"Crowns topple easily. Thrones crumble like dust. Hearts cease to beat. Thorns draw blood."
In a country torn into two, there should have been no room for mistakes. Especially not at the very core of the royal family. That was what she was. Yes, a...
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'Saints, if you're there, please hear me. Please save him.'
Irina thought, her pleas running through her mind faster than she could begin to comprehend them. Minutes ago, she took her own brother's life. Before that, her brother shot her husband with a poisoned bullet. To which she only added on by healing him, the skin turning into an unusual color.
Right as Igor told her of the antidote, the doors to the throneroom slammed open with a loud crash. Irina immediately pushed Igor behind her until she saw the familiar faces of Dima and Maria, relief flooding her senses.
"Saints, what's happened here?" Maria questioned in disbelief, her eyes falling upon the chaos.
Irina had a moment when her wits came back, her words falling from her lips so fast she could barely comprehend them. "Oleg's dead but he shot Aleks, you have to help me. You have to help me save him."
Dima nodded, running to Aleksander's body and pressing two fingers to his neck. Meanwhile, Igor ran to Oleg's corpse, pulled the medallion from his chest, and kicked his elder brother for good measure. Oleg may have tried to kill Irina but he had also tried to take Igor's childhood from him and though the boy was young, it was a sin he would never forgive.
"We're going to have to cut the wound open to put the antidote. If the wound remains closed, he will rot from the inside." Maria instructed, pulling out a small dagger and handing it to Irina.
The princess let out a harsh exhale, her fingers wrapping around the small blade. Her hands shook at the mere thought of cutting him open but she needed to if she wanted him to live. Only she knew the precise location of the bullet, only she could do this.
Taking a deep breath, she pressed the sharp end of the blade to his skin and pushed it deeper until it drew blood. Aleksander's eyes flashed open, an agonizing scream escaping his lips as he thrashed and writhed.
"Hold him steady!" Dima demanded, restraining the man as Irina continued to cut through his bronze flesh, now turning an odd color.
With tears falling from her eyes and blood staining her fingers, she continued to push the blade until she felt something. Maria sensed the metal from the bullet, the two women forcing it out as the Shadow Summoner continued to scream, blood leaving his body so fast that it was like they were all surrounded by a pool of maroon liquid.
The shadows around them were getting out of control, the streams of darkness coming in and out of the room, their sight being blinded for a second before returning to normal. It only stopped once the bullet was out, the small piece of metal on Irina's palm.
Igor handed the medallion to Maria, seemingly unfazed by the sight before him. "The medallion is soaked in the antidote. You're a Durast, aren't you? You know what to do?"
