Serpent in Shackles

Chapter Thirty Five

A few days passed since we had been captured. The servants brought us three meals each day with my servings being slightly bigger than the others. Keeping me healthy enough to kill me with her wicked test, no doubt.

The guards approached our cell again. But this time, they dragged us up to the roof of the palace. There was nothing we could do, nothing I could do. But it wasn't the first time I had been held hostage like that. It wasn't the first time I felt utterly helpless.

The guards finally released us in a line off to the side of the Queen. She settled into a velvet, grey throne at the far side of the roof. Guards covered the perimeter of the area and a few lined up at her side. Alongside the guards, a few palace maids knelt at the Queen's side holding plates of food and drinks.

And Caeden stood off to her side with them.

"Bring the princess closer," the Queen ordered.

Two guards approached me from each side. They gripped my arms, hoisting me off the ground and carried me to the front of the Queen. A few feet of distance stood between us, but it wasn't nearly enough.

"These past few days have been quite productive for me," she said, glancing over at Caeden before her gaze returned to me. "Are you ready for your test?"

"What choice do I have?" I replied, glaring back at her.

A delighted cackle left her. "Funny. We would have been good friends."

"I doubt it."

She flashed her teeth and lifted her chin to me. "Unchain her."

The guard nodded, pulling the key from his pocket to unlock the chains. The metal clinked against the ground.

I rubbed the redness of my wrists, but the pain had moved to my stomach. "Now what?"

With a crook of her finger, the Shadow Knight moved to her. She rose from her throne swiftly, lifting her bony fingers to his face. Her knuckles trailed across his cheek as she licked her lips. "I guess you'll find out soon enough."

His lips parted as her fingers tightened around his chin.

She said she could be merciful but there wasn't an ounce of mercy in her voice as she

commanded, "kill her."

Kill her. My body succumbed to the fear coursing through my veins as I froze in place.

"Run!" the team shouted, bringing me out of my trance.

My legs trembled as I whipped around and sprinted in the opposite direction, increasing the distance between me and Caeden. I needed to stop him long enough to figure out how to break the spell and getting as far away from him for as long as I could seemed like the only plausible option.

The ache filled my feet, then my legs, climbing all the way up my body as I bounded across the hard ground. I scanned the flattened terrain. There was nowhere to hide, no weapons in sight.

A chair. There was a small set of wooden chairs surrounding a table in the corner. I slid to a stop, grabbing for the closest chair. And with all the force I had, I slammed the chair into the stone. The wood splintered.

I grabbed one of the broken legs and held it over my shoulder like a sword as I spun around to Caeden, who was striding toward me, unhurriedly. He knew he had the upper hand. I wasn't nearly as strong nor as fast as him. But I certainly wouldn't go down without a fight.

Waiting for him to get close, I steadied my balance and lifted the wooden leg up. With both hands gripped tightly on the weapon, I swung it at Caeden, not hard enough to hurt him, just hard enough to knock him down so I could run again.