The Queen's Guard

Chapter 27

After rescinding the death sentences, Carina clutched the sword tightly, the cold metal a bitter reminder of the power she wielded and the humanity she was losing. She held her head high, maintaining the facade of a queen, until their immediate exile was set into motion. The weight of her decisions bore down on her like a leaden cloak. The moment she left the room, the strong exterior she had carefully constructed began to crumble.

As she rounded the corner into the hallway leading to her chamber, her composure shattered. Tears streamed uncontrollably down her cheeks, a torrent of grief she could no longer contain. She barely registered Travis's presence, who had silently intervened to stop her from crossing the line into cold-blooded murder.

It had been weeks, months even, since Maya's death, yet each breath Carina took felt just as hard as the last, if not harder. The weight of grief pressed down on her, relentless and unforgiving.

Only in her dreams would she see Maya—her smile, her eyes, so vivid that it felt real. And on those sleepless nights when exhaustion blurred the lines of reality, Carina would hallucinate. She would hear Maya's voice, feel her presence, and if she didn't know better, she might think Maya was still with her. In those moments, she would hold on just a little bit tighter, clinging to the illusion, even though she knew she'd lose her all over again when the reality of her absence crashed back down.

Her thoughts were interrupted by soft knocks on the door. She couldn't quite discern who it was until Travis slowly opened the door, letting himself in without wanting her to rise.

"Ben told me this means a lot to you," he said gently, carefully handing the necklace back to Carina.

"He sent you to stop me?" Carina asked, her voice weary, but unsurprised.

"No, I... I asked him how I could stop you," Travis admitted, surprising her slightly.

"They aren't exiled until tonight," Carina said, referring to the prisoners still held in the castle. Though she wanted them gone immediately, the logistics weren't that fast.

"You think they'll try something?" Travis asked, ready to deploy more guards if needed.

"No, I... I'm more scared of what I will do" Carina confessed, her voice tinged with fear.

Travis noticed the tight grip she still held around the sword. "May I?" he asked, carefully sitting beside her as he slowly took the sword from her hand. He gently switched it for his hand, holding hers, offering silent support.

"I know revenge is consuming, and that it can numb the pain for a while, but killing them won't make it go away," Travis said softly, a distant sadness in his eyes that prompted Carina to ask, her voice breaking, "How do you know?"

Travis paused, his gaze far away. "I won't pretend to know your pain, but I do know what it's like to lose someone... you love."

Carina was caught off guard by his words, a cold dread seizing her as she wondered what irreversible damage she might have caused and what would happen now that the king knew the truth. But she was too drained to care, too overwhelmed to do anything but look into Travis's eyes, searching for the truth.

"How did you...?" she asked cautiously, her voice trembling with unshed tears.

"I saw how you looked at her," Travis began, his voice soft with understanding. "It was exactly how I used to look at Emmett."

Carina's breath hitched, her heart breaking anew as she realized Travis was confessing something she had never known. She had been so consumed by her own love, her own loss, that she had never recognized the same in him.