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“He is serving me.” Her temper is rising now. Bronik is her sore spot. I know she wants him, maybe even loves him. Well, I don’t think she could really love anything other than herself, not with a dark heart like hers. “Who told you any of this anyway, your little death boy?”
Boom. Sore spot.
She is angry. It’s what I have been waiting for, what I knew was coming.
“My queen,” Bronik says. “Seems you have another guest.” A waiter runs to the table and pulls out another seat as Bronik opens the doors. Tatiana walks in by herself. Her eyes fall to me before they move to Tanya sitting next to the queen.
“I didn’t expect you, but I should have. Sit, join us.” The queen waves to a seat on the other side of the table that’s opposite to me but on the same side as Tanya. Tatiana looks wary, unsure if she should actually sit down. When I give her a slight nod, she pulls out the chair and sits, her eyes heavy but also alert and ready.
Melvon twitches next to me, and we all look to the queen.
“It’s a nice surprise to have all the girls Halaba under one roof. It’s been way too long.”
“I think the last time was the night before you laced your parents’ drinks, if I remember correctly.” The words leave my mouth and Tanya straightens in her seat.
“A girl has to do what a girl has to do,” the queen replies and looks to Tanya. “Right?”
“Of course, my queen, you are so wise.”
“Bullshit. She is anything but. Manipulative might be a better word, Sister,” Tatiana says, and I smile at her words.
A plate is put in front of Tatiana. She looks at it, then leans down and sniffs it. “You really think you can knock me out?” Tatiana throws the plate across the room in the direction of the queen. “You should know better than that.” I glance at the plate in front of me and don’t dare touch it, which the queen notices.
“You have nothing to worry about, it was only you I wished to speak to, but your sister had to come along and bring her jealousy of me with her.” She looks away from me. “It’s always been that way, hasn’t it, Tatiana? You jealous of me.” The queen raises a brow as she looks at Tatiana.
Tatiana scoffs. “You’re dreaming, right?”
“I do dream. A lot. I one day dreamed of becoming queen. And look where I am.”
“You are here to try to steal something again that isn’t yours.”
The queen looks to me. “If you choose to give it to me, I will let you live. Your sister, the ones you love. But in return, I want what you have.”
“You couldn’t handle it,” I reply.
Both brows raise and a smile appears on her lips at my words. “Talia, you, my dear, know nothing. You are not equipped to have so much power.”
“But you see, I am. Because otherwise you would have been born with it, right?”
Her face goes red, but she quickly hides her frustration as she speaks again, “No, the gods chose wrong. You do not deserve it.”
I laugh, so much so I throw my head back.
“I could end your sister’s life, right now and she wouldn’t even fight me.” The queen reaches out and touches Tanya’s hand. Tanya doesn’t even flinch. It’s then I see it, the band on her wrist that the queen keeps on touching. How did I not notice that before? When I look at it closely, I can see the gleam of power it holds.
“Ask Tanya to walk over here with a knife and put it to my neck, see if she chooses you then. I bet she would never kill me for you, we are blood after all.” I dare her, looking to Tanya, smiling at her.
The queen reaches for a knife in front of her and hands it to Tanya. “If she cuts you, you will give me what I ask?”
“If she cuts me,” I say.
The queen smiles and touches Tanya’s arm again.
“Talia!” Tatiana screams at me across the table, shaking her head. I simply smile and watch as Tanya gets up from her seat and walks around the table, the knife grasped tightly in her hand. If you were outside looking in, you would never know what has been done to change her like this. I didn’t even know when I first saw her. I had hoped for it, but couldn’t see it. Now I can.
“Tanya, don’t you do it.”
Tanya looks to Tatiana across the table.
“If you just did what she asked, we would all still be okay.” She reaches me. Tanya is fast, but I have always been faster. I knock the knife from her hand and reach for her arm, bringing her in and slamming her body to the front of mine. She tries to fight me off, but I grip the bangle attached to her arm, breaking it between my fingers and watching as it crumbles to the floor.
