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Chapter 8
They’re letting me go? My eyes dart to it and back to the man when I hear the King’s footsteps coming down behind me on the stairs.
So I run, my hands grab the door handle, and I burst out into fresh air, the coldness of it blasting my face, and I stagger f o r w a rd, enjoying the cooling sensation when I hear the King’s voice.
“Find out everything you can about her,” he tells the man; I peer over my shoulder, and he seems unfazed by me, trying to escape as he talks with ease. Something tells me that should worry me, but I have a one-track mind, and that is to get out of here.
Running down the steps, the fourth one is covered in snow, and by the time I reach the bottom, the snow is up to my knees. Ignoring the cold numbing feeling of it melting against my blistering hot skin, I make a run for the trees. I dive into the safety of the trees, my heart pounding, the snow crunching beneath my feet. I take a moment to catch my breath and look back.
My footprints are the only thing that proves I was ever here. As I glance back toward my house, the King slowly walks down the steps. I watch as he sniffs the air before turning in my direction and walking at a leisurely pace like he is merely enjoying a stroll through the park. Not waiting around, I disappear into the dense forest.
Yet the further I go, the weaker I find myself getting, the blistering heat of the fever returning with a vengeance. My vision blurs, and I clutch a nearby tree, trying to catch my breath. As I make my way through the forest, vertigo washes through me, the snow making my toes numb.
Nausea rolls over me, and I retch, but having nothing but an empty stomach, nothing comes up. The urge is so much more
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excruciating than the action itself as my body heats up
overwhelmingly. My eyes roll into the back of my head, and the next minute I am falling. I welcome the ice-cold snow as it seeps into my skin, cooling the raging inferno bubbling inside me and threatening to boil me from the inside out.
The crunch of shoes makes me twist and peer between the trees to see a dark figure. I watch as the figure steps closer. His face is shrouded in darkness when his aura rushes over me.
He stops next to me, peering down at me when he smirks. “Well, you didn’t get as far as I thought,” he tells me, yet his presence and aura seem to make the effects of the toxins in my system lessens, the dizziness easing off.
“What’s happening to me,” I mumble.
“Well, if you hadn’t run, I would have explained. But
intent on escaping me”.
you are quite
I peer up at him, waiting for the effects to wear off. “You poisoned me,” I mumble as I blink, trying to clear my vision. He nods his head and purses his lips.
“That wasn’t intentional, but given your state, you haven’t got long,” he states.
“I’m dying?” I murmur.
Now completely immobile, my body paralyzed, he nods, confirming my suspicions. I take a deep breath and close my eyes, accepting my fate. As I come to terms with my impending death, I can feel my body slowly shutting down, unable to move or respond to my commands. I know that this is it, and I can do nothing but accept the inevitable.
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Chapter 8
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my thoughts, too. His voice is somewhere far in the background, soothing, and I feel the hot waves that have been tormenting me abate, and I lose consciousness.
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