Page 58

Thorne

I bolted toward the servant girl who came running from the door Galen had exited through. Members of the King’s Guard were already stationed there, preventing hordes of people from clambering past.

“I’m Regent Lord of the North Territory. Let me through,” I commanded.

They moved aside, and I heard my mother following closely on my heels. When I turned the corner down the hallway, a small kitchen came into view.

And at the entrance lay a body.

I sprinted the short distance, my heart lurching into my throat.

Galen .

“What happened?” I asked the servant girl still shuddering behind me. She stumbled and reached down toward him, but I leaped forward to grasp her arm. “ Don’t touch him ,” I snapped. The last thing we needed was a rotted corpse wasting away with no explanation.

She reared back in fright. “I didn’t hurt him, I swear!” she cried, a sob racking her body. “H—He asked me to bring him a glass of whiskey, and wh—when he took a drink, he just—he fell!” Tears poured down her face as she pointed to the broken glass on the floor at Galen’s side.

“What’s going on?” Clarissa’s voice sounded, followed by a gasp. I whirled to see her, Taryn, Rose, Leo, and Evadine gathered at the door. Evadine grasped Clarissa’s arm.

More sets of footsteps clicked against the wood floor.

“What is the meaning of this?” Rhys Penworth boomed. He and his wife pushed through the others.

“I think His Majesty has been poisoned,” my mother answered. Her face was drained of color, her fingers clutching anxiously at the pendant around her neck.

“ Poisoned ?” Lord Penworth exclaimed.

Galen lurched, and his upper body seized violently. His eyes were closed, but I could see them fluttering beneath the lids. A thin line of white foam formed on his lips as he spasmed.

My heart raced. I didn’t know what to do. We couldn’t touch his skin, or we’d die. But if someone didn’t help him, he would die.

“Fetch a healer,” I shouted to the distressed servant.

To my surprise, Rose stepped forward and reached for a strange leather pouch hanging from her belt. She knelt at Galen’s side, and Leo hissed, “Rose, what are you doing?”

Her emerald eyes shone determinedly. “Helping him. My magic may not work here, but my tonics might.”

Clarissa’s sharp cry rang through the air, “Rose, don’t!”

I lunged for Rose’s hand as she reached for Galen’s bare neck.

I was too late.

The moment her fingers touched his skin, her entire body jolted backward like something had slammed into it. She sucked in a sharp breath and snatched her hand away, staring at it in alarm.

“What is it?” Leo asked, instantly at her side.

“I can—I can feel it. My magic.”

I glanced at Clarissa. Before we could ask questions, Rose grabbed her little pouch and began pulling out stems and leaves I couldn’t identify.

I watched in bewilderment as she pressed each to her tongue, mysterious words flowing from her lips.

Slowly, Galen’s seizures subsided until he was still once more.

“What are you doing?” Lord Penworth thundered behind us, making his way to Rose and Galen. “Get away from His Majesty!”

I rose to my feet and put a hand on his chest. “She’s saving him.”

“She’s a witch !” he snarled. Whirling on his daughter, he pointed a finger at her and said, “You told us these were companions from school. How dare you bring these people into our home?”

Taryn crossed her arms over her chest. “This probably isn’t a good time to tell you I never finished school, is it?”

Clarissa stepped forward. “Lord Penworth, your daughter is?—”

“And you .” A vein in Rhys’s wrinkled neck bulged.

“You’re the one behind this. Coercing my daughter into your schemes, sneaking your repulsive kind to my land, to my house?

The rumors from the Mid Territory were right.

You’re plotting against us. How many more are there, hmm?

” His nose screwed in disgust as he stepped closer and spat at Clarissa’s feet.

“What else are you hiding, you manipulative little?—”

“ Enough ,” I said through gritted teeth. Red appeared at the edges of my vision as rage flooded me. I grabbed his outstretched wrist and twisted until I felt a small pop, and his snarl turned into a hiss of pain.

I’d had enough of these people treating Clarissa like vermin when she had done nothing but help them. Nothing but try and earn their approval, when they should be the ones begging for hers.

“Kneel,” I commanded, still gripping his wrist.

“Excuse me?” he spluttered.

I stepped closer to him and lowered my voice.

“You’ve always been a despicable man, Penworth.

You don’t deserve to touch the ground she walks on.

I said kneel , and beg that she doesn’t wipe you from this kingdom like the rightful empress she is.

” I thrust his arm back at him, and he staggered into his wife, who glared daggers at me .

Lord Penworth met my gaze, a sneer pulling at his lips. The entire room held their breath as my anger coiled like a snake ready to strike.

A cough sounded from the floor.

I jerked toward Galen, who gradually propped himself up on an elbow, his arms shaking.

“Are you alright? How do you feel?” I asked, bending low.

“Wh—what happened?” he replied in between coughs. He looked around the small kitchen in confusion. “And if you’re going to start fights, Thorne, I want to be there.” His voice was frail, but he chuckled weakly.

My shoulders sagged as my panic and wrath dimmed. Until Rhys Penworth’s voice rang out.

“This has gone on long enough.” He pulled himself up to his full height, still clutching at his wrist. “Grimaldi, I’ve chosen to respect you out of loyalty to your father, but I will not be offended and lied to in my own home. And I absolutely will not tolerate terrorists under this roof.”

Galen narrowed his eyes. “You’re toeing a very dangerous line, Penworth. You forget that I am your king.”

Rhys shook his head, his slicked-back gray hair catching the light. “The great King Orion would never have approved of the company you keep. Marrying an outsider? Letting our kingdom fall into ruin?” He scoffed. “You claim to be a king, but you are a boy trying to step into his father’s shoes.”

Galen grasped the back of the couch and shakily hauled himself to his feet. His normally combed hair was ragged and loose around his ashen face, and his voice was rough as he glared at Rhys. “There will be consequences for your disloyalty, Penworth.”

The older man chuckled. “Attempt anything, and see what happens when a quarter of your kingdom turns against you, Your Majesty .” He took a step closer to Galen, and I moved on instinct, ready to get between them.

“You are nothing without your regents. You speak of disloyalty? When have you ever been loyal to us , Grimaldi? ”

Tension swelled and heated in the silence between the two. My muscles were drawn tight, unsure what the next move would be, barely daring to draw breath.

Rhys’s cloak billowed along the floor as he spun on his heel, taking his wife by the arm. He didn’t bother to face us when he said, “I want all of you out of my house by morning. You are no longer welcome in the South Territory.”