by Sara V. Zook
“Mother, I’ll stay with her,” Emry offered. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
Atavia huffed and everyone filed out of the room.
After throwing on some clothes, I pulled my wet hair back and met Emry in the hall. He gave me a troubled look. I knew I was in for it for whatever it was that awaited me in the study with Atavia and her crew.
Jo ran up to me and grabbed my shoulders. “Anna,” she hissed.
She had taken me off guard. I pulled away from her grasp.
“What’s this I hear? You killed Raleigh?” she asked.
Emry reached out for my hand and pulled me along. “How fast rumors travel in this castle,” he mumbled.
I looked back at Jo. “I didn’t kill anyone.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he whispered as we walked down the hall.
“Really?” I said. “Don’t worry that others think I’m a murderer?”
He sighed but didn’t say anything else as we made a sharp turn and went into another room I’d never seen before. Everyone was eerily silent as we walked toward the front where
Atavia stood.
“Tell everyone what happened,” Ben said.
Everyone’s face was filled with accusation and outrage as their beauty queen was dead. Of course they’d instantly think that the attention seeking, jealous girlfriend would have been the one to commit the crime.
“I don’t know,” I began. “I talked with Emry last night …”
“You had a fight,” Jillianne corrected me.
I glared at her. “Yes, we sort of had a fight. He left, Jillianne came in and escorted me to my room.”
“Is that true, Jillianne?” Atavia asked.
She nodded, her brown curls bobbing up and down as she did so.
“She gave me a drink to help me sleep. I fell asleep and woke up with a terrible headache. I was covered in blood with Raleigh beside me. I threw up on the floor when I realized she was dead and hurried to wash the blood away before screaming for help as I couldn’t face going into that room alone again. That’s it.”
“Was she drunk last night, Jillianne?” Atavia asked.
“No,” Jillianne said.
“Emry?”
“She was sober,” he answered.
“When was the last time you saw Raleigh?” Ben asked.
This interrogation reminded me that Ben had been a lawyer on Earth. “She was with Emry when I went to talk to him. She left so we could be alone. That’s the last time.” I ran a hand over my smooth, wet ponytail.
“This doesn’t make sense,” Ben told Atavia.
“Sure it does,” she snapped. “She killed her.”
“How was she killed?” Emry asked. “Does anyone even know that yet?”
“Guards said Raleigh was stabbed,” Ben said. “Ten times.”
Everyone in the room gasped.
“Poor, dear, Raleigh,” Atavia whispered. “She had a fruitful life awaiting her.”
I glared, knowing exactly what she meant. She had always planned on getting Emry to fall for Raleigh, to marry Raleigh.
“None of you know Anna like I do,” Emry said so everyone could hear. “This nonsense of accusing her is going to stop right now.” He looked around making sure he made eye contact with everyone. “Someone else did this. Maybe one of you did this.”
“Emry,” Atavia chastised. “You’re out of line.”
“Aren’t I to be king?” he questioned her.
“You aren’t king yet, my boy,” Atavia said, a threat in her tone.
He eyed her for a moment, remaining silent. The control she had over him was so irritating. Emry was trying to defend me, to protect me for the first time since I came here. Even after all that had happened last night with Treyu, and Raleigh now dead, he still was on my side. That alone was making all this bearable, making it so I wasn’t a complete wreck and not breaking down at this exact moment.
Ben stepped next to Atavia. “My queen,” he said, lowering his head and giving her a little bow. “What do you propose?”
She put a finger to her lips and tapped it there a few times. She glanced at Emry and then me.
“Someone hasn’t been killed in the castle since King Calan was murdered by Karn,” I heard someone whisper from behind me. I knew Emry had heard it, too. The side of his jaw tightened in tension.
Atavia consulted with Ben quietly for a few moments so that no one else could hear.
Ben turned away from her and faced us. “The queen has decided an investigation has to take place to determine the facts. Once the facts are found out, they will be made public immediately.”
Atavia whispered something to him again.
“Yes,” he agreed. “Please, no one needs to panic. No one is in danger. The guards will be put on high alert for any unusual behavior, so just go about your usual business for the rest of the day.”
“Am I off the hook?” I whispered to Emry.
“I wouldn’t say that,” he replied. “I guess things can’t ever be simple around this place. Come on, let’s go find you another room, unless …”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“You want to still sleep in that same room?” he asked.
“Real funny,” I whispered. “What an appropriate time for humor, Emry.”
He shrugged and we filed out of the room along with everyone else.
“Anna? Anna? Are you awake?”
The doors to my new room opened and Ben hurried inside. I sat up in bed as I was still trying to recover from the headache that was just now starting to subside. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep ever again.”
He smoothed out his dark-colored coat with his hands as he stood in front of me. “I need you to get up. How do you look? Put on something decent.”
“What’s going on?” I got out of bed and hurried over to the closet in search of something to wear.
He shook his head. “What a mess. Raleigh’s family have just arrived at the castle.”
“What?” I asked, my eyes widening at the thought. “What do you want with me?”
“They’re demanding to see you.”
I turned around to face him, the fear already starting to make my hands quiver.
“It’ll be all right,” he assured me. “No one is going to harm you. I’ll be there along with Emry. They’re quarreling with the queen right now.”
I walked into the main entrance of the castle where Raleigh’s family, an older man, three younger men and a woman stood. I supposed them to be her parents and brothers. They looked livid, the three younger men holding spears in their hands but not aiming them, and the woman’s head was covered in a veil, tissues clutched tightly in her hands as she dabbed her nose every now and then.
“Ben,” Atavia said in relief. “There you are.” She looked my way.
“Is that her?” one of the younger men asked. “Is that the human?”
I folded my hands together, my eyes not moving away from the spears. These contributors were here to avenge Raleigh’s death. They wanted answers, but no one could give them.
“This is her,” Atavia said, gesturing toward me.
Both Ben and Emry stepped in front of me at the same time.
“Why do you protect her?” the older man lashed out. “Why are you hoarding humans and Scaves here anyway? Are you turning against us, my queen?”
“Watch your tongue, Omelius,” Ben warned. “The queen’s powers outweigh your own.”
“My daughter has been slaughtered here,” the man reminded him. “I have every right to know what’s going on.”
“We don’t know what happened yet,” Ben said. “There’s an investigation underway as we speak.”
One of the younger men spit on the floor. “Who needs an investigation. We were told the human did it.”
“She did not,” Emry said.
“This is an outrage. I demand you kill her right now, or we will,” he told Emry.
“Again, I’d watch what you say,” Ben sa
id. “You haven’t met him yet, but this is your future king.”
Raleigh’s mother’s eyes widened at the news as she examined Emry from head to toe. “This is your son, the one you promised my Raleigh to marry?”
Emry and Atavia exchanged glances. Emry hadn’t known his mother’s intentions for Raleigh, just as I had suspected. Raleigh had been nothing more but a pawn in the queen’s game of making choices for Emry’s life here on Evadere.
Atavia chuckled. “Who knows if it would’ve worked out.”
The woman glared at her.
“Why is this human here anyway? How did she get here?” one of the brothers asked.
“It’s not really any of your business,” Atavia snapped.
“Oh, just tell them, mother,” Emry said. “There’s no use in making things worse than they already are. My deepest sympathies to you and your family, sir. Raleigh was a wonderful woman, one you raised properly. I had no idea that she was here to court me,” Emry explained. “This human as you refer to her, is Anna James. She’s here because of me. I’m in love with her.”
The family gasped. Even Atavia was shocked that he had admitted such a thing. What an embarrassment it had to have been for her. I couldn’t help the smirk that crossed my lips.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Raleigh’s mother said softly.
“I was hidden away on Earth for my entire life up until now,” he explained. “I interacted with the humans. I lived as a human. I had human relationships, this one being the most vital. That’s all you need to know about the situation. She didn’t kill Raleigh. This whole thing was meant to look as if she did.”
The family exchanged glances with one another.
“Then who did?” the man asked.
“As I said,” Ben answered. “There’s an investigation …”
“The human did it,” Atavia said, interrupting Ben. “Emry doesn’t think so because he’s not looking at the situation logically but emotionally. No one is going to convince me otherwise.”
One of the brothers pointed his spear at me.
“Why do these men still have weapons in our castle?” Emry questioned the guards and his mother. “Take their weapons away.”
Raleigh’s brothers stood in a defensive manner. They put their backs together so their weapons were all facing outward as the guards surrounded them.
“Enough!” Atavia yelled. “Hasn’t enough blood been shed for one day?” She put her hands on her hips.
“Humans and Scaves … seems like more should be shed to me,” one of the brothers stated. “They’re not welcome here.”
“Who are you to judge the queen?” Ben asked.
“Our daughter is dead,” the woman said, sobbing. “We are grieving. Why can you not understand that?”
“This is not the proper way to grieve,” Ben informed her. “She could have you all locked away for this.”
“If she did, more contributors would come to avenge us, that is certain,” Raleigh’s father assured everyone.
Atavia’s face had twisted up as she kept her distance from Raleigh’s family. “Guards, go get Raleigh’s body. Hurry.”
We all waited in silence, everyone staring at one another, everyone posed for battle. The guards returned in minutes, carrying a large white bundle that held the once stunning Raleigh. They dumped her body carelessly on the floor in front of her family.
The mother gasped at the harshness of the guards. She rushed to the covered body and threw herself over it.
“Pigs!” one of the brothers shouted.
“Enough,” Atavia commanded. “Gather your child and be gone. You are not welcome here again.”
Everyone eyed each other once last time before the father picked up his dead child in his arms and the group of contributors left, Raleigh’s elegant presence tainted by a gory one of a pool of cooled blood on my bed.
“I want extra security around the clock,” Atavia told the guards. “I want every entrance guarded. Am I understood?”
“Yes, your majesty,” they replied almost in unison.
Atavia’s cheeks were flushed, her always perfect hair now disheveled as pieces fell down on the sides. She rubbed the front of her neck with one hand, the other on her waist. “I want that human locked up. I want her thrown in the dungeon where she belongs.”
One of the guards stepped toward me.
Emry tensed for battle. “No. You’re upset by the contributors.”
“In all this time, in all these years, never have I had a group of contributors waltz in here and try to call the shots,” she mumbled. “No one has ever been murdered in my castle, not since …” she hesitated.
“Father?” Emry asked.
Atavia swallowed. Thinking about her dead husband actually made emotion surface on the queen’s face. Perhaps she had really loved Calan and still did to this day. “Yes, since that incident.” Then her face tightened as she pointed her finger at me. “None of these things would’ve happened if she hadn’t come along. She’s a problem, Emry, I’m telling you.”
“You just want someone to blame. She hasn’t done anything,” Emry said, defending me once again.
I stepped closer to him and wrapped my fingers into his, but he jerked his hand away, his back still turned as he stood in front of me. Why had he pulled away from me like that? I took two steps backwards away from him.
“This is the first act of rebellion, I can feel it,” Atavia rambled on. “No one’s going to want to be a guest here anymore. They’ll all be afraid for their lives. They’ll be afraid of the Scave maidservants, of the human.”
“Mother …”
“Emry, she has to be out of our lives. Don’t you see what she’s doing? She’s tearing our kingdom apart, little by little. She’s a demon who’s weaseled her way in. I can’t just stand here and let her ruin you, ruin us. She has to be put in the dungeon so I know everyone’s safe.”
“No,” he said sternly.
“Then let’s exile her to Earth. Put her back with her kind. You’ll forget her soon enough. There are women lining up just to speak with you,” Atavia continued, trying to be persuasive. “We’ll look back on this and laugh at the time you thought you loved a human.” She laughed then.
“She can hear you, you know.” Emry turned to me. “No one will do any harm to Anna, or they’ll have to answer to me. Ben, protect her.” With that, he began walking at a fast pace down the hall.
I stood there for a few moments, watching after him before I hurried to catch up. “Emry,” I called out. “Please wait.”
His steps seemed to speed up, so I sprinted after him.
“Please!” I yelled.
Emry stopped dead in his tracks. I practically ran into him as he turned around to look at me. “What is it?” he asked.
I lowered my eyebrows, trying to read his red and tired eyes. “What’s wrong? Don’t you want to be around me now? I thought …”
“Anna, listen,” he said. “A lot is going on. Everything’s a mess. It feels like I have all these pieces I have to put back together again. I’m stressed out. I can’t sleep. Raleigh was just murdered in a place I’m supposed to call home. Everyone’s against the idea of you and me. It’s just a lot right now. Can’t you understand that?”
The tone of his voice frightened me. “Of course, Emry, I understand, but …”
“Now I have to try and make amends with Raleigh’s family so my mother won’t be so paranoid that more people are out to get her. She’s already paranoid enough as it is about the Scaves since I’ve been back.”
“I’m sorry things haven’t exactly gone as planned for you,” I whispered. “I’m sorry you feel I’m not there for you.”
“It’s fine. I’m fine,” he said in a harsh tone. “I’m used to being on my own, remember? It’s just before, when things got tough, I transported here. Now where do I go?”
I shook my head, realizing what he must be going through. A lot had changed for him, and now, all of a sudden, he was in charge
of all these contributors with all these problems. He had a mother that thrived on her powers and ability to get others to do as she said. Our relationship was on the back burner compared to all of these things right now. I had to give him space again. At least he had stood up for me against his mother in front of everyone. That had to mean something.
“I just need to be alone right now, okay?” he asked.
I nodded, but not fully understanding.
“It’s like I’m being pulled in all these different directions. I’ve just never had this kind of responsibility before. It’s crazy. I’m not used to any of this and suddenly people are looking to me for answers. I’ll figure it out.” He stared at me for a moment longer before turning to go. I watched as he made it a few steps and then turned back around. “Who do you think killed Raleigh?”
I hesitated for a moment. “I honestly think Atavia did it so she could have an excuse to get rid of me, get me away from you.”
“You two are unbelievable.” He clenched his jaw together and glared at me before storming off. I watched him walk through the side doors that led to the outside. He lifted his arm up in the air and an entire wall near the fountain crumbled to the ground.
Chapter 12
The next few days were dull and spent in my room. I would leave and go to the library and get some books on the planet’s history. I would read until I felt sleepy and then nap. I was no longer called for dinner. Meals were always brought to my room.
I stared out the window and sighed. It was nighttime now. The less I did, the more tired I became. It was a vicious cycle. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do. Should I stay here and wait, and if so, what exactly was it that I was waiting for? Then again, if I returned to Earth, what would I do there? I knew all I’d think about was Emry, and at least here I knew we were on the same planet. Emry hadn’t transported back to Earth since leaving the beach. I mean, why would he? There was nothing back there for him and everything here.
I thought about Atavia’s intentions and how I was glad that Lainey Tritt was the one that supposedly raised him instead of her. I was a little shocked that she permitted her baby prince to be around someone like Lainey and her living arrangements compared to this lavish castle.