Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"Y our mother is dead ."

And then she was gone, leaning back and smiling as she moved onto the boy next to me, asking about his older brother who was a healer for the infirmary.

Lies. Lies. Lies.

I bolted from the line, racing towards the doors. Gasps and shocked cries rang in my ears, but I ignored them, stubbornly focused on reaching the open doors before the Fireguards either caught me or closed them.

"Stop him!"

I zoomed by the guards outside the door before they could react, and blindly raced down the corridor. I didn't care where I was going, but my feet automatically went to my mother's apartments. Our apartments.

I hadn't been allowed out of our rooms often at all, but I knew the way from the throne room to them; mother had made sure of it. Left, left, up the stairs, then right.

I pushed on the door, accustomed to it being locked, so when it immediately gave, I fell on my face inwards into the apartment.

"Oompf."

It was dark. Quiet. Cold. Empty.

Things were missing—many things. Our rooms were small, but they had always been lit and filled with warmth. Now they felt large and cavernous, with mother's knickknacks, lamps, and her large chaise lounge missing.

What was going on?

"Mother? Are you there?"

I dashed straight into her bedroom, where the doors were also open. Every door in our apartment was wide open.

Her bed was stripped bare, down to the mattress.

But she was there.

Why was she still there?

The stench hit me a moment after I reached her side. She was in the exact same position as when I'd left her and in the same dress. Her head was turned away, but this time I went to the other side of the bed to see her face.

Her eyes and mouth were black, wide and open, a rictus of pain or horror. Her skin was gray and flaking off, looking like a bad rash filled with rocks and soot. The bed all around her was soggy and wet with black fluid.

My stomach lurched, bile rising in my throat.

No. No .

Your mother is dead.

That was impossible. She had just gone to bed last night after dinner. She did it all the time. Why was this time different?

The wine; the wine had been from the queen. The queen did this.

It felt right, even saying it in my head. Sweat broke out along my forehead as Fireguards burst in behind me, grabbing me roughly and securing my arms behind my back.

I lost control like a wild animal.

I flailed, I bit, and I writhed and twisted. The Fireguards swore and more came forward to help.

"To hell with this," one grumbled.

SMACK.

I was stunned senseless as the Fireguard who'd spoken smacked me upside the head. Another Fireguard caught me in his arms stiffly.

"What the fuck, G? He's just a kid! His mother is dead in there!"

"Save your compassionate bullshit for someone who cares. We were told to bring him back, not to baby him, L."

Their words floated around the pain in my head as I fought to remain conscious. ‘L' heaved me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, my body still rigid from the hit to protest or work properly. The other Fireguards snickered and laughed at me as they carried me back to the throne room, which was now empty except for the queen.

Much like my apartments, the space felt cold and lifeless with no people. L tried to set me down gently, but another Fireguard pushed me down. I landed at the queen's jeweled shoes. The same superior, awful smirk played about her lips.

"Hello, little mudball."

I couldn't respond. I tried, but the aching hole in my heart at my mother's disappearance (because she wasn't dead!) had me locked in fear.

"Your mother kept you hidden well enough. I'll grant her that. For the privilege she was given, she did respect my wishes in that way. Shame what happened."

I burned and itched to demand to know.

"Look at you now."

My lip was bleeding, I belatedly realized. The Fireguard had hit me so hard it had cracked.

"I have my heir now, thanks to you. Born five years ago when we saw the fruits of our labor. I should thank you. We didn't want to bother until we knew it was safe."

None of that made sense to me. Why did I matter when it came to the royal prince?

She bent down with her hands on her knees, like a kind woman about to offer a sweet.

Or a poisoned apple, like from one of my mother's stories.

Spit in her face , a vicious voice said in my head.

I was scared, and in shock. I'd seen my mother's dead, poisoned body marinating in its own filth while the room had been stripped down of everything of worth and that inferred that she was not of any worth.

I spit on the queen as forcefully as I could.

"She was your friend! And you killed her!" I screamed.

The look of pure horror on her face as my spit hit her cheek and dripped down her jaw was almost worth it.

Almost.

WHAM.

A Fireguard hit me from behind with a spear over my head, dropping me like a stack of books. Then fists, feet, and who knew what else joined in as the Fireguards beat me, all with the queen laughing maniacally in front of me.

I wasn't sure how long it lasted; it could have been seconds or hours for as bad as the pain was.

A throat cleared from behind us, and I cried harder with relief as the pummeling stopped. I was bleeding from … everywhere; it felt like.

"What?" the queen snapped.

"I … was looking for my missing charge. I see he is … here."

Vession.

My breaths came in choked gasps, my lungs aching horrifically as I tried to just breathe in and out. Had they killed me? Would I die?

My left eye was already swelling shut, but at least the marble floor was a cool balm against my forehead as I lay on the ground, bleeding. My eyes closed.

"Perhaps I might have your help?" Vession remarked to someone.

I didn't care who. I was dead anyway, wasn't I?

Arms slid under my body far too carefully, lifting me gently, but a whimper of pain still escaped my lips.

"The infirmary?"

"No, she'll have already barred us from it. My quarters."

Fingers gripped under my knees and back tightly, air shifting the hair on my face as I moved through the air, carried in someone's arms. The sound of leather boots on the marble corridor was soft and oddly soothing.

Don't fall asleep. That's when they'll kill you. Keep fighting.

I had no idea where we were going. We walked for a while until I was gently laid on a small little bed somewhere dark and quiet.

"Thank you for getting me. She might have killed him. L, was it?"

I struggled to open my eyes, the name familiar. I managed in enough time to see the nice Fireguard, young with dark hair like mine.

He saved me. He ran and got Vession, which made them stop.

"W-will he get in trouble?" I croaked out, trying to summon the energy to sit up and failing. The room was tiny, with enough room to only walk a few paces in each direction. It comprised the bed I was in, and one large chest with a thick candle on top, providing the only light source in the room.

Vession sat down at my side, his severe countenance softening even as the candlelight threw his already pointed features into sharper relief. His shoulders slumped. He ran a hand hard down his face, closing his eyes as if in pain.

I waited, tense.

When he opened his eyes, they were full of sadness.

"I believe in blunt honesty. You didn't have the rough upbringing the boys from the mud quarter did, but you also don't have the status and connections of the noble boys. I'm sure you've noticed by now you are a third category, all on your own."

I wanted to know more, but it was hard to focus over the agony pounding through my body.

"You are in a unique position where you get to decide what faction you belong to. Pick your battles. Choose your allies wisely. Do not spit on the queen."

He paused, shaking his head in disbelief.

My head spun.

"She did it then; the queen. She poisoned my mother. Why else would she look like … that?" I asked, my voice breaking. "You don't poison friends. You … don't."

I didn't know much about friendship and being around the other boys, but I was pretty sure about that part, at least.

Vession sighed, but didn't meet my eyes. That was answer enough.

"My mother said she grew up with the queen. She said they were friends. How did you do that to a friend?" I stuttered out.

Vession rubbed his eyes.

"That is correct; they were very close. The queen trusted your mother. In fact, she was given a special task to perform for the kingdom. That was how high in esteem the queen held your mother."

Horseshit. It was all horseshit.

"Idiot boy. You will sleep here tonight until I'm satisfied you won't die," Vession continued. "I'll have the healer come by and give reassurances. The queen forbids you from using the infirmary tonight, but not from the healers visiting me ."

He moved out of the light toward the door. At the last moment, he turned back, one hand on the doorframe and a thoughtful look on his face.

"And stay away from the Fireguards. I don't think they like you, as a whole."

I snorted up blood and snot, a crazed laugh bursting through my throat. I must have imagined the small upturn on Vession's upper lip as he walked away, because surely Vession didn't do something as light-hearted as smile.

But I would not take this lesson Vession was offering me for granted. Because it most certainly was a lesson, even though it had come at quite a cost.

Little boys cried for their mothers. I wasn't a little boy anymore.

My chin lifted slightly at the thought.

There was no room for grand posturing here. If I wished to advance in life, I would have to play on both sides of the wall—the noble boys and the mud boys. Both had admirable qualities and skills. If I took a little from each side, no one could touch me.

I'd use the manners and breeding of my noble upbringing to charm anyone I met. No more spitting. No more emotional outbursts.

From the mud boys, I'd steal their grit and toughness. I'd learn to strike hard and fast without feeling guilt, rewarding my allies like M and slowly destroying my enemies, like B.

I would be cruel and clever.

I had the talent and intelligence of a noble boy, but I'd survive like a mud boy. And when I did, I would find out the truth of what happened to my mother.

And who I would need to take my vengeance on. The queen would never see it coming.

In my head, I added the kind Fireguard to my list of allies. I would find him again and see if there was something I could do for him in the future. It wouldn't do to have this favor hanging over my head.

I also added Vession to the list. He hadn't needed to come get me when the Fireguard had found him. He had risked the queen's ire and displeasure, and for what? What did he have to gain by helping me?

He must see something in me. He must know something I didn't. I vowed to find out what it was.