The Queen's Curse Read Online Free Page A

the wall. He stumbled and she caught him in the groin with her knee and struck the back of his head with her torch.. He passed out.
    She had to catch her breath for a moment – she felt out of shape – before recovering and running up the small stairs towards the Tower Room. When she finally reached the emerald door she had a vision of the face of her little brother. It was for his life she imperilled her career and her life. Justice will be done!
    Tirsa flung open the door, which surprisingly wasn’t locked, and again realized in that moment she was acting foolishly. What was she thinking, without so much as knocking? But there was no chance she could face to wait any longer, or for no answer.
    ‘Wh ere are you?’ she almost yelled, looking around the bedroom with a bewildered gaze.
    The renowned Queen Artride was sitting directly opposite her, on a broad windowsill by a large opened oval window. She was a young woman, pale and veiled with long waving black hair like the night itself. She looked up from a letter she had been reading. There was no fright in her impressive midnight blue eyes; just calm curiosity when she saw the wild young knight with her green flashing eyes, like knives, staring defiantly directly into hers, holding her gaze steadily. No one normally dared. Tirsa froze on the spot and was struck instantly by the stunning beauty of the queen as they gazed at one another wordlessly. She felt the anger fade. Time itself seemed to have faded ... And then it continued; in a matter of seconds she saw a sudden change in the queen: fear, concern. She was stretching her hands out towards Tirsa as if to prevent something from happening behind …opening her mouth … It was too late for Tirsa to turn around and look behind her. Darkness closed over her mind like the dark manes of the queen.
     
     

     
    CHAPTER 2
CONFESSIONS
    Death is not a punishment
    for wrongdoing and life
    not the reward for good.
    Tanith Lee
     
    Muted angry voices sounded in the distance in her throbbing ears. ‘…to hit her! She was about to tell me something urgent and if you had not hit her unconscious I would have known what it was by now!’
    ‘But Your Highness, she knocked down four guards to get here and –’
    ‘Proof enough then that it must be important, Jaromir!’
    Tirsa tried to listen to the two voices; one male and the other female, through her pounding headache, which wasn’t easy. It was as if the darkness pulled her back every time she tried. Somehow, she had to fight that, although it was tempting to just give in to it.
    ‘It might have been an attack on your life, Your Highness.’
    ‘One of my own commanders? My father – rest his soul – knighted everyone personally, are you saying you doubt his judgment?’
    She heard Jaromir holding his breath ruefully. ‘No, of course not, Your Highness.’
    A silence followed by footsteps coming her way. The woman’s voice sounded very close now. It was a pleasant vivid voice and warm despite her words. Tirsa wagered she was a good singer.
    ‘She does not have a sword on her and no other hidden weapons, I have checked that.’ She had?
    ‘I’ve heard she is very skilled in mortal combat,’ Jaromir started. ‘Obviously she must be mad for breaking into the castle like this; for surely she knows the consequences. Therefore caring little for her own life she must have come for yours. Clearly, she is an assassin. I advise you strongly to tie her up in case she wakes up.’ When she did not respond he continued, ‘My Lady, it is hard to trust anyone these days. Surely you must know that, even in our crime free country.’
    ‘I did not ask for your opinion, or your advice.’
    Tirsa liked the way she responded to that annoying man. She had a feeling that the woman was examining her somehow; she thought she even felt a warm hand on her forehead briefly. It felt soothing. It brought her a little closer to the light again. She tasted blood in her mouth.
    ‘We have to do