The Princess and the Guard (Book 1)

Forty-Two

Odette told herself, repeatedly, that queens don't run. They walk, quickly, if need be, but never run. The heels of her shoes clicked on the slick, marble floor.

It was almost midnight, but the quake had roused her, and she couldn't go back to sleep until she checked that everything was fine.

With a nervous sigh, Odette rounded the corner and took a series of stairs down into the palace sub-levels where a smaller, hidden infirmary was located. She paused at the door, locked, and punched in the security code.

_Sapphire

Odette shoved the door open, and stepped inside. She knew the way without a guard, but it was still strange to be up at this hour, wandering the dark halls, completely alone.

"Your Majesty, I expected you'd be down shortly," the woman behind the counter said as Odette walked in. She stood up, dipping into a quick nod, and then gesturing to the side. "She's fine."

Odette brushed passed her, jogging down the narrow hallway toward one of the three rooms. The largest. There were two nurses inside, one of them picking up things that had fallen on the floor, the other checking on a small figure nestled on the bed.

"She's fine?" Odette asked, shoving the door open.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Odette didn't take her eyes from the girl lying on the hospital bed, watching her perfect face. Her chest was rising and falling, slowly, steadily, peacefully. A mess of pale blonde hair spilled over the side of her pillow. Her eyelids, lavender beneath the blue lights, remained closed. The machine tracking her heart rate was beeping steadily. She was safe. She was alive.

She was perfect.

Odette pressed a hand to her chest. She didn't know why she thought something might have happened; there had been far worse quakes than that, but seeing Sapphire alive and safe made her weak with relief.

The quakes. They were getting worse. What happened when they were strong enough to shake the palace foundation?

"Would you like to sit with her, Your Majesty?"

Yes. Odette wanted nothing more than to sit with her little girl, her precious Sapphire, forever and never leave. Well, actually, the one thing she wanted more than that was for Sapphire to wake up. To look around, to see the world around her, to run and come to the ball. To live the way she deserved to live, not hidden behind glass walls.

Dr. Violet had better come through with that serum.

"No. No, I can't." Odette straightened. "I have to go, but I want three nurses in here with her at all times, and if anything happens to her, it'll be your head."

The nurse paled, but nodded.

Odette turned and walked away, heading back to her room. She didn't know when she'd started crying, only that her face was drenched in tears by the time she sagged against her closed bedroom door. She hated being so powerless. She hated that her soldier program still had so far to go before she could even hope to test the other things it could do.

Taking another series of deep breaths, Odette straightened. She forced herself to go back to bed, knowing she'd need a decent night's sleep before tomorrow.

Because tomorrow she was going to talk to Dr. Violet. It was time to speed the process up, no matter the cost. If it meant more testing, fine. Her country needed defenses, and Sapphire had lived her entire sixteen years of life asleep.

Odette ended up waking by the eight o'clock trumpets. She thought for certain she'd be up before then, but she was grateful for the extra rest. She got herself dressed, not even bothering to call for a maid to come dress her, and then ran a comb through her silky curls. She sent Natasha a ping, asking her to meet her in the dining room.