Queen's Obsession

Chapter 102

This chapter did make me cry while writing it so that's your warning. You will most likely cry.

*Seraphina's P.O.V*

Suzanna did end up pulling away from me after a little while although I wasn't sure why. She suddenly seemed embarrassed and muttered something about having to go change. I didn't want to keep her from doing what she needed to do so I just let her leave, taking the moment of privacy to gather myself.

My privacy was soon interrupted by a knock on the door and I sigh, rubbing my eyes to wipe away any evidence of the fact that I had been crying. I did so hate to cry in front of others, it was embarrassing for me. It was a weakness that I could not afford to have.

I open the door, walking past Pandora who quickly turns to follow me. I can tell she is still annoyed with her study being destroyed based on the way she walks. She always sort of stomps when she is mad but doesn't want to say that she is mad.

"I will have someone fix your study and get you new vases," I inform her and that seems to appease her, at least a little bit.

"What about the tunnel?" Pandora asks. I close my eyes at her words, stopping my walk.

"What about it?" I ask, my voice slightly colder than I mean for it to be.

"Should I have the bookcase bolted shut? Just in case Suzanna tries to go through the tunnels again?" Pandora questions. I understand why she is asking but I know that we can't do that.

"They're for emergencies. If we can not even get into them, it would be pointless to have them," I say after a moment. "I will just keep Suzanna away from them," I state, opening the door to my study and entering it.

I make my way over to my desk, sitting down after a moment. I glance towards the bookshelf that is pressed against the wall and I stand up, going over to it. I open it, staring into the darkness before stepping into it.

"Sera, you shouldn't go in the tunnels," Pandora says from behind me but her words are echoey, fading away as soon as they touch my ears. I suddenly feel unsteady and I reach out to hold onto the wall, trying to steady myself as I take a deep breath.

Suddenly I am not standing at the entrance of one of the hidden tunnels. It is dark, so very dark. There are guards all around me but I don't see them, I don't hear them. Where is he? Where is my son?

"Seraphina," Orion's voice is sharp and clear right in my ear and I flinch away, looking at him with wide eyes. It's pitch black around us but I know it is him right away.

"Where is Malik?" I ask instead, clinging to Orion's arm. My nails are digging into his armor as best as they can. It wasn't the first time the castle had been invaded but it was the first time they had done so when my son was around.

"Come with me," Orion says and I feel his hand grab my arm before he pulls me out of the group of guards, leading me further into the dark. His tone makes me nervous. I have never heard Orion sounding so distant in my life.

The spot he leads me to, it's only slightly lighter and so I can barely make out the form in front of me. I can just barely see Orion's armor glinting in the light and I feel a sense of dread when I see healers surrounding something.

I break away from Orion, rushing through the healers and knocking them out of the way. I pause when I see Malik laying on the ground, blood pooling around him. His green eyes flicker to look at me and I can see how dull they look.

"Mother," his voice is soft it breaks almost immediately and I rush to him, dropping to the ground beside him. A lantern is resting beside him, the small flame flickering and even still, I can barely see the wound but there is one, right below where his heart would be.

"You have to stop the bleeding," I inform the healers but by the pitying looks I can already tell there is nothing they can do. There is a healer applying great pressure to the wound but it does nothing.

"Who knew returning to gather more troops would be the most dangerous part of war?" Malik says and I look at him, feeling my heart ripping itself in half. I couldn't possibly be losing my son...could I? Was the world so cruel they would take my baby from me?

"No, you'll be fine," I try to reassure him as best as I can, tears falling down my face. He slumps forward slightly, wrapping an arm around me as his head rests against my shoulder.

"We both know that's not true," Malik mutters and I can barely feel his breath on my shoulder. My arms wrap around him, my hand resting on the back of his head as my fingers run through his hair.

"You can't die," I whisper. Why was life so unfair? Couldn't I have been taken instead?

"I'm sorry ma, I'm not strong enough," Malik murmurs and I can tell he is growing even weaker. I move my hand to press against the wound, pressing on it as hard as I can to try and stop the blood flow.

"No my boy, you're plenty strong enough," I say weakly, trying to reassure him. "You are so strong my angel," I whisper into his hair, kissing the top of his head. I want to say more, I want to tell him that everything will be okay and that we'll get through this but I can't.

I close my eyes as the lantern suddenly exstingushes and I can no longer feel his breathing against my shoulder. "Malik!" I say as I move to touch his face. His body is limp against mine and I let out an anguished cry as I try to get him to respond, to say one more thing.

"Seraphina," Orion's voice is in my ear and I can feel him holding me as I scream, not caring if the invaders found us now. His hand covers my mouth to muffle me but it does nothing to muffle the sound of my heart breaking.

"Seraphina," I feel Pandora's arms around me and I realize I've collapsed. We're sitting in the dark just as I did when Malik died. My throat feels hoarse and I realize that I've been screaming. "I'm so sorry," I hear Pandora whisper as she just holds me, letting me sob into her dress. Her sorries do nothing for me though, they don't bring my baby back. She just holds me, letting me sob for as long as I need.