The mad king pulled out his sword and again dropped it on the floor.
Blood seeped from the wound in her stomach, and Nora felt her soul slowly pour out of her. Blood was the earthly vessel for the soul and once it was gone, she would be dead.
“You’re a witch!” he screamed, crying. “You deserved to die!”
“Please forgive me, Màthair,” she whispered. “I have failed you.”
At the mention of her goddess, King Pierre ran from the cell, leaving the door unlocked. Not that Nora could escape now. This is where she would die. In a dungeon, all alone. She would bleed out in less than ten minutes. She’d grown too confident in her own abilities. Just like her ancestor Orla, daughter of Queen Eleanora I.
Orla had beaten giants.
She’d defended her country against armies.
She had been unstoppable.
Unbeatable.
Until a single arrow pierced her heart.
She’d died instantly, her sword still in one hand and her shield in the other.
Dead.
Holding her eyes open became too difficult. Nora felt her eyelids flutter and close. She sank down in her chains, no longer able to bear the weight of her own body. The metal cuffs tore into her flesh and she cried out in agony. Yet the chains kept her limp body suspended in the air of the cell. She could hear the steady drip, drip of her blood onto the stones of the floor.
Every ragged breath pained her as she fought to remain conscious.
To live.
She thought of Elea.
Crownless.
She thought of Matteo’s smile.
His lips.
Warm kisses.
Words that were never spoken.
Love.
Then death came for her.
20
MATTEO
He awoke to the sound of chirping. A bird was outside his window. Matteo sat up in the foreign bed. Xavier was still asleep in the bed adjacent to him. Swinging one foot onto the cold stone floor, he stood up and opened the window. He was about to shoo the bird away when he realized that it was a messenger pigeon. There was a note tied to its foot. Matteo opened the window further, and the bird flew into the room and tried to land on his sleeping friend.
“Come here,” Matteo said in the same caressing voice he used on his horse. He held out his arm and the bird flew around Xavier once again before perching on it. Matteo petted the bird’s feathers before he untied the note. The pigeon pecked at his fingers before flying to the side table where the remnants of a loaf of bread were. He and Xavier had been famished after their long ride and battle the night before.
Unrolling the note for Xavier, he read:
Urkan queen is being tortured in the dungeon. King Pierre is angry that King Matteo has gone to war over her capture. You assured us that he did not care for her. I told him that you hadn’t betrayed him, and he will give you another chance. King Pierre will double his price if you can stall the Sanian Army for at least a week.
Candide.