Bowstrings & Velvet (Spellbound #1)

Chapter 12: Flying Daggers

Run!

The instinct to flee kept Shae moving. Her feet pounded the stone slabs of the castle hallways as she ran towards the private royal quarters. There would be a King's Guard there. She could find safety there. The sound of someone pursuing her echoed in the empty halls, but she resisted the urge to look back, as it would slow her down and potentially prove fatal. Her heart beat loudly against her ribs as she increased her pace.

She winced as another dagger sliced through the air, catching her upper arm.

A moment later, she burst through the doors that separated the royal quarters from the rest of the castle, startling a King's Guard standing sentinel on the other side. It only took him a glance at her injured arm to burst into motion, ushering her inside as he called for back-up.

"Find who was chasing me!" she ordered, but the knight shook his head.

"My apologies, Your Majesty, but I cannot leave your side."

"We need to find the culprit," she interjected. "I will be fine."

The guard, a red-haired man named Grier, shook his head. "Your Majesty," he entreated. "I cannot leave you. We do not know if there's more than one. It would be foolish of me to leave. We will have reinforcements in but a moment..."

Shae nodded but quickly stopped as she suddenly felt light-headed.

"Your Majesty?" There was a note of concern in Grier's voice, and when she swayed on her feet, she couldn't blame him. It was rather concerning. He put an arm around her shoulders to steady her. "You must sit down."

As he escorted her into the sitting room she shared with Felix, she heard men in armour hurrying down the hallway. A horrible thought struck her, and she stopped to pull on the knight's arm. "Mio," she said, "Send someone to check on him!"

"Absolutely, Your Majesty. Would you like us to bring him here?"

"Yes." She shook her head. "No. If I am the target, he might be safer away from me for now. And I don't want him to..." Her voice trailed off as she stumbled and nearly lost her footing. "I don't want him to see me like this. It might frighten him."

The knight was helping her into a comfortable chair when five guards filed in through the door behind him. He quickly relayed the events and ordered them to search for the attacker, and one of them to stand guard at Mio's side. As they disappeared again, she fought against the strange sensation travelling through her body. Her arm pulsated where the dagger had nicked her, but that worried her less than her reaction to the attack. Focusing was becoming more and more difficult, and the room was spinning around her. Even closing her eyes didn't stop the feeling of everything moving around her.

"I will have someone come look at your wound." Grier's voice sounded like it came from another room, but she was fairly certain he had not left.

Ever since the attack on her home in Cyrene the night the Dark God's followers killed her family, she had struggled when overwhelmed by what went on around her, especially if surprised by an attack. But this was new. She couldn't remember feeling this way before. Maybe the day had been too much with all the talks about the Dark Disciple and his alleged son.

"Your Majesty."

Opening her eyes, she tried to see who was speaking to her, but struggled to focus. How long had she been keeping her eyes closed? There were now two King's Guards stationed at the door to the sitting room; Grier, and another she couldn't remember the name of right then. Blinking slowly, her eyes finally came to rest on the medic standing before her. She couldn't remember his name either. It felt as if her head was underwater, everyone's voices muffled and everything just a little out of focus.