Veil of Blood and Silver

4 - I just wanted to help

Harlow

“No,” I mumble while shaking my head. I have no strength to pull myself up, and my head is buzzing.

There are suddenly so many people in the room, more than has ever been here before. So many voices penetrate my ears all at once that I can’t keep up with them. People are moving quickly all around me, and the prince is going crazy in his cage.

Tears fall from my eyes because it’s clear to see, as his body contorts unnaturally, that he’s in real pain. My blood is cursed, and I have caused my prince serious injury.

What if he dies?

How will I live with myself?

What am I talking about?

If the prince dies, the King will have my head after torturing me after Gods only know how long! It would be nothing more than I deserve. I was trusted with something important, and I couldn’t do the one thing the Queen asked of me.

Hands grab me from both sides, and I gasp as they drag me to my feet. The Queen stands in front of me; her eyes are different colors. Claudette once told me that meant a person’s animal, Vampire side, or even both were trying to get out. When that happens, they could lose control and kill you.

I won’t lie and say that I’m not scared to die because I am. Not of death itself but how I will get there.

The Queen looks almost demonic! It’s common knowledge that she adores her children. I have only been here a few months, and I have seen it time and time again. The Queen would do anything for her children, no matter what that would be.

“You!” Her voice sounds strange, as if more than one was leaving her throat. “What did you do!?”

“I…I…” My voice fails me. It has left me at a time when I need it most.

“What did you do?!” She screams.

My mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water. I look at Prince AJ. He’s still screaming and clutching his head in pain. Sweat drips from his body, and every thick muscle looks set to tear.

The King, his second eldest son, and Lord Vadar push their dark power forth, trying to help. But nothing seems to work. Prince AJ is fighting the hold, but I have to wonder why.

The Queen grabs my face, forcing me to look into her angry eyes. “Tell me what you did, or I will make your death last years!”

“I,” I swallow hard. “I gave him blood.” All I did was what she entrusted me to do – feed her son.

“You see, my Queen?” Vogue’s voice goes right through me like knives on a calk bored. “I told you she was poisoning the blood supply! If what we found in the cold storage room wasn’t enough proof, the state of the prince is proof of what she’s been doing all along.”

My heart slams against my ribcage, making it hard to breathe. Vogue ran straight to the Queen and told her this lie. Vogue took the Queen and probably the King to the storage room and showed them all that blood. Perhaps she even planted poison there to make her lie look real. Of course, I don’t know if that’s true, but I wouldn’t put it past her.

“My Queen, it’s not true.” I shake my head erratically. “If you’ve been to the storage room, you will have seen the spilled blood. Right?”

I nod my head, encouraging her to answer. But she merely stares at me. I look at Vogue staring at me with a smirk riding her lips. I don’t know why she hates me so much. I have never done anything to this woman, but she hated me the moment she clapped eyes on me. She can hate me all she likes, but I won’t hide what she did.

I look at the Vampire Queen. “My Queen. Vogue destroyed the last of the blood supply. The evidence is all over the cold storage room floor. She choked me and used her nails to cut the bags.”

Vogue huffs and rolls her eyes. “You’ll say anything. Won’t you?”

The Queen holds her hand up to Vogue without taking her eyes off me. “Such lies will not go unpunished.”

“No, but,” I want to explain things, but the Queen will not allow me to speak.

“The storage room was clean, Harlow.” I furrow my brow because that can’t be right. The place was a mess when I left it. I didn’t have time to clean it up. But as I look at Vogue, I know it’s all down to her. She did something and made sure the blood was cleaned up so I would look like a complete liar in front of the Royals. And now, I have no way of proving anything.

Great!

“But we did find something,” The Queen continues. I swallow hard because I dread to think about what she found. “Traces of poison in the few drops of blood you accidentally left behind.”

“What?” I gasp while shaking my head. “That’s not possible! I would never hurt the prince!”

“Silence!” The Queen bellows as the King yells for help.

“We need your power, Esme!”

I turn my head because I want to look at my prince. His screams and hisses of agony tear through me. I was stupid to believe that my blood could help him. I know every drop of blood donated for the prince is tested to ensure it’s not tainted. I don’t know where I came from or who I really am. For all I know my blood could be cursed, and I have done precisely what Vogue suggested – killed the Crown Prince of Anthaian.

“I need to help my son.” The Queen breathes deeply through her nose. “As for you… Take her away.” The Queen hisses before running toward AJ’s cage.

“Right, you,” Vogue smirks. “Time for your punishment.” She tips her head at the guards, and they drag me away.

I don’t fight them because it would be futile. There is no way I could get away from them. All eyes are on me as I’m marched through the castle. I don’t need to ask how they know what happened, I have no doubt Vogue let everyone know telepathically that I tried to kill the prince.

I don’t see Claudette anywhere.

Where is she?

What will she think of me?

Will she believe Vogue’s lies?

I pray she doesn’t. I hope Claudette knows me better than that.

But how can she?

Claudette found me wandering around, lost and confused. She doesn’t know me any better than I know myself. But she’s like a mother to me, and I would hope, as my mother, she would take my side.

Will I ever see her again?

The thought that I never will bring tears to my eyes.

The guards drag me outside on Vogue’s orders. I didn’t know she had the power to give orders, never mind have the guards listen and follow those orders! But they are listening to her, so I assume the Queen allowed it.

My stomach is falling out of my ass! They’re not taking me to the dungeon as I presumed they would. We’re heading toward the Field of Fire – named so because that is where criminals are burned at the stake after having their hearts torn from their chests.

Oh, Gods!

I can barely stand on my feet, and the only way I’m walking is because the two guards holding my arms are forcing me to. My mouth is dry, and there’s a golf ball-sized lump in my throat as I’m lifted onto the podium.

A guard stands me against a stake of incredibly thick wood, and he ties my hands behind my back, securing me to it. I’m shivering with cold, but I think that’s the adrenaline. More guards arrive, and together, they place firewood all around me. Bundles of thick twigs are added, and a tear falls from my eye as I look at the crowd now gathered around, watching the scene unfold. The guards pour gasoline over the wood, ready to set it alight.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” Vogue’s voice is loud enough to be heard all around. “This woman has been sentenced to death!”

I close my eyes and breathe deeply. I don’t deserve this. I did nothing wrong!

“Her crime?” Vogue continues. “The poisoning and attempted murder of Crown Prince Aidan Junior!”

The hisses and growls are deafening. I keep my eyes closed, trying to block out the sight of all those Vampires calling for my execution.

“This is nothing personal,” I hear Vogue say. “You were just in the way.”

I shake my head while looking at her. “You can’t do this. I did nothing wrong.”

Vogue chuckles. “I can, and I am. Light her up!”

I whimper when two guards light the wood. I scream because the fire waits for no man. I don’t want to die, but at least she didn’t rip my heart out first. Then again, I’m not a Vampire. I imagine it’s more fun for her this way. Watching me burn and hearing my screams must be so much fun for Vogue.

I wish I could have seen Claudette just one more time before I died. I hate that her last memory will be of me like this. I hate that Claudette will remember me as the girl who tried to kill the prince, even though I didn’t.

But what I hate more than anything is what I unintentionally did to Prince AJ. I pray he survives and that he finds peace. I hope that one day, someone will find the cure to his feral state, and he will be free. I know the prince will hate me as much as everyone else, and it hurts my heart that he will never know how much he meant to me.

The heat from the fire presses against me as smoke chokes me. I am going to die here, but I don’t want to die without the prince knowing one last thing. So, I whisper to the wind, hoping he will hear my words. “I will always love you, my sweet prince.” Right before, screams of agony tear from my throat.