Shadow Weaver (Back on Wattpad 2020!)

Chapter 42

The Prince's tall silhouette blots out the dull light bleeding into the passage from the throne room. He has followed me. Heartbeat thundering in my ears, I grab his arm and pull him through. Behind him, I glimpse soldiers in the great hall. They flow out in a semicircle beneath the haze of sunlight shafting through the domed window. Usas strides down the center of them like she is parting waves.

"Where is he?" she says, her commanding voice raised to fill every inch of the hall.

I push Jakut into the passage and close the panelled door. The Prince stands so close and the passage is so narrow I cannot slip around him.

"We must go!"

I cannot make out the Prince in the blackness, but I hear his breathing, can almost feel the heat radiating from his body.

"I noticed in the throne room that you look unwell, Mirra," he says.

"We may talk about my health when we are away from here," I whisper, nudging into him to get him moving. He does not comply.

"What's going on?" Tug says. From the closeness of his voice, I realize he has moved up the tunnel to join us.

"The Prince is concerned I look unwell," I mock.

"Sssh, not so loud," Tug says.

I wipe a few wisps of hair sticking to my forehead with the sleeve of my dress. Of all the men in Caruca why did I get stuck with two of the most stubborn and infuriating?

"Are we going to go?" I say.

"I will speak to you of whatever I wish, Mirra, or I am returning to confess my crimes to the Queen."

I suck in my breath and hold it when what I really want to do is scream.

A memory surfaces in the mind-world.

"He was kneeling right here, Your Royal Highness. He stood up, stepped out of the sunlight and vanished."

The Queen's lip twitches in a sarcastic smile. "He has not vanished. Search the hall!"

Sixe is still keeping me abreast of the Queen's actions, relaying what is happening inside the throne room by delving into one of the soldier's minds.

I turn to face the secret door, bumping into the Prince and elbowing him out of my space.

"Fine, we will do it your way," I mutter, running trembling fingers across the panel. I find a thick bolt of metal at the top and fasten it across.

"Why aren't you resting?" the Prince asks.

"I was," I say, bending to check whether there is a second bolt at the foot of the door. "Until Lady Calmi poisoned me."

I find another lock and struggle to wriggle it from its stuck position. I grunt with the effort. Reaching and crouching both put strain on my injury. The Prince squats down to help and together we get the bolt across.

"Lady Calmi poisoned you," he echoes in disbelief.

"Yes, she is well versed in the art of poison." I straighten, lean back against the door to rest a moment. He stands up beside me.

"It is my fault," he says. "She is as rotten as her grandfather. And I was in love with her." I do not see him reach out, but suddenly his cool hand touches my forehead. "You have a temperature."

I remove his hand. "It is imperative the Queen does not find you with me," I say. "Stop this and come with us."

First, he ignores me in the throne room, and now he acts as though I'm the only living person in Ederiss. What is the matter with him?

I startle at the sound of banging on the nearby walls.

"They are searching the hall for a concealed passage," Tug says. "If you have finished nursing Mirra, perhaps we can go."

In the darkness Tug cannot see how close the Prince stands, his arm brushing my side, but I flush.

"You said I am yet to accomplish my most difficult task." Jakut speaks, ignoring Tug entirely. "What task?"

The thump of metal on the walls grows closer. Then there is a thud on the secret panel. Beyond the door a soldier shouts they have found something.

"Jakut, please, we must go."

"Tell me, Mirra. Tell me what kind of world I live in that such evil could ever be justified."

"Lord Strik believes you have betrayed the Carucan army and your father to marry his granddaughter and become King. He has helped you because he plans to be your puppeteer and the true ruler of Caruca."

The door shudders against my back as men thrust against it. Tiny pieces of soil and brick crumble from the passage ceiling.

"You need him to believe in your self-serving ignorance," I continue, "and for him to think he has won. Then he will not suspect your true intention."

"And what is my true intention?"

The door panel judders against my back and then the thumping abruptly stops. "To kill him," I whisper into the silence.

In the mind-world Queen Usas stands on the other side of the secret door. She runs a hand across an invisible seam.

"Send for the palace architect," she says to her officer. "I want to know where this passage leads."

"Yes, Your Royal Highness." He calls to another soldier and sends him to fetch the architect.

"What is the meaning of this?" she says to herself.

At the far end of the throne room there is a clamour. She turns. The soldier sent for the architect runs down the hall. He bows to her but addresses the officer when he speaks.

"The throne room doors are locked."

The Queen pales. Her hand moves protectively over her round belly. "How? Who has done this?" she demands.

"Guardsman Astex says he saw Councillor Lucas accompanied by a dozen foot soldiers when we were all searching for the passage."

A hand squeezes my shoulder. "Mirra," the Prince says. "Why is killing Lord Strik so important?"

I blink into the darkness, disorientated.

"The Queen and her entourage are locked in the throne room," I murmur. We knew Strik had infiltrated the Ruby Palace, but I am shocked men from the royal army could turn against the Queen so swiftly, and without the Prince leading the uprising.

"The Queen will think I have set her a trap."

"We must leave the palace at once." Tug's voice startles me, rousing me back to my senses.

"We cannot leave the Queen," I say.

"You must," the Prince says. "It is too late to save her. Strik has five thousand men camped at the edge of the city, waiting for my signal. The note I showed you, I received it from him this morning. He means to kill Queen Usas and my unborn half-brother or sister."

"You must order her arrest," I say, "Imprison her. Delay Strik's plans."

"What have I done?" His lamenting voice is muffled as though his face is buried in his hands.

"There is no time for regret," I say.

"Strik has already sent men to attack Lyndonia, and kill my cousins. He will show no mercy to the Queen."

His words are like a punch in the throat. My mind rejects what he has said, refuses to believe it, while my body struggles to breathe.

"It is in his letter," Jakut continues. "He thinks I brought the Duke here to clear the way for a siege against Lyndonia. He plans to wipe out all heirs to the throne so no one can raise an army against me."

Kel! I thrust the Prince out of my way. We must leave!

The Prince sinks into the wall. I elbow past him, tripping into Tug. Tug catches me and holds on. "Kel," I whisper to Tug. "What if Elise uses Kel to save her son?"