Dusk of the Realm

26

All Tarin had to do was point towards the entrance of the wing for the guards to dart away from her cot. He saw Jerome, but ignored the dark look the Curer sent his way. There were more important battles to be fought.

"Princess?" he called softly, pushing aside one side of the curtain to step inside the enclosed area she slept in. Except that, as he saw upon passing through the curtain, she was not sleeping any longer. Her eyes, as they turned to look up at him, were dull, as if the light that had always been behind her beautiful irises had been extinguished.

She said nothing to him. There were bags under her eyes much more prominent than Holly's; dark half-rings that bespoke of more than just physical exhaustion. Vice must not have seen the princess upon declaring that she was fine; clearly, that was untrue. Tarin felt as if he was staring at a completely different person than the princess he knew, and it was as though something inside of him was rotting - something irreparable.

"Princess, I heard what happened," he said, still speaking as softly as he could. What he really wanted to do was scream. "But if you're feeling up to it, I would like to hear it from you."

Serena did not blink once as she stared at him, and at these words, she turned her head away. Her body followed it, rolling her over on her side, her back to him. A feeling of dread began building up in the base of his gut... up, up, up, until he thought he might vomit it up.

Then, finally, she spoke.

"I want to go home."

Tarin's knees nearly gave out from the emptiness of her tone. Whatever had happened had hollowed her out, had affected her worse than anyone had indicated to him. He had not been prepared to see her in this state. Holly had said that she had been crying so much, and yet, at this point, he would love to see her cry. At least that would show that she was feeling something.

And felt empty and alone the entire time, to the point where I hurt myself just to feel something, just to see if anybody around me would notice my pain.

He could not allow her to get back to that point. Would not.

"Princess, you are home. You're in the curative wing. If you want to go to your room, I can--"

"No," she interjected, so quietly, so weakly that he almost missed it. "I want to go back home with Lyla."

Tarin rocked back on his heels as if the words had packed a physical punch. "Princess--"

"If I have to give up my magic for it, I will. I just want to leave this place."

               ______________________

The twins exchanged a glance with Birches when they heard the general's voice erupt at somebody at the top of the stairs. A guard must have questioned him. That poor soul.

"This is the second Wolf to turn on him," Birches whispered in their direction, too softly for Ambrose - or else, what was left of Ambrose - to hear behind them. "And this time is even worse, because it was a threat on Serena's life, not his own."

Vex just nodded in silence, but Vice, after a furtive glance towards the stairwell, turned to reply. "I'm worried. About him, about us, about the Realm. I would never have guessed that Ambrose would betray us. Was he being foolish, flouncing around with the princess like that? Sure. But I never suspected that he wasn't even on our side."

"Something is brewing," declared Vex, her clear, high voice making the statement as eerie as a prophecy. Vice saw Birches shiver, but neither of them had time to reply before the general was upon them.

They did not dare greet him; when he was in moods like this, it only took a single misconstrued word to set him off. Vice had always heard of Tarin's affection for the princess, ever since she came to Azure with her sister to enlist in the army. They had been promoted faster than any of the other Wolves; their magical skills were unmatched by anyone they encountered, including the masters. Their mother had taught them well.