threat! I tell myself, taking a couple of deep breaths, trying to push that anger down.
“If you say that to anyone else, you will be executed!” He laughs, but there’s no humour in it. Taking a step back from me, he turns away, running his hands through his hair. I use the opportunity to move away from the wall and out into the corridor, putting a little more space between us. “That’s the worst thing about this,” he continues, seemingly oblivious to the fact that people are starting to leave the great hall, their curious gazes running over us, their footsteps slowing so they can try and hear our conversation.
“I can’t even mourn my mother, because she was ‘tainted by evil.’ I’m supposed to be glad that she was executed before she infected anyone else. Glad.” Although his voice is quiet, he’s getting louder the angrier he gets. If his father hears him… I don’t even want to contemplate what could happen. If the king can kill his wife without any thought, I wouldn’t put it past him to try and hurt his son.
“Jacob,” I call to get his attention, his wild, grief-stricken eyes finally meeting mine. I immediately feel awful about thinking badly of him.
This is Jacob, he wouldn’t hurt me. Would he? I push my doubt away and close the distance between us, holding out my hand to him.
“Let’s go somewhere quieter.”
He stares at my hand for a moment before following it up to my face, looking at me like I’m offering him a lifeline. Taking my hand, he gives me a small, gentle smile that breaks my heart, like I’m the only person to offer him any sort of comfort.
“I know a place,” he says, linking my arm with his as he starts to lead me down the corridors.
It’s much busier now, with people milling about after the meal, and groups of nobles huddling together and discussing everything that happened in the hall. I can’t believe some of the things I hear as we walk past them. It’s like they’ve completely forgotten what happened yesterday, or that they’ve all been blindly brainwashed. Am I the only person to see yesterday for what it was? A slaughter? I don’t believe that the queen was ‘tainted,’ and the feeling in my gut is telling me I’m right. I’ve seen the looks the king used to give her when he thought no one was looking, and it was no secret that the queen had still mourned her lost love.
A memory flashes up in my mind of the time I walked into the courtyard and saw her discussing something with Tor. I hadn’t heard much of what they were discussing, but guards were about to enter the courtyard, and I had this feeling that they needed to be warned. As soon as I raised the alarm, the queen had quickly disappeared. I still don’t know what had been going on there, and I doubt I ever will, not now that Tor and his people had left.
I wonder if I’ll ever see him again, I muse as we walk in silence. I suppose I shouldn’t be thinking of one man while I’m with another, but I have a different, more platonic feeling around Jacob, unlike the desperate pull I feel towards Grayson, Vaeril, and Tor. He’s handsome and kind, not to mention a prince. Most women would be delighted to have the attention of a prince, I think, glancing across at the man in question. Does that mean I don’t want his attention? No, it’s not that. I like spending time with him, I think we could be close, but not in the way he hopes. Besides, I suppose I’m not ‘most’ women. I’m jumping way ahead of myself. I don’t know what Jacob or any of the others think of me. I know Grayson cares for me, but I’m still not sure in what capacity. There is an undeniable draw towards him, and I have a connection with Vaeril and Tor too, but I’m not sure why. Shaking my head at the direction my thoughts are going, I try to focus on the here and now and making it through another day alive.
I realise where we’re going as we enter one of the smaller corridors that would lead us away from the crowds, and sure enough, we walk out into the Queen’s Courtyard—the last place I saw her alive. Jacob is silent as we walk around the square. We can’t go