Chapter 28 The Angry Crowd

A heavy rock smashed through the glass window and landed on the rug with a loud thud. I jumped back as tiny pieces of glass flew through the air like rain. The noise from the yard below was a deep roar that made the stone floor shake under my boots. It was four o’clock in the afternoon, but the sky was the color of a bad bruise.

I ran toward the big doors that led to the porch. I needed to see the faces of the people who wanted me gone. Silas was right behind me, his hand gripping the handle of his long black sword.

"Do not go out there, Elena," Silas barked. "They are mad. They want blood."

"I am the Queen, Silas. I cannot hide in the dark while my house burns," I told him.

I pushed the doors open and the cold wind hit me in the face. It smelled like smoke and wet dirt. I looked down into the yard. Hundreds of people were there. Farmers, shopkeepers, and mothers were all screaming at the palace walls.

Lord Marek stood at the front of the crowd. He was an old man with a face like a dried nut. He pointed his gold cane at me and his hand was shaking.

"There she is!" Marek yelled. His voice was loud and sharp. "Look at the girl who sits on the throne! She is not a Queen! She is a monster from the Dead Lands! She brings death into our house!"

"I am not a monster!" I yelled back. I gripped the stone rail until my hands hurt. "I am the Regent Queen! I am here to help you!"

"Help us?" a woman in the crowd screamed. She threw a piece of old bread at me. It missed and fell into the dirt. "Look at our food, Rogue! Look at the trees! They are turning to gray ash! The land is dying because you are here!"

I looked past the walls. The trees were not green anymore. They looked like skeletons. The grass was brown and dry. The red light of the Blight was moving through the woods like a slow fire. The people were scared. They thought my presence was a curse from the Moon Goddess.

"The plants are sick because you have no King!" Marek shouted. He hit his cane on the ground. "The land wants Valerius! It does not want a girl from the dirt! And now she kills our people in the dark! She killed Lady Seraphina in her cell!"

"I did not kill her!" I barked.

The people did not listen. They started to throw more rocks. One hit the wall near my feet. I saw the fear in their faces. They were hungry and they were cold. Marek was giving them a target for their anger.

"Your Rogues are killers!" a man yelled. He held up a heavy stone. "We want them gone! We want them all back in the mist!"

Just then, the side door to the yard opened. Jarek walked out. He was my best fighter and my most loyal friend. He was just going to the well to get water for the horses. He stopped when he saw the big crowd. He looked at me on the porch and then he looked at the angry faces.

"There is one!" Marek screamed. He pointed his finger at Jarek. "He was the guard at the dungeon! He is the one who did it! He is the killer!"

The crowd let out a roar. They started to run toward Jarek. Jarek did not run away. He stood his ground and put his hands on his belt. He looked like a wolf ready to bite.

"Stay back!" Jarek yelled.

His voice was like thunder, but the people did not stop. A man threw a rock and it hit Jarek in the chest. Jarek growled and took a step forward. He looked at the man and his eyes started to glow.

"Jarek, do not do it!" I yelled from the porch. "Stop!"

Jarek looked up at me. His face was full of sweat. He looked like a cornered animal. "Elena, they are hitting me! They want to kill me!"

"Do not shift!" I commanded. I used my Queen voice.

The people were hitting Jarek with sticks now. They were kicking him and pulling at his clothes. Jarek was trying to push them away without hurting them, but it was hard. More people were coming. They were going to pull him apart.

I looked at Marek. He was smiling. He wanted a fight so he could say the Rogues were savages. I had to do something fast or my best friend was going to die in the dirt.

"Guards!" I yelled.

Four Rogue guards ran out onto the porch. They looked at the mess below.

"Go down there!" I said. My voice was shaking. "Take Jarek. Put him in the silver chains. Put him in the dungeon right now!"

The guards looked at me like I was crazy. "But My Queen, Jarek did nothing wrong!"

"Do it or I will do it myself!" I barked.

The guards ran down the stairs. They pushed through the crowd. The people stopped hitting Jarek when they saw the silver chains. They watched as the guards grabbed Jarek’s arms. Jarek did not fight them. He let them pull his arms behind his back.

The silver chains made a loud clink sound as they locked. Jarek looked up at me. His eye was bleeding. He looked like I had stabbed him in the heart.

"We have the killer!" Marek shouted. He held his hands up high. "The Queen is finally following the law! The Rogue goes to the hole!"

The crowd started to cheer. They were happy to see Jarek in chains. They started to walk away, talking about how the Queen was finally scared of them. Marek looked at me and gave a small, mean bow.

I turned away from the rail. I felt like I was going to throw up. I walked back inside and went straight to the basement. I had to talk to Jarek. I had to tell him it was a lie to save his life.

I reached the dungeon. The air was damp and cold. The guards let me in. Jarek was in the same cell where Seraphina had died. He was sitting on the floor. He was using a piece of his shirt to wipe the blood from his face.

"Jarek," I whispered as I touched the cold iron bars.

He did not look up. "You put me in the hole, Elena. In front of everyone. They spit on me."

"I had to save you," I said. I felt tears in my eyes. "They were going to kill you, Jarek. I will get you out tonight. I know you did not kill her. I know you are a good man."

Jarek went very still. He looked at the door to see if the guards were listening. Then he stood up and walked to the bars. He leaned his head close to mine. I could smell the iron and the sweat.

"Elena," Jarek whispered.

"I am here," I said.

"I did it," Jarek whispered.

I felt my heart stop. I pulled my hand back from the bars. "What? What did you say?"

"I killed her," Jarek said. He looked me right in the eyes. He did not look ashamed.

"Why?" I asked. I felt like the floor was falling away. "Why would you do that, Jarek?"

"I did it to save you," Jarek whispered. He gripped the bars with his big hands. "I went to her cell to give her water. I saw her. She was not sleeping, Elena. She was drawing a circle in the dirt with her own blood."

"Magic?" I asked.

"She was casting a spell," Jarek said. "I could feel the air getting hot. She was laughing. She said the Iron-Tooth Pack was coming. She said she was calling a fire to burn the nursery while you slept. She was going to kill Leo."

I felt a cold shiver go down my spine. I knew Seraphina was bad, but I did not know she would try to burn my son.

"I could not wait for a trial," Jarek said. "I saw the Ghostbane in my bag. I put it in her bowl. I watched her drink it. I did it to protect my Queen and the boy."

I looked at my friend. He had killed a woman to keep my baby safe. He had done the dirty work so I could keep my hands clean. And in return, I had put him in chains and let the crowd spit on him.

I looked at the silver chains on his wrists. He was a hero. And I was the one who had locked him in the dark.

"I have to go," I said. My heart was heavy like a stone.

"Do not let them win, Elena," Jarek said.

I walked away from the bars and headed for the light. I was the Queen of a land that was dying, and the only man I could trust was a killer in a cage.

I reached the top of the stairs and saw Valerius standing in the hall. He was holding a piece of paper. His face was white and his hands were shaking.

"Elena," Valerius said.

"Not now, Valerius," I snapped.

"You need to see this," Valerius whispered. He held the paper out. "It is from the border. A rider just arrived."

I took the paper. It was wet with rain and blood.

"Torian is not waiting for a meeting," Valerius said. "He is already at the river. And he has five thousand wolves behind him."