to disprove any rumours that I am anything other than a half-breed working for her queen. “I understand.”
“I hope you do. There are ways to silence you without killing you, Clarissa.” Her ladies-in-waiting are suddenly at her side, and at a gesture from the queen, as one, they lower their hoods. I stare at them in horror, feeling the blood drain from my face. I always suspected that they were beautiful, and I was right, with their white-blonde hair shining in the sunlight and their perfect high cheekbones, but it’s their mouths that draw my attention. Their once beautiful lips have been sewn shut. Crude stitches pierce through the skin and bind them together. One of the maids has dull eyes as she looks down at the ground, but the other is looking directly at me, her blue eyes shining with fear. Help me, her eyes scream, the emotion so strong, I can almost hear her plea.
“Do I make myself clear?” the queen demands with cruel amusement on her face as she makes another gesture. The ladies-in-waiting raise their hoods again, hiding their disfigured faces.
“Yes.” My voice is just a whisper, but I know she hears me from her self-satisfied smirk as she runs her eyes over me again, grinning as she sees the terror in my quivering body.
“You may leave.” She waves me away with a dismissive gesture.
She needn’t tell me twice. Spinning on my heel, I hurry to get as far away from her as I can, trying and failing to keep my hasty steps even. As my mind reels and my heart pounds, my eyes are drawn to the rose arch that the queen had been using her magic on. It looked beautiful before, but now the whole plant is black and shrivelled. Eyes wide, I turn and see a trail of destruction. All the plants she touched are withered and dead. Looking up, I see the queen watching me with a circle of death surrounding her. This time when I whirl around, I don’t bother trying to hide my fear. Picking up my skirts, I run through the gardens and back to the relative safety of the palace.
The sound of my shoes against the marble floor in the atrium is loud, echoing around me as I hurry through the glass structure. I’m not really paying attention to my surroundings, just following the need to get as far away from the queen as possible.
“Clarissa?” a male voice calls, a familiar voice, but my panic is blinding me, just driving me to keep running. My breath is knocked out of me as I run straight into something hard. The obstacle moves, hands coming up and gripping my shoulders, and I realise it’s not a wall, but a person.
“Clarissa, what happened?” the voice asks. Eldrin, it’s Eldrin, I tell myself, the warmth of his body breaking through my fright. Looking up, I see his familiar face, although where I’m used to seeing him scowling, instead I see concern. His hands on my shoulders help keep me upright, and I try to channel his strength to steady myself. Something about him being here helps strengthen me, helps me focus and fight through my fears.
“The queen,” I start, my throat still tight as my heart tries to pound its way out of my chest. “She threatened me. She…” I knew she wanted to kill me, but being faced with it is different.
His face changes as I speak, hardening into a fierce expression. He glances around the atrium, his gaze landing on one of the guards who is trying very hard to look like he’s not listening to our conversation. “Shh,” he hushes, as he looks back down at me, squeezing my shoulders gently before pulling away. Swaying forward as he removes his hands, I manage to restore my balance. He’s right, we shouldn’t be having this conversation here, especially since the queen could return at any moment. “You’re safe now. Let’s go somewhere else to discuss this.” Spinning on his heel, he stalks up to one of the guards stationed at the entrance of the atrium. “Find Lord Vaeril,” he orders.
“But, Lord Eldrin, he’s—” The guard is cut off as Eldrin whirls back around, snarling in his face.
“Find him now.” His voice is low, and a deep rumbling is vibrating from his chest as he glares at the guard. “Tell him it’s urgent.”
“Yes, sir!”
I feel a little sorry for him as he hurries away, knowing he’ll probably get in trouble for