All the Queen's Angels

Ch. 38: Always Never

I awaken to Ambrose pressing kisses up and down my neck, cocooned in his arms, and I smile before even opening my eyes. When I do, I glimpse the ruins of the Gardenian palace through the tent flapping in the arctic wind. The air is still and silent, snow falling like feathers. The Orchyid Mountains stand tall around us, and I realize we're not far from where Leander first ambushed and kidnapped us what seems like an eternity ago.

"When we win this war," I whisper, "when Gardenia regains independence, I want to abolish the monarchy."

"How come, my love?". He traces something intelligible into my skin. I roll over to face him.

"Because I don't want to be Queen, Ambrose. I just want to be with you. You pledged your allegiance to me at Ayrshire Manor, and now I'm pledging my allegiance to you."

For the first time since we reunited, he finally smiles. "And where would we go?".

"Somewhere warm, with rolling fields of wildflowers. We could build a brick cottage covered in wisteria vines, with large windows and a tree swing. And for dinner, we would have picnics among the fireflies and watch the sunset. No more court ploys or the sound of bombs. Just you and me under the sun."

Ambrose's eyes glisten suddenly, and I see my hopeful face reflected in their silver glow.

"How do you expect me to live without you?".

My heart falters and shatters. Regardless of the fact that he is immortal, I forgot that I will not even live to see 22. Even if it's just eternal sleep, I might as well be dead.

I find myself unable to speak. Here I was, promising him an eternity of paradise together. Tears threaten to spill again.

"Oh Ambrose, I'm so sorry—".

"Don't cry, Stabby. We'll just make the most of the time we have left, won't we?," he reassures me, pulling me close. Then he leans in to whisper, "And when you close your eyes for the final time, I vow to watch over you for as long as I live."

I sob into his chest, clinging to the embrace of a man who promised me forever in exchange for a few years.

"I'm sorry for exiling you back then," I sniffle.

"I appreciate it," he laughs.

"And I'm sorry for marrying Malcolm."

"There is nothing to forgive."

"I wish we had met sooner, Ambrose."

"How I wish that too, Evangeline," he sighs. "I wish that so many things were different—".

He doesn't get to finish his thought because a sudden explosion drowns out all sound and fills the world with fire. The sound of soldiers floods the air outside the tent as their shouts echo in the labyrinth of the Gardenian palace ruins.

Ambrose immediately rises and dresses in his armor. As he finishes, he seems to change his mind and removes his coat to wrap it around me in my thin white gown.

"Ambrose, please don't go. If it's the Forsythian troops who knows what they'll do if they catch you—".

"These are your soldiers. If we want to win, we have to fight, Evangeline," Ambrose replies, pulling me close for a kiss on the forehead. "I need you to hide somewhere in the palace, far from the tents, until it's over. I will find you afterwords, I promise. This is the final fight, Stabby. We're so close."

A second explosion causes the mountains to shake, and Ambrose disappears into the unknown and leaves me in his wake. Smothering my racing heart, I force my leaden legs to move.

Running deep into the white maze, I search for a part of the palace that appears intact with little luck. A sudden whistle followed by a series of pops signals a new assault of fire-tipped arrows on the encampment. And then the walls go up in flame. The tents are being devoured by the fire, and me with it. I try to outrun the fire for as long as I can before a deafening boom causes me to fall to my knees. I look up through the burning tent walls and see it: a flaming hole in the mountains. The earth begins to shake uncontrollably as the nearby fighting goes silent.

Then the mountain collapses.

Avalanche.

I throw myself through the burning tent and run across the palace, not caring that I'm exposed and Amaryllis could snipe me at any moment. I don't think anyone cares about the battle as the roar of thousands of tons of snow grows menacingly closer. The chill of the mountain reaches the back of my neck and I almost resign myself to death right then. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I spot an intact hallway. I bolt.

Down, down, down into the winding halls and half-exposed rooms, I flee. By now, the snow must have reached the palace grounds. The sounds of fighting and gunfire grow distant as I run deep into the back rooms and abandoned servants' quarters. I easily break the rusted locks and enter the basement chambers.

I trip over something in the dark and it clatters across the hall. Squinting, I look up to make out its shape in the murky light. A bone, perhaps. As I stand, my hands brush against more of them. I swallow, my eyes adjusting to the darkness.

The servant's quarters are filled with hundreds of skeletons, the bodies of people left to die during the plague. It's like a catacomb. They were likely locked in and abandoned because of the Forsythian coup. I choke at the smell of rotten flesh and molding bones.

When my ears pop, I know the snow has filled the entrance to the basement and soon will suffocate me. Taking a strained breath, I lock myself in with the bodies just as the snow thunders down the steps. It beats furiously at the door, roaring with icy fury. The air pressure increases so abruptly that my ears bleed and I fall to my knees, heaving.

As I wait for the avalanche to subside, my thoughts wander back to the world above. Why would Forsythia trigger an avalanche, knowing their men were on the ground and the Angels could easily fly out of the way? Unless it was just a distraction...a way to weed out their targets. I never actually saw any of their men. I only heard the bombs. And unlike the other Angels, Ambrose and I don't have their advantage. We are trapped.

Oh gods. I scramble to my feet, climbing up a stairway of bones to the only other exit, now pitifully easy to open because the lock has rusted. A long staircase awaits, thankfully unblocked by snow, but with no way of knowing what is on the other side.

Still, I climb. I reach the top. I open the door. Daylight blinds me momentarily.

I find myself standing mere paces away from the ruins of my old room, shattered stained glass from the cracked dome littering the ground beneath my feet. In a daze, I walk into the exposed walls to the old daybed where it all began. The room is now just floors, the walls stripped away by the bombs, ice, and snow. Most of the furniture has been either stolen or swept away by the avalanche. From here I can see straight down to the exposed throne room below. I had no idea it was so close.

"Evangeline," a voice calls behind me. "Surrender now, before it's too late."

I turn to face the voice...Malcolm's voice. He stands before me, decked in disgustingly regal battle armor. I cannot count the number of chains he wears on his body. All Hellfire. Though his eyes blaze with adrenaline, he carries some sadness in them, too.

"Please."