Chapter 47

I should have gone after her. I should have known. I should have been there. Why did I think she would be safe?

The truth was, he didn’t think the Harvenk spy that had gotten through the border would be stupid enough to come to his kingdom’s stronghold. It told him something, even in the depths of his fear for Lola. It told him that the Harvenks wanted Lola dead so much that they were willing to risk outright war to accomplish the goal. It was ludicrous that they should go to such lengths just to kill one human woman, but Russel could no longer deny the facts. Or push them off. Or simply ignore them because it was easier than trying to understand what might be going on.

Lola was special.

She was special in a way that others weren’t, himself included. As he raced across the castle courtyard, down the length of the walls, across paths and lawns, and anything else in his way, his worried mind kept coming back to the things he’d seen when he was with her.

The weird way she could sort of sense things, especially supernatural creatures.

How the ghoul poison didn’t affect her.

And then there was the Blood Challenge.

He had no idea how she did it considering she had been held by Zeo and Enok the entire time, but somehow she was the reason he’d won that fight. She did…something to his father. Something that weakened him so much that Russel was able to actually kill him. He had no idea what that was and again, had zero evidence or proof to prove she was responsible, but that didn’t matter. He still knew she was the reason he was still alive and the king of Oclan.

And now she was in danger.

If she was seriously hurt or dead, he would never forgive himself. If he had just understood the seriousness of the Harvenk threat sooner. Maybe he could have acted quicker. Maybe he would have ignored his pain and exhaustion and made sure there were more guards watching over them both. He hated himself for failing her. For allowing her to come to harm. There was no excuse for it.

He looked around, but there was no one even close. The guard that had come for him had long since been left behind. Distantly, he heard the sound of booted feet hitting the stones of roads and walkways but they were far away and most were heading away from him, presumably to reinforce the castle gates and make sure no other intruders snuck in.

Be okay, Lola. Just please, be okay.

These words played on an almost endless loop inside his head, spurring him to go even faster. Pretty soon, everything around him started to blur as he sped toward the Serenity Pond. He felt the rush of cool, chilled air along his cheeks and moving through his hair. He felt sweat dripping all along his back and out of his armpits. His throat grew dry as he pulled in air in controlled, measured breaths. It was hard to focus on his breath work though and pretty soon, he felt like his chest was on fire and his heart was about to explode outward in grisly fashion.

Still, he pushed himself to go even faster.

All the while, he cursed himself for being a fool. He screamed at himself that he’d been an idiot for allowing her to go off by herself. There were a lot worse things he called himself, but most of that boiled down to him, once again, cursing himself for a fool.

After what felt like the longest stretch of running he’d ever done in his life, he finally came upon the Serenity Pond. Even from where he was, he caught the smell of blood and death in the air. His heart leaped and lurched again. There were several guards clustered around a form on the ground, rocking back and forth. One of the guards must have heard him coming because he turned toward Russel and his eyes widened with alarm.

The man hastily saluted and then started to gently nudge the others. One of them, a barrel-chested and grizzled older soldier turned toward the guard and snapped angrily at him.

“What the bloody hell are you kickin’ at me for?” he yelled.

The guard nudging him didn’t say a word. He just kept moving his eyes from the older soldier to Russel and then back again, several times. The soldier must have finally caught the hint and turned to look in the direction indicated. He nearly jumped to his feet when he saw that the king himself was barreling toward them with clear, and reckless, disregard of anyone or anything in his way. Fortunately, however, the streets were empty of people. Unfortunately, though, a beautiful, ceramic pot wasn't quite as lucky. When Russel saw the group of his soldiers around Lola, he became hyper-focused and didn't watch where he was going. He crashed into the pot, and shattered the thing to pieces, barely even slowing down.

“Your Majesty,” the older soldier said, saluting as well. The other half dozen or so guards present did the same after hearing the man utter the honorific. He was also, Russel could see, the highest ranking soldier there. “We are humbled and honored by…”

“Lola!” Russel said, blatantly ignoring the man. As soon as he hit the grass he darted right at the girl.

Lola, for her part, was still in a daze with her knees to her chest and rocking back and forth. The guards trying to help her, and also trying to make sense of what the hell happened, stood at attention and saluted the king as well. Russel didn’t pay any attention to them.

As soon as he got to Lola, he crushed her into himself in a massive hug. Almost as soon as he did, she broke down and started to sob.

“Did I kill her? Was that me? I don’t know. I don’t remember.” Her eyes shot up to his, pleading at him. “You have to believe me. I don’t know what happened here. I don’t know! She was about to k-k-kill me…a-and th-then…”

She couldn’t finish what she wanted to say. The painful experience of seeing Nora hovering over her, ready to kill her, was too much. She broke down, her body shaking. Russel could feel her skin against his and found her cold to the touch.

“You,” Russel shouted, looking at the guard that had nudged the older man, who was, Russel realized, a sergeant. The guard he addressed, however, was a much lower rank. He peered at the man’s name tag. “Eaton.”

“Yes, Sire!” Eaton said, standing rigid with his eyes focused ahead. He was clearly nervous and although he was trying to hide that fact, he was doing a terrible job. Russel could practically smell the fear coming off the man.

“Speak with Senior Aide Bartholomew of the castle staff and have him bring suitable clothing for a human woman. Warm clothing. Have it brought here immediately. Understood?” Russel waited for him to respond, his eyes narrowed with impatience.

“Yes, Your Majesty. As you wish.”

Eaton didn’t waste any time. He ran immediately back toward the castle’s front doors, almost colliding with the same guard that had been sent to fetch Russel in the first place. The one he had left behind a long time ago.

Jeffries, Russel remembered.

Jeffries came to stand next to his sergeant, trying hard not to appear as though he were breathing hard. His face was red and sweaty and part of his uniform had come out of the waistband of his uniform pants. His boots were gray with dust and dirt.

“Has a medic been sent for?” Russel asked, still holding on to Lola as if a stiff breeze would blow her out of his grip. He felt her tears wetting the cloth of his t-shirt. She was still talking but most of what she said was unintelligible now. Russel kissed the top of her head gently and then looked around, trying to assess exactly what happened to her.

The stone bench that he had sat on so many times with his mother had somehow been broken in half. There were several long furrows dug into the ground. Blood splattered the entire area for several feet in every direction. And then there was the cape obscuring the remains of what was definitely a corpse. Russel could smell the blood even stronger now. Blood and much worse stuff. Stuff he didn’t want to think about.

“I’m the medic, Sire,” a woman said. “I’ve done a preliminary assessment on her and found her to be in excellent health. There are no wounds, injuries, or anything else to suggest she might be in some kind of imminent danger. As unbelievable as it may sound, she is completely fine.”

“We found her like this, Sire,” the sergeant said. “She’s in shock. We’ve been trying to move her inside but she wouldn’t move. She’s been saying your name repeatedly. Maybe now, we might be able to move her?”

“Yes,” Russel said. He looked at the medic. “Have a room prepared near my apartments. Catch up to Eaton and have the clothing brought to the room. And hurry. I want to make sure she gets warm as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the medic said. She saluted, bowed, and then left.

Russel watched her leave and then turned back to Lola.

“Let’s get you inside, okay?” he whispered to her gently.

She didn’t say anything but she nodded her head. He picked her up and she wrapped her arms around his neck as he did. She buried herself into his chest as much as possible and did her best not to look at all the devastation behind her.

The guards fell into step next to them.