their demise. She thought about what you would need. In reality, she knew that she and the King, Goddess rest his soul, were on borrowed time. I am here to carry out her wishes and to prepare you as best as I can.”
The man got down on his knee.
“Will you accept my help?” he asked me.
“I will accept your help,” I said breathlessly.
“What is your name?”
“Adam, your majesty.”
What do I even do, what should be my first order to him? How long have the King and Queen already been gone, hours, days? I need to make sure they rest honorably. The King was the Godson of my Great Grandmother, and that makes him family. And sweet, beautiful Clarissa, I will have no one as my peer to look to for guidance. I must make sure they get the final sendoff they deserve.
Emerald Mountains (The Dream Traveler Series Book 2) Page 11