by Bone, K. L.
“One hundred.” Garreth could not hide his shock. “Surely, my Lady.”
“One hundred. Care to make it more?” Garreth lowered his gaze to the ground as the Queen continued. “She should consider herself fortunate that I do not give her to the men when you are finished.” She gazed back to where Mara still knelt upon the floor. “If her children would not have a claim to my throne, I would.” With that, the Queen turned and left the room.
By the time Garreth reached her, she was physically shaking. “Breathe, Mara. Please, you have to breathe.” Most days the centuries between their births seemed non-existent, but as Garreth gathered her into his arms, those years had never seemed more present. “My girl,” he said softly. “My brave, brave girl.” He held her tightly against his chest, clutching her close. “Oh Gods, Mara. Thank you.” His own voice rose unsteadily. “Thank you for doing what I could not.” He laid a gentle kiss upon her brow.
“She’s mad,” Mara whispered against his chest. “Completely mad.”
“I know,” he said, trying to sooth her.
“You can’t tell Edward. Please, you can’t tell him. He can’t know how bad this is going to be. Please.” She shook her head. “He can’t know.”
“Okay,” Garreth replied. “We will tell him it was very little. That she forgave you because of your royal blood.”
Mara gave a shaking nod. “My mother…” she said suddenly. “I begged my mother not to. I tried to…”
“I know,” he assured her. “I know you did. There was nothing anyone could have done to save your mother. You know this. Not you—not even the Queen.”
Mara nodded as Garreth placed her upon the ground. “You have to walk out on your own, Mara. If Edward is waiting, you are going to have to be convincing; otherwise he will see right through you.” She nodded again and Garreth opened the tall doors of the Queen’s chambers. Much to Mara’s relief, it was Phillip, not Edward, who awaited them.
“I sent Edward to his chambers,” were the first words to escape his lips. “He was a mess. I told him you needed him to be strong and to wait for you there. And I did not want the Queen to see him standing here and decide to change her mind about letting him leave.”
As the relief washed over her, Mara collapsed and would have tumbled to the ground if Garreth had not been there to catch her.
“My Lady,” Phillip stepped forward. “Is she injured?”
Garreth again gathered Mara into his arms and glanced at Phillip. “Not yet.”
“I see,” came the response, the tips of his fingers tightening against his palms. “I am going with you.” Garreth did not argue but instead began to move down the hall to stairwell, all the while cradling Mara in his strong arms. Phillip moved ahead of them and proceeded to open doors and clear each hallway before they entered it, minimizing the risk of anyone seeing Mara in such a condition. When they finally reached the cursed chambers, Garreth walked Mara slowly to the stone table in the center of the room.
“How bad?” Phillip inquired. “You would not look this worried if it wasn’t bad.” He motioned to where Mara lay silently in Garreth’s arms. “I’ve never seen her afraid. Angry, hurt, exhausted, yes—but never afraid.”
“It’s not physical,” Garreth replied. “The Queen called her by her mother’s name and it…emotionally it…”
Phillip gave a nod. “I remember when her mother died.”
“Yes,” Garreth answered, his mind traveling back to that day all too easily. The tiny girl delivered to his door, clinging to Edward’s hand. When Edward tried to leave her that night, the orphaned Princess had begun to cry, begging and pleading for him not to go. He had finally moved with her to the large bed, placing her head upon his chest and held her through the night as Garreth looked on helplessly. Mellissa had died three days before anyone had found them; Mara kneeling at the edge of the bed holding her dead mother’s hand. Three Days, Edward had said over and over.
Even at that tender age, Mara held a special bond with Edward that seemed unbreakable. By the time she was seventeen, Edward could deny her nothing, including his heart and entrance to the Queen’s Royal Guard. The Queen had asked Mara how she could place herself between a blade and the man she loved, after all the pain they had endured. Garreth wondered, how could she not?
“Shall I get the Captain?” Phillip asked.
Garreth felt himself fighting back his own tears as he said, “No.” He raised his eyes to the other man’s. “She asked us not to. I don’t think she could live with herself if she forced him to watch this; not after what happened to him when Liza died.” Yet even as he spoke, he found himself silently praying: By the Gods, let me be right.
“Shall we secure her?”
“No.” He drew a deep breath and turned his attention back to the girl in his arms. “Mara,” he said as gently as he could. “I need you to look at me.” When she did not respond, Garreth ran a finger down her cheek. “I am going to put you on the table, Mara. I need you to tell me that you understand.” She did not respond. “If you cannot look at me now, I will have no choice but to get Edward.”
“Edward,” she repeated his name. “Edward.”
Phillip shook his head and began to walk towards the doors. “I will get the Captain.”
“No, wait. Mara,” he said, adding a touch of force to his words. “Sub-Captain Mara.” Her eyes moved to his at the use of her title. “Captain,” he said again. “I am going to move you to the table.”
She did not speak, but instead offered a shaky nod, terror running through her violet eyes. He moved her from his arms onto the table as gently as possible, then proceeded to grab a small knife from his side. He cut carefully through the silk which covered her back. “It won’t offer protection and we do not want to cause her more pain later by trying to pry the torn pieces of fabric from her skin.” Phillip nodded and then Garreth moved to the floor and positioned himself near the front of the table she lay upon. “Give me your hands, Mara.” Her arms shook as she reached forward. Garreth grasped her trembling fingers and slid his hand inside her own. “Mara, if you want Edward, tell me now. If you, at any point, decide you want him here, say the world and I will bring him to your side. Do you understand?”
Yes, she screamed silently. Yes, I want him. But she forced herself to swallow her pleas. Watching this would only harm him further, and that she could not do. “No,” she informed her cousin. “No matter what happens; don’t let him see this.”
Garreth gave a painful nod and positioned his hands further into Mara’s grasp. “Hold on to me. Break my hand if you have to.” She gave a trembling nod and Garreth said, “We love you,” as the first lash crashed down upon the center of her exposed flesh.
“How many?” Phillip asked.
Garreth looked up with haunted eyes. “Until she stops screaming.”
The whip crashed down in a steady rhythm, never quite hitting the same place twice. On the fifteenth, Mara let out an ear-shattering scream and by the thirtieth, she was begging for them to stop. “Garreth,” Phillip was exhausted, “how many?”
“One hundred.”
“What?”
“One hundred.”
“By the Gods.” He shook his head. “I…I can’t. It’s too many. I’m going to get the Captain.”
“Damnit, Phillip! How can we ask her to be strong if we are not ourselves?” He looked down at the girl writhing on the table. Her skin was split open alone the sides of her spine. Exposed muscles showed through layers of stripped flesh. Blood gushed, cascading over the sides of the stone slab to splash into a pool which seemed to stream wildly in no particular direction. Garreth closed his eyes tightly to draw an unsteady breath, but gagged at the overwhelming smell of blood.
Phillip again brought the whip down upon her. A few strokes more and she became delirious. She screamed Edward’s name, begging for him to stop the pain. She called for mercy, to the Gods above, and finally, for her mother. She thrashed upon the table, breaking several of Garreth’s fing
ers as she struggled to escape her torment and eventually, fell to an almost death-like stillness, too injured to move.
As she lay, her eyes fell to the far side of the room where a stream of her blood was quickly working its way across the stone floor. There was a crack in the large wall where a stray vine had erupted from the garden above. Upon its branch lay a series of large, white roses. Lacking the strength to move her head, Mara watched as the crimson stream moved forward to paint the white petals of the rose. Yet as Mara’s blood touched the first, delicate petal, the roses on the vine turned not the crimson of Mara’s blood, but the black of a starless night. “Black Rose,” she whispered in a voice all but destroyed from her screams.
“Stop!” Garreth instructed the other man, who instantly complied. Garreth leaned forward and placed his ear closer to Mara’s cracked lips. “What did you say?”
“Black Rose.”
Garreth raised his eyes to Phillip’s. “Did she just?”
“Yes.”
“No one has taken the Vow of the Black Rose in centuries.
“No court has had a murdered Princess either,” came Garreth’s response. “She was Liza’s Captain. The vow is hers to take.”
“And if she takes the Order of the Black Rose…”
“It places her beyond the power of the Courts—including the Queen.”
“Along with all those who choose to serve her,” Phillip finished for him.
“Yes.” The two men exchanged a bewildered glance. “If she takes the Vow of the Black Rose, she won’t only save Edward, she will save us all.”
“It is a mad quest. If our entire force cannot find Liza’s killers, then how can she be expected to…?”
“Does it matter?” Garreth replied. “As long as it gets her away from this?” Both men turned their gaze to the unrecognizable form of the girl lying between them. “Mara Sethian,” Garreth said in a reserved tone, “the Captain of the Black Rose.”
Chapter L
Garreth and Phillip held off Edward’s demands to see Mara for the next three days. They lied, informing him that she had received only a minor punishment and the Queen, despite her initial anger, had softened at the reminder that Mara was, in fact, her niece. They said that she was recovering from these minor injuries and begged his patience before she saw him again. However, on the third day, he could stand it no more and told Phillip coldly that if she would not come to him, then he would go to her.
Every muscle screamed as the flesh of Mara’s back ripped even further apart with every motion. Yet when she reached Edward’s door, she pushed Garreth away, refusing assistance as she stepped forward to slowly meet her Captain. “Not a word,” she hissed to Garreth in a strained voice. “Not one single word.”
She walked forward, her back far too straight, her steps careful and slow. When she reached the center of the room, she knelt down, lowering herself gingerly to the stone floor.
“Mara.” He spoke her name softly and her eyes closed at the sound. She had to resist the urge to fall apart. “Mara,” he said again.
“Edward.” She spoke his name and offered a silent prayer for strength. “I’m leaving, Edward.”
A long pause followed the statement before he finally asked, “What do you mean, leaving? Where is she sending you? Is it because of what you did for me?”
“She is not sending me anywhere,” Mara replied.
“I don’t understand. Where are you going? For how long? I need you here.”
“No,” Mara shook her head. “You needed me, for a time. But today, you placed yourself between the Queen and your men. You do not need me; not anymore.”
“Yes, I do! If you had not been there, the Queen would have…she…”
“Edward,” Mara cut through his words. “Don’t you see? You did not act further, because I did not let you; and it was not my place to intercede.”
“You swore an oath to serve the Queen. What makes you think you can…I don’t understand.”
Mara fought to control a swirl of emotions. “When I joined this guard, I swore a vow of obedience to the Captain of this guard. I swore another to Liza when you named me her Captain. I never once, nor was I ever asked, to swear an oath of loyalty to the Queen.” She inhaled deeply, “Now, I have sworn another.”
“And what vow would that be?”
“I have taken the order of the Black Rose.” Mara’s right arm began to shake from the effort required to remain kneeling. “I will take vengeance upon those who killed her.”
“The Black Rose?” Edward asked in a tone of disbelief. “No one has taken that oath since…it must have been the beginning of the Roman Empire.”
“Nevertheless, I have taken the oath and will, from this day forward, be sworn to avenge the death of our Princess. And Edward, I want you to come with me.” She paused for several heartbeats to allow him to process her words before she added, “Come away from here. I know the men would follow you—as would I. It is only fitting that she be avenged by your hand.”
Edward shook his head, pushing himself to a seated position on the bed. “Mara,” he finally replied. “The Queen—”
“Cannot prevent you from leaving.” The trembling throughout Mara’s body became steadily worse. “She cannot stop you, not if you take the vow of the Rose.” Edward’s dark eyes seemed to stare straight to her soul. “Please, come with me, Edward. I…” She fought to keep the desperation from her voice. “Please, I cannot watch her hurt you anymore. Please.” The word escaped as a sob. “Don’t make me. I just…can’t do it anymore.” She lost her battle as a stream of tears escaped the corner of her eye. “Please.”
“Mara, I am the Captain of the Queen’s Guard. I can’t.”
Mara gazed into the jet black eyes of the man she had loved all her life, and broached the forbidden subject. “The Queen,” she paused between each word, “who killed her daughter.”
Edward was unable to hide the shock from showing on his face. “What? You do not know that. How could you say such a thing? How could you even begin to believe it? They could kill you for saying such a thing!”
“Then how did she die?” Mara’s tears ceased as her voice grew in intensity. “She was killed by an enchanted blade. The only sword unaccounted for—was hers. Don’t you see?” She tilted her head slightly as her voice began to hollow. “It does not matter whose hand made the stroke. Liza died by the Queen’s own blade.”
“You don’t know that!” Edward’s voice was as firm as Mara had ever heard. “There could be another. You will not make accusations against the Queen of this court and you will not repeat your words to anyone. Do you understand me, Mara? Not to anyone!”
Mara stared into his eyes and spoke the unforgivable words. “You cannot issue me orders, Edward. You are not my Captain anymore.” The words cut deep. “But I will make you this promise, for the love that Liza bore you.” She gave a hard swallow. “I will not raise my blade to the Queen as long as you stand before her. You, who Liza loved above all others.”
Deadly silence stood between them when Edward finally asked, “And what is to stop me then, from killing you now, for this threat you have made against my Queen?”
“Nothing,” Mara replied. “But I ask you to think well upon your choice, Captain. If you wish my life, take it now, for tomorrow I ride to Lethia Castle with a hundred men sworn to trade their life for mine.”
Mara’s left hand touched the ground beneath her, physically lacking the strength to remain in her kneeling position. Edward leaned forward and grabbed her arm. He jerked her forward, causing her to slide across the floor, her chest crashing against the side of the bed. His hand rose to Mara’s chin, raising her face to meet his eyes as his fingers pressed against the hollow of her throat. Mara leaned forward, increasing the pressure of Edward’s fingers against her delicate skin. “If you wish my life, my Lord, you have but to ask.”
In response, Edward leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. Time seemed to seep into a small eternity as their kiss
lingered and deepened. Then as Edward drew back to draw breath, the moment was broken.
Mara closed her eyes tightly, but was unable to keep fresh tears from spilling down her face. She drew several ragged breaths and finally returned her gaze to the man before her. She reached her arm forward until her fingertips touched the left side of his face. She offered this small, single caress. “Goodbye, Edward.” Goodbye, my love.
Chapter LI
It was the next morning when Edward realized the truth. His chambers being one of few which held a small window for morning light, he awoke to find the path to his bed smeared with blood, saturating the spot where Mara had knelt before him.
Edward rose quickly and flew to Garreth’s chambers where he proceeded to bang upon the door. “Come in!”
Edward opened the door so hard it slammed against the wall behind him. “Minor punishment!” he all but screamed. “What, by all the Gods, happened to her? How dare you lie to me! How dare you!”
“It was her secret to keep. And I’m shocked you didn’t notice. She could barely stand when she entered your chambers last night. Did you notice how she had to reach down to support herself? There is no way she held a kneeling position without doing so.”
“What happened?”
“What do you think? She pulled a blade on the Queen!” Garreth shook his head and spoke through gritted teeth. “What. Do. You. Think?”
Edward’s gaze dropped to the floor. “I didn’t want…Why didn’t she call for me?”
“She did,” Garreth answered with tears searing the corner of his eyes. “She screamed for you as we cut into her… As we… She had made me promise that no matter what she said, I would not tell you. And I know it was wrong, I know I should have, we…”
He grabbed a goblet from his bedside and threw it hard against the wall. “Damn you! She made me swear. She begged no matter what. But yes, yes, she called for you. Screamed for you!” Garreth paused to breathe and then forced himself to continue. “The Queen called her by her mother’s name, screwed her up so much emotionally that I’m not even sure she knew what we were about to do until it had already begun. She…I…I couldn’t.” He buried his face in his hands. “I know she needed you, but Gods…what would you have done? I wanted to kill the Queen myself. If you had been there; if you had seen, Edward I…” He suddenly looked up and met his Captain’s eyes. “I don’t know what you would have done. Do you?”