Page 12 of His Queen

A gasp escapes her as she stops dead in her tracks. The carnage in front of us is astounding. The village that used to sit beside the road is in shambles. Houses are on fire, and people and livestock are dead. Bodies are strewn everywhere. The stench of blood clings to the air along with the smoke. This is the last thing I wanted her to see.

Cassandra turns to me with tear-filled eyes. “What—”

“Quietus,” I cut her question off. “The Eternal Havok.”

I hear the anger and the sadness that laces every word out of my mouth. I hate that my realm isn’t safe. That there isn’t anything I can do to protect my people.

“Help!” a woman screams.

I see a young girl sitting on the grass, a boy cradled to her bosom. Blood seeps from a wound in his back as tears stream down her face. I don’t see Cassandra move before she is in my line of sight, kneeling beside the woman. Fear races through my veins as I take off at a run. The Quietus army doesn’t leave anyone alive. It could be a trap.

When I reach them, I hear Cassandra’s voice as she tries to calm the woman.

“You need to let me look at him,” she implores.

The woman lifts her head, tears staining her dirty face. Shock covers her features when she sees me, but she lays the boy on the ground, allowing Cassandra to see if she can help him.

I watch her as she runs her hands over his body from head to toe. He is young, perhaps five or six years old, and extremely pale. He has already lost too much blood. I can feel his life force leaving him by the second, even without touching him. His little heart was struggling to keep him alive but failing under the pressure.

“It’s too late, Cassandra,” I say as I place a hand on her shoulder.

“No!” she says angrily, swiping at a tear.

I feel the moment she starts to heal him. Her energy changes and becomes more focused, as she pours her magik into the dying child beside her. Her hand shines with the purple light of her magik. I also feel when she reaches the last of her reserves, and when she starts to draw on my magik. She needs more than either of us has to offer.

“Cassandra,” I intend to tell her to stop, that it isn’t worth the cost.

But then, out of nowhere, I see my mother kneeling beside her.

****

Cassandra

I feel myself slipping and getting lightheaded. I know the boy is beyond my meager magik, that I probably won’t be able to save him. But if I don’t try, if I don’t give everything I have, I will never be able to forgive myself. Niko’s magik is also being used. It must be the physical connection of his touch allowing me to siphon off from him, but it still isn’t enough.

“Put your hand on the grass, dear,” a woman says beside me.

“Mother?” Niko asks behind me.

“Shh, now Nikolas. We need to focus,” the woman I am assuming is his mother chastises.

Placing my hand flat on the grass beside me, I feel an explosion of magik like nothing before. Where I felt like I was fading just moments before, I am now vividly aware of everything. I can feel the world around me, the magik pulsing into me from the earth. Taking that energy, I focus on the boy.

“Is he going to be okay?” the young woman asks.

None of us get the chance to answer as the boy opens his eyes.

“Sonia?” he croaks.

“It’s okay, Ethan. I’m here.” She crawls closer to him on her hands and knees before hugging him to her chest tightly. “Thank you,” she whispers, her gaze colliding with mine.

“What happened?” Niko asks her as he slowly helps me stand, pulling me tightly against his side.

“I was in the forest, gathering fruit when I heard the screaming, I ran as fast I could. But I was too late. I found everything the way you see it.” Another tear escapes while she speaks. “My entire clan is wiped out.”

“I’m so sorry,” I say softly.

“No!” She grabs my hand and hauls me into her chest with more strength than I thought possible for someone so petite. “You have nothing to be sorry for. You saved my brother. I owe you a life debt.”

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