A Story of Blood and Thorns

Chapter 13

Time seems to freeze once he says those words. My past coming to me now, not hidden, not partially told. No. Now, I would learn what happened to me.

Isadora sets down her knife, the sound making time go back to normal. "You'll tell the truth?"

"Yes." King Marcus looks at me, solemn. The queen shifts a little next to him, her fingers tapping a beat on the table. He takes her hand and breathes in, making his napkin flutter a bit.

"When you were nine years old, a child came to us. I was foolish and sent them away, not knowing that they were a fairy in disguise. It was not a fairy you hear in stories, either. This one was malevolent, wanting to hurt somebody. And that somebody was me.

"I didn't pay any attention to the child. They left, and I never thought of them again. Until three months later, on the eve of your tenth birthday, they came again. This time, they came as an old crone.

"'Help me,' they said. 'My village was burned to the ground.' I recognized them for what they were and sent them away. Too hastily. For again, in three months, they returned."

I clench my hands under the table. My fingernails leave small crescent shapes on my palms. The pain stings, but it prevents me from snapping at the king for his poor choices. He doesn't seem to notice my mood. The story goes on.

"Disguised as a maid, they asked me for money to rebuild their village. I turned them away again. This time, though, the fairy stayed. They told me that you would be taken away from me by a creature of Caelius. And it would be on the day I was least expecting it.

"Naturally, I barricaded the palace, only to let in people I trusted. You and Sabien were confined to your rooms. Your mother and I searched for a way to keep you safe and tried everything. Extra guards, traps, everything. We caught many creatures of Caelius, but never the one that would take you.

"Until the night of midwinter."

He sighs. His eyes gaze at the wall, remembering a day long since last. Tears fall down the queen's cheeks.

"We had gone to sleep earlier than usual. The snow outside was strong, and we didn't think someone would take you away from us in a storm. One of the guards fell asleep. When we awoke, you were gone. We searched and searched for you, but in the end, it weighed too heavily on us. We gave up. Until yesterday, when you came barging in on us."

Isadora clutches my hand as tears blur my vision. My breaths come shakily as I try to remember how to move. A flash of black appears in the back of my mind, too fleeting for me to get a grip on.

"And you never found who did it?" Isadora asks.

The king shakes his head, about to say something when the queen stands.

"No," she mumbles. "No, no. That's not right. Evangeline is gone, she's dead. She was my baby. You're a liar."

The king takes her wrists, seating her again. "That's right. She's here. See?" He turns her chin to me. "Right here."

"Evangeline, my baby," the queen wails. Her cries turn hysterical as she begins to claw at her face. "Come back to me, come back. Don't go. Don't."

The king whistles and two guards barge in, their swords drawn. He motions for them to take the queen. They seize her wrists and her waist. Together, they half drag, half carry the wailing woman out. She kicks her legs in the air as she goes, still screaming for me.

She's silenced as the door closes behind them. I gaze after her in horror. What happened to her?

"How could you do that?" Isadora snarls. I fix my stare on her. Her lips are peeled back, showing her teeth. She clutched the lunch knife, knuckles white. "She's your wife. You don't have her dragged out of here like a rabid animal."