The double doors opened again behind Jayran and he turned to see who it was.
Hairan stepped into the throne room, and his gaze went imdiately to Azul, still seated on their father’s throne. His eyes hardened instantly. Hairan had never been soone who bothered hiding his reactions.
"Have you taken leave of your senses?" Hairan asked, sounding enraged.
"Not since I last checked, no," Azul replied coolly.
He rose from the throne then and ca down the steps of the dais one at a ti. He crossed the room toward the doors where Hairan stood, and as he drew level with him he paused, that sa faint smirk still at the corner of his mouth. "Don’t worry, brother. I wasn’t trying to take anything from you. We both know it will be so ti before you’re able to sit on it yourself. I was simply keeping it warm."
He walked past both of them without looking back and soon the sound of his footsteps faded down the corridor until the room was quiet again.
Jayran stood in the middle of the throne room with his brother and looked at the empty throne.
He didn’t feel any differently than he had when he walked in.
***
Olena returned to Elka’s chambers late that night, long after the candles had burned low and the palace had gone quiet. The royal family had only co back from the burial hours ago, and the grief of the day still hung over the palace like a thick shroud.
She knocked softly before letting herself in.
Elka was sitting on top of her bed with her knees drawn up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them. She was staring at the far wall. Her eyes were red-rimd and her cheeks were wet with tears. Her gaze was vacant, lost deep in thought.
Elka didn’t look up when the woman entered, and Olena stood in the doorway for a mont taking her in before she quietly closed the door behind her.
It was a pitiful sight. There was no other word for it. Elka, who was kind and always such a delight to have around, now looked diminished sitting like that — she was small in the center of a large bed in a room full of air that felt oppressive.
Olena’s eyes were filled with sympathy as she crossed the room and crouched down beside the bed so that she was at eye level with her.
"I’m sorry, your highness," she said. "I’m sorry I couldn’t find the letter."
Elka shook her head slowly, still looking at the wall.
"It isn’t your fault," she said. Her voice was flat and lifeless. "There is only one person to bla. And it isn’t you."
"It isn’t fair," Olena said. "No one should have the right to do this to another person." She paused before hesitantly asking, "He isn’t really going to take you back to your father, is he?"
Elka was quiet. Then she said, "He will not take back to my father." She turned her head and looked at Olena directly. "I will not allow it. Tomorrow I will get that letter from him. No matter what it takes. I refuse to be anyone else’s victim."
"Is there anything I can do to help, your highness?"
Elka hesitated. The pause stretched a beat too long.
"Yes," she said finally. "Please co with ." She looked away again, and a muscle ticked in her jaw. "I don’t want to go there alone."
It pained her to say it. Olena could tell. Elka was not a woman who admitted to fear easily, and the admission sat awkwardly between them for a mont before Olena nodded.
"Of course, your highness. I’ll go wherever you need to."
Elka gave a small nod. So of the tension across her shoulders eased, though not entirely. She knew what she was walking into. She knew that if things went wrong, Olena would not be able to protect her against Azul.
Olena was a maid, not a trained guard. Elka had no illusions about that. Even if she was a guard, she still wouldn’t be able to go against a prince. But having soone nearby felt necessary in a way she couldn’t fully explain, even to herself. It was the difference between walking into sothing alone and walking into it with soone she could trust. She broke into a cold sweat whenever she thought of being alone in a room with Azul again.
She needed soone else there to ease the panic when it got too much.
A friend. She had spent too many years without that.
The following evening they set out together, arriving at Azul’s private residence as the sun was already beginning its descent. There was a tall stone statue of a man holding up a sharp lance in front of the house but Elka didn’t allow herself to look around passed that.
She walked ahead and Olena followed a few paces behind, close enough to keep in sight.
Azul was waiting at the front entrance.
He stepped forward as Elka approached and stopped in front of her.
It was certainly not the way a man greeted a guest, not with the way he was leering at her. His eyes moved over her body slowly, taking their ti, traveling from her face down and back up again. It was no different than if he had groped her.
Elka held still for his appraisal. She pressed her tongue to the inside of her cheek and kept her expression neutral, because she knew what was at stake, and she reminded herself of that with every second she remained standing in front of him without flinching.
He put his arm around her waist and pulled her even closer to him, as though he had every right. When she was close enough, he lowered his head toward her neck and breathed in slowly, inhaling a lungful of her scent. She felt his hot breath against her skin.
Her stomach churned with revulsion, yet she held still.
It was only when he lifted his head that the look on his face changed. His gaze moved past her, landed on Olena, and he scowled.
He released Elka, though only slightly, and looked back at her, annoyed.
"You weren’t supposed to bring company," he said. "What is she doing here?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)