Chapter 29 #2
Horia’s hand gripped her arm, pulling her with him as the Watchmen apprehended him and began dragging him out of the infirmary.
Adan was the one to wrench his hand free from her arm before pushing her back.
The Watchmen and councilman—still smiling that serpent’s smile—wandered back into the hall as Horia screamed and begged for mercy.
She hardly had time to notice something cold had landed in her hand before Adan spun on his heel and strode after the rest of the men.
Glancing down to her opened palm, she closed her fingers around the brass key that had been looped around a long ribbon.
The key that Aeric had shown her. Pulling the key around her neck, she tucked it beneath her tunic and stole after the Watchmen.
The Great Hall was filled to the brim with servants, guards, and nobles alike as they filtered into the throne room beyond. The sound of Horia’s pleading voice echoing through the crowd as Anelize made her way into the large room ahead.
The throne room was nearly as large as the Old Church itself, with long windows covered in hoarfrost, stone pillars and tiled floors consumed by the golden light of the candles sitting atop the chandelier.
A beautiful sight for such a desolate occasion she thought as she stood by and watched as a Watchman dragged Horia across the ground and threw him onto his hands and knees before the king’s dais.
“Please, your highness. Whatever you have been told is nothing more than a lie. I would never dare to harm you or the prince. I have devoted my life in service to your name and crown,” Horia begged, his entire body trembling as he gazed up the steps of the dais where King Amaranth was seated upon his throne.
His chin resting on his fist, looking unimpressed.
Watchmen stood in a straight line on either side of the king’s throne, surveying the crowd. Try as she did, she could not see Aeric anywhere.
“You deny your actions when you have been the only one to administer your so-called treatments to me and my son when we both grew ill by some invisible ailment you knew nothing about,” the king challenged. “When there have been witnesses to substantiate my claim of your treasonous behavior.”
Esna Santir stepped forward, staring down his nose at the physician.
Horia’s face contorted with contempt before he said to the king, thrusting a finger in the councilman’s direction. “It was all his doing! Councilman Esna was the one who asked me, bribed me, to do his bidding for him. I am but a mere, lowly servant. Who was I to deny a noble’s orders?”
Neither the king or Esna appeared the least bit concerned by his revelation, much to her surprise.
When the doors of the throne room opened once more, Anelize, much like the rest of the onlookers within the king’s court, turned their attention to the Captain of the Watchmen as he strode toward the throne.
When Horia noticed Aeric, he blanched and began shaking so profusely she wondered if he would merely faint from the fear she tasted in the air. It was palpable, sending her own heart to skitter uneasily.
“Physician Horia, for your crimes and your deceit, you are hereby declared guilty before your king and his court. The sentence shall be your death,” King Amaranth drawled from his throne as he motioned with a wave of his hand. As though he were swatting away a pestering fly.
Dread filled her, a roaring starting in her ears as it was Aeric who slowly approached Horia. His eyes distant as if he weren’t in his body at all. He unsheathed his sword and gripped the pommel with both hands as he faced the physician.
Horia scrambled forward, bracing his hands and knees against the pristine steps of the dais. “P-please, spare me, sire! I will do anything you ask of me, anything!”
Before Aeric could move an inch, the king suddenly rose to his feet, his cane supporting him with each taxing step he took before stopping two paces above the physician. The murmuring crowd fell silent as they waited with bated breath for him to speak once more.
“Is my son dead?”
If Anelize hadn’t been looking at Aeric, and only him, she would have failed to notice the way his eyes narrowed upon the physician then to the king.
She held her breath, waiting to hear what Horia’s answer would be.
If he knew that he’d…failed in truly killing the prince, that it had all been a mere fabrication conducted by Castian and the captain before him.
“Y-yes,” Horia sobbed. “He is dead. And it is my greatest shame.”
King Amaranth’s cold expression seemed to fall before it was void of all feeling once more. Then he reached for his cane and pulled the top free, revealing a long blade within it. It sang freely as he held it, and Aeric stepped back, as if needing no command to know what would come next.
Horia’s words died on his tongue as the king swung his sword down upon his neck with a vicious snarl. Spraying blood across his chest as he cut through flesh and bone, so easily. The king stumbled back a step, his crown slipping from his head as he stared at Horia’s lifeless body.
Blood spewed over the ivory steps of the king’s throne as both Horia’s head and the king’s crown toppled to the ground.
Anelize sat on the edge of her bed as she stared at the cracks along the wall and relived the execution of Physician Horia in her mind countless times.
When the sound of a knock came to her door, she startled out of her thoughts and rose. Opening the door, she found Adan standing in the hall. He didn’t so much as ask her permission to be allowed inside as he pushed her in and closed the door behind him.
“Are you all right?” he asked her.
Anelize nodded. “As all right as I can be, all things considered.”
“The ceremony is tomorrow. When you hear the musicians playing their songs in the Great Hall, start making your way through the servant’s corridors until you reach the spiraling staircase that will lead you to the east side of the courtyard.
The postern gate is through an archway that will take you to the tunnels. ”
“And if there are guards there?”
“You’ll know the signal to move when it comes. You can’t miss it.”
Anelize nodded again, feeling the weight of what they were truly about to do fall upon her now more than ever.
Adan’s hands landed on her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. His eyes were stern and unyielding. “You can do this, Anya.”
A wry smile made its way onto her lips. “I’ve heard you say otherwise—a few weeks ago, if I recall.”
“That was true then,” Adan said, making her scoff at his bluntness. “But then you saved Aeric and nearly lost your life in the process without so much as a single ounce of hesitation.”
“You weren’t there, how could you know that?”
This time he gave her a genuine, teasing smile. “I know you understand the cost now, and you paid it ten times over. More than you should have. And because I know you, you idiot.”
Anelize pushed at his shoulder. “Even when you’re encouraging, you always know when to insult someone. I cannot wait for the day when you will meet someone who will drive you mad and question every single action you make.”
Adan pulled her into an embrace so sudden that it stole the breath from her, stunning her into silence. “Should I ever meet such a person, I’ll gladly let you see that day come. Just make sure you survive down there. That isn’t a request, it’s an order,” he murmured in her ear.
When she shook herself out of her shock, she slowly returned the embrace.
“You do love ordering me around, you tyrant,” she said through the knot in her throat as he granted her a fleeting chuckle. “I’ll survive. I promise.”
When they broke away from each other, Adan nodded curtly before turning around and leaving the room without another word. They had said all that they could.
The rest was left up to fate.
Or her.