“Your ma–mate, Your Majesty? That woman—She was the qu–queen?” he stammers. From the fear in his eyes, I’m getting a bad feeling.
“Tell me where she is if you value your life!”
“She ran into the forest,” the other guard whimpers. “She said she wanted to relieve herself, and we told her she could do it at the edge of the forest, before the markers. She didn’t come back, so we went looking for her. We saw her heading deeper into the forest. We tried to stop her, but she ran.”
I stare at him, my blood turning to ice. “And you didn’t follow her?”
He trembles. “We didn’t dare. We are not allowed to leave our post. We thought she was just a foolish woman—”
I plunge my hand into his chest and rip out the man’s heart.
“Cedric!” Edgar shouts, and I release the first guard, giving the other on
