My heart stops beating.
“What did you just say?” I slide off the horse, my feet beating against the bridge without a second thought. The heat radiates through my boots, but I feel no pain as I walk towards the Queen, almost in a trance. My voice drops to a shaky whisper. “What did you just ask us?”
“Serene!” I hear Koen shouting, Zeei’s hooves pounding against the bridge as they run towards me. “Get on my horse now before youburn!”
My eyes blur, tears begging to fall but I force them back. “Did you see someone? When you went to these oracles, did you see a woman alone here? Her skin, a perfect shade on a sun-kissed day?”
I can’t breathe. My eyes haven’t blinked.Tilly.Is she talking about my sister?
Koen leans over his horse, yanking my arm but I can’t move. I steadily stare into the Queen’s eyes, begging that she speaks. Pleading out internally that she will know it is my sister.
“She should have burned by now.” The guard to the left of her barks out. “Could be a curse.”
The Queen grunts, looking over her shoulder towards him. “You are right.” Her hand lifts, her fingers curling in as she turns her body. “Guards, take her to be cleaned and scanned for any markings of a curse.”
“I can take her.” I can hear Koen through the constant ringing sounds screaming inside my ears.
But I can’t respond. It's as if my soul has left my body and cannot return until she tells me if the woman she saw is my sister. Two guards yank my arms, escorting me off of the bridgeand into the Kingdom. I trip over my boots as I stare at the back of the Queen who walks in front of me towards the castle walls.
Yell at her, Serene.My mind is at battle within itself. I want to speak, ask her who the woman she saw is, but it's as if my mouth is frozen.I am numb.
Chapter 13
“The mark of your gift is hand picked from the God of your Realm. Use the gift for good, never for evil.” - Book of Azure
I IMMERSE MYSELF INTO THE soothing bath, knowing I have longed for one all this time, and let my body melt into the heat soaking into my body. My fingers glide over my skin, trembling against the bruises that ache along my arms and ribs, fresh wounds stinging from the soapy water. These days have felt like weeks, but I begin to wonder how long I have truly been here in these Realms. I flinch as I shift my body, letting myself lean back against the metal tub. I close my eyes as women around me scoop up metal buckets filled to the brim and pour them over my head. The sound of water splashing to the bucket beneath my drenched hair echoes in the small room they put me in. Water cascades down my face, trickling down my cheeks like a stream, and runs over my chapped lips.
Images flood my mind, memories of the water gently sliding down Koen’s chin, tracing a path along his neck, and my heart begins to race at the vivid recollection. My stomach turns, twisting into knots as my chest heaves. I gasp for air as I open my eyes wide and bolt upright, my hand instinctively clutching my chest as if to steady the rapid thumping within.
“Ma’am, are you okay?” One with golden curls, braided into a crown, crouches besides the tub.
“I need to see the Queen,” I whisper out to her.
She nods, closing her eyes for a brief moment. “I will let the guards know.”
I nod, clearing my throat. “Please. Thank you. You all can go.”
She grins, standing up before cleaning the room with the others and beginning to leave. As they exit, a guard halts them. “Does she have a mark on her body?”
“No,” the woman says. “Just five birthmarks under her eye.”
The marks.I had forgotten about what the elder warned me about with the markings. The true Queen would bear the markings of the five Realms. But growing up, these birthmarks were always and only,birthmarks. Nothing more.
They are only birthmarks, I repeat to myself.Only birthmarks.
The guard nods and leaves with the women.
The quiet is what I have needed. I need to process what the Queen said to me. I need to know the truth… should I go to the oracles myself? Should I even trust the Queen?
As I lean back, letting my neck rest against the cool metal, the wooden door flings open and slams against the stone wall. I jolt upright, holding my breasts with my arms as my soaked hair slaps against my back.
I slump once more when I notice Koen has walked in, his hand leaning against the doorframe with an arrogant smirk along hislips as his eyestryto trace my body. But I sink in, letting the bubbles block the view.
“Wow. Missed me already, huh?” I grunt, letting my hands rest over my chest. Just in case the bubbles decide to slowly fade away.
His lips tug between his teeth as he casually walks in, kicking the door with his foot for it to shut.Not again.I deeply exhale, letting myself sink a tad bit more to where my chin meets the water.
“I thought I got rid of you,” I mutter annoyingly.
