Chapter 17: Guilty Glimpses

"Help me! Ember, Jaime, someone! Please!"

Ember panted in exhaustion as she ran toward the desperate, terrified voice. It sounded familiar, but for some reason, she couldn't place it. When she arrived at the scene where she traced the voice, she realized it was Sariya.

The former princess was being dragged around by wolves, her body covered in blood and lacerations. Her arm was clearly dislocated as it dragged the ground, and more wolves moved in to take a bite of her. They literally ripped her apart right before Ember's eyes, splattering her elegant gown with the blood of the innocent girl.

Ember looked to the right, seeing that Seamus had been there too. However, he was already dead, his eyes pecked out as angry ravens nibbled at his decomposing flesh. The queen held a hand to her mouth, feeling bile rising in her throat. It wasn't so much compassion for the deceased, but more repulsion at the disgusting sights before her, leading to her visceral reaction.

"You did this to us," a voice whispered around Ember, coming from no clear direction. "You killed us, Ember."

Ember sat up with a sharp gasp, her breathing uneven as sweat peppered her forehead. She looked around, realizing she was in her bed, and sunlight had just barely begun filtering into the room through the curtains. It was just a bad dream…

Still, that dream had been so vivid. She hadn't dreamed in years, so why now? She frowned, shoving the covers aside. "I've got to see for myself," she murmured, walking to her large closet and opening the door, beginning the daily process of finding a dress to wear.

A few hours later, the queen descended the stairs to the dungeon, a few guards following her. She was immediately taken aback by the rancid smell that emanated from the prisoners' cells, and her palm alone wasn't enough to stifle the horrible odors. Still, she was determined to settle her nightmarish dream's claims with something more concrete. She had to know if she'd really 'killed' Sariya and Seamus. Even though she found it difficult to empathize with the couple, since they had broken the law, morbid curiosity drove her to these depths for the first time.

Upon arriving at the designated cell that housed the couple, Ember's left hand found its way to her mouth, a startled expression in her eyes. Before her, she saw two people who were mere shells of what they'd normally been.

Sariya was heavily pregnant, possibly due to deliver any day now, but the young woman looked like death had not only kissed her but made her its mistress. Her features were sunken in, her once beautifully kept hair was matted beyond repair, her skin was coated in blisters and other blemishes while several shades lighter than what she used to have, and she appeared completely defeated. It wasn't at all what she was expecting to see.

Seamus wasn't much better, she noticed. During the near year that he and Sariya had been forced into the underbelly of the castle, he'd grown a bespattering of facial hair, littered with silver strands. His hair was now past his collar, though it was very dirty like Sariya's. Like the facial hair, many strands of his dark hair were painted silver, likely due to stress of the environment.

Sariya lifted her head, her eyes narrowing as she stared up at her ex-stepsister. "Why are you here?" she asked evenly, her voice coated with unrestrained contempt.

Ember, normally not one lost for words, stuttered, "I-I just…" She paused, frowning, before continuing, "I just wanted to remind myself how good my life is now, and what better way to do so than to see the results of two people who broke the law? I could never…"

"Liar," Seamus accused, brave enough to say something since he was already imprisoned. What else could she do? Have him killed? At this point, it would be a blessing and level of mercy he'd actually appreciate. "Your actions would have easily landed you somewhere similar if you'd been in a different kingdom or realm, and you know it."

"Ha! I've done nothing wrong. It was your decision to marry illegally, and now your child will be something of an anomaly: one produced under dire circumstances by two radicals of this realm."

"It's radical to fall in love with someone from a different class?" Sariya asked, seeming both dismayed and heavily displeased. "You know what, Ember? Go to hell. I'm sure you'd fit in there."

Ember's ears perked up when she heard a snicker behind her, and she immediately turned to glare at the two guards, who both appeared to have stoic faces. However, behind them was an old man in another cell, who nearly fell over laughing at the former princess's words. "Something funny, old man?" She held out her hand, blasting the prisoner with her potent magic, his insides exploding onto the floor and ceiling, and his blood coating the walls. She wouldn't say this to the others, but she almost instantly regretted those actions. It already smelled horrible down in the dungeon, but she'd just made it much worse.

Sariya didn't even flinch. At this point, nothing the queen did surprised her. "Ember, don't you have other lives to destroy? You're clearly wasting your time talking to us. I don't know why you even bothered to come down here…"

The queen smirked, turning to face the younger girl. "As a matter of fact, you're absolutely correct, Sariya. I need to make final plans on how to handle a certain situation that has arisen lately. Were you not imprisoned for your terrible crime, I might even ask you for help, since you were always described as bright and intelligent." She placed one hand on her hip, looking the poor young woman up and down. "An honest mistake. Intelligent people don't make decisions that end them up imprisoned for 30 years."

Seamus shifted a bit, embracing Sariya as he saw his wife's entire bravado deflate. His quick glare to Ember told her more than words could.

Ember nearly faltered seeing Sariya so weak and frail, despite her sharp words earlier. Something akin to guilt nudged her, and feeling a little conflicted, she cleared her throat. "I'm…going to send a medic to check on you though. Can't have a pregnant woman dying in my dungeon. I'm…pretty sure that's a bad omen." Nothing left to say, she turned and walked away, knowing instinctively that she'd just spoken to Sariya and Seamus for the last time.

Once Ember arrived at the upper level of the castle again, she nearly ran into her brother, who seemed to be quite nervous. "Jaime, what's wrong with you?"

Jaime stared at her for a few moments before saying in a soft voice, "I really need to talk to you… Can you come to my room for a little while?"

Ember nodded, looking at the guards who had accompanied her. "Tell my advisors not to bother us for a few hours. And get a medic down to the dungeon. I can't have a pregnant prisoner dying on me. It would look bad."

"Yes, Queen Ember," they echoed before leaving to tend to their duties.

While Ember and Jaime walked to his room, just out of earshot, King Moses's advisors stood talking amongst themselves. With their hired undercover assassins missing, they were going to have to rethink their strategies and 'deal with her some other way.'

"I'm not sure where she gets her luck from," one of the advisors complained, "but I sure wish some of it would rub off onto me. She's like a cat with nine lives."

"Then we'll just have to end all of them," another advisor said, growing annoyed. "Come on. Let's get back to work. We'll figure this out later."

To be continued…

Next Chapter: Stoking the Fire