Bleeding Ink

Chapter 46

Chapter 46

With Adeena magic quelling around her, she was able to focus on Sophea, even as she continued heaving though nothing else was coming up. Somehow, she managed to move, making her way to the empress just a sob broke through her lips. Adeena helped her sit back against the side of her desk, keeping her steady even as her whole body shook.

She'd never seen Sophea cry before, but those broken sobs continued as she leaned her head back, eyes squeezed shut. Adeena hesitantly lifted her hands to her face, but then hers were reaching up to grasp onto them. Not to yank them away, but rather to hold as tight as she possibly could.

It was then Adeena noticed the cut on her fingertip...it was now bleeding red.

Malik, Kav, and the guardsmen shuffled behind where Adeena and Sophea sat but made no move after the chaos that had just ensued.

"Are you all right?" Adeena whispered then.

Sophea's tears continued trailing down her cheeks as her clear hazel eyes locked on Adeena's. "He's had a hold of me for so, so long," she choked out. "I couldn't...I tried everything..."

"It's all right. You're safe now. We both are."

She never thought she would be saying those words to the one female she'd despised for practically her entire life. Even looking at her now, the unease, the hatred flared within her just by seeing her face, but the tears were what had her pausing.

Almost silent footsteps made their way toward them. Sophea's gaze didn't leave Adeena's face, though, not until her sons knelt down on either side of them. Malik and Kav were just as shocked, just as wary as Adeena was.

"Can you ever forgive me?" Sophea asked then in an almost silent whisper. "After all I've done for so many years, the pain I made all three of you go through...can you forgive me?"

None of them could respond before her head dropped back onto the desk, exhaustion pulling her under.

"Get her to the infirmary," Adeena said, still staring at the empress even as she stood. She glanced back at the guardsmen, still watching her warily with their hands on the pommels of their swords, ready to charge the very moment she went to make a killing blow. "The healers need to make sure she's all right. She needs rest and then...then we'll need to talk to her."

It wasn't a guardsman who went to pick the unconscious Sophea up, though, but rather Malik. He gently took his mother into his arms, standing on steady legs, even though he was still shaken up. Kav was at his side, helping him readjust her so her head was cradled in the crook of his shoulder.

With the guardsmen leading the way through the palace, Adeena stayed at the back. Silence had swept through, though every face of the staff and other guardsmen lined the hallways they went down. At first, they thought the empress in the arms of the crown prince was gone, but then they noticed how her fingers were clutched on the collar of his jacket.

Adeena's heart was pounding so loud in her ears she didn't hear the gasps or whispers when everyone saw her face and her Lady in White attire. The realization was lighting up in their gazes, though, finally understanding that Lady Adeena Merlo and the Lady were one in the same. Even as they finally made it to the infirmary, the whispers followed and yet she wasn't paying attention, not when the two female healers immediately jumped into action as Malik set Sophea down on one of the cots. Kav closed the door and locked it while the guardsmen stood outside, keeping the nosy staff from peeking in.

She kept her distance as the healers went to work, not only making sure there were no physical or internal injuries but also that her magic was still intact. Adeena was doing the same, using her own to feel around Sophea's. She could still sense it, though it was still just a kernel of light within her after being beaten down into submission for so long.