Page 19 of Reign

“Can I not say goodbye to Finn and Henry?” I pleaded, desperate to see my brothers one final time.

“No,” Mother replied, her tone final. “I won’t let you burden them with this.”

She placed Father’s flat cap on my head, letting out a shaky sigh.

“You look like him when he was young,” she murmured, smiling as tears glistened on her cheeks in the candlelight. There was a fond glint in her glassy eyes, like I was already a memory.

“Go,” she said, and I obeyed.

I ran.

Mother’s wails echoed in the distance as I left behind everything I’d ever known. Once beneath the hawthorn trees, I paused, looking over the village square, certain no one could see me. Niamh was as good as dead.

Villagers stumbled out of the tavern, gathering on the cobbles. A man carried what was left of Avice, laying her out for all to see.

“Who is it?” a villager asked.

“Whose daughter’s this?” another called out over the cries.

Adder stumbled into the square, clutching his bleeding forehead.

“Niamh’s a witch,” he yelled over the chaos, presenting my cloak as proof he had seen me.

“Where’s my daughter?” I heard Mother shout as she ran toward the commotion. “Why do you have that?” she probed, snatching the cloak from Adder’s grasp.

Mother gasped. “Blood,” she cried. “What have you done to her?”

She pounded her fist into Adder’s chest as a group of villagers grappled his arms, restraining him.

Finn broke free from the crowd and rushed to Avice’s side. Falling to his knees, his hands trembled as he reached for her auburn braid—the lavender ribbon still woven within. Gently, he took her hand, as if confirming it was truly her from how her fingers intertwined with his. Overcome with grief, he doubled over, his head hanging beside hers.

“She’s no villager,” Finn wailed. “She’s the daughter of the Lord.”

“Niamh was with the Black Shuck,” Adder yelled back, trying to break free from the villagers holding him.

“Where’s she now?” Mother pressed.

Finn shook his head. “She was meeting…” He paused, his gaze falling on Avice’s lifeless body sprawled out on the cold cobbles like game on a butcher’s block. “Avice in the forest. He must’ve killed her, too.”

Mother pointed at Adder. “Wizard,” she spat.

Adder thrashed like stormy waves until the villagers released him.

“Where’s Niamh?” Finn demanded.

“I saw her at the well,” Adder said, clenching his fists like he was ready to fight anyone who got too close. “Then she hit me and ran.”

Finn stepped toward Adder, unafraid of his aggression. “Why were you alone with my sister at the well?”

Adder didn’t answer, but his silence said more than any words could.

Finn threw the first punch, but Adder threw the second, third, and fourth. He pounded his fists into Finn with such force, I thought I felt the ground tremble.

Just as I was about to reveal myself to stop the beating, I saw the red eyes of Dog creeping closer to the altercation. I looked to Adder, who continued to pummel Finn with his fists. Stop him, I thought desperately.

Dog looked my way. I didn’t believe she could see me from this distance, but her ears twitched like she heard my thoughts. Stop him, save Finn.

Dog bounded through the square. The villagers who spotted the black fur hurtling toward them scattered in fear. Mother stumbled backward, tripping over the cobbled path. She shrieked as she looked up at Dog, her deafening cry echoing through the vale.