Chapter 1: Chapter 1

REYNA

The stillness and quiet of the night were always welcome friends. It was the only time I got to sneak out and be free all by myself.

I walked down the hallway in silence. It seemed I had become such a creature of habit that even the guards didn’t mind my late-night rendezvous. I appreciated that they never told on me.

I was just rounding the corner of my mother’s room, lost in these thoughts, when I first heard it. A low groan—almost a grunt—startled me.

I grabbed the shawl I had taken to ward off the night chill and wrapped it tightly around my body as I took hesitant steps toward the ornate double doors of Cassandra’s room.

I frowned as I looked around the empty hallways. There wasn’t a single guard. Strange. That had never happened before.

I was just coming back from the library, where I had re-read the history book of the outbreak for the umpteenth time. I had thought the long book would lull me to sleep.

~It didn’t.~

I was still as wide awake as when I’d snuck into the library some hours ago—which defeated the purpose of going there in the first place.

The sound came again, only it wasn’t just a groan or grunt; there was a feminine moan, low and long. I bit my lip hard and moved closer, deliberating on my course of action.

I could run and call the guards to come and check who was inside the room. Or I could take the risk and check it out myself; I was well trained.

I had been training for five years, preparing myself for the day I would finally join the Rose sisterhood and protect my queendom. If I was lucky, maybe one day I would go to the outside world for supplies as they sometimes did.

So I knew I could hold off an enemy or two before the guards arrived. One thing I was sure of was that whoever was inside the room was not Cassandra.

My mother didn’t retire to her room until midnight, sometimes even dawn. I knew that had to do with her job as the queen of this queendom.

She was always busy with work, trying to find ways to govern and protect her citizens. Which was why I didn’t believe it was her inside the room.

The guards were supposed to be here; what could have been so important for them to have left their post? I could try to call them, but that would mean whoever was inside would run away.

Or I could wait until they came back so we could check it out together, but that would be cowardly, and I wasn’t a coward.

The moans and whimpering sounds reminded me of a wounded animal or of someone who was in pain, and they were only growing in crescendo, accompanied by a strange slapping sound. I wondered if it was possible that they had the plague.

The plague that had destroyed humanity and the world had resulted in men’s near extinction, turning the outside world into a danger zone, a biohazard.

When the sound came again, my mind was already made up. I would check out who was inside or what was going on before I raised the alarm and called the guards. It could be that the person inside needed a doctor instead of the guards.

If it was the blue mist plague, they would need to be quarantined before it spread. Just in case I might be wrong and be faced with a less dangerous situation of the criminal kind.

I stopped and silently pulled out my dagger from its sheath on the knife holster bound to my left thigh. I twisted the knob and opened the door quietly.

I was light on my feet as I quietly made my way into the lavish, big room that was more like a throne room than a sitting area. When I finally reached the bedroom, the sounds were louder.

I carefully knelt down, my heart galloping faster in my chest. I squinted an eye and peeked into the room through the keyhole.

Something was writhing on Cassandra’s massive bed, but I couldn’t see much. There was no way to know who or what they were without bursting into the room and giving myself away.

The bodies were under the sheets, twisting, grunting, and groaning. I felt my heartbeat increase. My right palm was suddenly so sweaty, which made the silver handle of the dagger slightly slippery.

Whoever was in there must be in pain. I concluded that they needed help desperately; the whimpering and moaning I heard cemented that thought.

There was a part of me that was afraid the people inside had contracted the blue mist virus and might attack me if I suddenly barged in without backup. Part of me wanted to go back and call the guards.

But I didn’t want to make a fool of myself without any concrete proof as to what was really going on. I blamed the book I’d just finished reading for my overactive imagination.

The sounds came again, and I stuck to my belief that it was sounds of pain that I had heard.

“What in God’s name are you doing here?”

I let out a startled squeak and turned sharply to shush my inquisitive nana, who had snuck up on me and was now staring at me with suspicion. I was sure it didn’t paint a good picture, seeing me peeking through the keyhole of my mother’s bedroom. But I hadn’t planned for this.

“Why are you here, Reyna? It’s midnight. And what are you doing peeping into your mother’s room? How would you explain yourself if she catches you?” my nana whispered furiously.

I bit my lips, my face still scrunched with worry over what I’d just seen and heard. “I couldn’t sleep, Nana, so I decided to come and stretch my legs. I knew my mother was not in her room, but just now I heard voices in her room. Come see, there are people in her bed. I’ve been hearing painful moans and groans from two different voices,” I whispered back.

My nana looked doubtful, but she got down on her knees with a huff and did as I had done a few minutes ago. She squinted an eye through the keyhole, just as we heard the moan and groan sounds again.

Nana Maria gasped when she saw the writhing bodies. “Reyna! We must leave here immediately,” she said hurriedly.

Her face had reddened, which made me wonder if she knew what was going on behind the door. Or what kind of ailment it was that would make them cry out this way.

“What is it? Do you know why they are moaning like this?”

Nana Maria opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water, as though she didn’t know what to say.

“Oh my God, Nana. Is it that bad? What do we do? The people inside must be in great pain. You have seen them, right, Nana? What if they are dying? We need to leave and get Dr. Elizabeth. She needs to come here.”

Nana looked confused, like the time I had my menstrual cycle and she didn’t know how to explain what was happening to me.

“Why Elizabeth?” Perplexed, Nana Maria asked.

I rolled my eyes at her. Really, sometimes my nana could be so slow and clueless.

“Well, because she’s a doctor. And you heard it yourself, whoever is in Cassandra’s room is terribly sick, maybe even dying. We will be saving their lives,” I whispered impatiently.

My nana’s face was torn between something like sadness and amusement.

I didn’t know what I said that was funny. She touched my cheek.

“Oh, Reyna, sweet child. I really don’t know what to do with you,” she replied, amused.

“But then I’m not surprised you don’t know what is really going on. You’ve been sheltered on that particular topic all your life.”

I was only half listening, as I was back to peeping inside.

It was then that one of the writhing figures inside the sheets emerged.

I gasped, my blue-gray eyes bulging out of their sockets when I saw it was my mother.

Her face was red and sweaty, and she was rocking her lower body in circles.

~What the hell is she doing?~

I squinted some more, trying to see if I could tell what was wrong with her from here.

But I couldn’t see much; the door had shielded Cassandra’s body. I could only see her face and shoulders, and the sweat running down her face.

Worriedly, I sharply turned toward my nana.

“Stop talking, Nana. We don’t have the time to argue; we have to call the doctor. It’s my mother; she’s really sick. She’s red and sweating profusely in this cold weather. It must be a fever.”

Nana Maria’s cheeks flushed red.

“A sick woman wouldn’t be rocking a man’s member with determination like the queen is currently doing,” she mumbled.

“What? What did you say?” I asked, frowning.

Nana cleared her throat, her eyes wide.

“Nothing, nothing at all,” she said.

I could swear she’d said something—something about a man, a rock, and determination. My brows scrunched.

But why was Nana talking about a man? Men didn’t come here at all. In fact, in all my nineteen years, I’d only ever seen one man.

Her hands grabbing my shoulders reminded me of what was at stake.

“Listen to me, Reyna. Your mother’s not sick, and if you trust me even a little, you’ll come with me before we’re found here and punished severely for spying when we shouldn’t even be close to this room.”

Nana Maria straightened up and forced me to my feet.

I was torn between trusting her and trusting everything I had seen and heard. I trusted my nana more than anyone, but what if my mother was really sick? How could I just go and leave her?

On the other hand, what if it turned out Nana was right?

Then we would both be severely punished. My nana was a heavyset older woman. She could not take the punishment I knew Cassandra was going to mete out if we got caught.

Not wanting to cause any kind of pain to my nana, I reluctantly started walking out of the sitting room with her.

And that was when, suddenly, we heard a loud, high-pitched scream.

It was definitely Cassandra’s. I halted, about to bolt back and check on her.

But my nana roughly dragged and pulled me out with her.

My nana’s face was very red, her eyes wide. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought she was embarrassed.

But there was no reason for her to be. Or was there?

She didn’t let go of me until we were inside my room.

I was angry, a little frustrated, and very confused. My body was shaking, and my eyes were teary.

While Cassandra was not a loving mother, I still loved her as any daughter loves her mother.

A new idea sprang into my brain. I started for the door, but Nana Maria was there before me, blocking the way.

“Nana, what are you doing? Why won’t you let me call the doctor? Didn’t you hear that scream? Mother’s definitely in pain.”

Nana released an impatient sigh. “Sometimes I really blame myself for not educating you on some things, Reyna. But then if I had, I wouldn’t be here—the queen would definitely have my head for breaking the law.”

“What law? What are you talking about? You’re being weird, you know.”

“I know, but your mother is all right, Reyna. You will see,” she replied, fluffing up the pillows on my bed.

“But what if she’s dying? We need to do something,” I said, still doubtful. I was not entirely sure that Cassandra was okay.

Nana Maria snickered, then sobered up when I looked at her.

“You know, Reyna, I would never lie to you if I believed your mother’s really dying, which I know she’s not. Trust me on this and go to sleep. I swear to you, she’s more than okay, trust me.”

I bit my lip and stared at her, then I nodded.

“Okay.”

Even though I believed my nana, I still stayed long into the night, tossing and turning.

I worried about my mother’s health, wondering if Nana was right. Was she okay? Until I inevitably succumbed to the lure of sleep.