chapter fifty-six

warning: this chapter of The King's Maiden is marked mature as it contains vivid descriptions of gore, violence and war. viewer discretion is advised.

[ IN WHICH SHE IS AT WAR ]

War.

That is the first thing I wake up to after the supposed "sex dream".

A scar of bright light hangs in the bat-black sky as a sea of wounded people run past me while I lay face-up on the sand. A gash of radiant light breaks through the cauldron-black sky seconds after, and it seems as though there's something hidden in the clouds, creating these ruptures of moonstone-yellow lights.

The adrenaline rush fills me when I hear the screams of people and creatures running helter skelter. With my brown eyes wide in fear, I quickly hurry to my feet. A teary gasp leaves my lips when I scan round the townsquare. The effluvium of death is all around me now. The entire area where the townsquare and market had previously been has been baptised in blood and the bitter, mordant perfume of corpses emanates from it. A hand