THE USURPERS| 2021

CHAPTER 12: THE ANNEX

XII.
CHAPTER 11
The Annex
-

Dana came into view behind General Altan—Aurora laying limp in her arms, with one hand secured around her and the other holding a flickering lantern.

"She's fine." She said before I could even open my mouth to scream for my sister. "I think she fainted from the commotion."

My heart pounded in my ears at a pace I didn't even know was possible. The thrumming was everywhere. Under my skin, in my spine, in my chest—

"Do you want me to carry you back?" General Altan's voice suddenly felt far away. All I could think about was his sword running through the neck of a rebel, the blood on his face, and the blood on my hands. I remembered how unnatural my reaction was to the sight of death.

You thought it was beautiful, the woman's voice whispered to me. There is beauty in death, Adalina.

I could feel my body seize up in terror. Not for the bloodied man before me or the dead man beside me. But for the realization that I was truly monstrous. All those years of trying to separate myself from my power. They were for nothing. I would never escape the reality of whatever lived inside of me. No matter how many nights I spent sick, trying to keep it inside—it was always be waiting. It would always wait for the one moment it could come out and tear everything in its sight apart.

Two hands jolted me forward. Suddenly, all I could see were two moonstone eyes gazing back at me.

"You shouldn't touch me." I was all too aware of General Altan's grip of my shoulders and the fact his face was impossibly close.

"You're not well." He murmured, his eyes roaming my face with an unreadable expression. General Altan knew the truth of me now. I wondered why he hadn't ran me through yet with the knife that I was sure was at his side.

My body would not seize its shaking. "Are you going to kill me?" I blurted out, feeling a mixture of fear and relief. My father had been right all those years ago when he wanted to kill me in my carriage. I needed to be put down, like a rabid beast.

"Kill you?" His light brows furrowed. If it weren't for the blood smattered on his jaw and temple, I would have thought that the expression was endearing.

"You saw what I did?"

"Yes."

"Then kill me." I said, the words too easy. "In service of the empire."

General Altan should have struck his dagger through me, and I half expected it when he moved his arms off my shoulders. Instead, I felt his arms hook under mine and lift me up gently.

"I said don't—"

"You're unwell, Annette." He said my sister's name so softly that I wished it were mine.

General Altan pressed me against his chest as he walked forward, carrying me like I weighed nothing. I didn't have the strength to argue anymore so I let myself sink into his warmth against the prickling cold of the night.

All I could smell was the blood on his coat.
..

The palace guards didn't take long to arrive.

General Altan was still carrying me when we emerged back into the clearing, only to find a swarm of soldiers surveying the forest. My body was still trembling with adrenaline as I found the energy to turn my head forward. A dozen soldiers scattered in opposite directions to try and find the remaining Minisians.

They had arrived too late. The rebels were gone.

I spotted a solider leaning over an injured noblewoman, who I recognized as the blonde girl who had been beside Aurora that day outside of the library. Her chest was half bare and I could see an arrow piercing through the center of it. The girl's eyes were straining shut.