The King's Queen

Chapter 56 Pt. 1

Princess Hailey stood before us. Her eyes drilled into me as cold and hard as ice, and her lips parted in a wicked grin.

***

"Princess Hailey." The words that slipped past my lips like forbidden whispers, summoned a thick frigidity to the darkening night.

"Missed me?" Leaves and pebbles crunched beneath her unforgiving boots as she moved closer to stand next to Rosaline. She fastened a smile at me that was both sinister and pretty. "I had a score to settle, so I decided not to die just yet."

Her gaze fell on Ashton, and she sighed, her expression shifting to faux shock. "Last time, I only got to see Elizabeth, but it seems that you and I were fated to meet again, my dear prince. I loved you with all my heart, but even when I was by your side, you never returned my feelings."

"Loving you would have been a fate far worse than death," he retorted. "First you conspire with the prinarch and now you've joined hands with an Origin who is trying to start a war with your own people. Since you appear to lack both of these qualities, tell me, which one did you lose first—your shame or you conscience?"

"My worth." Her lips curled back over her teeth as hatred dripped from her eyes. "When you threw me away, I became nothing. My family no longer regarded me as theirs. I had nothing left if I couldn't marry you. But yet still you cast me aside."

"So, this is your idea of revenge?" I hissed, my fists curling into balls to contain my fury.

Luca had set her on fire. I'd seen it clearly with my own eyes. She had still been in the building when it was being burned to the ground. How was she still alive? The black dress she wore concealed her arms and most of her legs, but her formerly long hair was now barely shoulder length and her face was crisscrossed with scars and burned tissue.

"Didn't anyone teach you it's impolite to stare?" She retorted, and brought a hand up to touch her face. "I have your father to thank for my new... appearance. But you know what? I don't blame him. He was only doing what a decent parent should—protect his daughter. The person responsible for all of this is you." Her voice had taken on a lethal edge. "If only you had just died like you were supposed to, then none of this would be happening! Why are you still alive, clinging to your pathetic existence like a roach?!"

"Princess Hailey, I realize that you're still unable to take responsibility for your actions. I'm really sorry that your family put you through that, but you're still valuable even if you're not regarded as a princess. Material things like titles are all meaningless in the end. What truly matters is that you don't give up on you. When you lose yourself like this, that's when things truly end."

"Well, I've lost myself. If a guard never put out the flames in time, I would have died. I've sold my allegiance to your enemy. After all, the enemy of your enemy is your friend, right?" She turned to Ashton. "I'm really glad you're here. You can watch as your precious soulmate takes her final breath."

"You two can f*ck off back to whichever sewer you scrawled out of." Jun scoffed. "No-one is laying a hand on any of my friends."

Princess Hailey stared at him for a moment before recognition dawned in her eyes and she doubled over laughing. "Don't tell me it's you... The orphan boy who was always clinging to the other guys like a pest. Rejoice, because tonight you'll be reunited with the failures you call parents. Elizabeth, tell your mother that I sent you."

Unlike three years ago when Princess Hailey had taunted Jun, this time he remained calm. His dark gaze betrayed none of his emotions, and for the first time tonight, she actually looked surprised by his lack of reaction.

"Rose, we may not have the same parents, but I am related to you through the bloodline of the Damaris family. Do you have no love left for me in your heart? I grew up next to you as your sister. How can you keep betraying us like this?"

"Cyrena." Rosaline spat her name out in disgust. "The Damaris serve the Angeles. They are the ones we devote our loyalty to. Luca is the head of the Angeles family, but you've conspired against him with his half-blood daughter. Do you still think you deserve to use our last name?"

"But—"

"I don't care what happens to you." Rosaline fanned her comment aside. "It doesn't matter whether you live or die. What matters is that Elizabeth and her Crysauralian filth don't leave the Spade Kingdom alive. You've already gotten lucky once, but I never leave business unfinished. Tonight, I'll finish what I started."

She raised her hand in signal, and the people who had been in the forest raced towards us.

"I'll deal with them." Jun decided. "Don't engage unless you have to."

"Don't kill them," I reminded him. Doing that would only make matters more complicated. Plus, Jun needed to keep the little innocence he had left.

He gave a quick before charging towards our assailants.

Although he'd told me not to engage in combat unless needed, it quickly became necessary for me to fight. Ashton beat most of Rosaline's guards who tried to attack me, but there were too many for even him, a skilled fighter, to handle.

Some guards were Origins, which was a double-edged sword. On one hand, they were harder to defeat, but on the other, it meant they couldn't use Nightshade in the fight.

Twain and Duncan had no combat skills, so Jun and Garrett took charge of protecting them in the fight. Cyrena was also occupied, but her family had ensured that she knew all she needed to keep herself safe.

I did my best to hold my own, recalling the maneuvers I'd seen Ezra perform to take down the guards at the OA. Of course, he was many times more versed at it than me. Rosaline and Princess Hailey stayed on the outskirts of the fight, not bothering to dirty their hands.

As another guard rushed towards me, I shoved the guard I'd been fighting to the ground and punched him. Luckily, my Origin senses, coupled with adrenaline, made the impact less painful and the unfamiliar throbbing subsided within seconds. I threw a quick glance back to where Rosaline and her sidekick were waiting, but they were gone.

This was bad. My panicked gaze traveled across the area that had turned into a battlefield, now desperate to find out where they had gone. Rosaline's special skill was super speed, which would make her difficult to locate her once I lost track.

A burst of crimson appeared in my peripheral vision, and I swiveled around and came face to face with Princess Hailey. Her movements were swift and agile, but her stance was unstable and she looked out of place in the heat of the fight.

"Elizabeth, watch out!" Ashton shouted to me from where he was locked in a tussle with two men.

Hearing his voice, Princess Hailey, who was just about to attack, hesitated for a split second, and I spotted a reflection in her eyes.

I hastily sidestepped, and a blur whizzed past me. There was no time to even gather my senses or make sense of what I was seeing as I focused on evading Rosaline, who was barely visible at the speed she was going at. I slammed into Princess Hailey, who tried to grab my arms, but missed.

The seconds that it took to get away from her were more than enough for Rosaline to catch up to me. There was a flash of white as she blitzed towards me, and my eyes squeezed shut as I braced for the unavoidable impact.

A powerful pressure struck my chest, knocking the wind out of me and causing me to stagger backwards. My heart pounded dangerously against my ribcage, and all the surrounding sounds became distorted jumbles, as if my head was submerged in water.

A searing pain blazed in my chest as I dragged my blurry vision forward. Rosaline's face twisted in an evil, satisfied smirk, her white dress now decorated with my blood.

***

Hey, Lovelies! Thanks for reading!

Did Rosaline land fatal blow?! Rosaline and Princess Hailey have joined forces to  eliminate Elizabeth and Ashton.

Is Princess Hailey justified in her actions?

What will happen next?

Leave a comment and a vote ☆ if you'd like, and I'll see you in the next chapter ❤