Page 38 of Off with Her Head
Just as it reaches me, a playing card slices through the air, embedding itself in the creature's neck. The Two of Spades—one of Scarlett's soldiers—stands beside me, his paper form rustling as he positions himself protectively.
"My Queen," he addresses me, showing no hesitation at claiming Darkmore's ruler as his monarch. "Queen Scarlett has been taken."
The words hit harder than any physical blow. "Taken?"
"Queen Mara and the king," the card-soldier says between heavy breaths, already guiding me toward a gap in the fighting. "They seized her after the separation spell succeeded. Our orders are to get you to safety at all costs."
My first instinct is to refuse—to charge into the heart of Mara's forces, to reclaim Scarlett regardless of the danger. But strategic reason prevails. In my weakened state,with our connection severed, I would accomplish nothing except my own capture, or worse, death.
And if both of us are gone, Mara wins.
"Where?" I demand as the card-soldier leads me toward a hidden path.
"The Castle of Cards," he answers. "A defensive contingent holds it still. From there, we can plan a rescue."
I nod grimly, allowing myself to be led away from the battlefield. Each step feels like a betrayal of my promise to Scarlett, but I force myself to continue. I cannot help her if I'm captured or dead. I cannot fulfill our destiny if I fall to Mara's power.
As we retreat, I reach internally for any remnant of our connection. At first, I find only emptiness, a void where Scarlett's presence should be. But then, faint as a whisper, I sense something—the barest thread of heart magic woven into my own, too deeply integrated for even Mara to fully sever.
She’s alive.
Captured, separated from me, butalive.
And as long as that remains true, there is hope.
I will find her, as I promised. I will restore our connection. And together, we will ensure that the queen who falls is the one already lost to corruption.
Mara may have won this battle, but the war is far from over.
Chapter
Fifteen
SCARLETT
Iawaken to darkness and the taste of iron on my tongue.
The dungeon.Mydungeon. The irony doesn't escape me—imprisoned in the very cells I ordered constructed to hold those who defied the Queen of Hearts. The walls are a perfect checkerboard of red and black marble, designed to disorient prisoners through optical illusions that shift and swirl when viewed too long. Enchanted chains bind my wrists and ankles, their magic specifically calibrated to suppress magic.
My head throbs with such intensity I can hardly see—a hollow ache that resonates through my entire being. It takes me a moment to identify its source: the severed connection to Ravenna. Where once I felt her presence, now there is only emptiness, avoid.
A scraping sound draws my attention to the cell door. It opens to reveal a creature that was once one of my card-soldiers—the Jack of Hearts, who had served as one of my personal guards for years. Now Mara has broken him, black crystal growths erupting from his paper form, his once-loyal eyes now pools of darkness. Behind him stands Mara.
"Comfortable?" she asks, her voice so raw that it makes my teeth ache. "I thought you might appreciate the symmetry of your situation."
I straighten as much as the chains allow, refusing to show weakness. “How’s Edmund?" I ask, pressing what I can only hope might be a vulnerability. "Is he suffering or is he comfortable in the shell you’ve locked him away in?”
The question strikes a nerve. Mara turns away sharply, power flowing more rapidly across her body as her temper spikes. "Edmund understood the necessity of sacrifice. He volunteered to be the first, to demonstrate his commitment to oursharedvision."
The lie is so transparent I almost pity her need to believe it. "Is that what you tell yourself? Do you not sleep otherwise?"
"Enough!" She spins back to face me, magic flowing from her in visible waves that make the air itself seem to warp. "You know nothing. You're here for one purpose—to complete the triad."
"The triad?"
"The three magics," she continues, regaining her composure. "The original triplets. For true unification to occur, all three must be present." She smiles, the expression horrible on her corrupted face. "Ravenna holds blood magic. You hold heart magic. And I—" she gestures to her crystalline form "—I have merged with iron's essence through Edmund."
Panic hits me suddenly. "Where is Ravenna? What have you done with her?"
