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Chapter21
Gone.
Prince Noah was gone.
Hopewas gone.
I hadn’t even dared to hope again until I saw him flying through the courtyard toward us.
And now… I choked on the thought as my eyes hit his still lifeless body once more.
The guards panicked enough that when the executioner turned his attention back to me, they took it as direction and resumed what they were doing seconds before, as if the heir to their entire court wasn’t lying dead on the ground before them.
“What’s wrong with you?” I shouted. “Help him!”
My eyes turned to the fae that had gathered as well, all unmoving and unwilling to say anything. They just stared between Noah, Nicole, me, and the executioner.
The executioner grunted and swung his ax behind his shoulder, pointing at the wooden block.
Guards surrounded me, and I watched Nicole kick at the ones coming for her. I was grabbed too quickly, and my knees shook as I stomped my feet, yelling for someone, anyone to realize what just happened.
But no one was coming now.
The guards pushed me down in front of the wooden block, and my knees thudded on the courtyard stone as I banged my elbows. I felt nothing. The pain in my wrist was nothing compared to what the world felt like crashing down around me.
The executioner’s face lowered directly in front of my face, his smile taunting me.
I spit at him and he growled, removing himself from my reach.
My shoulders shook, but I was held firmly in place by the royal guard despite my screams and jerking movements beneath them.
“It’ll hurt more if you struggle while I swing,” the executioner said. “But I rather like that idea.”
I barely registered the sound of galloping on the stone around me, and the slight pause the executioner gave before I heard the ferocious command.
“Stop this instant!”
I recognized that voice. My head lobbed, but I yanked it upward.
Captain Coltrain was back.
The black stallion he rode into the courtyard tossed its head in agitation as its rider leapt from his back in a fury that would put Darryl’s drunken rages to shame.
“On whose authority are you operating? What’s happening here?” His eyes were wild and his gaze lingered on Nicole and then looked at me, my head shoved down by his own royal guard.
“The prince…” I choked out as my face grew wet with tears that finally escaped. From a sense of relief. From pain. From sadness.
The captain followed my gaze and he roared with anger, shoving every fae that was remotely in the way between him and the prince out of his path.
Captain Coltrain reached down, touching Noah, and his shoulders fell visibly.
Then Noah’s body stirred. Could it be?
He groggily raised his head, and I choked out more sobs. He’s alive!
“You’re all glamoured. Look at yourselves!” Captain Coltrain shouted as he rose up. He stood defensively over Noah’s body as he barked out orders to everyone in the courtyard. “The spell is permeating the castle, I could see it upon my arrival. You’ve all been hoodwinked. Douse yourselves in saltwater baths immediately.”
When no one moved and they continued to stare, he bellowed, “Now!”
