Serpent's Daughter (Four Kingdoms #1) ✓

14. Trollops on the Throne (Part 1)

In her small hands, Cecilia held a piece of bread and a tin cup filled with water. Sabrina heard Ren click his tongue, and her eyes found his. She discreetly shook her head. Ren's eyes narrowed before he looked away.

Sabrina needed Ren to keep his mouth shut—especially about her identity. She knew Galen had made him promise never to reveal who she was, and Sabrina was grateful that Ren had kept that promise. Unwillingly, she glanced at Alethia, who was leaning her head against the bars, staring at the mistress.

Alethia looked just like her mother.

A chill went down her spine, and she focused on the mistress. Cecilia handed her the bread and cup before turning away, throwing pieces of bread into Ren's and Alethia's cells.

"Thank you," Sabrina said, voice scratching and tickling her throat. She coughed and sipped the water, stifling a moan from the soothing relief it gave her.

Cecilia waved away the words and crouched down in front of her cell. "Have you seen anything about my future?"

"Yes," She replied, taking another sip of water. Her heart thundered in her chest, and the sound filled her ears. Taking a deep breath, she leaned forward, watching as Cecilia inched closer, eyes wide with anticipation.

Sabrina whispered, "You'll wear a jeweled crown so heavy your neck won't be able to bear it."

The mistress gasped, a hand flattening against the front of her dress. A flush plastered across her cheeks as she smiled, her face lighting up with delight.

"When?" Cecilia said breathlessly. She reached through the cell and grabbed Sabrina's clammy hand.

"Soon." Sabrina gulped, pulling her hand away with as much calmness as she could muster.

In the dungeon, images of the future plagued her. A thousand possibilities had flashed behind her eyelids so fast that she had been unable to decipher or notice some of them. There was only one path Sabrina had deemed good enough. It started with the carefully crafted message she had given the mistress.

She could only pray that it worked.

Sabrina's chest tightened at the thought of the alternative. Her unexpected power of foresight could be their downfall if she wasn't careful. She had to be right. There was no taking back the words she uttered to the mistress.

"The goddess of serenity will bless your heart," Cecilia pulled back with a joyous smile. "May her peace shine down upon you."

With bright eyes and a content face, the woman walked back towards the exit, disappearing into the darkness. Sabrina ignored the guilt that bubbled in her stomach. It had to be done. There was no other option. Despite the logical reasoning running through her mind like a mantra, it didn't change the consequences of her actions.

"That whore gets a crown?" Ren's vulgar words interrupted her thoughts, and Sabrina grimaced. "I can't even get a damn meal."

She didn't question how Ren knew of the woman's true nature. He was smarter than most people gave him credit for. Sabrina clutched the blanket harder, knuckles whitening from the action.

"Have any of your visions..." Alethia trailed off. Sabrina met her vacant grey eyes, and a flood of fear swam through her. Those eyes were the ones she had loved as much as she had feared them after that night.

In a single night, Liliana had changed. Within a mere second, life as they knew it shattered into a thousand unmendable pieces. The memory of Liliana laughing in the gardens while giving Sabrina a rose. All the times they had spent sitting on the bed giggling until the point of tears as they drank crisp sweet wine. The drastic change in her sister was something Sabrina still hadn't been able to wrap her mind around even after years of contemplation.