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Hours passed, and my gaze kept falling on the sentries. The dead remains of my friends had reanimated at the queen’s command. Death surrounded me. And I knew there were two more to come before my time ran out.
I forced myself to my feet and blinked the last of my tears away. I prayed my magic would hold off my demise long enough to figure out how to get out of these chains. I unclenched my tight fists and winced at the stiffness. Slowly, I stretched my fingers, biting down on a groan.
I needed my hand to work. If I was to cut down the queen, I needed to be able to hold a weapon, and right now, I had my doubts I would be fit enough to strike a death blow.
I continued the slow motion of stretching my fingers and then tightening my fists until the blood flowed into my tingling fingertips, warming the muscles enough to be loose. Thankfully, my mother had pierced my left shoulder and not my right one. I still had my sword arm if the opportunity presented itself.
My gaze rose to the windows, and the colored streaks of the early stages of sunset painted the sky. I steeled myself for the next onslaught. I would not let my friends die in vain. I would avenge their deaths, and I would release them to move on to whatever lay beyond.
Just when I thought I had myself together, the door opened, and Bernard was dragged in. His exposed skin carried the colors of bruising—green, blue, and deep purple. When he looked up, revealing gouged eye sockets, I gasped. Blood steaked his face, and his normally wispy white hair hung in tangled mats.
He was brought to the center of the room and dropped to the floor. He crawled to his hands and knees and stayed still. His breathing was as labored as mine.
The click of the queen’s heels dragged his blind gaze in her direction. Fear filled his features.
I clenched my jaw and blinked the sheen of tears that blurred my vision away.
Queen Odette grinned at me. “Since I had the chance to eat, it is only right that my newly acquired soldiers get to indulge in a feast.” She snapped her fingers and waved at Bernard.
The five dwarves descended on Bernard like a pack of jackals.
I dry heaved as his screams echoed against the rock walls. I would never unhear the wet sounds of ripping flesh or the grunts as the undead had their fill. It was the most gruesome of the deaths and the one that nearly undid me.
I dropped to my knees and hung my head. I didn’t look up as the queen snapped her fingers. But I did glance at what was left of Bernard. Bones glistened with rusty-red streaks. He looked like something left out in the wild, picked nearly clean from the scavengers. When Queen Odette’s spell reanimated the skeleton, I closed my eyes.
“Now that was exciting,” Queen Odette said.
I looked up at her. “You vile bitch,” I hissed.
Her palm connected with the side of my face, swiveling my head to the side. The sting was immediate and reminded me I was still alive, and I still had my magic. But the raging heat inside my skin didn’t feel right. It felt tainted and blackened and evil. As evil as the queen herself.
She glared at me and then turned towards the guards. “Bring the last prisoner in.”
A group of four guards marched out of the room.
“The trolls were so cooperative,” Queen Odette said as she waited. “Handing over your friends as if it was a bargaining chip. The instant we had them in our possession, I leveled their kingdom. The entire mountain collapsed, and not one of those double-crossing heathens survived.” She smiled.
I forced myself to my feet, blinking at her words. Hope flared in my chest. Henry had not been inside the troll’s castle. He had not been within their caves. Only the dwarves had been, and while I mourned each of them, it would not be the same as if Henry were dragged in front of me.
I would not survive Henry’s death.
Footsteps echoed in the hallway, and I braced myself for the next gory killing.