Death Is Coming

Chapter 11: Blair

A fist connected with my jaw, and I felt the subtle movement of it shifting slightly out of place. "Shit," I mumbled before quickly cupping it. Lila was beside me in an instant.

"What's up with you today? I've been landing way too many punches; you seem distracted," she said as she quickly retrieved a cold bottle of water and placed it against my jaw.

She was right—I was distracted. I kept thinking about the Dawnfire family. Something wasn't adding up. I had talked to Aaron later that night, and all he could say was that I needed to stop pushing and that Elizabeth must be going crazy since she was alone. I hadn't let him read the letters. I didn't know if it was because of the way he reacted last time or if the warning about not trusting people too much had hit home.

"What do you know about the Dawnfire family?" I asked, watching as Lila stiffened. "Never mind, you're just going to say the same thing they did," I mumbled, picking up on her body language.

"I'm not supposed to talk about it," she whispered before glancing around at the other soldiers and guards who were also training. Her eyes locked back on me. "There's missing pieces of the story, no evidence if you will."

"What do you mean?" I asked, leaning in closer, hoping she would continue.

Lila glanced around again, making sure no one was listening. "There's a lot that doesn't add up. The Dawnfires weren't known to be cruel, not until Aaron's family took over, and that's what everybody believes now. I was a guard for the prince, Ashton. He spoke of wanting great things for Althea. His image of Althea that he had painted for when he became king was way better than it is now under Aaron's command. Don't get me wrong, I love Aaron, but something doesn't add up."

"Wait, what?" My mind was racing. "You were a guard for Prince Ashton? What happened to him?"

Lila hesitated, her eyes darting around the training ground. "He disappeared. They say he went into hiding, but...I don't believe that. Ashton was passionate about Althea. He wouldn't have just left without a fight."

"But why would Aaron's family take over if the Dawnfires weren't cruel?" I pressed, feeling the urgency of the situation growing.

Lila sighed, glancing down at her hands. "I don't know, Blair. All I know is that the official story doesn't match what I saw. There was no uprising, no rebellion from the people. It was all very sudden."

I nodded, taking in her words. "Thank you, Lila. I know this isn't easy to talk about."

"Be careful," she whispered. "People don't like it when you start asking too many questions. Especially about the past."

I left the training ground with more questions than answers. Elizabeth's cryptic warnings, Aaron's evasive responses, and now Lila's account of Prince Ashton—all of it pointed to something much darker than I had imagined. As I made my way back towards the palace I noticed a figure creeping in the shadows next to the Palace off in the woods ever so slightly.

I stopped taking a step closer towards the figure just so I could see who they were, it was the boy. the delivery boy. I hadn't seen them since Elizabeth's last message. I quickly made my way towards him. " she said this will be the last" he said once I was close enough. he held out a white envelope that had Speckles of red on it.

" is that blood?" I asked.

" it was left at her cabin, the one she's been hiding in but she wasn't there" he said softly with sympathy very evident in his voice

I took the envelope from him, my heart pounding in my chest. The speckles of red sent a chill down my spine. "She wasn't there?" I repeated, trying to process the implications. Elizabeth's cryptic messages, her warnings about shadows and flames, suddenly seemed more urgent than ever.