Chapter 152. They Did Not Take Me

DOVE

I walked toward the road that led away from the castle, from the party, from everything I had known with constancy. Carmen followed me with the baby in her arms, walking as fast as she could. The guards gathered around the pool of blood spreading on the ground, and I saw an outstretched arm as if asking for help. They would not let me see who it belonged to; they cut me off. Jacob’s face was pale; it must have been someone I knew. The child was crying, and the noise and commotion were getting louder and louder. Gradually, people from the party came closer to see what was going on, and the joy turned into a terrible panic.

My horror was joined by the screams of the arriving people when I saw Rachel lying dead on the floor. Her eyes had gone out, and I had seen her only seconds before, begging me for her child and her safety. If she had left with him, he would have been taken away and put to sleep. But Nicolas was with me; she put him down on my lap before he could ev