Chapter 43 Lenna
Chapter forty-three
Lenna
Lenna slugged through the Prism as the images of the dead King and Queen faded, the quaint dining room coming back into focus. After what they had witnessed, the yellow table and the mismatched colorful chairs seemed too loud, too bright.
“Fuck.” Merrick’s ragged voice pulled Lenna’s subconscious the remaining way back.
Merrick’s wings drooped at his sides, the grief on his handsome face palpable, as he slowly ran his hands through his shaggy brown hair.
Laurent, across the table from the gargoyle, wordlessly poured a hefty glass of wine for himself and passed the rest of the bottle over to Merrick.
Tears streamed down Sparrow’s cheeks, her face devoid of color. With shaking fingers, Sparrow reached across the table to Esmeray, who had not moved except to pull her hand out of Lenna’s. Esmeray didn’t meet her gaze.
The Queen’s voice broke. “Adara framed me by murdering them the way I’ve trained to kill… The nails…” A single tear slid from her glassy eyes. A moment later, another followed, then another.
“What do you mean?” Sparrow asked gently, taking her friend’s hand, squeezing lightly.
Merrick answered, since Esmeray just continued to stare wordlessly at her wine glass.
“Esmeray slashed the throats of some of the gargoyles that came for us at the waterfall. If Adara knew how Esmeray would fight, it would be easier to frame her for the murders. Adara must’ve watched you train to figure out your tactics. ”
Esmeray frowned. “Adara shouldn’t have that magic. The bare bones of it is that I can make my nails sharp with illusions. Adara only has water magic.”
“She must have used a spell to somehow recreate your acat.” Laurent shuffled some papers around the table, finding a blank piece before picking up a quill, dipping it into ink and starting to write.
“Or she's been hiding another gift this whole time.
Royals hiding rare fae abilities is an annoying part of court life that I've uncovered many times during my days as Spy Master.”
Lenna peered over his scribbling arm. The words made no sense, but Lenna worked through the pronunciation silently.
“That’s what Adara was saying. It’s a spell.” Lenna said quietly.
Sparrow and Merrick craned their heads to take in the writing.
Finally, Esmeray moved. Snatching up her glass, she swallowed the remaining wine, growled and poured another. “We need someone to translate what the words mean. And we need to know what other spells Adara knows.”
Sparrow looked at Lenna, before standing and taking the remaining full bottles of wine to the kitchen, announcing they were all cut off, they needed to sober up, and that she was making coffee.
Lenna stretched her legs out under the table. Using the Prism for hours today made her dizzy, and seeing the carnage of the dying King and Queen made her nauseated, especially after finding out Diana was dead. All she wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep for two full days.
In her temples, the first beat of a headache thrummed, in perfect sync with her heartbeat. The throbbing amped up, until Lenna squeezed her eyes shut against the crushing onslaught of pain.
She inhaled deep, exhaled slow, relaxed the muscles in her face. The agony let up–slightly. She took another breath, and another, the spasms lessening.
One minute.
She could close her eyes, breathe deep and slow for one minute before anyone would notice.
The low voices around her faded.
All Lenna could hear was her breathing and her heartbeat as the pain slowly released its talons from her head.