Chapter Eight

KEYARA

She was reeling from the pain of the blow. She dimly registered a growl coming from somewhere in the room. She clutched her face, fighting back tears.

Pershing was well known by the servants for his quick temper and propensity toward lashing out physically, but she had never been on the receiving end of it.

Key had always been careful to stay out of his way. She doubted he even knew her name. The silence around her was deafening. She looked up hesitantly, her hand still pressed to her cheek.

King Ash had Pershing by the throat. He suddenly turned to her, and his eyes were pitch-black. His face was contorted in anger, and his features barely looked human.

Despite his ferocious expression, she felt eerily calm staring into his odd dark eyes. They seemed to draw her in as much as they had in the courtyard, even with the sudden change in their appearance.

She watched him close his eyes and take a deep breath, otherwise as still as a statue, not taking his hand away from the man’s throat.

When he opened them, they were back to their normal green, and his demeanor seemed to have changed. He suddenly let go of Pershing, who clutched his throat and coughed, his face red and covered with sweat.

“You shouldn’t treat people that way,” said King Ash.

Keyara fought the urge to laugh. What a ridiculous thing for him to say after what had just happened. His eyes had turned black, for goodness’ sake!

~Am I in shock?~ she wondered briefly. Surely she was not having a normal reaction to the sudden violent turn of events.

Pershing finally caught his breath, though he still clutched his throat in dismay. Lord Jonas was at his side, holding him up by his arm and glaring at King Ash.

“Out!” shouted Pershing. “Get out! You have an hour to leave!”

King Ash simply shrugged and rejoined his men, who were all tense, waiting to see if there would be a larger fight.

Pershing turned to her suddenly, dark anger in his eyes. He had been shamed by the visiting king, and while it wasn’t her fault directly, she had been the instigator of the tension.

She knew she was an easy target and braced herself for another blow. Ash watched them carefully, and one of the men had a hand on his shoulder as if to hold him back.

She was relieved when the blow didn’t come. Instead, he pointed at her as she cowered on the floor. “You too,” he said darkly. “I want you gone. They can have you. Get out of my sight.”

Keyara looked around the room in shock. This was all happening so fast.

Lord Jonas was looking at her, trying to speak to his father, but King Pershing shoved him angrily aside, not wanting to hear whatever Jonas was trying to say.

She scrambled to her feet and hurried out of the room before his anger turned toward her again.

“What is going on?” asked Anne, as she burst through the doorway to the kitchen in a rush. “Keyara! What happened to your face?”

“I have to leave, Ma,” she stammered, fighting back tears.

“I made King Pershing angry, and he struck me. And then King Ash attacked him for it, which just made things worse. Pershing ordered me to leave with them. We have an hour.”

She quickly unloaded the surviving eggs from her pockets as she spoke, setting them on the table. Several of them had been smashed in the exchange, and orange yolk ran down her wrist.

She wiped her hands and then threw the soiled apron away from her in disgust.

“There’s more, though,” Key continued. She glanced around to make sure no one was listening but, of course, all eyes were on her after the uproar she had caused.

“Come with me,” she said, pulling Anne out the back door and out of range of everyone inside.

“What is it?” Anne asked, when Key finally stopped.

“I think he knows, Ma.”

Anne gasped in shock.

“King Ash came to talk to me in the courtyard while I was gathering the eggs. He said he wanted me to meet him tonight and called me ‘my lady.’

“Then when Pershing hit me, you would not have believed his reaction. And now I have to go with him and…”

“Hey, hey. Slow down,” said Anne, cupping her face. “What else did King Ash say?”

“I don’t know, Ma. He was…really nice. He said he had an offer for me. It almost felt like I was his whole reason for being here. He must know, right?”

“Maybe,” replied Anne, considering.

Jenna slipped out and joined them. “Key, you’re going with them? What happened? It’s all anyone can talk about, but no one really knows why.”

“Yes,” she replied, her eyes filling with tears. She didn’t want to leave Anne and Jenna. “I think he knows about me, Jenna.”

“Hey,” said Jenna. “That may not be a bad thing. His kingdom is very powerful.”

Anne nodded in agreement. “And you said he was nice to you, right? Maybe he wants to help. He hasn’t exposed you.”

“Yes, he was nice,” replied Key. “But what does that matter? You always told me no one could ever know.”

“I know I did,” Anne replied sternly.

“But you are grown up now. Things are changing. Pershing is not as powerful as he once was and has lost the respect of most of his men. We are barely surviving here. King Ash would be a very strong ally.”

Keyara wiped away her tears. They were right. She couldn’t keep hiding, not if she ever wanted to reclaim her birthright.

She would go with them. She couldn’t deny the part of her that wanted to.

If he did know, maybe his intent was to support her. If he didn’t, well, hopefully she would be able to convince him of her claim.

Despite a lack of any proof.