54. Impossible
Impossible
A beam of warm sunlight fell across the bed through a gap in the curtains.
Evelyn smiled at the stillness of the room, as well as the dull pressure lingering between her legs.
Leo slept with one arm thrown over his head, his breathing deep and his eyelids twitching with dreams. They were surrounded by faint scents of lavender from the nightstand and sweat from the bedsheets.
This is all I want, waking up beside Leo every—
A small thud sound interrupted her thoughts.
Did something land on the roof? Is there an attic?
Evelyn waited thirty seconds or so and didn’t hear anything else. But by then, her curiosity had teamed up with her anxiety. She carefully got out of bed, not wanting to wake Leo, and pulled a robe over her short nightgown.
Tiptoeing into the empty hallway, Evelyn gasped as a sweet stench forced its way up her nose.
What the fuck? It smells like a deer carcass.
Evelyn scanned the hallway. The last door at the end was ajar, revealing a staircase up to the attic.
I’m sure that door wasn’t open last night. Did a guard come upstairs?
She slowly approached the door. The odor grew more pungent.
I should call for a guard.
No, that’s silly. Probably some raccoon died in the attic. Does Gryon have raccoons? I can defend myself against a dead squirrel or whatever. It’s fine.
Evelyn crept up the narrow wooden staircase. She covered her face with her robe to mask the smell.
Maybe it’s a whole family of dead raccoons?
Once she reached the top of the stairs, Evelyn turned toward the large open space of the attic.
A horrified scream exploded from her lungs.
Over a dozen half-naked fae bodies were lying haphazardly across the floor. Their exposed flesh revealed various symbols carved into their skin, as well as sliced-open throats. There was very little blood, aside from what had dried around their wounds.
Evelyn couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. She barely registered the sound of footsteps and someone yelling her name.
Rory and Simon bounded up the stairs, swords in hand.
“Oh gods,” Rory whispered.
“Oh fuck,” Simon swore. “These are the missing guards!”
“What? How do you know that?” Rory questioned.
Simon paled. “I recognize them.”
“Shit.” Rory gripped Evelyn’s arm. “Your Majesty, we need to get you and the king out of this house.”
“What are they doing up here?” Evelyn asked, her voice unsteady.
“We need to go,” Rory insisted.
Simon ran down the stairs, and Rory dragged Evelyn behind him.
Leo stumbled out of the bedroom, shirtless and buttoning his trousers. “What’s going on? What the fuck is that smell?”
Rory sheathed his sword to avoid hurting Evelyn by accident, but Simon kept hold of his own. “We need to move you somewhere safe, Your Majesty. Right now.”
Leo looked nauseous, but the four of them quickly descended the stairs.
Another guard stood at the open front door. “What’s going on? Did someone scream?”
“Get Magalie and Savatier out here now!” Simon yelled, pushing past him to get everyone outside.
“Are you okay?” Leo asked, taking Evelyn’s hand. She could only shake her head.
They were escorted to the dining room of the guard house.
It had the sparse furnishings of a place infrequently used.
A couple empty beer bottles remained on the wood table from the night before.
But the room was secure with just one door.
Simon ran off to talk with the other guards, while Rory stayed with Evelyn and Leo.
“What the hell is happening?” Leo demanded.
“There are bodies in the attic,” Rory explained. “Simon said they’re the missing guards.”
“How is that possible?”
“I don’t know, sir. I was told the entire property was searched before your arrival yesterday. Guards were posted around the house overnight. Another two guards were on the first floor until Simon and I relieved them this morning.”
“Dead bodies can’t just appear in an attic!” Leo raged.
Rory held up his hands in submission. “I know, but they weren’t there yesterday. Even the smell alone… someone would have noticed.”
“Leo,” Evelyn interrupted. “Someone used a knife to carve up their skin.”
Leo turned slightly green. “Why were you up there?”
“I thought I heard something. I wanted to see what it was.”
“Please, Evelyn, do not investigate things on your own,” Leo begged. “You should have called for a guard or woken me up!”
“I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t expect to find… them.”
Rory peeked through a window. “You said you heard something?”
Evelyn nodded. “It was a thump from above our bed, but it wasn’t very loud.”
Like someone’s lifeless hand dropped onto the floor.
“Where is the queen?” Damien’s voice called from the hallway a while later.
After receiving an answer from someone, Damien stomped into the room in the same dress uniform he wore to the wedding last night. “What’s happened?”
Rory repeated the events of the morning.
Damien’s anger radiated from him. “How the fuck is that even possible?”
“We don’t know yet,” Leo said.
“How did you get here so fast?” Evelyn asked.
Damien’s voice softened for her. “I was at the Auclair manor. Some of the Royal Guard showed up and told Vision Court soldiers to put the estate on lockdown but wouldn’t say why.”
“General Savatier should be here soon,” Leo said. “Magalie, too, I think.”
“Did you see it?” Damien asked.
Leo shook his head and gestured at Evelyn. “She did.”
Ten seconds of indistinguishable cursing filled the room, then Damien announced, “I’m going up there.”
“I must advise against that,” Rory warned.
Damien ignored the guard and addressed Leo again. “Are you coming?”
“Yes. Let’s go.”
“No!” Evelyn cried, looking up at him. “Don’t leave!”
“I won’t be gone long. You’re safe here with Rory.”
“Leo, please! You don’t need to go!”
“Bring her with us,” Damien said. “She can handle it.”
Leo kissed Evelyn’s forehead. “I’ll pack up our things from the bedroom.”
“Someone else can do that,” she argued. “I need you!”
Leo handed Evelyn off to Rory, who had moved right behind her. The guard pinned Evelyn’s arms to her sides as Leo walked out of the room. She was too stunned by the action to protest right away. Damien glanced at her apologetically, then followed.
“Leo!” Evelyn screamed at the back of her husband’s head. “You can’t leave me here!”
The door closed. “I won’t be gone long,” Leo promised from the other side.
Evelyn struggled against Rory’s hold on her. “Let me go!”
“You must stay here, Evelyn,” Rory said. “The king will return. The house needs to be searched.”
“That’s not his job!”
Evelyn heated her skin not quite enough to burn Rory, but enough to sting even through her robe. He released her arms and she ran to the door. But when she twisted the knob, the door wouldn’t budge.
He locked me in here.
“Open this fucking door!” she yelled, pounding on it with her fists.
Evelyn tried using lesser magic to unlock the door, but it didn’t work. “Why won’t it open?”
“King Alexander owns the house, so his magic can seal it,” Rory explained. “We have to wait here. Alexander needs to know that you’re safe.”
“But I’m not safe!” Evelyn faced her guard. “Someone put dead bodies over our heads while we slept and no one fucking noticed. It’s your job to protect me and I woke up to corpses. Where the fuck were you?”
Rory’s voice remained calm. “I was asleep. So was Simon. But I don’t envy the guards on the overnight shift when Captain Fontaine gets to them.”
“Could it have been a guard?”
“I hope not, but I don’t know. I’ve seen only as much as you have, Evelyn. That’s why you need to stay here.”
“How do we know it’s safer here? I thought my bedroom was safe!”
“I am not going to let anything happen to you.”
“But nothing is happening to me!” Evelyn shrieked.
“No one is trying to hurt me and I’m still surrounded by death.
I wish they would try to attack me. I have magic.
I can defend myself. But it’s like they’re only trying to scare me and it’s fucking working.
How are you supposed to protect me from someone playing deadly games? ”
Evelyn’s knees gave out. Rory caught her and settled her in the closest chair. The young queen folded her arms on the dining table and lowered her head as she cried.
How fucking dare he leave me here. I told Leo I needed him with me, but I was wrong. I need him to unlock the door, but I don’t need him.
Damien returned an hour later, carrying Evelyn’s travel bag.
She stood from the table. “Where is Leo?”
“He’s working,” Damien said. “We have to go.”
“I want to see Leo.”
I want to slap the godsdamned crown off his head.
Damien rummaged through the bag and pulled out a dress at random. “You’ll see him later, but we’re leaving now.”
“Why isn’t he coming with us?”
“He is staying with the general and you are coming with me.”
“Why? Did they find something else?”
Damien tugged her robe off her shoulders and tossed it in the bag. “We’re taking a boat to the palace. The river will be faster than a carriage.”
“Did you find more bodies?” Evelyn guessed.
Damien held out the dress. “Put this on.”
“Tell me what’s happening!”
“We didn’t find enough bodies!” Damien snapped, his composure finally breaking. “Seventeen guards went missing the night King Gerard was killed. There are only fifteen guards in the attic right now.”
“How?” Rory asked.
“No one fucking knows. And no one understands all the shit carved on their skin, either.” Damien pointed at Evelyn. “So your husband decided that we have to leave.”
He threw the dress at her, and she pulled it over her thin nightgown.
If we’re so worried about more bodies showing up, why is Leo sending me away? How is it better for us to be separated?
“I need you both to listen to me before we go,” Damien said in a low voice.
“Simon knew every single one of the missing guards. We were able to identify them so quickly because he was willing to stay in that attic and tell us their names. Simon worked with them for a long time. I’m sure he grew up with some of them. ”
Evelyn’s stomach dropped.
I didn’t think about that.
“I know you are upset by what you saw,” Damien said to her. “But I need you to remember that those were Simon’s friends. You can scream at me when we get to the palace. Just keep your shit together while we’re moving so Simon can focus on his job. Can you do that?”
“Yes.”
Damien addressed Rory next. “Don’t let him lose it. Get word to me or Magalie if Simon needs a break. But Evelyn does not leave your sight until she is in her room. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
The three of them left the guard house. Simon waited on the porch, showing no obvious sign that anything was wrong.
A boat was ready for them at the dock in front of the house. Evelyn looked around, hoping to spot Leo. Plenty of guards were outside but not the king.
A fae with Air magic was on the boat, making for a fast ride home.
Evelyn and her escorts sat below deck so they were out of sight of anyone along the river.
Simon was rigid and stoic. Rory was a bit seasick, apparently less tolerant of water when his magic wasn’t controlling it.
Damien held Evelyn’s hand to steady her shaking.
It was a short walk between the river dock and the palace. A swarm of soldiers surrounded them the moment they got off the boat. Damien provided quick updates to other officers without leaving Evelyn’s side.
Evelyn expected to be greeted by her father or Camille once they entered the palace, but she only saw guards.
“Where is my father?” Evelyn asked loud enough for the crowd around her to hear.
One of the Carrowmore guards in red answered her question. “King Tristan is in his room, as are Princess Hannah and Queen Camille. Commander Magalie requested they stay in secure locations until every space can be searched.”
At least I know my family is okay.
Another guard, this one in Gryon’s blue uniform, approached next. “Your Majesty, the staff hasn’t had a chance yet to move your belongings to King Alexander’s suite.”
“That’s fine,” Evelyn responded.
I would rather be in my old room right now, anyway. I’ll feel safer there because it’s familiar.
Damien made her wait in the hallway while he checked that nothing was amiss in her bedroom.
“So, how is your first day as a queen going?” he asked sarcastically after allowing Evelyn to enter.
“I thought it would be more exciting,” she quipped.
Damien pulled her into a tight hug. “I know you won’t relax, but try to rest. Leo will be here as soon as he can. Until then, you need to trust your guards to help you.”
“Of course.”
He drew back and held her shoulders. “I mean it, Evelyn. Simon told me they found you screaming in the attic, which is absolutely not where you should have been this morning.”
She huffed. “I’ve already heard that lecture from Leo.”
“And I’m saying it again because you are a stubborn brat.
Rory and Simon can’t protect you if they don’t know there’s a problem.
If anything is even possibly wrong, you need to tell them.
I don’t care how little it seems. If you see a shadow in the corner or hear a rustle under your bed or you get a damn headache, tell them about it. ”
“You’re making me paranoid.”
“Promise me, Evelyn. Or, gods help us, I will assign them to stand in this room with you instead of staying in the hallway.”
“I promise!”
Damien let out a breath and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll check on you later.”
Once he left the room, Evelyn retrieved her locket from her nightstand. Its familiar presence around her neck was comforting. Then she wandered to the window and watched the waves for a few minutes.
I’m home. I’m okay. I’m safe. Damien is here.
But my husband isn’t.
She tried closing her eyes, only to regret it when images of mutilated guards flooded her mind.
I should take a bath. Maybe that will make me feel better.
When Evelyn entered her bathroom, a heart-stopping scream erupted from her for the second time that day.