The Rogue Lady

Chapter Fifty Five (E R I C ' S P O V)

As usual with chapter's in Eric's POV, it's a bit of a filler, nothing long either. Anyway, Camp NaNoWriMo is going good so far, and Teen Wolf has begun!!

Enjoy the chapter guys!

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"No!"

The word was out of my mouth before I could stop it. And I wasn't the only one; Tom yelled Svana's name at the same time as Harper did. Alex stood frozen where he was, his mouth hanging open and Bram struggled against the hold of the soldier had on him. William tried something similar though he was sneakier about it. The guard caught on nonetheless and didn't hesitate to hit him on the head with the butt of his sword. And Rowan... he must have had the strangest reaction of us all I would say. He didn't yell, he didn't fight his guard, instead he only looked down at himself. Following his gaze, I noticed that he was staring at his own chest, where a dark red stain was spreading about as fast as it was on Svana's.

When he finally looked up, it was a slow movement and he swayed, only held up by the guard. "Svana." The name left his lips in a soft whisper. Almost as if it had been rehearsed this way, the guards let go of the brother and sister at the same time, and I watched, horrified, as they both slid onto the ground, landing on their knees, before their upper body fell to the stone floor completely limp. Even the position they were lying in seemed similar; both had their hands turned to each other and one arm lay so that they appeared to be reaching out for each other.

It felt like my voice had gotten caught in my throat, stopping more words from coming out. Beside me, the archers had gone silent and still as well, and we were all staring at Svana and Rowan. We had been with Svana for three months; we had seen her wield her blades with deadly precision and a deadly passion, we had seen her come up with a plan while she was busy with something completely different. Yes, we had seen her get hurt, but that didn't make it any more believable that she could die. It seemed surreal, impossible even. And yet it wasn't. Svana could die, just like the rest of us. Although I doubt anyone had expected her to do so before any of us.

As I stood there, I couldn't take my eyes of her face. Her golden blond hair, in a ponytail instead of her usual braid, was fanned out across her back and the floor. A few strands had fallen onto her face and I almost expected her to reach up and brush them back. But, of course, she didn't. Her bright emerald eyes seemed to be staring at her brother and at us behind him, yet they were staring into the distance unseeing, glazed over, less and less bright. It was scary to say the least. The tips of her golden hair started to turn red as blood leaked out from her chest and slowly stained the floor and everything it came across in its flow. I knew that I would remember the way she looked right then for the rest of my life, which probably wasn't so long anymore.

Rowan's face was hidden from me and I could only see his hair, which was a mess after an entire evening of fighting. His clothes, where the armor hadn't protected it, were torn and blackened with soot yet there was no blood anywhere on him; nowhere but the side of his chest where it seemed to be crawling upwards between the gaps of the armor.

William groaned and pushed himself up to one knee, looking up as well. His face, usually white like it was normal for those from the north, was now same color as Svana's, paler than it should be possible without being dead. But then again, Svana was dead, wasn't she? Would she become even paler now? That was one question I didn't need to know that answer to.

My eyes tore themselves away from Svana and turned to the Queen. I couldn't remember ever feeling so much anger toward one person and I wondered if this was how the Princess had silently been feeling the entire time. It wouldn't surprise me; Svana never struck me as someone to forgive easily. She would most likely make you work for her forgiveness, she would most likely hold a grudge for years.