Page 6 of Royal Hunt
“You—” He reached a hand out to me, then his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he passed out. He lay there, dead for all I knew. In a panic, I grabbed his tunic and jacket, laying them over the bare flesh of his chest. I saw the corner of a handkerchief peeking from a pocket on his inner jacket, and I snatched it, wiping my face and quickly stuffing it down my bosom. I grabbed my breeches and tugged them on quickly.
Uncaring of how rumpled my hair and dress were, I stumbled back into the hall intent on alerting a guard and getting him help.
I stopped short, horror freezing me to the spot.
The loudest screams were coming from the queen, who rocked back and forth on her knees from the steps leading to the dais, her hands over her eyes. At the bottom of the steps sprawled the king’s body, his head bent unnaturally to his chest as though he’d fallen asleep. Prince Mellan and his fiancé Princess Ildris stood behind her, mouths gaping in horror.
The knife sticking out from under the king’s chin was plain to see, the rubies in the hilt glinting off the torches. Blood pooled steadily under his body.
Prince Mellan cried out, full of rage and agony that sent a chill down my spine.
The crowd stared in horrified fascination, and after that brief pause, every guard found himself set upon by the same nobles who supped with them an hour ago.
Another group of nobles rushed the remainder of the royal family, swords out and pointed toward the queen, Crown Prince Mellan, and Ildris. I flinched as a side door banged inwards, kicked opened by two guards yanking their prizes behind them. Prince Hector was dragged forward, as was the Princess Rowan. Both were still in their nightclothes, having been sent to bed hours ago. With terrified cries, they were pulled up the steps by their small arms. The young prince screamed at the sight of his dead father while the princess went white, still as a statue.
The queen pressed forward against the men surrounding her, her head held high. “What is the meaning of this?” she demanded, eyes wide and frightened as her family was held at sword point by nobles she had thought were allies.
Her body shook with despair and also resignation as her eyes scanned the crowd.
She fully expected to die tonight.
My blood ran cold. This was a rebellion on a scale that was hard to imagine. Had all the nobles been in on it? The entire royal family might die tonight!Well, almost everyone. The only missing member of the royal family was Prince Ellis, and he didn’t live in the castle. He hadn’t for years, if the court gossip was to be believed. Most forgot he even wasour prince.
“On your knees,” a stern voice ordered from behind the queen.
She stifled a gasp as Lord Ghanis shoved her to the ground.
Ildris openly sobbed behind her, clutching her swollen stomach. Crown Prince Mellan tried to tug Ildris behind him, but the guards pulled them apart.
My eyes narrowed, trying to place these strange men. Half the guards had gone mad with the nobles, turning on the royal family. The half were struck down by their comrades.
The first guard held his sword at the queen’s neck, and looked out into a sea of terrified faces. Apparently not all the nobles had been in on this plan, nor all the guards. Dead bodies littered the doorways, armor glinting like reliquaries as they decorated the edges of the crowd. Grim-faced men surrounded them, putting the finishing touches to those who weren’t yet dead, and reaching out for help.
The women were roughly clustered in the center by the men, terrified and crying. Any other men left who didn’t join the rebellion were killed like the guards. In five minutes, a quarter of the crowd lay dead at our feet.
I took a step forward into the hall, and elbowed the first man who approached me. He doubled over and held his gut, then swore at me.
“Cunt.”
I narrowed my eyes, and he shifted away to find a less aggressive source of information. I shook off his insults. I’d been called worse.
Deep breaths. This had gone from a betrothal party to a war zone in the blink of an eye. But who was all involved? Was my father? Was Gregory? Suddenly, his odd words on the balcony made terrifying sense.
When it starts, just do what you’re told.
That idiot.
Frantically, I searched for him. Instead, I spotted Lord Cadgan across the hall from me, his face slack with shock. I followed his gaze downward, my hands covering my mouth in horror when I saw the large sword that protruded from his ample belly. He lurched forward as the noble behind him yanked his weapon back. Cadgan collapsed to the ground and bled out. At least Cadgan hadn’t been a rebel, for all the good it did him now.
Fury rose in my veins. I may not have liked Cadgan, but he didn’t deserve to be gutted like an animal! No one did.
“You bastard!” I screamed and lunged at Lord Cadgan’s murderer. The man had a burning determination in his eyes that didn’t bode well for me. I fought through the chaos as the hall descended into men and women scrabbling with others, their screams and yells deafening with nothing discernible in the panic. I reached the murderous guard and he grabbed me by my elbow and twisted. I shrieked in pain, and he shoved me toward the other women.
I pretended to stumble, holding tightly to him instead. We both fell to the ground, and I snatched a dagger from around his waist. He growled and slapped my hands away, too close to use his sword properly. We rolled over and he slammed my head into the hard stone floor. Stars exploded behind my eyes, but I kept fighting like a feral barn cat. He tried to use his weight to pin me down, and slapped me so hard across my face that I almost lost my grip on the knife. With my free hand I grabbed his hair and yanked his head toward me.
I bit his ear as hard as I could.
He screeched and I spit blood out of my mouth. I rolled desperately away, spotting my family’s table from earlier. I rolled underneath it, panting and terrified he would come after me.
