“Choose one,” the guard said.
“Liane, if I am your shield, let them break me to protect you,” Erich snarled.
She couldn’t possibly choose. Even if he wanted to part ways, she couldn’t have his death on her hands. She lowered her weapon and shook her head.
“I can’t.”
Then Erich bucked backward, catching the guard by surprise. He reached for a dagger and threw it at the throat of his assailant. Before he whirled around to slash at the man holding onto Luzie.
Luzie got up and ran toward Liane as the guards unleashed a barrage of arrows onto Erich as he closed the distance between them. They caught him in the shoulder, and he staggered back, but kept on moving forward. Liane and Luzie clung to one another, helpless, as a line of a dozen guards closed ranks between them and Erich.
He managed to take out three of the twelve guards and had six arrows in his flesh before he collapsed onto the ground. A scream ripped from Liane’s throat as he fell. She tried to run to him, but the guards caught her by the arm, and she was too weak to fight them.
She was numb with horror and disbelief as she watched the pool of blood spread out beneath him.
“Erich. Erich!” she screamed as they dragged her toward their horses.
“What do we do with the maid?” the guard who’d caught Luzie asked.
“Kill her,” the masked leader said.
They didn’t hesitate, slashing across her throat with their sword. Luzie’s eyes widened, and her mouth opened and closed as she gasped for air.
The sound that came out of Liane was animalistic. She curled into herself and felt for a moment like she had floated outside her body. This couldn’t be happening. This all had to be a bad dream. They tossed Luzie’s lifeless body onto the ground, as if she were nothing more than refuse.
Erich. Luzie. The oracle. Fritz. Ludwig.
All dead, and it was her fault.
32
Aristea’s eyelids sagged as she fought off dozing while Duke Braun droned on about the fall equinox celebration preparations. She’d slept terribly the past few nights; she’d been tossing and turning, afraid to fall asleep in case Mathias or his elf friend came in to slit her throat. If she did manage to fall asleep, her dreams were haunted by the looming specter. She would run from it, only for it to appear in front of her once more, beckoning her with a skeletal hand. The sleepless nights were taking their toll on her. She couldn’t hear anything the duke was saying. The room around her was starting to lose focus as her head dipped.
Then someone slammed their hand on the table, and Aristea shot up in her seat.
Duke Reiner was standing, hands splayed on the table in front of him.
“Why are we sitting around discussing festival preparations when a real threat is on our doorstep?”
Mother, at the opposite end of the table, sat up straighter. They’d agreed to keep “Mathias’ little rebellion,” as she had put it, under wraps and to try to keep it secret for now.
“What do you mean, Duke Reiner?” Mother said, her expression neutral, but Aristea saw the worry lines that creased her brow ever so slightly.
“The elves are growing more emboldened, and now our northern alliance is conspicuously absent.” Missing council wasn’t unheard of, especially during apparent times of peace, but Duke Wagner, whom Mathias had confirmed he was conspiring with, and the other northern dukes being absent, was rather suspicious.
Aristea blinked at his red face and around the room to gauge the mixed reactions of the men at the table. Since the Sun Ceremony, there hadn’t been any new attacks or signs of the elves within the city. Officially, Mathias had gone into enemy territory to uncover their plot, but who knew how far rumors of his rebellion had traveled.
“I’m not sure what you’re implying,” Mother said coolly.
“I think rebellion is brewing, and your own son is plotting to usurp you with the strength of his paternal uncle and the north behind him.”
“You’re making baseless claims. Prince Mathias is loyal to the empire and would never dream of usurping me,” Mother said.
“Then where is he?” Duke Reiner asked.
There was concerned muttering around the room. Mathias’ original mission into the feral lands was a secret, and if Mother exposed it, she would reveal her fears of an elven attack. But if she didn’t reveal it, it would only give more speculation to fuel the fires of discontent.
Aristea met her mother’s gaze from across the table, arching a brow at her, wondering what she would choose.
