Chapter Thirty Nine
Chapter Thirty Nine
The one in the middle approached us, and I backed away.
Vera didn’t; she held the knife in her hands, ready to fight. He took out his handgun, and before she could make a move, he shot.
She fell to the ground, a bullet embedded in her forehead.
“So tell me, Chosen. Have you ever been… fucked?”
“I did you all no wrong.”
“You didn’t, but the Empress did. It’s our brother she sent out there to be killed.”
“My condolences. But these men swore oaths; they swore to serve and protect; they weren’t forced.”
All three burst into laughter. “My condolences.” One of the men mimicked. “Your condolences don’t bring back the dead, do they?”
“Why don’t we leave the Empress a message, one she would never forget? Let’s find out how pure the Chosen One is, shall we?”
“When we are done with you, you will wish you had never been born, but don’t worry, we won’t kill you. You are too pretty to die.” said the third man.
One of the men pushed me to the ground; before I could rise, his weight upon me held me down. I struggled, but that only caused the others to burst into laughter; their laughter was abruptly cut off. Blood sprayed on my face as two heads fell beside me. I let out a strangled scream. The man on top of me had no time to react before a sword tore through his stomach.
The corpse was lifted off me.
I was covered in blood, my dress ruined.
“Are you alright, Aliya?” The man with a sword in his grip asked, and for a moment I couldn’t speak. No one had called me by my name for over a decade.
“Who are you?” I asked, staring into the dark blue eyes of a complete stranger. His black, thick hair fell just above his jaw. He didn’t seem to be from around here.
“I am Trian. Trian Valtor.”
Just then, Empress Julian walked in, stepping over the bodies.
My attention had been called for outside the building when this happened,” Julia explained.
“It must have been planned then.” Trian suggested.
“Has she been touched?” She asked Trian like I wasn’t there.
“No. She’s still pure.” He answered.
“Good. I am glad you were here; only the gods know what would have happened if you weren’t.” She said,
Julia seemed to be more concerned about my ‘purity‘ than the number of dead people scattered all around the room. I shouldn’t be surprised, yet I was. Finally, she turned to me. “Go wash up. A new maid will be assigned to you, and Trian will be your personal bodyguard. You will not go anywhere without him, do you understand?”
“What about Vera?” I asked, tears stinging my eyes.
1/2
+25 BONUS
Chapter Thirty Nine
“She is dead; a new maid would be assigned to you. Now go wash off all that blood immediately.”
Trian helped me to my feet and led me to the washroom.
He left me alone, returning to Julia.
I took off my blood–stained clothes and walked into the bathtub. The water went up to my chest. Vera was dead, and so were the two soldiers who always stood by the door. A single tear trailed down my cheek. I was fully aware that if Julia ever found me ‘crying,‘ I would be punished. I wiped away the tears quickly, distracting myself with the man who had saved me. How had he managed to walk in undetected?
He had been so fast; I never saw him move.
I had never seen a more beautiful set of blue eyes before. He had this air around him, one would believe he was a high–ranked member or a powerful man. He didn’t fit to be a bodyguard or a soldier and yet he was.
After an hour of trying to wash all the blood away, I put on a new dress and returned to the room. Trian stood dutifully by the door.
The room had already been cleaned up with no trace of blood left as I already expected. Covering things up was what the Empress was very good at.
“I owe you my appreciation. Thank you for saving me.
He simply stared at me, which I found unsettling. Most of the soldiers assigned to watch over me would hardly ever look my way, but this man was… different.
“Are you alright?” he asked and I nodded.
“Next time, if you are ever placed in that position, a knee to the nuts would do the trick.”
