“No,” she says again. “It’s too late now.”
She picks herself off the bed. I want to follow, but I can’t move. All I can do is groan in pain as she checks my chambers, looking for something.
Suddenly, a realization hits me hard.
The cryptic replies, the overwhelming pain, the inability to move. I’ve seen this before. It’s not my body doing this to itself. I’ve been poisoned. I know, because I’ve used this poison before. It’s the same one that goes into our golden milk, though it hasn’t knocked me out like it did Tallulah. And it shouldn’t make me feel this sick... unless it’s a bigger dose of the poison.
A dose big enough to kill me.
“Is there another exit from these rooms?” Tallulah asks as she pads across the bedroom. “I need to get out of here.”
She doesn’t want to get me help. Instead, she’s looking for a way out of here.
Now I know what’s happened. What she did.
“You...” I cough, wheezing as I try to catch my breath. A trickle of dark blood runs down the side of my mouth, but I’m so numb and frozen I can’t even wipe it away. “You did this to me.”
Tallulah finally faces me, her eyes boring into mine. “It’s not personal, Xavier. It was always meant to happen like this.”
“You... you fucking did this,” I wheeze. I try to scream, but my voice is going just like my body seems to be. “You tried to kill me, Tallulah? After everything I’ve done for you?”
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. Pathetic little words meant to soothe me. They mean nothing. “But this was always going to happen, Xavier.”
My voice is gone now, and I can’t speak anymore. Tallulah notices, and sits down on the bed next to me. I want to recoil, move away from her, but my body won’t obey me anymore.
“Don’t think this wasn’t special,” Tallulah says softly, taking my hand in hers as her wide eyes meet mine. “I appreciated getting to know you. But I can’t let you live.”
I have so many questions racing through my mind, but my body can’t put any of them into words. More blood trickles from my mouth. I can’t speak, so I settle for glaring at Tallulah. Something is happening inside me. Something dangerous and wicked. Could this really be the end? I never thought I’d meet my demise at the hands of my fiancée. Not even when it was Rain. But now, Tallulah has shown me she’s stronger than her mother ever was.
“I think we have a bit of time,” Tallulah continues. “You will be dead by the morning, when the guards check on you. I’m sorry, but your death will be painful. You can pray to pass out before the worst comes.”
The betrayal is bone-deep. My feelings for my ward dissolve like cotton candy being dipped in water. There’s no love left for my captive. It’s all been replaced by brewing hate.
“I figure I owe you an explanation, though I’m sure you’ve already figured it out,” she sighs, paying no mind to the blood escaping my body and drenching the sheets. “My parents told me the truth about you a few years ago. They told me all the awful things you put them through. My mom, dad... and you even killed my great grandmother, Xavier. I know you understand why I had to do this.”
She takes a break from speaking, drinking in my immobile body. With a deep sigh, she lets go of my hand.
“I struggled with it. I was taught to be an assassin, to be heartless and emotionless. I didn’t know if I’d be able to do it in the end. Despite my best efforts, I... I felt something for you, Xavier. But we both know you deserve to die for what you did to my family.”
“F-Fuck... y-you.” It takes all the effort I have left to snarl the words at her, but she doesn’t even react apart from one bittersweet smile.
“We could have had something special,” she adds thoughtfully. “If it weren’t for your actions, I believe we could be good together. But you’ve fucked up. And this isn’t a fairytale, this is a revenge story. And this is my vengeance.”
She sighs again.
“I know you must hate me right now, but that’s okay. There’s nothing you can do about it. You’re dying already. And I’ll be gone before they find you. I know what it means - that I’ll have to spend my life in hiding from your men. But that’s okay. It had to happen this way.”
I feel light-headed. Some of her words are distorted and I can barely pay attention to her anymore, my body overwhelmed with pain and the inescapable threat of death hanging above me.
“If you’re wondering how I did it,” Tallulah continues with a shy smile, unclasping her silver necklace. “I’ve been prepared all along. I knew you wouldn’t allow me to take much from home. I got lucky that I wore the necklace when you took me from my home.”