My irritation flared, hot and quick. “I don’t know, Mother,” I snapped, meeting her gaze head-on. “Do we?”
The room seemed to still, the charged silence between us thickening as I waited for her next move.
“Considering your blatant disregard for my warnings about keeping men out of your chambers, I will be speaking with yourfather about arranging a marriage for you,” Winnie said, her voice smug but laced with a sharp, venomous undertone.
My jaw dropped, disbelief crashing over me. “You will not!” The words came out more forceful than I intended, my heart pounding in my chest. “You have no right.”
Winnie’s lips curled into a thin, satisfied smile. “I have every right,” she said, her tone cold and unyielding. “You've ignored my warnings, and now you'll face the consequences.”
A surge of frustration burned inside me, mingling with confusion. My pulse quickened as I struggled to find my voice. “How do you even know he was in my bed?” I demanded. “Because he wasn’t, Mother,” I said, heat rising to my cheeks as the accusation settled between us.
Winnie’s expression didn’t falter, her yellow eyes gleaming with something almost triumphant, as if she’d been waiting for this moment.
“I know everything that happens within these walls, girl,” Winnie hissed, her yellow eyes narrowing. “Just as I know you haven’t been taking your night tonics.”
My brow furrowed in confusion. “What does that have to do with this?”
Her lips curled into a sneer. “I went to great lengths to procure those tonics for you,” she snapped, her voice biting.
“I don’t need your tonics,” I shot back, my patience fraying. “You can have them back.”
Winnie's expression hardened, the frustration practically radiating off her. “Ungrateful,” she seethed, rising with a dangerous calm from her seat.
Anger flared hot in my chest, and before I could stop myself, I was on my feet as well, the chair behind me crashing to the floor. As if an electrical current flowed between us, the air thrummed with a barely contained energy, thickening and intensifying the longer we stared at one another.
Something caught my eye, drawing my attention to Winnie’s necklace. It was emitting a faint, unsettling glow.
Winnie went deathly still.
“Your necklace,” I said, pointing at it. “It’s glowing.”
Her yellow eyes widened, and a flash of surprise crossed her face. “I’m not wearing a necklace,” she breathed, her voice betraying a hint of alarm.
Confusion swept over me. “You’ve worn that necklace for as long as I can remember—”
Winnie’s sharp interruption cut me off. “It must have been a trick of the light,” she snapped, her tone clipped and dismissive. Her hand moved almost instinctively to touch the pendant, but as soon as her fingers made contact, the glow faded, leaving only the dull, familiar gleam of the stone.
“Why do you even wear that thing?” I snapped, folding my arms across my chest in frustration. “It’s hideous.”
Winnie’s eyes flashed with irritation. “It’s a family heirloom,” she hissed. “And I’m growing weary of this argument.” With that, she turned sharply, her heels clicking against the floor as she walked toward the glass doors that led out onto the terrace.
“We’re not done discussing this!” I called after her, my voice rising in frustration.
Winnie paused mid-step, her back stiffening. Slowly, she pivoted to face me, her expression cold. “We’re done when I say we’re done. And you’d do well to remember that,” she replied, her voice calm but laced with a lethal edge.
Without another word, she turned and slipped through the glass doors, leaving me standing alone, the weight of her command hanging heavily in the air.
I stormed from the room, going out the way I came. I stepped out into the hall and immediately slipped, losing my balance. I managed to stay upright and recentered, looking down to see what I had slipped on.
Blood pooled under my feet, its dark, dense color stark against the polished stone. My gaze shot up, and my breath caught in my throat. A body hung grotesquely against the castle wall, pinned by dark, bone-like spikes that jutted out at unnatural angles. The guard’s uniform was unmistakable, but the face was unfamiliar, twisted in a final, silent scream.
Thick and foul green sludge coated the spikes and dripped steadily onto the floor, mingling with the crimson puddle below.
A scream tore from my throat as I stumbled backward, my feet skidding once more on the slick, blood-stained floor. I couldn’t catch myself this timeand fell hard onto the ground. My hands splayed out against the warm, sticky blood, and the heat and the grotesque texture of it sent a wave of nausea surging up my throat.
I shouted again, frantically looking around for someone, anyone, to help. A hiss rang out from down the hall, and my head snapped in the direction. Terror spread within my body as my eyes landed on a snake-like creature hanging upside down from the ceiling. I panicked and backed further away, keeping my eyes on the nightmarish creature above me.
Rows of needle-sharp teeth lined its snout, each coated with a green sheen. The creature's massive head was crowned with jagged, menacing spikes, which seemed grotesquely oversized compared to its body, giving it an unsettlingly disproportionate look.
