Tomas

“No!” I screamed out loud. “He can’t be king!”

A bullet zipped past me, narrowly missing me and in front of me, two of the guards began to run towards me. I ran quickly, dodging bullets and jumping over bodies to the cathedral’s entrance. It was here I’d last seen Cynder. I needed him now. I needed him to help stop Luca from becoming king.

The priest began to speak. I remembered the words he’d used for my own coronation. His speech would last about ten minutes, but it was the placing of the crown upon Luca’s head that would signify him becoming king.

“Cynder!” I shouted, desperate to find him. My voice was lost in the panicked noise of the crowd. In front of me, the last of the wedding guests were trying to leave, pushing against a tide of those trying to get in. With a shock, I recognized King Theron and Queen Sarina.

“Theron!” I shouted.

The king of Thalia turned.

There was no fear in his eyes, only anger as he saw who it was—the girl that had started this madness.

“You...you...” he roared and then came running towards me, catching me by surprise.

“Stop!” I yelled, dodging to the side, just in time. He righted himself and then came towards me again, this time grabbing me and pulling me tight.

“Luca!” He shouted above the noise, trying to get the attention of his son.

“Theron!” I hissed back. “It’s me, Charmaine. I know I don’t look like me right now, but it is me. I came to you a few weeks ago. We had whiskey in the study.”

He gazed at me, the shock of everything apparent in his eyes.

I could see him trying to understand the situation, but he looked torn. A bullet whizzed past the pair of us, taking one of the retreating guests out. A man next to Queen Sarina fell to the ground, a plume of blood drenching his shirt. Sarina grabbed her chest in shock and ran towards us, looking for comfort from her husband.

“You aren’t going to get out this way. It’s too crowded. Follow me.” I grabbed Sarina’s hand, making her scream.

“Theron, let me go! I’ll help you,” I begged. His hands were still holding me tightly around the waist, while I was holding his wife’s hand so she wouldn’t get swept away in the tide of retreating people. All I could hear above the noise of screaming and gunshots was the priest, giving the speech needed for the coronation. He was already a quarter of the way through it.

“This can go one of two ways,” I explained hurriedly. “Either you let me go and I get you out of here quickly and safely, or we all stay here like this and either get shot by a guard or trampled in the crowd.”

Sarina whimpered and shook her head. My hand hurt from her pulling against it, but I knew if I let her go, she would run and more than likely end up dead.

I felt Theron’s grip around my waist lessen and then drop. Still holding Sarina’s hand, I pulled her towards the small door that I’d come through at the side of the cathedral. Upon opening it, I saw that the antechamber was still empty, but the outer door was now shut, and the guards were nowhere to be seen. Pulling the door firmly behind us, I turned to them.

“You can get out through that door,” I explained, pointing to the outer door. “You’ll be safe out there. Look for a policeman, not one of Luca’s guards.”

Instead of heading for the door I’d pointed out to her, Sarina ran around me and began to pull on the inner door.

I grabbed her and pulled her away before she managed to reopen it. She kicked backwards, badly bruising my shin, but I didn’t let her go.

“Sarina, it’s me, Charmaine.”

“I believe it is, Sarina dear. She knew about the whiskey in the parlor. I think she has one of those mask spells that Seraphia does so well.”

Sarina stopped pulling against me, so I let her go. She turned and looked closely at me. I saw her searching my face, looking for something familiar. A second or two later, her features relaxed a little.

“What’s happening, Charmaine?” she asked bewildered.

I took a deep breath and spoke slowly. “I told you before. Luca will stop at nothing to be king. He didn’t care about killing you at my wedding, and he doesn’t care about you all dying now. I’ve got about six minutes left to stop him from becoming the king of Silverwood. If he does, he can do whatever he wants, and the first thing on his agenda is killing me and all my friends and family. If he decides you are a friend of mine, you’ll end up with the same fate. You need to get out of here as quick as you can. If you go through that door, you’ll be outside. Find a police officer to protect you. Don’t go to one of Luca’s guards.”

Sarina shook her head again.

“I don’t understand any of this, but I can’t go out there. Tomas and my grandbabies are still inside. I lost sight of them.”

With that, she burst into tears.

Damn! I could see there was no way I’d get her to leave without her son and grandsons and I didn’t have time to try and persuade her to.

“Hand me your jacket,” I said to Theron.

He hesitated and then decided to take it off and hand it to me without question.

It was huge on me, but it did what I wanted it to do, cover my clothes. I asked for Sarina’s hat which she passed over.

I pulled my long hair into a bun and hid it under the blue hat. I knew I looked ridiculous and with even the briefest of glances would never pass as a wedding guest, but it changed my appearance. Any guard looking for a girl with long hair and a blue dress would have to look a lot harder to see me in the throng of people.

“Wait here,” I said, opening the inner door. I took a deep breath and headed back into the cathedral.

Finding Tomas was hard. I couldn’t see him or the children in the rush of people trying to get out. Of course, they could have already have gotten out, but I doubted it. They had started at the back just as Sarina and Theron had. They definitely weren’t anywhere in the center of the cathedral. If they had been, the chances were they were already dead. There were now more bodies on the floor than there people still standing, and yet those that did stand were still fighting furiously. The beautiful vaulted ceiling was lit up with flashes of purple, and the sound of gunshots seemed never-ending. By keeping to the walls and hiding behind pillars, I managed to stay out of the worst of it. Up at the altar, I saw the terrified priest reading from his book. I estimated I had about four minutes left.

Luca was still surrounded by his guards, and even though the Magi had toppled some of them, there were still way too many for me to get through to stop him. It was then I saw Tomas. Actually, it was Jacob; Tomas and Seraphia’s eldest son, I spotted first. He was cowering behind a pillar on the opposite side of the cathedral. I could just see his face peeking out.

Looking both ways to make sure none of the guards had seen me, I ran as fast as I could, leaping over bodies until I reached the little boy.

As I rounded the pillar, I saw Tomas laid out on the floor, his eyes closed. Next to him was his other son, little Michael. The boy was clutching his dad’s hand, sobbing wildly.

I bent down and looked at Tomas. There was no blood on him, and he was still breathing.

I nudged him. “Tomas?”

He didn’t stir, so I nudged him again, this time a little harder.

“Hmmm?” he mumbled, his eyes closed.

The priest’s voice filled my head, making me panic. I had about three minutes left.

“Come on, Tomas,” I shouted, really pushing him now. “Wake up.”

His eyes opened. As soon as he saw me, he grabbed Michael and pulled himself back along the floor.

“Jacob,” he shouted to his eldest who was a little to my right. “Come here. Come to daddy.”

“It’s me, Charmaine!” I said, desperately hoping he realized I was telling the truth sooner rather than later.

“Jacob,” he repeated, looking more agitated. The little boy ran past me to his father.

Tomas scooped him up in his free arm. He glared at me with such anger. “I don’t know who you are, but stay away from me and my children.”

“Tomas,” I pleaded, taking a step towards them. Tomas shuffled backwards again.

Why didn’t he stand up?

It was then that I saw that he was injured after all. His left leg was twisted. The only way he was going to get across the cathedral to his parents was if someone helped him. I glanced back at Luca and the priest. Luca looked almost manic now, his eyes wide, a scary grin on his face. I had about two minutes left. If I helped Tomas and the children to the antechamber and ran as fast as I could back, there was a slim chance I’d be able to get to Luca. I’d still have to get through Luca’s guards without being killed.

“Tomas, your parents are in an antechamber. They are safe. Please let me take you to safety.”

He looked like he was about to say no when a woman stepped between us.

“I’ve got this,” she said, holding her hand out to Tomas. With a wave of her wand, the woman became Seraphia again.

Tomas’s eyes went wide. “Seraphia? I thought you were at your parent’s house down south?”

“Mommy!” The two boys yelled and ran over to her, leaping up to hug the mother they hadn’t seen in weeks.

I quickly explained where Sarina and Theron were.

“You can get out to safety with them. I have to go and stop Luca from becoming King.” I looked at Seraphia. “Can you use your wand to knock out some of those guards?”

She turned to look towards the altar. In less than a minute, the royal crown would be placed upon Luca’s head and my time as queen would be over. Even if I showed the world who I really was, after Luca gained the crown, I’d never be able to get it back.

Seraphia nodded and pointed her wand at the guards. “I’ll only be able to knock over one or two. My magic isn’t powerful enough to do more than that.”

I realized it wouldn’t be enough. Even if she knocked half of them out, the other half would capture me before I was anywhere close to Luca or the priest. I grabbed Seraphia’s arm and pointed her wand at me.

“Change of plan,” I said. “I want you to do a spell on me instead.”