Chapter 24: Chapter 24 - News
"He placed you at her side to spy on her, yet you did nothing when my father was attacked. You stood by Lilith!" Thalia yelled, beating her fist against Solomon’s chest. "You should have left her side and defended your king."
Thalia’s hand shook with the force of her anger.
Her father was gone because men like Solomon had stood back and done nothing.
"I apologise for not protecting your father, but I can protect you. I don’t have much time. They’ll soon notice the men I killed," Solomon said, his gaze going to the cell door behind him.
Thalia gritted her teeth. She had no other choice but to follow Solomon out of the castle.
"Take me far away from this hell," Thalia said, desperate to be free of the stench and the death that clung to every stone of the dungeon.
Solomon turned around and led the way.
"Your Highness," Thalia’s maids called out to her.
Thalia spared one glance at the women behind her as she stepped out of the cell. Their eyes pleaded silently with her to take them along.
"This is your life now," Thalia said, her voice flat, lacking any warmth or pity for the women. She locked the cell door, keeping them in the cold cell.
Just as they abandoned her, Thalia would, too. "Hurry," she instructed Solomon, not looking back.
Thalia heard voices in the distance and feared that they would be caught.
Solomon seized Thalia’s hand without warning and pulled her towards a hidden exit.
Thalia kept looking over her shoulder as she ran. The dungeon grew brighter behind them as men with torches came flooding in, realising the attack.
"We’ll never make it out," Thalia muttered, the urge to turn back filling her mind.
Solomon’s hold tightened. "Look ahead and never slow down. Don’t make a sound."
Thalia nodded, though she had little confidence she could do what Solomon asked of her. The fear that he was working with Lilith and leading her towards her own death had not left her.
Solomon drew them both into a dark corner of the dungeon and pressed Thalia against his chest, shielding them as the dungeon guards ran past, their torchlight sweeping the walls.
"Princess Lilith has been poisoned."
Thalia’s hand flew to her mouth. She looked up at Solomon, studying his face for any trace of guilt.
’Did he do it?’ Thalia wondered.
Solomon looked down at Thalia and read the question behind her eyes. With the guards still running past, he could not answer.
The sound of metal striking the stone floor echoed a moment longer, then the dungeon fell into silence.
When the corridor was clear, Solomon readied himself to move.
"Did you do it?" Thalia demanded, her feet planted, unwilling to move. "Did you poison her?"
"I needed a distraction to get you out of the dungeon. His grace is focused on trying to save the princess," Solomon answered.
Thalia studied his face, searching for a lie.
Since the guards had spoken of it themselves, the poisoning had to be real.
"Take me away," Thalia said, her decision made. "My family will reward you greatly for saving me."
’I hope she dies,’ Thalia thought, yearning to hear news of Lilith’s death. Lilith should never get to sit on the throne.
Solomon took Thalia’s hand and followed the route he had long since mapped out in his memory.
In the midst of the chaos surrounding Lilith’s poisoning, Solomon slipped Thalia out of the castle and into the cold night air.
Back inside the doctor’s chamber, Cassian remained at Lilith’s side. The only sound in the room was the crackle of the fire and the quiet rhythm of her breathing.
Jonah’s hands were still unsteady as he had not forgotten that his life was hanging by a thread. "It is up to the princess and the strength of her body. I have treated her once before when she was poisoned, and she woke after a day’s rest."
Cassian smoothed Lilith’s hair back from her face with his left hand while his right continued to hold hers. "When was she poisoned?" he asked, his gaze never leaving her.
"It was a few months ago. I made a mistake in saying she was poisoned, but something had been placed in her food and water. There were other royals in the castle at the time, so the king ordered me to save her life. I had never seen him so concerned for the princess," Jonah said, the memory still fresh.
"It had to be a performance for the other royals," Cassian said quietly, knowing George had never cared for Lilith. "If she recovers, you will be rewarded."
Jonah exhaled slowly, the tension in his shoulders dropping just slightly. "Your Grace, I am honoured."
"Don’t celebrate just yet. If she doesn’t open her eyes, I will still kill you. Remain focused on waking her. Preferably by morning, as my patience is wearing thin," Cassian said, glancing back over his shoulder at Jonah.
Jonah swallowed, an ache forming in his throat. "I understand. If I may, I would like to step outside the chamber for a moment to relieve myself."
"Hold it," came Cassian’s cold reply. "Forgive me. That was too rude."
Jonah allowed himself the briefest flicker of hope that Cassian had perhaps reconsidered the weight he was placing on his shoulders.
"You may go, but if I cannot find you the moment I need you, I will order the soldiers to kill you where you stand. No pleas, no second chances, and no mercy," Cassian said, his voice carrying no warmth whatsoever.
Cassian straightened the blanket over Lilith, tucking it gently so the cold air would not reach her.
Jonah looked at his door, the decision an easy one. "I shall hold it and look into more medicines that may help her. Forgive me for my carelessness, Your Grace."
A knock at the door spared Jonah.
Jonah walked to the door, grateful for any reason to put distance between himself and Cassian. When he opened it, it was neither a guard nor a soldier.
"Where is his grace?" Eric stepped inside, his eyes moving quickly across the room. "Your Grace," he said, acknowledging Cassian. "The maids and cooks have all been imprisoned, but there is further bad news."
"Worse news than Lilith possibly dying?" Cassian asked, thinking it impossible.
Eric nodded. "Princess Thalia has gone missing. According to the maids who shared a cell with her, it was Princess Lilith’s own guard who freed her. We are tracking them down."
Cassian didn’t respond immediately. He looked at Lilith’s face. At the quiet rise and fall of her chest. At the colour that had not yet returned to her lips.
"You see, Lilith," he said softly, so only she could hear. "You only have me."
