Page 139 of Somber Prince
Tears streamed down my face, making our kiss taste salty and stinging my wind-burned lips.
“Thank you for giving me a taste of true happiness,” he said. “My one regret is that I failed to make you happy.”
“But you did make me happy, Rha. I’ve never been happier than when I was with you.” If only I’d appreciated what we had back in Teneris more. If only I’d enjoyed it fully, without any doubt or guilt.
The guards appeared at the top of the stairs. I flexed my arms, holding Rha tighter to me. But he dropped his arm from around me.
“Go, my love. Live. There is joy in life, waiting to be found by you.”
My throat closed. I could barely breathe in short, shuddering gasps as the guards pulled me away from him. Tears blurred my vision. The world turned into a disorienting ball of light, wind, and heat.
I was barely aware of the guards dragging me down the stairs. Grief clouded my mind, painfully familiar, like an old nightmare. Once again, I was losing someone I loved. Again, I wished to curl into myself and let sorrow take me. Because fighting it hurt. If I surrendered to it completely, I might go numb. Numbness was better than pain.
Unlike my family, however, Rha wasn’t gone yet. I could still do something to save him.
I must do something.
Hope burned through the suffocating helplessness. My awareness sharpened. I strained my brain to think, frantically roaming my gaze around the plaza in search of a solution.
The golden gate caught my eye. There, behind the polished-gold honeycomb, Queen Abeille must be going to sleep in her luxurious royal bed. Like a queen bee, she hid inside her beehive while her son was dying.
She was the one in charge of his life.
“Take me to the queen,” I demanded, stopping in my tracks.
“What?” a guard scoffed. “The queen has better things to do.”
The second guard gave me no answer whatsoever, silently dragging me ahead toward the street that led back to the sarai.
“I need to speak to the queen.” I wouldn’t give up. “Trust me, she’ll want to hear what I have to say.”
I resisted their efforts by digging in my heels and pulling back my arms.
The first guard huffed impatiently. “The queen is long in bed already. No one is going to wake her because of you.”
“Are you saying no one is going to report the death of Princess Alzali to Queen Abeille? Her one and only remaining heiress?”
I jerked my chin at the small crowd of guards gathering around the execution platform. Some of them ran up the stairs, others kneeled by the body of the princess. Black wisps of shadows were already clouding the wound on Alzali’s side as her body began to decompose.
Four guards opened the golden gates and ran through, undoubtedly bringing the report to the queen. Both my guards watched them until they disappeared inside the palace.
“Looks like the queen will have to wake up.” I pointed at the open gates. “Don’t you think she’ll want to know exactly what happened?”
One of the guards flicked his ear. “Everyone knows what happened. Prince Rha stabbed Princess Alzali with a dagger.”
“Prince Rha didn’t have a dagger on him, did he? Neither did he have the key to unlock his restraints,” I retorted promptly.
The guards exchanged uncertain looks with each other.
“I know exactly what happened and how,” I kept pushing. “Because I was there. I am the only eyewitness, aside from Prince Rha.” I propped my hands on my hips. “Don’t you think Queen Abeille will want to speak with me as soon as possible?”
One of the guards crossed his arms over his chest, taking a wide stance. “Tell us what you saw. We’ll relay it to the queen.”
I mimicked his pose, hiking my chin up. “I’ll tell it to the queen only.”
The guard blew out a frustrated breath.
The other guard reached for me. “Fine. Let’s take her to the queen. If Her Majesty doesn’t want to see her, we’ll take her back to the sarai.”