Ave stared at Madeline's broken head, where blood had covered her entire face and pooled up under her body, and she felt her stomach twist into a knot, bile rising in her throat. She reached out a trembling hand to check if Madeline had a beating pulse, but when she found no beating pulse and her heart had stopped, the terror that washed over Ave was so much she fell back and leaned away from the body. She had killed someone. Not just anyone but a princess, who could have been the real Selene's ancestor.
The pain of the stab on the side of her stomach was drowned out by her panic and alarm. She looked down at her hands that had bloodstains and tried to wipe it off against her dress. Though she didn't like Madeline, she would never have thought of killing the girl because of it. She had acted impulsively to protect herself, but she'd never imagined the vase was strong enough to split her skull.
