Elias calling her princess.
Malia’s ornate dagger.
Hiding her past.
Maliawasa princess. She would’ve been the queen had Sereth not stepped up. From what I heard, the queen’s only daughter had disappeared years ago. When nobody could find her, it was presumed she was dead. Istill remember the black flags they put up around the kingdom to mourn her death. And the weirdest part was that they were only up for a few days, and then everyone moved on, forgetting about it.
Forgetting about her.
Now I remembered the princess’s name: Elena Kamalia Keahi.
Malia. Perhaps the kingdom forgot about her, but I’m not going to forget about her.My anger towards Sereth only intensified.
“Malia?” I looked at her.
“I’m so sorry Alaric. I couldn’t tell you…” A tear streamed down Malia’s face. “The penalty of betrayal is death…”
So sheknewshe was walking to her death with me? She knew, all along. Which is why she never asked me to stay. Never asked me to be a part of her life.
Because she was going to die, and she had finally resigned herself to that conclusion.
Maybe she hoped that, with me, the punishment would be less.
But it was obvious.
Lilo and Niko were here to march her to her death.
“I only meant to help Sereth,” Malia said. Another tear streaked her face and her hands shook so bad, she pressed them under her arms. “But it’s not what it seems–it never was.” And in this moment of vulnerability, the teenagers ran to us. Niko grabbed Malia’s arms. I lunged towards her, ready to knock out the boy.
But Lilo came from behind me and shoved the cloth in my face. A distinctly sweet scent filled my nose. It smelled like an apple… at first. But then it became putrid, and almost immediately, the world began to blur.
Malia screamed and fought against the twins.
They gagged her mouth. Tied her hands behind her back.
“Alaric!” she cried, but I was on my knees, unable to move. It was as if the deck pitched below me. I told my body to move, but the strongest sleepiness had come over me.
“Malia…” I blinked. My eyelids were heavier than an anchor dropping to the bottom of the sea.
Malia…I fell to the ground, barely watching the twins drag Malia away before the world went dark.
Smoke.
As the world came into view, I watched as flames licked the stars above.
It’s night?I suddenly remembered everything.
The twins.
The poisoned apple.
Malia.
“Malia!” I bolted up, finding my strength to be exhausted. I felt more sluggish than a drunk after a whole night of ale. “Malia!” I was next to the well.
Must’ve been dragged there.
Shadows danced across the area from…
