Royal Guard Book 1: The Servant

Chapter 12 - Paige - No Food, Drink, or Fire in the Library Please

My bow glided across the strings. The notes floated out soft, and small, and feathery as my fingertips quivered around the violin's neck. I could hear the bored sighs coming from around me.

I picked up the tempo and strengthened the volume. Faster and faster until my bow was slicing through the air. But I could still feel their gazes turn away-

I went even faster. Even more powerful. The threads dug into my finger tips. The chinrest carved into my neck. The bow-

One of the strings snapped.

It shredded through the hair on my bow and curved wickedly around, slicing open my palm.

I gasped and clutch my hand, violin crashing into the ground. The audience went silent. I looked up, they weren't even there. Just darkness. Endless black smoke.

Pain spiked through both of my palms. Crimson slid down from my tightly clutched fists. I slowly opened them. Many tiny bloody cuts ran across my palms. Something glinted in the light too. I carefully plucked it from the wound.

A shard of glass.

I held it up to the light, but it shifted between the streaks of darkness and smoke. No, it wasn't glass. It was a green jewel, covered in blood.

Sharp pain spiked through my palms again, but this time when I looked down, there were dozens of tiny emeralds pushing through the cuts, pouring out with the blood.

Blood.

Everywhere .

I scratched at my hands, but they just kept coming-

"Hold on!"

I looked up.

A man, at least I thought so. He was half hidden behind a wall of blistering smoke. His back was to me. "I'm coming! I promise! I just need more time..." A metallic sound echoed through the darkness. Like heavy chains falling.

I tried to reach out to him with my bloodied hands, but the wall of heat between us was unbearable. I tried to call out, but my throat was choked with ash.

His head turned halfway to me. All I could make out was a streak of grey.

"You need to run."

I woke up.

+++++

I let my necklace dangle from my fingers, swing back and forth like a pendulum. The edges of the emerald caught some of the candle light, glowing briefly, like magic.

It's so tiny.

I twisted the string tighter around my finger.

But it is beautiful.

I lifted it up so the emerald rested in my palm. My palm which was not covered in blood. Not gashed open. And definitely not pouring out tiny gemstones.

It's girly. It's shiny, it's pretty, it's girly.

It's vain. Don't be vain, Paige.

... but it's mine . My one expensive thing. My one beautiful thing.

"Paige!"

I snapped back to attention. Carter was glaring at me from across the coffee table, motioning to the chess board.

"It's your turn."

"Ahk, sorry." I quickly studied the pieces and figured out what Carter's last move was.

"Wait, don't-"

I moved my piece in an exact mirrored position of his.

"-do that!" Carter glared at me again. "If you just keep copying me, we're going to end up in a stalemate."