A body, Aelin silently screamed to herself. What had happened up at the top of the tower without anyone knowing? How did anything or anyone get in unnoticed?
"Who?" she breathed. "Who is it? Who-" died, she thought, unable to say the word out loud. Would it be one of her dearest friends? Would it be like Nehemia in the glass castle all over again?
"You should probably come and see for yourself, your majesty." the guard said. "I will escort you up."
She looked to Rowan, her mate, her reason to live, and saw the sorrow and anxiety coursing through his beautiful pine-green eyes. "We will get through this together, Fireheart." He promised her as they followed the guard up the tower towards the dreaded door, looking at each other one more time as it was opened.
She heard Rowan gasp as they took it all in, the devastating crime sight on the balcony. Blood streaked the walls and the inside of the door was mutilated with vicious claw marks. Chairs and tables were overturned and there were deep gouge marks in the floor, as if to relieve some internal agony. The bright and colourful carpet put down to cover the lasting stain from Erawan was ripped apart at the center, drenched in already darkening blood. Blood that came from the corpse that was at the edge of the balcony, with a pool of it around her. Around Fleetfoot.
"No." Aelin gasped, a gut-wrenching feeling of heartache engulfing her as she moved towards where the noble dog lay, her muzzle still pointed towards the gardens as if she wanted to see the sky and sun one last time. "No." she repeated, gently combing her fur with her hands, holding her cold body to her.
She carried her to the piece of carpet that was mostly intact for a softer bed, barely noticing Rowan and the guard looking around for hints as to who had done this. Placing her body gently on the soft padding, almost reverently, she keeled beside her puppy and stroked the beautiful mane of golden fur, her face peaceful and joyous, even in death. She felt as if her heart was breaking apart, a fragment of her soul turning into frost. It was as if grief was eating away at her from the inside out, making her face grow cold and unforgiving. She felt her eyes puff from all the crying and buried her face in Fleetfoot's pure coat of fur.
~~~
Had Rowan looked to her then, he would've been scared to find an expression on Aelin's face that he'd never seen before. Even as it were, he could feel something wrong through the mating bond. Thinking it was from grief, he ignored it and continued discussing security measures with the guard.
"How do you think that they got in?"
"We don't know, your majesty. Guards were posted at the doorway as always. It was only when we heard the commotion inside that we rushed up here, to find the door locked. When we managed to open it, well... You can see what had happened."
"Did you guys check the cameras for any footage on who it was?"
"Unfortunately, we don't have any lead as to who did this. It seems to me that whoever it was, vanished into thin air. Our security cameras don't have anything unusual on them and nobody that we have questioned so far says that anything has been abnormal. We will, of course, keep looking into this but we advise you to stay out of this area for the times being."
"Definitely" Rowan agreed. It was alarming how this had happened in the very room that Aelin frequented. Had she came here earlier, her body easily could've been on the floor instead of Fleetfoot's.
The guard back off to the doorway to give them space as Aelin grieved. Rowan moved around the room, wanting to give her as much time as needed. He would be there to comfort and hold when she needed it. He inspected the dried splatters of blood on the walls, as if sprayed on, noticing that some of the blood was black, not the normal red of a dog. It was then that it dawned on him, what might've happened. He turned around to warn Aelin, to tell her of his discovery, and found her shaking on her knees beside Fleetfoot's corpse. Abnormal shaking, not the type that you got from crying, but as if something, or someone, was being violated.
He moved towards her just as she stilled, body going rigid. She turned her head towards him the tiniest of a fraction, and her smile was petrifying. Her pupils were dilated and her eyes were bloodshot, black tinged blood ran down her lips and darkened fire was all around her, some of the sparks wholly black. In a frenzy, she pounced at him.