Wicked King by Mary E. Twomey

Author:Mary E. Twomey [Twomey, Mary E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mary E. Twomey LLC

19

A Shred of Light

Benny

Panic never does anyone a lick of good, even when the situation warrants it. But for the life of me, when I burst into the receiving room and find too much blood and a dead body, I’m not sure how to conceal my reaction.

“Addy! Help me get him up!” I cry to my teammate as I dart to the felled soldier’s side.

Jerry. Oh, shite, it’s Jerry. I hired and trained Jerry.

“No point,” Addy answers, her body shaking. She’s entirely drenched and smeared with mud, and I wonder just how long she was stuck out in the rain, searching for her charge.

I usually case a room fully before reacting or making a plan, but the setting comes to me in fragments, so deep is the state of my shock.

Felled soldier.

Prince Salem, covered in far too much blood, his eyelids drooping and his breath labored.

The queen, unconscious and slumped on the couch beside Prince Salem.

Addy, bloody, soaked and sporting a few injuries that don’t seem to bother her.

One thing stands out—Addy’s holding a weapon I didn’t issue her.

“Where did you get that?” I ask, though I know it’s the wrong point to focus on.

“I need to sit down,” she replies without answering my question. “Guard the door. Don’t let anyone in unless they’re bringing clean rags or food to help Prince Salem, or Healer Orpah, come to treat the two royals.”

The second she passes the baton to me, her knees collapse. I dart to my teammate, my friend, my sister, and help her lie down more comfortably on the floor.

I smooth her drenched hair back from her face, my fingers pressing to her pulse to confirm the weak stir of her valiant heart. “I’m here now. Nothing to worry about. You did it, Addy. You found the queen.”

“Help me lie in front of her couch. If someone comes for her, I want them to trip over my body.”

It’s the reason I knew she’d make a brilliant guard. She doesn’t just believe in a cause, she will fight with her very last breath to uphold all she stands for, even when her body can’t stand another second.

I oblige her wishes, only because I have no intention of letting anything foul come near the queen or Addy.

“Talk me through it,” I say in what I hope is a soothing tone. “How did you get here?”

“Water,” she begs. The sound is so pitiful, I have to remind my features to remain stoic. The sound of someone so strong being broken like this tears me up worse than if I was the one in pain.

Adeline never asks for anything for herself, except for this, and of course, I have nothing on me to give her. “I’ll see you get some.”

I stand and poke my head out the door, catching a guard on his way past. “I need a pitcher of water, soldier. Quickly. Adeline is not well.”

I’m not accustomed to pauses when I give the household guards an order, but this one does, as if I’m unaware of something major.

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