Grishma (Book One in The Necoh Saga)

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

Silence permeated the air, which caused fear to spread throughout her body like wildfire on a dry summer day.

Sophie looked around. She felt exposed and vulnerable sitting alone in her carriage. She scooted to the far end and vainly attempted to cover herself with pillows.

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, the deafening silence broke with muffled voices. She strained to hear what was being said, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t make out anything.

Finally, curiosity took over and she removed the pillows and peeked out through the curtains. Although it was pitch black outside, several torches lit the area. She saw her husband speaking to a guard, Brianna, and Emlyn. Brianna pointed to a nearby carriage and Emlyn looked like she had been crying.

Sophie strained to hear the conversation, “I don’t… where the body… from!”

Body? What body?

She couldn’t wait any longer, so she pushed through the carriage door and stepped into the chilly night air.

When she approached the group, everyone stopped
talking.

“What’s going on here?” she asked.

“It was terrible!” cried Emlyn.

“Shut up!” shouted Algid.

“Excuse me?” asked Sophie.

“I’m sorry. I just don’t want you to worry. Please, go wait in the carriage for me. I’ll be right there,” said Algid.

Crossing her arms, Sophie demanded, “I’ll do no such thing! Now tell me what’s going on!”

“Darling, we stopped because of a felled tree,” explained Algid.

“And?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why did someone scream? And why does it look like Emlyn has been crying?”

Brianna looked at Algid for permission to speak. When he nodded, she began. “We were riding along and everything was going fine. Then suddenly we just stopped dead in our tracks. Moments later, a body crashed through the top of our carriage!” She began to sob and couldn’t finish the story.

Emlyn spoke up. “The body, it had a note secured to it.” She looked down at her hands and tears welled up in her eyes.

“What did the note say?” asked Sophie.

“It’s too terrible to repeat,” sobbed Emlyn.

“Where is the note? Give it to me!” demanded
Sophie.

Algid toyed with a rolled up piece of paper in his hands. “Here,” he finally said, handing it to Sophie. “Just know that I won’t let it happen, I’ll never let anyone harm you!”

Sophie unrolled the paper and began to read.

“Princess Sophie, this trip shall be your last,

For everyone will soon know your past.

Kiss your beloved goodbye,

And prepare to die.”

Goosebumps snaked up her arms and her knees felt like jelly. “What does this mean? Why does someone want to kill me? And what do they mean by my past?”

“I don’t know,” said Algid. “But we must get back in the carriage and take another route with haste!”

The guard shifted uncomfortably. “There is no other safe route, Sire.”