Chapter 8: Chapter 8

REYNA

That night, after I’d come back to my room, we were sitting at the dinner table. After we’d left the infirmary, I had joined the guardians and medics.

I gave a helping hand wherever I could, trying to wipe away the evidence of the terrible day we’d had. By the time we were done, I was ready to drop.

All the wounded people were sent to the infirmary, and the three dead women were buried. The dead beasts’ bodies were burned, and the blood on the cobblestones was washed away.

Despite everything, Mary was still waiting for me in the training grounds. I took a shower afterward.

Right then, I was seated with my dinner completely untouched. I had no appetite, and the image of everything that had gone wrong that day lingered in my mind.

I couldn’t eat. I could feel my nana sending worried glances my way every once in a while.

And then there were the words of the beast, repeatedly playing in my head. If I said part of the reason I couldn’t eat wasn’t because of the beast’s warning, then I would be lying.

I had replayed and thought about my interactions with the beast—from his first word, look, growl, and everything in between. My body’s strange reaction to him, his pain, and whatever the hell it was he did to me—everything.

The golden question I had spent the better part of the day thinking about was: who was coming to kill us? And why were they coming for us?

Was the beast bluffing? Maybe he meant to frighten my mother so she would ally herself with him.

She was the queen, after all. Or was he saying we were going to be attacked again?

I wished I had the answers, but I didn’t. Inside, I felt weird, like I had changed.

I caught myself unconsciously rubbing my hand over my chest. Right where the beast had touched me before I felt that agonizing pain.

He had done something to me. I was sure of that, but I didn’t know what.

I needed to see him, speak to him, and find out what he did. But how would I do that?

Earlier, when we left the infirmary, Cassandra had told me to never go anywhere near the infirmary. Maybe I could sneak in and see him.

Problem was, only Cassandra and Dr. Elizabeth could access the doors there. Sneaking in was out of the question.

It took every bit of self-control I had to convince myself that going to him wasn’t the wise choice at the moment. Instead, I decided what I was going to do earlier in the day.

When I saw the thin little girls during the ceremony, guilt punched me in the gut when I looked down at my dinner of roasted chicken. While logically I knew I couldn’t possibly stop eating out of guilt, I could try to lessen my guilt by helping those family units in the village.

I picked up my spoon and ate a few bites of the vegetable soup, forcing myself to chew and swallow. My mind was churning with so many thoughts. I didn’t taste the food, only scarfed it down, hoping it would stay.

After I’d eaten enough, I laid down a piece of clean cloth and tied up the whole chicken. Then I lay on my bed, tossing and turning until the tower clock struck midnight.

I jumped up and dragged my nana all the way from the third floor, where my room and Cassandra’s room were, to the pantry on the ground floor. Nana wasn’t happy I woke her, but she kept watch while I filled up a couple of bags with food rations.

It wasn’t a big bag, but at least the food inside would feed them for a day or two. I handed my nana some of the bags to help carry them.

Though they weren’t heavy, I couldn’t possibly carry all the bags by myself. We waited for the time when the guards left the hallways to be replaced by another set of guards.

“You have finally done it this time, Rey. What if we are caught? Your mother will lock you up for good, and hang me for letting you do this,” Nana whispered.

I understood why my nana was nervous. The consequences of stealing food were dire, and the punishment severe.

But I couldn’t ignore my conscience—all those hungry people, especially the children. I just couldn’t let them starve if I could do something about it.

Nana tried her best to talk me out of going, but my mind was already made up. I was the princess of Marlenia.

I was duty-bound to help my people, especially those who were too weak to help themselves. Besides, it was the only thing I had control over.

Right now, my mother is meeting with the rest of the council, discussing the attack, the beasts, and who knows how many other things they are hiding from us. And guess what? I’m not invited. Me, the future queen.

I shook that thought away before my anger overwhelmed me.

After I put on the last piece of clothing that helped disguise my appearance as Princess Reyna, transforming me into a palace maid, I assured her, “Don’t worry, Nana, nothing of the sort will happen, you’ll see.”

Nana was able to steal—well, borrow—a dress and an old shawl for me from the servants’ quarters. We snuck out through the servant door, walking fast through the night, hiding in the shadows.

The massive mountain behind the castle stood like a giant monster, blocking everything. It made Marlenia darker, with just a flickering light here and there.

We came across a couple of guards at one point. I almost had a heart attack when they stopped us, but then they let us go when my nana lied and told them we were headed home after working late in the castle.

I hadn’t been to the village in a long time, so I was surprised at how run-down and dilapidated the place looked. It must have been very cold with the rain coming frequently.

Most of the houses didn’t have any fires lit; there was no electricity in their homes. It must have been a technical problem, since there was light in the village hall.

Some of these houses’ roofs had caved in. How come they didn’t complain to the queen about the state of their homes and lack of electricity, so she could order them to get it fixed?

I felt my heart squeeze uncomfortably. I made a mental note to speak to Cassandra about this. Surely she didn’t know—she couldn’t have.

Otherwise, she would have done something, maybe even had them move into the castle while their homes were being repaired.

A couple of minutes later, I knocked on the first house. Nana dropped a bag of food outside the door, then we went to the next house and then the next, until there were only two bags left.

Tomorrow, I promised myself, we would visit the houses we couldn’t reach tonight, since we couldn’t carry more than four sacks of food each. My nana was already tired when we arrived at the Jenna’s household, panting heavily, but she didn’t once complain.

I knocked on little Emma’s home. It took a while before the door sprang open.

The head of the family unit, Jenna, was the one who opened the door. I could see the surprise on her face when she realized it was me.

She stood gaping, then realization appeared. She turned an accusing eye to the eight or so occupants in the living room and said, “What did you do?!”

It sounded ominous. My nana and I were left gaping with our mouths wide open, while the people inside swore they didn’t do anything.

“Hello, everyone! I’m not here because you did anything wrong,” I more or less yelled to get them to listen.

And they did.

“I’m sorry if my coming here at this time gave you a scare. I only meant to give you this.” I thrust two bags into Jenna’s hands, her eyes widening.

“Thank you, Princess, and thank you again for saving Emma earlier,” Jenna said, her eyes brimming with tears of gratitude.

“It’s nothing.” Just then, little Emma’s eyes peeked from behind her mother.

“Princess?”

“Call me Rey, Emma.”

“Rey, thank you for saving.”

“You’re welcome.” I grabbed the chicken I’d folded in the cloth earlier and gave it to her.

“Thank you, Rey.”

“Emma, you can’t call the princess by her name,” Jenna chastised, trying to pull Emma away from my legs. Emma didn’t let go.

“She just said I could,” Emma replied, pouting. I laughed.

“It’s okay, Jenna, we’re friends. She can call me by my name, right, Emma?”

“You want to be my friend?” She squealed excitedly and said, “The princess is my friend, Mom. Did you hear that?”

Jenna nodded, smiling while trying to shush her to keep silent, pulling her away from me. I winked at her.

“You all may call me Rey, if you agree to be my friends. And as my friends, if you’re ever in need, please do not hesitate to ask. You can contact my nana and give her your messages; she will bring them to me.”

Jenna and the other adults’ eyes were warm with gratitude.

“Oh, we couldn’t, Prin…” I sent a playful glare to Jenna.

The older woman laughed, then invited me and Nana to have tea with them. I accepted, even though we were pressed for time.

I didn’t want them to feel bad if I declined.

We all sat in the living room of the Jennas’, sipping warm, bland tea and chatting. They were nice people and so funny.

I couldn’t remember a time I had laughed so hard as I did tonight, listening to the Jennas. What they lacked in wealth, they made up for with love.

You could tell they loved each other very much. It was something I hadn’t had much experience with.

They teased and made fun of each other. Their laughter could probably be heard by all of Marlenia as their voices ricocheted into the night.

When we got up to leave, Jenna, Emma’s mom, and the rest of the Jenna household said, “Thank you, Rey.”

It was said with so much gratitude that I felt ashamed that this was the only thing I could bring to them. I didn’t think I deserved their gratitude.

I gave a wink. “One more thing, we were never here.”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

We left the Jennas’ with a smile on our faces. We were almost at the castle when something caught my eye.

Six guardians were carrying something, and from the looks of it, it was heavy. Something about the whole thing looked suspicious.

I quickly yanked Nana back before she was seen. “Wait here, Nana, I’ll be back.”

“Reyna!” she whispered loudly. But I was already racing after them, hiding in the shadows whenever they looked around.

They disappeared around the back of the castle where the forest started and were soon back. I waited until they were long gone.

Then I retraced their steps. Just when I was about to give up, I found myself in front of a large hole with a man thrown inside it.

At first, I thought one of the beasts had died, but this body was smaller—it was a human man. I walked closer and almost wished I hadn’t.

The man’s face was grotesque. There were traces of blood in his ears, mouth, eyes, and nose.

I didn’t know when I bent to my knees and threw up. I forced myself to move before I was found.

I didn’t know how I found my way back to my nana, given how shaken I was. When we finally got back to the castle, I was immensely grateful we weren’t discovered missing while we were gone.

And shaken from what I’d just seen.

I couldn’t wrap my head around why the guardians would dispose of a man’s body. Or what it was that killed him in such a terrible way.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. Men are nearly extinct.”

“That’s why they are protected right from birth to manhood in Marlenia. Something is seriously wrong with our queendom, and I’m going to find out what.”