For a moment, silence was their only response. Then the guards jumped into action, moving in unison to grab Sabrina's arms. They began to drag her forward, her feet tripping over each other as she struggled to keep up with their pace.

Her heart sped up as the castle grounds blurred past her. The guards were shouting at their companions to alert the king. 

Sabrina almost wanted to laugh. Of course, she should have known better. 

The bloody history between the Kan and Gera kingdom went far back, and their hatred for each other was palpable. The guards yanked her through the golden hallways of the castle, servants crashing into the walls to move out of the way. Large golden-yellow doors with the face of a dragon engraved into them appeared ahead. 

The guards stationed at the door heaved it open at their approach. The guards dragged her across the blue and gold rug that stopped at the stairs, leading to a heightened stone platform. On it sat two elegant thrones of oak covered in green textured and layered marks. Travertine columns lit up the entire throne hall and covered the hall in warm oranges and dancing shadows. The intricate golden patterns on the arched ceiling glittered in the flickering light while marble statues looked down upon the stone floor.

Bowing low to King Chancellor Garner, the guards drew their hands away from Sabrina's arms and took a measured step back. The king drew to his full height in his throne, looking down his straight nose with piercing light brown eyes. To his right, the queen fanned her face with an embellished, white, and gold fan. 

"Your Majesty, we have brought Lady Sabrina Sanora, sister to Queen Liliana of the Kan Kingdom." The guards proclaimed. 

The queen gasped softly, a delicate hand coming up to cover her mouth. King Chancellor's eyes narrowed. "Crest of proof?"

Sabrina gritted her teeth and yanked her hood off. Her loosened black curls fell to her shoulders as she reached within her cloak, grasping her dagger. The guards shot forward as the king rose from his seat.

"Restrain her, now!"

The dagger clattered on the floor as the guards shoved Sabrina to the ground. The stone tiles bit into her knees, cutting the skin open. Blood rushing to her ears in the scramble, Sabrina spoke loudly over the commotion. "Check the hilt of my dagger!"

A guard stationed on the stairs of the platform came forward, lifting the dagger to look at the black twin serpent symbol engraved against a circular gold medal. "She is who she claims to be."

King Chancellor returned to his seat while Queen Bellerose removed her hand from her chest.

"You're quite bold to enter my kingdom and stroll up to my castle," King Chancellor spoke, his deep voice sharp with anger. "The audacity you have displayed will be your downfall."

Adrenaline coursed through Sabrina's blood, and her breathing picked up as a foreign feeling coursed through her blood. She blinked as the king vanished from her sight in a flash of white. Heart pounding in her chest, the whiteness changed into images.

Bodies ripped to shreds lay across the tall green grass near the Wasted Sea. Men and women alike were cut open. Intestines spilled out of bodies while flies and vultures picked at the remains. Heads discarded throughout the field with vacant eyes staring off into space. The images transformed into ships marked with the serpent insignia filled with fighting men set aflame. Men jumped overboard to escape burning alive, only to fall prey to circling sharks.

The images vanished, and Sabrina shook her head as her vision cleared, and the king's face stared at her. Dizziness overtook her, and she slumped forward. Her body went limp from exhaustion. Sabrina swallowed past the lump in her throat.

"Your Majesty, I come in peace to help you," Sabrina pleaded. She didn't understand what she saw, and she couldn't explain the vivid dream she had. But the feelings that came with both were too intense to ignore. "My sister has planned an attack on your kingdom. You must send soldiers to the villages near the forest."

"An attack on my kingdom?" The king questioned skeptically. "You must take me for a fool. And for that, I shall have your head. For good measure, I'll send it back to your sister for this impudence."

The king gestured to the guards to carry out his order. Grabbed and held to the ground by a guard, Sabrina struggled to get free as the other gripped her hair. She screamed as he pulled her head forward. Sabrina breathed hard into the ground, golden eyes wide and frantic. Her eyes connected with Queen Bellerose, whose face was horrified by the turn of events.

Please, believe me. Look at my face. I'm telling the truth.

Sabrina tried to convey each of these to the queen as the guard lifted his sword high above her neck. Tears formed in her eyes. Queen Bellerose turned her head away from Sabrina, breaking eye contact. The sword swung down towards Sabrina's neck.

Queen Bellerose jumped from her seat and commanded, "Stop!"

The sword bit into Sabrina's neck before it stilled, lifting away from her. Sabrina sucked in the deepest breath she had ever taken, filling her empty lungs as her heart pounded. The sting from the back of her neck was a relief. Pain meant she was still alive.

"Have you lost your mind, woman?" The king glared at his wife. "Or have you forgotten your place?"

"You're making a mistake," The queen jutted out her sharp chin, peering down a small nose. "We will not kill this woman without reason."

"Reason?" King Chancellor bellowed. "She is related to a woman who has done nothing but threaten our kingdom for years. There is no other reason necessary."

"She has brought us information." Queen Bellerose's hands shook, but she refused to back down. Not when her people might be at stake. "We should heed what she is saying."

The king stood up out of his chair. "I shall heed nothing. Throw her in the dungeons. If my wife will not allow me behead her, then she shall rot away in a cell, but she will die."

The guards gathered Sabrina up from the ground, dragging her through the throne room once again. Queen Bellerose rose out of her seat, meeting her husband's glare head-on. "You're making a mistake that will cost us our people's lives."

Sabrina turned to look at the pair again. "You are not prepared for what is coming!"

The doors to the throne room slammed shut on her last words as the guards dragged Sabrina to the dungeons.