Page 64 of Cruelest Kiss and Fairest Blood
“I bet you weren’t expecting to be served breakfast by a fully awake, fully fed princess this morning now, were you?”
Melly doesn’t speak, nor does her stunned expression waver. But I don’t think I’m the reason why. She’s ashen, and her hands shake where she wrings them together in front of her.
“What is it?” I dash to her side. “Are you ill?” I press the back of my hand to her forehead.
She shakes her head, taking my hand in hers. The door to my room opens. Gestin steps inside, his face somber.
A sinking feeling drops into my gut. “What has happened?”
Melly’s eyes are brimmed with tears. “It’s yer mother.”
I push away from her and march toward the door. “Has she fallen ill? Take me to her.”
Gestin drops his eyes. “The queen passed sometime during the night.”
His words bounce back, not quite penetrating the emotional barrier I’ve thrown up. “Don’t be absurd,” I spit the words out. “Take me to her. Now.”
“She’s being prepared.”
What a strange thing to say. “Prepared for what?”
Melly sets a hand on my shoulder. “The dressers are preparing ’er for the funeral.”
No. No. No funeral. No.“Where is she?”
“They took her body to the chapel.”
“Stop speaking of her like that. She isnotdead.”
I shove past Gestin, sprinting barefoot down the castle halls. I know my dressing robe and nightgown are far from appropriate to be seen in outside my bedroom walls. The servants and any other nosy bodies can look away for all I care. I don’t have time to worry about my attire.
Thunder booms from outside as the storm closes in. Our chapelis set a ways off the property. Its staggering high arches and ornate towering peaks are usually a vision of beauty. Today they loom beneath the darkening sky, ominous and weary.
The dressers of the dead stand out front, their cream and brown ceremonial garbs burning my eyes like I’ve had acid thrown in them.They cannot be here. This cannot be true.
It’s against the rules to enter the chapel before the dressers have finished with their work. I don’t need them to finish. I need to get in there. My mother is not dead. Even if she is, I can save her. I just need to make it to her side.
There’s movement from both guards to stop me from entering, but I shove past. I’m not worried about offending them. What I have to do is more important than reputation or feelings.My mother is not dead. We do not need their services. They’ll see that.
The chapel is dark; the only illumination comes from the candles surrounding the stone altar that’s been erected in the center of the room. Four dressers look up at me with startled expressions.
“Get away from her.” My voice is barely recognizable. There’s no trace of princess in my tone. I’m an animal, feral and dangerous. Footsteps sound from behind me as others enter the chapel. To my great shock, one of the dressers puts his hand on me, trying to pull me back toward the entrance.
“Do not touch me!” I scream, flailing my arms and shoving him away. He hits the floor. Another round of gasps echoes through the should-be sanctuary.
My mother rests on the center of the altar, dressed in a ceremonial white gown. Her skin is pale and tinted blue. Everything about her unnatural stillness is wrong. I mount the two steps that lead to the altar’s platform and reach for her.
“You cannot touch the body. You will desecrate her soul?—”
“Back up or I’ll have you beheaded!” My voice is a rasping scream.
That silences most of the protests. There’s only a soft “Please” from someone nearby.
My hands shake as they press down on my mother’s chest. Her body should be soft. Instead the skin is unyielding and devoid of warmth. It’s not right. Queasiness makes it difficult to swallow down the breakfast that’s climbing back up my throat.
“I’ll fix this,” I whisper.
Closing my eyes, I draw upon that mysterious energy that swirls in my cells, calling it forward to assist me.
