Not a great fucking plan for the new king.
With a few deep breaths, I managed to get some quasi-control of my rage and assess the situation as best I could. The door out to the grounds was still fastened shut; only the door that led to the stairway had been opened. There was no blood, no sign of struggle. If she’d been taken by force, whoever had her wouldn’t have given her the time to change out of her robe and into her clothes.
So she had to have done it on her own. She must have heard Erik and made a run for it.
Only the Queen could be behind this. That fucking cunt.
Within seconds, I was running down the hallways of the castle, searching for Iris. It was the first time I had walked those hallways unmasked, and people cowered from me like I was a blood-covered bear.
Fucking right. Given the chance, I’d have ripped the goddamned throat out of any one of them who got in my way—and I would have enjoyed every second of it.
As I neared the Queen’s private garden, I spotted a maid up ahead. I recognized her at once. Lynn or Lizzete or something, one of the queen’s women. Not that I could blame her for that; servants had no choice in who they were assigned to serve.
And staying alive serving that bitch was a miracle in itself.
I fully expected her to shrink from me like the rest of them, but she didn’t. She was studying my face, not just cowering like a terrified animal. Her body gave her away. She knew something; I fucking felt it in my bones.
Grabbing her by the arms, I shoved her up against one of the stone columns that lined the garden.
“Where the fuck is she?”
The maid seemed so terrified that she struggled to speak. In her eyes, I saw genuine fear as she looked at me. And for the first time in my life, I felt glad that I was such a fucking monster.
“Who, my Prince?” Her feigned confusion was thin.
The one I will always fucking worship.
“You know exactly who.”
The maid shook her head, wide-eyed. “I don’t…my Lord, please! You’re hurting me!”
Seizing her throat, I compressed her windpipe and her cheeks turned bright red. You lying bitch.
“Where the fuck is she?”
The maid gasped for air, trying to shake her head against my grip. She dragged her fingernails down my forearms, making long angry scratches.
I got in up close to her face. “Start talking or I’ll kill you, right here. Right now.”
Tears filled her eyes. When they spilled over her lashes, I had the signal I needed—she was scared enough to talk. I loosened my grip just enough to keep her alive. For now.
“There was blood!” She whisper-gasped, clawing at my hands. “I was called to clean up some blood and I saw them taking away a body. It was a girl,” she said, trying desperately to suck in a breath. “A blonde. Dressed like a servant girl. She was dead. I’m so sorry…”
Chapter 15
Randal
The punishment for queen-killing was death by a thousand arrows and I didn’t give a fuck. I was going to kill Queen Patara, and fucking revel, fucking rejoice in every last bloody second of it.
My grief rang in my ears, it made me taste metal, it made my scars scream with pain like I was burning alive all over again. Iris had been my hope, my joy, every good fucking thing that I had in the world. And now she was fucking gone. And I was left with nothing but agony.
Agony and rage.
With my sword drawn, I made my way to the queen’s private chambers. Her guards tried to stop me, so many that I lost count of the fatal stabs I’d inflicted. Soon my hands were so bloody that the hilt of my sword was slippery in my palm. But I didn’t give a shit. I’d have fought bare handed, ripping their eyeballs out with my thumbs, if that’s what it took to avenge the death of the only good thing I had ever known. Murder. It was the only motherfucking answer to this pain.
There was one doorway between me and redemption, one threshold between me and a dead queen. It was her bed chamber and she’d barricaded herself inside. I kicked it hard and the lock shivered but didn’t give way.
“You fucking cunt,” I roared, kicking it again and again. “I’m coming for you, you bitch. Get ready to meet your motherfucking maker.”
“Get away from me, you beast!” She screamed back at me. “Go drown yourself in the sea and leave me the fuck alone! Save the people the terror of seeing your face in an open casket!”
The third kick shattered one of the inset wooden panels of the door. Fuck yes. I yanked my boot free from the gap in the slats and plunged my sword through the opening, hacking it wider and wider to get inside.