Page 88 of Hidden Kingdoms

The stillness dragged on, and he didn’t speak, ramping up the nerves that had me clenching my fists against the trembling that had begun in them.

Marcellus stepped to my side, his hulking frame a strangely comforting presence in this moment of uncertainty.

“Let’s get this over with then,” Bastian drawled lazily, and I tensed as his voice cut through the air. His hands were gripped on the dark wood though his face remained passive.

I was ready to argue my case. I knew what I had done was justified, but would he listen to my reasons? Did he care the guard had attacked me?

The lack of other people in the room was unnerving. Was this where he swept me away like I never existed in the first place?

What sort of sentence would it be? I’d read some crazy stuff in that Faerytale book I’d had in my room, but surely they were just stories.

They didn’treallyboil people alive in vats of honey or find a wind witch to pass a concentrated whip of air through your skull to smash your brain. Did they? At that last thought, my eyes flicked to Marcellus.

Was he my executioner? Is that why he’s here?

My mind was running away from me, and I let the sting of nails digging into my palm help keep me focused.

“You will now be guarded at all times by Alouette, or another member of her team. The corridor is clear of remains, and you are still permitted to use the garden courtyard if you wish to,” he recited coolly, as if he was reading a scripted notice.

The world spun as I struggled to process his words, each one taking a direction I hadn’t expected. Bastian had said remains. He was dead—gone. Was this some sort of trick or test?

Where were the dungeons, the death by snake bite?

Where was the ‘off with her head’?

“But I killed him.” It came out in a whisper, like I was trying to keep the truth an unnecessary secret. There was panic thick in my throat at the confirmation of what I had done, but a bigger—almost scarier—part, remembered how good it felt to wield my power against him.

My pounding heart was surely visible through the thin silk of my dress, as my mind barrelled through any reason why they were letting me off. Big Man didn’t exactly screamkind, benevolent ruler.

“No, Little One.” A voice like boulders sliding across each other cut through my thoughts. My head whipped to Marcellus, brown eyes meeting blue. “I killed him.”

My shoulders sagged in equal parts relief and disappointment, and that was all I needed to confirm I was ok with the thought of killing him. But it looked like I wasn’t a murderer after all.

“Youmay not have struck the killing blow, but after you smashed his head into the wall, he wasn’t going to live, now, was he? Marcellus just decided to do a little… redecorating, shall we say.” I winced at the mental image, remembering the tempest that had been at our backs as Alouette walked me to my room.

My eyes were still on his, that pull in my chest aching to close the few feet of space between us. The symbols of his cloak swirled beyond my gaze, and as my focus dipped to them, my mind filled with images flicking past faster than I could follow.

Bodies touching, hands stroking, mouths moving against each other.

Heat spread within me, pooling between my legs as I stood there in front of him. Knowing my body would find no relief in this room.

“You can go now, Marcellus,” Bastian commanded from his seat, ripping me from the onslaught that had no place at this strange sentencing. The flush of my cheeks was surely visible as Marcellus scowled at the order, stepping towards me as Bastian’s voice cut between us.

“You cango. Marcellus.”

Tension quivered in the clench of his jaw, and the danger that vibrated from every fibre of his being skimmed lines of want along my skin.

The seconds stretched on as I watched him, unsure of his next move as he searched my face, a question in his eyes that I answered with a fraction of a nod. He reached out, his olive hand covered in tiny white scars and stroked the line of my jaw, before he turned and stalked towards the door. It slammed behind him, the sound bouncing through the room. It was just me and Big Man now.

Not my ideal situation.

Keeping every breath measured, I turned to him, the silence enveloping us both. Bastian’s emerald eyes glinted, and I locked myself in place, trying my hardest not to fidget under his scrutiny. There was still a chance this would all go to shit, and I was growing tired of the constant whiplash on my emotions.

I broke the silence first. “Why do I need Alouette as my guard? It’s not like I can go anywhere.”

“Do you not like her?”

“Yes, I like her, but?—”

---