Black Rose (26 page)

           
She visibly stiffened.

           
“Mara, everything that has happened, everything that is happening, ties back to
that night.”

           
“No.” She attempted to sound firm, but was unable to mask the strain of
emotion. “No.”

           
“My Lady,” Garreth tried again.

           
“It is forbidden.” Her body visibly shuddered.

           
“He needs to know.”

           
“No,” she said venomously.

           
“Liza’s death…”

           
“Do not speak
her
name!” Mara felt her hand sliding towards the Arius
blade tucked securely against her side. She drew a deep breath and forced
herself to stop mid-motion.

           
Garreth’s gaze followed her hand, his eyes widening in recognition of the blade
she had sworn to never carry again. He then returned his eyes to her violet
gaze before slowly shaking his head. “It’s staggering,” he finally stated in a
quiet, reserved tone.

           
“What?” she asked through clenched teeth.

           
“The depth of your pain and how little the years have lessened it.”

           
Her breathing became shallow as she said, “You weren’t there. You didn’t see.”

           
“I saw every—”

           
“You didn’t see!” She took a step forward, closing the distance between them.
“I was bathed in blood that night, Garreth…were you?” Her body trembled as she
spoke.

           
“Mara.” He spoke her name with such tenderness it threatened to break through
her angered resolve. “How can I help you?”

           
“I don’t need your help,” she answered, but her voice quavered. “Just, please.
Don’t say her name.”

           
Garreth shook his head. “We were so worried about Edward, about…” he paused,
“about
her
.  No one even thought to look to you. I am so sorry,
Mara.”

           
“I was not the one on the table that night.”

           
“No,” he replied. “But you were—”

           
“Stop!” she all but shouted. “Please, just…don’t.  Please.  I can’t…I
just…”

           
“My Lady,” Garreth interrupted. “I know this hurts. And you are right. I was
not in the room, not when the worst of it happened.” He paused, allowing his
words to settle over her as Mara attempted to collect her emotions. Then he
continued, “But, whatever happened last night—whatever the King is plotting, it
has something to do with that night.” He drew a deep breath. “You know it is
true.”

           
Mara closed her eyes tightly and turned away from Garreth to face the crackling
fire which seemed to dance before her. She opened her eyes slowly, keeping her
gaze fixated upon the swirling flames. “Okay, Garreth. Tell him…how she died.”

           
“I was once a favorite of the Queen’s,” Garreth said quietly. “She was my
stepmother, you see. And somehow she managed to find a tender spot in her heart
for me; though it was likely due to her love for my father who was also Liza’s
father. Whichever the way of it, she would, on occasion, listen to me when she
would heed no other.”

           
Garreth gave a heavy sigh. “So it was little surprise when I was called to the
door of the Queen’s chambers the night that she had Edward on her table.”

           
“What had happened?” Nolan inquired anxiously. “What do you mean, on her
table?”

           
“An expression,” Garreth replied. “It was worse; he was actually on her bed.”

           
“Her bed?”

           
Garreth nodded. “When I walked into the room, I didn’t even notice him.”

           
“What do you mean?”

           
“My sister, Princess Liza, was lying on the ground with blood running from a
cut across her head. Her dark hair was matted across her face. A man was
kneeling beside her, jerking her head up with a tight grip on her long, black
hair.” Garreth cleared his throat softly. “When I walked into the room, it was
as if she was all that existed. My vision zoomed in. I was halfway across the
room before I realized that she was not looking at me.”

           
Garreth paused, staring into the blazing fire as though he could see the past
playing out within its golden flames. “I turned towards the front of the room,
where I found the Queen laying upon the bed, with a man’s bloodied form lying
beneath her. It seemed like a long time before my mind reconciled the fact that
the man lying there was Edward. It was…” A shiver seemed to run through
Garreth, who took a step closer to the fire before continuing. “His chest was
in ruins, the skin of his left side completely removed, scattered in blood
strips along the sides of the bed; the muscle lay bare beneath. It was the
first time in my life that I truly realized the horror of our immortality—the
extent of what we can live through.”

           
Garreth reached the door, but was met by a pair of men wielding their swords by
the large stone door to the Queen’s private chambers. “The Queen is not to be
disturbed,” he was informed in a cold voice by a guard whom Garreth barley
recognized.

           
“I was summoned,” Garreth replied Then a high pitched scream shattered the dim
light surrounding them. Garreth’s hand instantly slipped to the hilt of his
blade at the sound.

           
“What the hell is going on? The Queen—”

           
“Gave specific orders,” the guard on the door spoke again.

           
“Look,” Garreth tried to reason. “I received a message to report to the Queen
immediately.  I have to—” He was interrupted by another scream. “What the
hell is going on?”

           
The large, black door opened and Mara appeared from the other side. Her
bloodshot eyes were open wide and her face was streaked with tears. She stepped
between the two men guarding the door as Garreth moved forward.

           
“Mara?” he asked in confusion. “Mara, are you hurt?” She took several steps
forward, staring down the dimly lit corridor with a blank expression. She
stepped past Garreth who gently grabbed her left arm. Mara jumped at his touch.
He stepped forward, guiding her several steps to her right and into his arms.
He raised his arms to either side of her, and again spoke her name. “Mara?
Mara, have you been hurt?” His eyes searched her shaken form.

           
“No,” she finally answered.

           
“What is going on?  Who is…is it Liza?” His heart seemed to pound harder.

           
Mara lifted her head slowly as a series of shivers began to run up and down her
body.  “You need to get in there,” she managed to reply, her voice barely
rising above a whisper.

           
“They said the Queen…”

           
“Changed her mind.” She drew another shaky breath and forced herself to face
the two men.  “The Queen wants to see Garreth.”

           
“But we were ordered…”

           
“She wants, Garreth, her stepson, in the room,” Mara instructed. She drew
another breath.

           
“But…”

           
“Stop!” Anger flared into her voice, helping to clear her head. She snapped her
gaze from Garreth to face the man speaking. “I am a Captain of this guard; you
are not. I am a Princess of this Court, niece to her Majesty, Queen Clarissa.
This,” she motioned toward Garreth, “is another Captain and the son of your
King.” She took a step closer to the lower ranked guardsmen, grateful to be
feeling something other than fear. “Step aside. That’s an order.” The man who
had spoken lowered his gaze and reluctantly stepped aside. 

“Garreth,”
Mara said to the older man. 

“What
is going on?” he asked again. “I do not understand.”

She
turned to face him. “Don’t ask questions.” She kept her voice as firm as she
could manage. “Just…try to get her out of there, Garreth. He would want us to
get her out of there.”  She gave a hard swallow. “Go, I will be right
beside you.”

“Have
you ever seen one of those diagrams of muscles? The kind that are put up in the
walls of a biology class, where all the skin has been stripped away, revealing
nothing but pink, veiny muscle beneath?” Nolan gave a small nod. “It was
nothing like that.”

“Edward’s
chest was a raw mess. The sheets were saturated in his blood, which had begun
to run from the bed and formed a dark pool across the floor. Thin strips of
skin laid on either side of his body.” Garreth took an involuntary step forward
and had to resist the urge to speak the Captain’s name. Instead, he turned his
gaze back to his sister, who stared at Edward with a slack expression.

Garreth
took several steps closer to the table, stopping just shy of the slowly
widening pool of blood. The Queen glanced up from her victim to turn those dark
eyes upon him. “My Queen.” Garreth attempted to keep his voice steady as he
dropped to one knee. “Your point has been made.” He drew a deep breath, then
regretted it as the smell of blood assaulted him. “Please, my Queen.”

“They
must understand.” The Queen’s angelic voice slithered across the room.

“They
do,” Garreth replied. “Your punishment has been inflicted. The lesson has been
learned.” He had to resist the urge to turn his gaze from the bed. “Please, my
Queen…let me take my sister from this room. Please, your Highness. Let me take
her.”

The
Queen eyed him as though considering his words, then began to shake her
head.  “They must be punished.” 

“They
have been.” Mara’s voice joined Garreth’s pleas. “But if you feel further
discipline is needed, then allow me to take your daughter’s place.” Mara moved
several paces forward and dropped to a knee before her sovereign. “I am her
Captain; it is right that I be punished in her stead.”

“Are
you stating, Captain Mara, that you encouraged my daughter to be with this
man?”

“No,
my Queen.”

“No.”
She spoke the word as a hiss, drawing out the syllables into a sinister sound.
“You loved him yourself, after all.”

Mara
fought not to falter at the Queen’s dark tone. “Please, your Majesty. Let your
daughter go.”

It
surprised everyone, even Garreth, when the Queen nodded her consent. “Take
her.”

Garreth
began to rise at the Queen’s words, when his eyes caught those of his
Captain’s. He froze mid-motion, captured by the horror of what was taking
place. He stood there for several heartbeats.

           
Edward stared across at Garreth and then, very slowly, raised his uninjured
right hand. His fingers shook as he extended them in a single, wave-like
motion. His lips parted, but he uttered no words. Edward again made the slight
motion, and Garreth turned back to where Liza lay on the stone floor.

           
The guard released his hold upon Liza, who continued to stare blankly in
Edward’s direction. Garreth knelt down beside her before placing his hand
gently on her shoulder. She flinched at his touch and a soft whimper escaped
her lips. “Liza,” her brother spoke as softly as he could, though his voice
carried in the silent room. His sister gave no response. Garreth drew a deep breath
and gathered the young woman into his arms.

           
He stepped forward slowly with the room in silence. He was almost to the door
before Liza suddenly gave a shrill scream. It startled Garreth, who had to
struggle not to drop her from his arms. She began to fight him, seemingly
oblivious to the fact that it was her brother’s arms in which she was being
held. Garreth found himself turning to his left as he fought to control her
writhing body. He caught sight of Edward’s blood-soaked form and again asked
the silent question.  Edward waved him away. Garreth tightened his grip on
Liza, restraining her as best as he could. The black doors opened before him
and he forced the broken girl from the room.

           
As the black doors closed, Liza began to cry great, heaving sobs, shattering
pieces of Garreth’s heart with every sound.

When
the sound of Liza’s cries faded from the room, the Queen turned her eyes back
to where Mara still knelt upon the stone floor. “I do not require your punishment,
Princess Mara.” The Queen addressed her by her seldom used title. “Only your
eyes.”

           
Mara’s heart began to pound in her chest with a deafening ferocity. “My…my
eyes?” she asked, unable to mask the fear in her voice. The Queen raised the blade
she was still clutching in her hand, and turned it sideways. It was drenched in
blood.

           
“Come here,” the Queen commanded. Mara stood on trembling legs and stepped
slowly across the stone floor. The smell of blood grew worse with every step,
assaulting her senses as she approached the side of the bed. The left side of
Edward’s chest was completely missing its skin. The bones of his ribcage lay
partially visible in sawed, jagged pieces. Blood had saturated the bed and was
now spilling down the side of its stone base. Mara froze a single step outside
the pool of blood which surrounded the bed.