by Emma Hamm
One down, now she only had a few hundred more to go. Taking a deep breath, Danielle looked over her shoulder and gestured Raphael to come forward. “The Dread have no wish to fight.”
“They started this battle!” One soldier called out. His finger twitched, clearly wanting nothing more than to loose an arrow into Raphael’s throat. “They attacked us!”
“They came for me,” she replied. “If I had been allowed to return to them, then they wouldn’t have needed to attack.”
“You came home.” The soldier shifted his stance, grounding himself as he prepared to fight. “We protect our own.”
“Yes, we do. Because we protect what is ours.” Danielle blindly reached behind her, waiting for Raphael’s hand to slip into hers. His clawed fingers fit between hers. “But the Dread are also people of Hollow Hill. And we must protect them as well.”
The alchemist finally spoke up once again. He stared down at his fingers, nonchalant and so careless. “Yet, your people warred with them before.”
The guard she was certain had come to her side, lifted his bow again.
Raphael growled, and the sound silenced whatever movement from the soldiers there was. The low base of his rumble overpowered shifting armor and whispers from either side. “You bring up an ancient history, alchemist. One which was laid to rest many years ago.”
The doors of the palace opened once again. This time, it was her father who strode through them. He dragged her mother alongside him.
Thin, frail, and ever so weak, her mother was a dying butterfly just waiting to be crushed in his hand. The King tossed the Queen onto the top of the stairs where she just caught herself before she tumbled down them into the courtyard. “This is ancient history, beast?”
His scream echoed, bouncing off the cool marble walls and reaching up into the parapets. All remaining fighting ceased at the call of the king.
Everyone stared, waiting for what would happen next.
All Danielle could hear was her mother’s whimpers. All she could see were the bruises already appearing on her mother’s bare arms.
This wasn’t the family she’d ever wanted. This wasn’t the treatment a Queen deserved. And yet, this was all Danielle had known.
She refused to stand by and watch it happen any more. “King!” she called out.
His feverish gaze found hers, then moved to the Dread behind her. He laughed, the sound cruel and mirthless. “So you lay in the bed of beasts, is that it?”
Danielle would not let him try to sway her mind with cruel words and tempting thoughts. “That is not the way you treat a queen, King of Hollow Hill.”
“Father,” he snarled. “Or do you deny your own blood?”
“I deny you.” She stepped back, closer to the Dread. “You are no father of mine.”
“And yet, I am still king. I was the one to save the people of Hollow Hill from the creatures you attach yourself to.”
“They fought because they must. We forced them into a war the first time, just as you want to force us into a war now.” A few guards looked at each other, pulling themselves out of the alchemists spell. Danielle continued, “I will not stand by and watch you ruin this kingdom or its people.”
Her father strode to the side of his wife, who knelt at his feet like a slave. “Then I will kill them as I did before.”
It was Raphael who snarled in response. He spread his wings wide and opened his arms in invitation. “Please, king. Try to kill me as you tried so long ago. I am still well and alive.”
“But you’re missing this.” Her father reached into the folds of his tunic and pulled out what looked like a ram’s horn. He threw it down the stairs and it rattled, clanked, and clanged until it rolled to a stop at Raphael’s feet.
Danielle gasped and pressed her hands against her mouth.
The missing horn from atop Raphael’s head lay at their feet. Tears burned in her eyes as Raphael stooped. He reached for the horn with a hand not clawed, but golden and gleaming. He picked it up, looked it over, and then placed it back on the ground.
He stood like an old man. Weariness rode his shoulders now, not anger or hatred.
He didn’t look at her, but she felt certain he could feel her at his side. He spoke, and his voice shook with power and emotion. “King of Hollow Hill, I came here once for your daughter’s hand. I admit my intention was not pure. I wanted to use her against you, to destroy you everything you held dear. As you once did to me.”
The King burst into laughter. “And so we war again, Dread. Such is the way of things.”
“No,” Raphael replied. “It’s not the way of things any longer. I have no wish for more bloodshed. All I wish is your blessing for your daughter’s and my marriage. I would let you saw off my other horn and slice my wings from my body if that is what it took. I love her more than breath, more than stars, more than my soul. If you desire sacrifice for your daughter, then I willingly give it.”
His declaration made her heart beat harder, but did he know what he said? The King of Hollow Hill would do all those things to him, and worse. Her father liked pain. He liked bloodshed.
The king grinned, far more mad than his wife. He started down the stairs to the courtyard where he stood beside the alchemist. “Such a trade is worthy in this endeavor, Dread. I will make you suffer for ever daring to touch my daughter.”
“And then she will be mine. Freely and with your knowledge that the Dread and the humans are bound forever.”
Danielle stopped them both. She stepped forward and held out her hands in both directions. “Neither of you will do this. I am not worth such pain.”
“You are worth any price,” Raphael replied. He stepped closer until his chest touched her outstretched palm. “No amount of agony or soul could buy you. A thousand of my lives would only be worth a single glance from you.”
She shook her head. “Stop this.”
Her father stepped close enough for her other outstretched hand to be pressed against his chest. “You think to buy my daughter? You think the families of Hollow Hill would ever follow you in the event of my death? Is that what this plan is?”
Danielle couldn’t breathe. The air in her lungs caught, stinging as she realized they were bartering for her again.
Raphael wanted to save her. He was doing all this so her father couldn’t attack them, she knew that. But also because he wanted to fix her relationship with her family. As if this was the way.
Her father was trying to figure out a way to use this to his advantage. He didn’t want battle either. They both realized the bloodshed would be immense and the price too high. But her father would twist this to benefit only his own desires.
“I don’t want your throne,” Raphael spit. “I made it clear, my interest is in your daughter and your daughter alone.”
“No one chooses love over power, boy.”
All the anger and fear burst out of her chest in a single word. “Stop!”
The force of her scream rattled the windows of the palace. It ricocheted all around them and burst the eardrums of several soldiers who fell to the stones clutching bleeding ears.
Danielle’s breathing grew ragged. She let her hands drop from her father’s and Raphael’s chest. “I am not to be bought or sold like cattle. This is my kingdom, not yours.”
From the top of the courtyard, her mother stirred. Danielle wanted to rush to her side, but the alchemist beat her.
The bloodied man strode up the stairs and lifted her mother into his arms. He held her gently, but his hands were manacles around her arms. “People of Hollow Hill, listen to me now.”
His voice sounded like a song. It blew over the courtyard in a quiet breeze, which soothed the soul and mind into numbness. Danielle fought against it, squinting her eyes and trying to see through the magic.
“The Queen grew mad because she saw the visage of the Dread. Not their outward form, but within their souls. She saw they used to be human, and they were corrupted. Your princess has already fallen to such darkness. She cannot
be trusted.”
The soldiers repeated, “She cannot be trusted.”
“If you want to see your Queen and King live, you must protect them.”
Again, the answering call continued. “We must protect them.”
Danielle pressed her back against Raphael’s chest and whispered, “What is he doing?”
He wrapped an arm around her waist, securing her to his side. “I don’t know. I’ve seen nothing like this before.”
All the people of Hollow Hill repeated the alchemists words until they all fell into grave-like silence. The leader looked down at Danielle in pity. “Haven’t you learned by now, princess? The people follow their leader.”
She gasped. Of course. The alchemists infected her father, which could only mean such sickness spread through those he was responsible for. Her mother, her people, her family.
She couldn’t sever that tie. A king was a king until he died, and none of the soldiers would let her kill her father.
Besides, she couldn’t. No matter how much she’d always wanted to be a warrior, she couldn’t take the life of the man who’d birthed her.
The alchemist sighed and waved a hand as if he were bored. “Kill them all.”
Every soldier took up arms once more. They followed the alchemist’s bidding and took aim upon the remaining Dread who stood still and silent. They followed their Emperor who didn’t move. He didn’t even flinch at the threat of death.
She’d lost.
Danielle released a single sob before turning in Raphael’s arms. She pressed her face against his chest and listened to his heartbeat one final time. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I failed you all.”
“No you didn’t,” he replied, gathering her so close they were almost one person. “If there is one thing I want you to remember, Princess of Hollow Hill, it’s that you did everything right.”
She reached up and framed his face with her hands. On tip toe, she reached up and pressed her lips to his. She savored the barest of contacts, the kiss light and full of devotion burning in her chest. “I love you, Raphael, Emperor, Dread, whoever you are. I loved you in this life and I will find you in the next.”
She closed her eyes and kissed him for all she was worth. And in that moment, her soul took flight. She was free, incandescent and glowing with all the love she felt for him.
Raphael’s hands spread wide around her waist, tugging her closer until she almost couldn’t breathe. But she didn’t need to breathe. Not anymore when the pain of arrows would soon spear through her chest.
As he’d said, no pain was too much to suffer for a single moment in his arms.
When the pain did not come, Danielle looked up at him and lost all breath again. Raphael no longer stood in her arms. This man wasn’t one she recognized at all.
His skin had darkened from grey granite to glistening obsidian. His black hair now had tangled copper strands which gleamed in the sunlight. His eyebrows and eyelashes looked as though they were made of metal.
She gaped at white wings stretched wide behind him. Large feathers, longer than her arms, covered them instead of thin membranes. No horns graced his head. No claws on the hands clutching her waist.
He was beautiful. Otherworldly, like a god from the heavens above.
He was glowing, gleaming, glistening like she’d never seen before. Power raced through his body and erupted like the sun. But she knew him, she’d seen him before. In the caves.
She tried to catch her breath, but found herself faint. “Who are you?” she asked, her voice shaking.
“Raphael,” he replied. “I’m still your Raphael.”
Slowly, the glow dimmed enough so that her eyes weren’t watering just by staring at him. And the moment the blaze no longer hid them from the eyes of the soldiers, screams echoed once more.
The Dread behind Raphael fell to their knees. They held their head in their hands as though they were attacked. But no wounds graced their forms.
The alchemist cried out in anger, “Kill them both! Kill them now!”
Most of the soldiers remained where they were, staring in shock and awe at the Dread on their knees and the new, angelic creature standing in the courtyard. But two soldiers lunged forward, swords outstretch and pointed toward Danielle’s heart.
She let out a soft cry, but no swords pierced her flesh.
Two people had stepped in front of the blades at the last second. Her father having thrown himself in front of his daughter. Her mother having lunged down the stairs with impossible speed and preventing the second from ever touching her child.
Danielle screamed. Raphael’s wings caught the two soldiers and threw them away from her, but he was too late.
She held onto both her parents arms and fell onto her knees with them.
“No,” she whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks. “No, please no. Not you.”
Though she had hated them in her life, though they had proven to be terrible parents, they were still hers.
Her father clutched the hilt of the sword in his abdomen. His eyes widened in shock. He coughed and blood leaked from his lips, trickling down his chin. For the first time Danielle could remember, his gaze was free of anger. His forehead smoothed from its frown and he looked years younger.
Her mother reached up and touched the blade, which had only halfway gone through her body. Blood already pooled around her, but her eyes were free of madness.
She looked up and saw her father. The Mad Queen reached for the Warlord King. “Husband?” she asked, her hand shaking and stained red with blood.
“Wife,” he replied. Twin tears slid down his cheeks. “Why do I feel as though I haven’t seen you in a very long time?”
“I don’t think we have,” she replied. But then her mother smiled, brilliant and suddenly beautiful once again. “I’ve missed you.”
Her father swallowed hard, pursed his lips, and nodded. “I’ve missed you too.”
Danielle slid away from them as her parents wrapped themselves in each other’s arms. Their last breath was shared, curled together as they must have done long ago.
She gasped through sobs, crawling toward Raphael and weak. He lifted her up, holding her tight and giving her what little strength he could. “Easy,” he whispered. “You’ll be all right.”
“The alchemist,” she sobbed. “Kill him, please. For them.”
Raphael pressed his lips against her forehead. “He’s already gone, my love. He disappeared after ordering the soldiers to attack. I’m not sure he was ever really here at all.”
She beat her fists against Raphael’s chest, sobbing in anger and rage. “No. No, he can’t be gone, I want him to pay for this.”
“Danielle,” Raphael’s voice shook with emotion. “We cannot punish those who are not here, we have so much we must rebuild first.”
She didn’t want to rebuild anything. Her parents were dead, they had faded before her as if they never existed. They’d saved her, and she couldn’t help but wonder if underneath all that rage and madness, had been two people fighting to love their children.
They might have been saved.
She might have saved them if she’d tried a little harder.
With one last sob, she fell limp in Raphael’s arms and let herself scream. The soldiers joined the Dread on their knees.
Together, the people of Hollow Hill mourned with their princess.
Chapter 36
Eventually, Danielle calmed down. It took three weeks for her to wake up in her bed in the palace and feel like getting up. Milo remained at her side. Her brother became his talkative self. Waving food in her face and arguing with her, even supplying her side of the argument when she didn’t want to talk.
And of course, Raphael always made certain he was nearby if she needed him. She didn’t. Not yet, but he was there just in case.
She kept her eyes on the ceiling and let her mind heal. So many things were wrong. Her mother and father were gone. She was Queen of Hollow Hill, and yet... it didn’t
seem right.
Diana was sent to the dungeons, and her sister knew what she’d done. Milo told her all the stories of visiting their errant sister. She would face trial for following the alchemists. And while she didn’t seem to show much remorse, she was at the very least willing to admit she was wrong.
It was a start.
Melissa visited a few times. Her ghost-like sister wrote on pieces of paper that she wanted to be sent away to a convent far away. Danielle granted the wish, even in her sadness.
Her sister would be happier there. And if she could find some small bit of happiness, then she should.
Today, she woke up and felt different. No one was in her room. It was just Danielle and the sun streaming through her window.
She didn’t feel the heaviness in her chest quite the same as she had for many days now. Instead, it was a lingering shadow over her shoulder. Not overpowering her happiness, but still there all the same. Easier to bear.
Danielle rolled over in bed and placed her feet on the ground. She flexed her toes and stretched her arms over her head. Her spine cracked all the way down.
She felt... better. Not healed or perfect by any means. She didn’t even know what that meant anymore.
But today she could get out of bed. And that was a start.
Pulling on pale blue wrap, she held it closed over her white nightgown and slipped out of her room. Very few servants roamed the halls, but she thought she’d heard Milo said they were still working on putting the city back together.
Apparently, the fight hadn’t been only in the palace. It had stretched out throughout the city where some people of Hollow Hill had fought side by side with the Dread. It warmed her heart to think the humans had trusted them. They’d seen the Dread weren’t monsters, just as the soldiers weren’t monsters either.
Her bare feet made little sound on the marble floors. She didn’t have a plan for where she was going, but her feet seemed to pull her toward the throne room.
When she arrived, Danielle didn’t know what to do with the place. The chilly room seemed so empty without her father’s presence filling it. The throne seemed so much larger. Impossible for her to sit on.