two

calle
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THE PALACE was still the very same.

Guards — dozens and dozens of them lined the stone castle walls. They were all dressed in their signature poker faces, hands mere inches away from their wolf-headed weapons. But a warrior with a pretty blade was nothing when facing an opponent with a perfect, ready stance. I raked my eyes over their forms.

Weak and sloppy.

They were all just a bunch of useless dogs I could easily play fetch with.

My feet scraped against the cobble path leading to the entrance of the palace, the chains Chezran still hadn't taken off jerking as I stumbled past the pairs of curious eyes. They should be more fearful of me.

They didn't want to know what I was capable of.

I drank in the scent of the groomed, iridescent garden, the rows of shrubbery and flowers and courtesans giggling behind their tinted fans. Their gazes were pinned on something — someone — directly beside me.

"You seem to have many ladies wrapped around your little finger," I grinned at the prince, flipping my hair out of my eyes.

He dipped his head down to look at me, brows creasing incredulously. "I don't know what your talking about," he replied steadily, ignoring the flirtatious glances sent his way. I was curious to know if he understood their intentions.

"Of course you don't," I responded with a dramatic sigh, facing the guards stationed in front of the castle gates. The prince offered no reaction and only nodded at the guards to allow us inside.

I couldn't help but grin again, this time more malicious.

They had no idea what storm was coming for them when I would first step foot inside the throne room. I would murder the king and queen and their wretched sins and subjects with my own bare hands. I just needed the right moment to come, the right distraction to show up.

Gold and white and marble greeted me formally as we entered the palace walls, the gates like beasts roaring when they closed behind us. The guards' shoes were noisy hums against the tiled floors compared to my soft, stealthy padding I'd taken years to perfect. And now if I had the chains off and the day was switched to night, no one would know what hit them.

The palace was the exact maze it had been three years ago, delicate and fragile, hard and unyielding. The portraits of former rulers watched us as we passed, hollow eyes dark with amusement. They knew what was coming next.

We rounded a corner, appearing before a series of separate rooms ornamented with carved, elegant walls and brass door handles three times the price of a normal one. I wanted to scoff at the wealth this palace sought and possessed, the wealth the palace refused to give to others, whether they needed it or not.

The prince looked unfazed beside me, his palm still perching on the head of his sword. The eyes of the jeweled wolf gazed up at me, taunting and smug. I wanted to snap it's teeth off and listen to it's howls of despair.

"We're here," the prince announced, making my eyes snap up to meet his. The emerald was so familiar and cold, the same green flames I'd seen before they had taken me away. "Remember to bow before them," he reminded me, "and let me do the talking."

"As you command, Lord Prince," I smirked.

The guards, especially slight and inferior compared to the prince next to me, jerked open the throne room doors, and we slipped inside without a word.

The throne room, however had changed.

Everything was a pure, startling white, not a single speck of gold or silver in sight. White-washed walls hung with glazed frames and polished mirrors depicting a scenery of snow and ice gaped down at me in wonder and disbelief. The coat of arms hooked above the twin thrones sitting on the dais had also been sprayed a salty, difficult white.

Apart from my brown tunic and my stoic escorts, everything else was the same color.

Even the subjects and the king and queen sat regally in their seats far above us.

Silver-gray locks swayed as the queen shifted impatiently in her seat, her slender hands folded daintily in her lap. Her husband stared bleary-eyed at us, a blank expression shading his aged face.

"I see you have accomplished your task, Metyas," Queen Kallistra of Kondorcia stated, her voice like venom-coated bells singing.

The prince inclined his head, shooting me a look from the corner of his eye. I heaved a breath and followed suit, my chains clanging against the ridiculous marble.

"I apologize for being late, My Queen," he answered, lifting himself back up. I cocked my head to the side at the way he addressed her. He hadn't called her mother.

The queen's pale lips tipped upward every so slightly. "You are forgiven." She waved a hand. "Now show me your prisoner."

I growled lowly. I was no prisoner.

The prince stepped up to me, his eyes full of warning. "If you want to live, keep yourself together," he hissed. I narrowed my eyes at him in hatred.

"She is still not accustomed to being away from the prison camp. Please spare her," the prince explained, bowing again.

The queen stood from her seat. "Can she really hunt?" she asked, ignoring the prince's plead.

I sneered at her. She would pay for underestimating me and the power I wielded. The prince jogged my elbow with his, but I paid him no attention.

"Would Your Majesty like to test me?" I offered, raising my cuffed wrists. "Maybe you could order your guards to unchain me and we can see if I can really hunt."

I knew I was stepping out of line, but the queen did not react. Her lips twitched once again.

"I know you," she concluded after a short while, jabbing a ringed finger at me.

Her eyes did not hold shock or fear. I felt my skin crawl with confusion.

"Calle Noxturn, is it?" she asked, settling back down onto her throne, crossing a leg over the other. "What a tragic name for such a talented young girl."

She didn't know who and what she was messing with. I was not a young girl. I was a murderer — she needed to know that.

The queen still seemed undaunted by her sudden realization. "You have hunted families and slaughtered my nobles, tearing my kingdom apart from the inside out."

This wasn't her kingdom. I sent a fleeting glance at the king. He hadn't moved or said a single word since my arrival, eyes always the same milky gray.

"I had used armies to capture you, and now you have been let out once more. How does it feel to finally have the royal guards on your backs again?" She was mocking me, and something splintered inside me at that.

"Why am I here?" I snarled, jolting the chains. The guards were suddenly alert, but none of them should even try to contain me.

"Metyas and Chezran didn't tell you on the way here?" The queen's voice turned into a calming sweet. My feet dig into the marble as I glared into those deep pools of jade.

"No," I bit out.

The queen eyed the prince and his tutor. "You are a huntress, are you not?"

I didn't respond.

"Answer me," her eyes flickered to mine.

My heart raced.

I could take them out now — I could reach for the prince's sword and defeat my way through the huddle of guards even with my chains still on. I could slit each of their throats. I could kill the king and queen and be on my way.

I could—

"I said answer me."

"I only hunt villains," I spat, gritting my teeth.

The queen's laugh was like needles. "And you are not a villain?"

I was. I was the cruelest and most dangerous villain out there, and they should all know for the sake of their lives.

"What do you want from me?" I asked again, a fire growing in the pit of my stomach.

The queen regained her composure, eyes challenging. She was daring me to make the wrong move.

"I want you to find my son," she said plainly, catching me slightly off guard, but I swiftly caught myself.

I jerked my chin at the prince. "You son is right here." I held back an insult.

"Not him," the queen replied, her voice filled with scorn.

I noticed the way the prince's eyes dimmed.

"I want you to find my son. The crown prince and heir to the throne," she announced, straightening her back like she could seem taller. I tilted my chin up.

"What am I, a dog?" I seethed.

Queen Kallistra's eyes held the very answer.

"Find him, if you want your precious freedom back," she barked. "I hear it is very important to you."

Chezran cast his gaze down to the floor and I felt the fire blaze brighter.

I ground my teeth. "You wouldn't dare."

"If you don't want another sentence in Mirdam Prison Camp, I suggest you obey me, girl." Her hand clutched the armrest of her throne, long nails fingering the wolf head set into the white crystal.

My hands curled into fists.

I needed to see blood. I wanted blood.

"Take her away." She nodded at her guards, beckoning them.

I felt hands grab my arms, and I didn't fight as I heard the throne room doors drag open. And I didn't fight as they towed me away, the queen's laughter like shards of glass slipping down my throat and chest and heart.

They would pay.