Beyond Her Beauty

CHAPTER 23 (Rebels√)

As the emerge where going stairwell that had ushered me to safety the night before, it was all too apparent that the Southerners had been here. In the short hallway that led to my room, there was a pile of debris that I had to climb over to get to my door.

Typically, the worst of the mess was gone by the time we were released from the safe room. This time, however, it looked like there had been too much for the staff to get to, and we would have been down there all day. Still, I wished they’d tried a little harder. I spied a group of maids working to scrub away giant letters on a far wall.

We're coming...coming...coming...

The line was repeated down the hall, sometimes written in mud, other times in paint; and one appeared to be done in blood. Chills ran through me, and I wondered what that meant.

As I stood there, my maids dashed up to me. “Miss, are you all right?” Mary asked.

I was startled by their sudden appearance. “Um, yes. Fine.” I looked back to the words on the wall. I keep hiding my cat ears in brown soft clothes and I feel my tail has been stuck on my dress. Hopefully the sun will show as early as possible.

“Come away, miss. We’ll get you ready,” Mary insisted.

I followed obediently, slightly stunned from everything I saw and too confused to do anything else. They worked deliberately, the way they did when they tried to soothe me with the routine of getting dressed. Something about their steady hands—even Lucy’s—was calming.

By the time I was ready, a maid came to escort me outside, where we would apparently be working this morning. The smashed glass and chilling graffiti were easy to forget about in the Angeles sun.

Luckily, after a few hours the sun showed.

I felt relief as I felt my ears and tails are gone.

Kaden and the king were standing at a table with advisers, reviewing piles of documents and making decisions.

Under a tent, the queen read over papers, pointing out details to a nearby maid. Near her, Elise, Selena, and Natalie sat at a table discussing plans for their reception. They were so engrossed, it looked like they’d completely forgotten the rough night.

Kriesha and I sat on the opposite side of the lawn, under a similar tent, but our work was going slowly. I was having a hard time talking to her as I fought to get the image of her sharing a moment with Kaden out of my head. I watched as she underlined sections in the papers Rihanna gave us and scribbled notes in the margin.

“I think I might have figured out how to do our flowers,” she commented without looking up.

“Oh. Good.”

I let my eyes wander over to Kaden. He was trying to look busier than he was. Anyone really watching could see how the king pretended not to hear his comments. I didn’t understand that. If the king was worried about Kaden being a good leader, the thing to do was to truly instruct him, not keep him from doing anything because he worried his son would make a mistake.

Kaden shuffled some papers and looked up. He caught my eye and waved. As I went to raise my hand, I saw Kriesha enthusiastically wave back from the corner of my eye. I focused on the papers again, fighting a blush.

“Isn’t he handsome?” Kriesha asked.

“Sure.”

“I keep imagining how children would look with his hair and my eyes.”

“How’s your ankle?”

“Oh,” she said with a sigh. “It hurts a little, but Doctor Ashlar says I’ll be fine by the reception.”

“That’s good,” I said, finally looking up at her.

“Wouldn’t want you hobbling around when the Italians come.” I was trying to sound friendly, but I could tell she was questioning my tone.

She opened her mouth to speak but then quickly looked away. I followed her gaze and saw that Kaden was heading over to the refreshment table the butlers had set up for us.

“I’ll be right back,” she said quickly, and limped toward Kaden faster than I would have thought possible.

I couldn’t help but watch. Selena had walked over, too, and they were all talking quietly as they poured water or grabbed finger sandwiches. Selena said something, and Kaden laughed. It looked like Kriesha was smiling, but she was clearly too bothered by Selena interrupting her time to be genuinely amused.

I was almost grateful for Selena at that moment. She might have been a hundred things that irritated me, but she was also impossible to intimidate. I could use some of that.

The king bellowed something to one of his advisers, and my head snapped in his direction. I missed exactly what he’d said, but he sounded irritated. Over his shoulder, I caught a glimpse of Bridger, walking his rounds.

He looked my way briefly, risking a fast wink. I knew that was meant to ease my worries, and it did a little. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder what he went through last night that led to the slight limp in his step and the bandaged gash by his eye.

As I was debating whether there was a way to inconspicuously ask him to come see me tonight, a call rang out from just inside the palace doors.

“Rebels!” a guard yelled. “Run!”

“What?” another guard called back, confused.

“Rebels! Inside the palace! They’re coming!”

The guard’s words made the threat on the walls this morning flash through my mind the word I heard earlier.

Things started moving very quickly. The maids ushered the queen toward the far side of the palace, some pulling her hands to make her move faster while others dutifully raced behind her, blocking her from an attack.

Selena’s red dress blazed as she followed the queen, rightly assuming that was probably the safest way to go. Kaden scooped up Kriesha and her injured foot, turning to place her in the arms of the nearest guard, who happened to be Bridger.

“Run!” he screamed at Bridger. “Run!”

Bridger, faithful to a fault, bolted, carrying Kriesha like she weighed nothing at all.

“Kaden, no!” she cried over Bridger’s shoulder.

I heard a loud pop from inside the opened doors to the palace and screamed. As several of the guards reached under their dark uniforms and pulled out guns, I understood what that sound was. Two more pops came, and I found myself frozen, watching the flurry of bodies move around me. The guards pushed people to the sides of the palace, urging them to move out of the way as a swarm of people in rugged pants and sturdy jackets raced outside, running with backpacks or satchels packed to the brim. Another shot came.