Chapter 35 #2
“I was the one who resurrected the baby!” I yelled.
Everyone in the ballroom paused, even the guardians, mouth agape at the confession.
“It was me. I did it.” I pointed to Everett’s date.
“She was there as well. She saw everything.” I turned back to the king.
“I will face whatever punishment you deem is necessary, but please let these women go. They’re innocent.
Your court targets and harasses them for no valid reason, only unsubstantiated hatred.
The only crime they’ve ever committed was being born human. ”
I turned and saw Everett and his date hurriedly pushing through the crowd, trying to get away.
“Seize them!” the king ordered.
Several guardians emerged from the grand hallway and descended upon the two as they escaped into the gardens.
“Thank you, Aurelia, for your moving plea. You all agree, it was quite emotional, correct?”
The crowd murmured in agreement.
“I’ve taken what you’ve said into consideration and will amend my previous decision.”
Relief flooded me, and I let loose a breath I had no idea I had been holding.
“My ruling is this,” the king started, letting a pregnant pause fall over the crowd. “All three women shall be executed. Right now.” He turned to face me as a malignant smile spread across his face. “Followed by the execution of Aurelia!”
Shock and horror overcame me as the king’s verdict sank in.
I quickly looked up to Sterling, who had a similar expression of shock.
Our eyes met, and a pained look came over him.
Everything around me started to spin as the sound of the guardians’ boots marching toward me consumed me.
The floor vibrated, and their boot falls came closer.
My body froze in place as the buzzing around and within me became too intense for it to function.
Without warning, all the windows in the ballroom shattered, and screams rang out.
Inky darkness filled the room, extinguishing all light it came into contact with.
I began to panic, unable to move my limbs.
Then a familiar voice cut through all the noise and chaos. Sterling bellowed, “AURELIA! RUN!”
A strong arm wrapped around my waist and carried me off the dais step. I knew immediately, by the way he held me, by the way our bodies aligned, and by the overwhelming musky vanilla scent, who my saviour was.
“We need to get outside. Quickly.” Sterling’s lips were on my ear as he explained our next move.
How he was able to see through the complete and utter darkness was beyond my comprehension. Even with my arcana and newfound aura-sensing abilities, I couldn’t make heads or tails of what was going on around us. My legs refused to cooperate. Forget fight or flight—my body chose to freeze.
The sound of glass breaking, the guests crying and screaming for help—it was an overwhelming cacophony of pain. I had never been to battle, but if I had to make a guess, it sounded somewhat similar to this.
A heavy mass barrelled into Sterling and me, knocking us all to the floor. I tried to cry out as the weight of Sterling and whatever had hit us pressed directly onto my broken ribs, making it impossible for me to suck back in any air.
Sterling grunted and threw whatever was on top of him off, then picked me up. Air rushed into my aching lungs, and I screamed out in pain as the motion exacerbated my rib injury. “Hold on, Aurelia. Just a few more steps, and we’ll be clear of this.”
My thoughts swam as I tried to take in his muffled words.
Maybe it was due to a lack of air, or my slipping consciousness.
Whatever the source, no part of what he uttered made any sense.
Be clear of what? The faded sounds of whatever violence was currently occurring in the ballroom? Or the all-consuming darkness?
*
I came to on the grass between the royal garden and the arcana master’s chamber. My body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. I was unable to look anywhere but straight up at the clear night sky. The stars twinkled, oblivious to the carnage and chaos happening below them.
“Sterling.” His name came off my dried lips barely above a whisper. I could feel the hot wetness of tears rolling down the sides of my face. “Sterling!” I cried more forcefully.
No response.
I could hear footfalls coming up beside me.
“Sterling!” I called out again.
No response again.
I closed my eyes and tried to access my arcana.
The pressure in my chest built as the tingling sensation on my skin intensified.
The footfalls got closer to me, and my heart rate quickened.
They stopped beside me. I let my arcana flow outward, and all I could make out was a single aura.
It was dim, cold, and black as the void.
My eyes shot open, and staring down at me was a face I had only ever seen in a dream. My brain was screaming at my limbs to move, but they refused to cooperate. I felt like I was being pressed down into the ground, with no way to escape.
He knelt down beside me, running a hand through his unkempt white hair, inspecting me with the look of pain he’d had on his face in my dream. His lip curled up into a snarl, his piercing grey eyes seemingly unimpressed by what they had taken in.
“My name is Lord Asher Nightfall of the Obsidian Court. You’re coming with me,” he stated, flatly, snapping his fingers.
Alarm bells started ringing in my brain as my body became unburdened by the invisible weight set upon it.
The fae man in my dream was a lord of the Obsidian Court?
Of all the thoughts racing through my mind, all I could muster in response was a weak “But why?” as I slowly raised myself up onto my elbow.
He wrinkled his nose at me as he stood. His menacing matte-black armour absorbed any light that fell upon it. “Personally, I don’t see it. But everyone else seems to think you’re worth starting another war over.”