Chapter 111

111 One down, three to go.

The only woman she could think of that would try to kill her was Kitana. Did she do this? Did she hate her that much?

A sneer escaped his lips as he stood upright and walked towards the door;

“If I were you, I would eat something. It might be your last.”

He said before he shut the door. Neera fell to her side and allowed her cries to ring loudly. The letter, it was never from Pen but someone who wanted her dead.

The King... the tears came in floods now. She might never see him again. Maybe she should have gone to him that morning before she left the palace.

Maybe she should have told him she was falling for him. Maybe she should have let herself love him. If she knew this was how she was going to end, she would have told him how she felt. As Neera sat there coiled on the ground, she remembered his smile, the way he looked at her, his voice, his scent...

Tears clouded her eyes, life was indeed fleeting. If she knew she was going to die this way, she wouldn’t have lived her whole life blaming herself.

Neera tried to move her legs, and a sharp pain shot through her entire body so she remained still.

It was a wishful thinking, but deep down in her heart, she wanted to believe that Zavian would come for her.

.....

“What did you find?” Zavian asked as Azriel rode into the palace.

Azriel pulled on the reigns of his horse, as he looked at his friend.

“We saw fresh pieces of haystacks littered on the road yesterday. Someone was hassled for blocking the road with a cart yesterday.”

Azriel leaped off his horse in one swift motion and landed.

“So? Did you find him?”

Zavian’s eyes glistened with hope as he stared at Azriel,

“No, not yet but the men are on the lookout. They didn’t leave the city so they would be found before dawn.”

Zavian’s hands clenched into fists, holding back the anger that soared in him.

Azriel did not miss the looks the servants and maids were giving them. The King was losing control, and everyone knew the reason why at this point. He put a hand on Zavian’s shoulder and drew closer to him.

“Our best men are on the search, and I am sure before long, he would be found. The princesses contest is today, so get yourself together, and let us go watch the contest. You do not want more rumors to circulate around.”

Azriel’s words snapped Zavian to his senses for a second. He had acted out of place since her disappearance and he knew everyone had something to say. He didn’t care at this point anyway, but he needed to perform his duties as well.

Letting out a deep breath, he walked towards the hall where everyone had gathered.

As he walked in the air instantly became cold, and everyone grew silent. No one was saying a word but it was clear from their eyes that they had a thousand things to say.

Kitana was on the brink of losing her temper. She wiped the sweat on her forehead, disgust filling her as she imagined herself doing such a dirty job.

She had thought they were going to fight, but it wasn’t until they had gathered they were told they were to grill a squirrel.

She looked at her blistered thumb, why did she even need to know how to start a fire in the first place? The knife they were told to get was to cut off branches and not to fight.

Kitana gritted her teeth as she wondered how this was needed to become queen.

Her eyes turned to Lyra by her right. Lyra held her knife to the squirrel’s stomach like she was cutting butter off her plate. She looked to her left; Jasmine seemed to be doing just fine. Her expression was calm like she had done this before.

“Survival skills are as important for both men and women.” Lady Beatrice said as she walked in front of them.

“Fire is the King of survival skills, and so is cooking. This time, we cook like we are outside of the palace, not inside. You should know that people love a Queen that can relate to them, it shows humility. Your time is counting, Princesses;”

Lady Beatrice added when she noticed that Kitana was just staring at the dead squirrel on her table.

Kitana looked over to Lyra. She had not said anything about Neera and where her body had been disposed of. She had wanted to ask her but she didn’t want Zavian to see them together in case something did not go well, there would be no reason to suspect she had a hand in it.

“A few more minutes.” Lady Beatrice’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She took the few branches gathered at her feet and bent to strike the stones against each other. She had seen the servants do it, but this was the first time she attempted it on her own.

Suddenly, there was a loud screech and everyone looked up. In front of her, Emma’s fingers sprouted with blood. She had cut herself. Emma held her hand as she whimpered, the blood flowing down onto her meat.

Lady Beatrice signaled a maid and she quickly rushed to attend to her. Kitana smiled and she looked down at her meat. There was no way in hell they were going to pardon her, she was out of the contest.

Kitana smiled mischievously. One princess down, three to go. She just needed to start this damned fire and get this meat roasted.

As if hearing her thought, a spark appeared, and the fire crackled with the faintest sign of life. She blew on it, and it grew on the branches, eating at them almost immediately.

Pride welled inside her. This was going to be easy to win at this rate. She set a long branch down the throat of the squirrel and out the rear end, and set above the fire. She turned it over as it darkened from side to side.

“And time up”, Lady Beatrice called after the thirty minutes were over.

Lyra raised her hands, as she watched as her squirrel fall into the flames, before she could get a stick to pull it out, it had burnt a little too much. She could hear murmurings amongst the crowd as she struggled with her meat.