The Beauty In Love And Murder

Chapter Fifty - Adrienne

I tremble on the edge of consciousness as pain washes over me and grips my body. The needle has burrowed further into my skull than I thought possible, and the pain is overwhelming.

I hear a hoarse, broken scream coming from somewhere and I vaguely wonder if it could be coming from my mouth. Just as blackness is about to take over my vision, I hear the sound of hinges and a door slamming open somewhere behind my head.

The pain in my mind from the queen's mental talons recedes from excruciating to dull; and as the ringing in my ears fades I hear the soft, deadly tone of Theodore's trembling voice.

"What have you done to her." He says quietly.

I almost choke on my relief at his presence. I can't muster the energy to try and escape the bonds around my wrists, so I lie still and hope that Theodore brought reinforcements.

Suer enough, Tarryn steps around Theodore and kneels next to me. "Adrienne." He whispers, his fingers brushing my temples. "You look terrible."

I have just enough energy left in my body to scowl at him. He chuckles and stands to face the queen.

"If you don't mind, I'd like the keys to the manacles so I can let her up." He says with a charming smile that doesn't reach his eyes. The queen tilts her head, examining him curiously.

"You're awfully bold, thinking I'll just let her go. I just need a little bit of her brain and then you can take her." She winks at me as if we're sharing an inside joke, and I resist the urge to spit at her.

Theodore cuts in, Zephyr at his right hand. Tobias kneels on the other side of me and brushes tendrils of hair out of my face. "Hold on, Adri. It'll be okay." He whispers, his voice audible only to me. I close my eyes and imagine that we're only ten years old and back in the woods, and Tobias is telling me that it will be okay because I've fallen and scraped my knee.

"Give me the key." Tarryn says softly to the queen. "You don't want to make me kill you."

Theodore inhales slowly, his breath hissing between his teeth. "You have no right to even touch a single hair on her head." He spits at his mother. "Neither of us ever did a single thing to you. Why would you try to kill me? Why did you take Adri?" His breathing is unsteady and I wish I could wrap my arms around him, feel his heart beating beneath my touch. Zephyr lays a restraining hand on Theodore's shoulder as the prince's fists ball, his knuckles turning white.

The queen titters, and I see Tobias flinch at the grating sound.

"I have every right to do whatever I want, dear." She smiles at Theodore affectionately. "And I had to kill you, don't you see? I knew you'd try to stop me. But you can't stop chaos, my love."

The queen continues to smile as she watches us condescendingly. She glances over Tarryn and Tobias, but her eyes linger on Zephyr.

"Oh, Sir Windfall. Just wait until I get my hands on those wings. Such beautiful things, really. A real Aviyan, right in the palace! Who would have thought. But with my husband's strict rules about magic... It's a wonder you even stayed here for so long. Surely someone would have noticed how you can't be away from home for very long, or your lack of interest in the women and men around." She laughs again softly, advancing slowly towards Zephyr with every sentence. His eyes are wide with fear as she gets closer, malicious intent glinting in her eyes. I've been so focused on the queen's words and on the fear in Zephyr's face that I haven't been paying attention to the swirling masses at his shoulder blades, smoke that curls around two huge wings sprouting from his back.

"Surely Theodore notices, the smart boy? He's always been so clever. I'm sure he noticed that you don't want to settle down... Don't want to pass on the affliction in your blood to another poor child who would have to live in hiding." Zephyr is pale, and Theodore is half standing, a hand gripping the edge of the table beneath me as he watches the exchange between his friend and the queen.

Zephyr stares at the queen hard, and she smiles as she waits for the response that we all know is not coming. "yes... You didn't expect me to know all that, did you my dear? It's much too easy when I can see inside your head."

She turns to look at Tobias. "The captain." She murmurs in a musing manner. "Ah. You're the childhood love, aren't you? Lost the girl you loved to her parents... And found her again warming the bed of the prince."

"How dare you." Theodore snarls at her. "Our relationship has nothing to do with you." The queen sniffs condescendingly. "It has everything to do with me, Teddy." She says. "I'm sure you've had a nice time with the girl but she's a commoner. Join me in my quest to overtake this entire continent and we can find you a princess, a queen. Maybe even a girl with a nicer figure. Or face." The queen beams at me and I hiss at her.

"You don't deserve him." I say through gritted teeth. "You forfeited the right to be his mother the moment you hired me."

The queen clicks her tongue at me and rolls her eyes. "I didn't give you leave to speak, girl." A spike of pain rolls through my body.

I gasp and immediately wince in pain. The queen looks away from me and in Theodore's direction briefly and smiles. She gestures delightedly, her grin growing as a stab of pain shoots through my mind again. I scream, my voice going jagged in my throat. Theodore darts over to my side as Tarryn advances toward the queen, murder written on his face. Theo grabs my hand reassuringly and I look up at him, fear mingling with tears of pain in my eyes.

"I want to go home," I whimper like a child. Theodore nods and looks at me with an expression on his face that I can't place; He stares at me for a moment, brushing my hair off of my cheek. "Thank you for coming to help me," I whisper.

"I always will." He murmurs back.

A noise of frustration sounds behind me and I wince again as I try to turn my head.

"That's enough." The queen sneers at all of us. Zephyr's wings flare and the four men in the room exchange looks, hands moving to sword hilts slowly. Goddesses, what I wouldn't give for one of my knives right now.

"Give us Adrienne and maybe we won't kill you." Tarryn says smoothly.

"And I won't kill you." Theodore says quietly. The queen winces slightly at the threat in his voice, her face going dark when she sees the look on his face.

Zephyr's wings open fully without warning, sending a gust of air barrelling through the room. He walks over to me, keeping an eye on the queen. "Don't fucking move." Tarryn snarls at her, a drawn sword in one hand and a knife in the other. Zephyr moves warily, gesturing for Tobias to join Tarryn. Zephyr maneuvers his wing towards the manacles around my wrists that keep me lying on the table, a talon on the apex of his left wing darting towards the metal and breaking it with a clang.

Theodore scoops me up without a second thought, and I relax into his arms. "Please, please, get me out of here." I say, burying my head in his chest. My head is pounding, and as I take a single moment hidden in Theodore's chest to collect my thoughts, I hear an agonized scream.

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~authors note

hi my loves!! so sorry i've been away, school ended today so i've been all over the place with work and school and summer camp prep. i'm back though and i have a lot of writing to get out of my system so no worries, the adventures of adrienne and company will continue through the summer!! i hope everyone is safe and having a good day :) remember u are loved!! <3

- C