Page 14 of Queen of Nothing

Her efforts to get closer to me really ramped up over the Solstice Season.

That’s it.

She went home over the break, suspected she was with child, and tested herself.

I wonder if she used krum tests or had to approach a witchdoctor with a penchant for accepting bribes.

She knew that baby would either be forcibly terminated or disappear into the lower ranks of the Videralli. Probably terminated, so she could finish out her time at the academy, and graduate.

And I became a pawn.

Now, I’m trapped on her chessboard.

I can’t go back, not even if I wanted to.

The consequences for running—even if I returned of my own volition—will be too dire.

I don’t know what the punishment would be. But I do know I can’t risk finding out.

I live in a new prison now.

Serena’s prison.

And it’s full of damp, mouldy motel rooms, fast food that she sicks up in the bathroom, chipped and rusty cars, and a baby on the way.

My face twists with the horror of it all.

I turn for the door—and as I edge it open, the sound of Serena’s heaving reaches me.

I leave her to it and climb onto my bed.

I tug a pillow over my head. It’s no enchanted bed curtain, and it only slightly muffles the sound of her in the bathroom, but I hold it there.

If I’m going to be running around for pawn shops in the city in just a matter of hours, catching trains and early flights, then I need as many minutes of sleep as I can get.

I need to be sharp.

Because I have no doubt that my family are already close behind us.

2

The train rocks beneath me as we leave the outskirts behind and rattle towards the city.

Rigid on the musty seat, I clutch the bag to my middle, like it’s a safety blanket—and also to keep it close to me, in case any of these krums try to snatch it.

Mother told me about that.

The thieving, the robberies, the violence of this krum world.

And it’s all I can think about as the last train of the night stops at station after station, and krums squeeze along the aisle, disembark and board the train, some passing me with bad body odour, others with too much perfume, and I’m starting to get nauseas.

I’ve taken trains before, but only short trips around London.

This is too much.

I stay bolted to the seat.

Serena is wedged between me and the scratched, grimy window.