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Chapter 8
Theo
My heart pounds as air catches in my chest.A cold sweat covers my body while my hands remain warm,coated in her blood.My flower.
I shake my head,trying to change the sight before me,but it stays the same.Her frail body lies limp in my lap.I frantically brush the blood-soaked, red hair from her face,begging for those green eyes to open for me. But they never do.No matter how hard I try. Her curls remain plastered to her cooling skin,wet and shining.
Bright-red blood spreads out from her body,pooling around us.I couldn’t save her.I let her die.Too weak to stop the man from driving the dagger into her over and over again.
Shouts ring in my ears as I let the tears fall,streaking through the blood splattered across my face.I scream into the storm raging above,wishing for the nightmare to end.She haunts my dreams,punishing me for failing her.She’s constantly reminding me of how weak I once was.I’m sentenced to a life of never being able to see her face clearly again.
I jolt upright in bed as the shouts grow louder, and Nathaniel bursts through my chamber door.
“Someone broke into the castle and stole an item from the king’s safe!” Nathaniel shouts through gasps for air.
I jump out of bed and quickly throw on clothes. My stomach twists into knots as panic floods my veins.
We rush from my chambers back to the main hall. The castle has erupted into chaos. My guards dart in different directions, lost to the fear of someone breaking into our home. My voice booms off the walls as I call for everyone’s attention.
I get to work, assigning tasks to everyone and locking down Lux. Nathaniel maintains order within the castle while I lead four guards to the two gates outside. I leave them with direct orders to allow no one in or out until I or General Kincaid tell them to.
The echoes of shouted orders and thudding boots ring in the night air. I try to calm the anxiety retching my insides, but no amount of deep breathing is going to help.
I race back into the castle to find Nathaniel a few feet within its doors.
“Where is the general?” I ask.
“In the throne room with King Leopold. Good luck, Captain,” he replies.
I turn on my heels and head toward the throne room on the other side of the hall. The door to the room is daunting on a normal day, but today it feels as though it will destroy me where I stand.
Pausing before the two ornate, solid-wood doors, I trace the scrolled details expertly carved to depict a scene of our goddess Astra, creator of Lux. Her long, flowing hair blows in the wind, billowing behind her as she raises mountains and cleaves rivers from the flat, untouched ground. Lightning shoots across the sky and strikes the new land below.
I take a deep breath and say a silent prayer for Astra’s strength and guidance. I nod to the two guards stationed there, and they grant me entrance. I find my father, General Kincaid of Lux, standing at the steps of the dais, dressed in uniform, with his hands laced behind his back . Not a strand of his gray hair is out of place.
King Leopold paces on the dais in his long, cream nightshirt that brushes the steps as he walks.
Stepping beside my father, I drop to one knee and bring my head down, “My King.”
Leopold eyes me but doesn’t stop pacing.
“How did this happen?” Leopold demands, and I can hear the concern in his voice.
I rise, placing my hands behind my back, mimicking my father.
“We’re not sure yet, Sir, but we are looking into it now. My men are searching the castle and kingdom for any sign of the thief,” I say with faked confidence.
