She scowled, looking behind her. She moved her cane to the next step.
“Eliza,”she said, grinning.
No one moved. The hall was silent, eerily so, and though I could feel Elías’ mood as it altered, he did nothing to reveal it to her. Then he let go of his pommel, and he moved away, as far as turning his back to his enemy.
“Coward,” Hellveig cracked. “You should’ve pushed me. His Majestywillhear of this.”
“Do what pleases you,” he told her. “I care not for the tribulations of the Devil’s wench.”
She placed her hand over her chest and then declared loudly, “Some brave rook you are! Not even the guts to follow through! You will be stripped of your title, Lord Commander! You will be removed from this castle, from the King’s Guard! And so help me God, if it is the last thing I do, Iwillkeep the Princess as far away from you as I can! Even if I must lock her away in the tower! You willneversee her again! Never!”
Elías exhaled as he made it to even footing, but she was angry. She raised her cane into the air–this time, not for me. Hellveig swung it hard, and intentionally at the back of Ser Elías’ head, even though he retreated from her, and even though he did nothing to threaten her again, and everything–everything wrong and awful and ugly about my life flashed before my eyes and I couldn’t bear it. I wouldn’t.
I screamed, “No!” but it wasn’t until I heard his brutally sharp inhale and I felt his panicked hands arrive at my shoulders, that I became aware of what I’d done. Fifty feet below us, bent below the winding stairs, laid flat out on the marble entry floor, Hellveig contorted in a way that she never looked more like herself.
She was dead and mangled, and all alone.Where she belonged.
“S-Svana,”Elías breathed.
I paused, horrified. Eli drew me to his chest.
“What have you done?” he asked. “God, what have you done?”
“She tried to kill you,” I whined. My chest tightened fiercely. “She tried to–She tried to take you away! I can’t, I cannot lose you! I refuse!” I said, terrified, shoving myself free of his armsto see his face. “You cannot leave me. I will not survive! I will! Iwillkill myself, Elías. I swear it! I swear to God! I swear it to the empire! I will not last the week! I will throw myself from the tower window! I will ride off the mountain! I will! I think about it everyday. Please! I cannot be left alone! Please, don’t leave me! I’m so scared to die.”
He took a knee and shielded me in a stronger hold. “No,” he said. “Never. I will never,neverleave you, Your Highness. You are not alone. You, you will not die. Not while I draw breath. Everything is alright.”
“I cannot live without you. I won’t. I will not. You’re my only hope. The only one who cares. But I’ll do it. She’s right. She’s right. She’s always right. I think about it all the time. I don’t want to live, I just can’t bring myself to let Father find another body!”
“E-Everything is alright,”he said again. “I’m not hurt, Svana. You’re not hurt. It’s alright.”
“I can’t even remember his face. All this pain, all of his? They branded him, Elías… For what? She’s right. She’s right. I’m such a rotten thing.”
“Svana, no,” he said. He retrieved a green fabric from his armor and offered it to me. “Dry your eyes. Go. Hurry. Get to your room. I’ll take care of this. Of her.”
“Of her?” I asked. “She’s dead?”
“Yes,” he said. “Now go. Don’t let anyone see you cry. Don’t speak to anyone. Don’t tell them what happened. You were not here. Hellveig fell.”
“I pushed her,” I said.
“Shefell,”he repeated. “She fell and you were in your quarters. Only I was here. Only I saw it. Go.”
“P-Promise me,” I said, fighting his insistence. “Promise me you won’t leave me all alone!”
“I won’t leave you, Svana. Not ever, alright?”
“She said you would,” I added.
“Hellveig said a lot of things that were never true,” he said. “My Fealty is yours.”
“Do you promise?” I asked.
“Yes, Princess. I promise,” he said. “But you have to go now. You have to trust me. Never speak of this again.”
Chapter 20
The Palace was a nightmare of panic. King Sameer pored over a mound of documents; his advisors spoke all at once around him. I stood quietly nearby. His advisors only asked me questions like:What I was doing out that way?With whom was I with?And,What did I mean, I recognized one of the bandits?
