THE VELVET HUSH

Chapter 12: The Theft

​Elara jerked awake to the sound of barking dogs and the rhythmic clank of heavy boots on stone. The North Court was no longer silent. Torches—blinding, chemical-fueled things—were being carried toward her hiding spot. The High Priest had wasted no time. He had convinced the Solar Guard that Elara hadn't saved the King, but had replaced his soul with a "demonic shadow."

​"Search the garden!" a voice shouted. It was Solene, her older sister. Her voice, usually musical, was now sharp with a terrifying, righteous zeal. "She has practiced the Forbidden Arts. She is a thief of the Light!"

​Elara scrambled to her feet, her limbs feeling like lead. She looked at the base of the willow tree. The black lilies were still there, but they were closing their petals, sensing the approaching glare. She couldn't leave the buried Shadow-Rose; if the Solar Guard found it and tried to "purify" it with their light, the explosion would level half the city.

​She reached into the soil, her fingers brushing the vibrating violet petals of the flower. It felt like grabbing a handful of lightning. With a grunt of pain, she pulled it free and tucked it back into her silk pouch.

​"There she is!"

​A beam of concentrated sunlight hit the willow tree, setting the dry leaves ablaze. Elara dove behind a stone pillar just as a bolt of solar energy shattered the spot where her head had been a second before. She saw her sisters standing at the edge of the court, their hands glowing with a terrifying, white-hot intensity. They weren't looking at her like a sister; they were looking at her like a monster that needed to be put down.

​"Give us the King’s light, Elara!" Lyra screamed, her face distorted by the glare. "It doesn't belong to a thing like you!"

​Elara didn't fight back with bolts or shields. She reached into her well and pulled. She didn't throw the darkness; she invited it to expand. A thick, blackberry-scented fog began to roll out from her skin, swallowing the torchlight and turning the world into a sea of indigo. Under the cover of the "Sweet Gloom," she vanished into the palace walls, heading for the one place they feared to follow: the deep, silent dark.