Arise - Book Two of The Spinner's Curse

Bloodstains

                                                   Chapter Five:

                                                  68 Years Ago

                                                       Alec

The Queen trusts me. From the moment I set the silver box into her hands, the metal still warm with the death inside, her eyes had emptied of their malice. She’d smiled, her teeth white and bright and sharp, and lifted the lid. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from vomiting onto the floor.

I didn’t have to look at the heart inside the box to see it. My legs ached with the bruises her death throws inflected. My ears still rang with her screams. I closed my eyes as tight as they would go but it wasn’t enough. I had stolen a life; I had stolen a life in order to save my own.

The Queen’s laughter echoed throughout the throne room and I forced myself to look at her. I made my expression blank, so she wouldn’t see the anger rising within me. She rose from her chair, her movements graceful and deadly. She swept toward me and enveloped me in her arms. I felt small, then. As small as the child I’d been when I first came to the palace. Her scent clouded my nostrils: the smell of blood. I resisted the urge to pull away as her layers of petticoats brushed my legs.

“My little Huntsman,” she cooed. She trailed a finger down my cheek. A finger wet with blood. My eyebrows snapped together but she didn’t notice. Her gaze was still locked on the box. A shudder of repulsion rippled up my spine and I wanted to run, to hide, to be as far away from it and her as I could. Her fingers caught on my jaw and cinched closed. She held me in place while her eyes examined mine. “Ilom did well when he picked you, didn’t he? He could see how black your heart was.” She cocked her head. “He saw how useful you could be to me.”

She grinned and there was nothing beautiful about it.

She released me and wiped her bloody hand on my cloak. I would never wear it again. The first bloodstain I could handle, now, I only wanted to watch it burn. “I guess you’re free now, aren’t you, Hunter? The ties that kept you bound to my castle have been released.” Her eyes roved over me, prompting another shiver down my spine. Her eyes snapped back up to mine. They were so green, like emeralds. They glimmered with malice and insanity. I never thought I’d miss Eira’s golden eyes, but in that moment, I did. “I guess we’ll have to see what you do with that freedom. Won’t we, Hunter?”

I bowed. There was nothing but bile in my mouth. She waved her hand at me, a dismissal, but I could feel her eyes follow me from the room.

Three days.

Three days, I told myself, but it was a measly comfort. Without Eira’s presence pulling me, I felt lost. I made my way to her room. I sat in her chair, laid in her bed, but nothing brought her closer to me. I gazed at the curtains that had shielded her while she slept. Guilt pooled inside my gut. I should have warned her. I should have told her about the Queen’s plans sooner, but she would have ran and it would have ruined everything.

When I closed my eyes I could still see hers, the gold burning with fear. Her tiny hands; white, gloved, delicate; they’d grasped mine and wouldn’t let go. Tears raced down her cheeks, reflecting the light of the moon. Even knowing what I was about to do, I couldn’t help but want to kiss her. If she hadn’t been holding my hands I may have touched her. I might have decided that wiping away those tears would be worth the anguish that would come.

But I didn’t.

Instead I’d pulled the dagger from beneath my cloak and made the first cut. I would have that scar forever.