Chapter 50
Chapter Fifty
Tuscany
I stare at my citrine sun charm, the yellow-gold crystal dull and raw but for a few polished segments that fracture into honey-warm prisms.
I love it.
The delicate gold chain hangs just right; when I dangle the pendant downward, it rests perfectly in the curve between the base of my thumb and the heel of my palm, which means I can touch the smooth surface with my middle and ring fingers.
He's not back…
"My queen."
I rub the pendant with my fingertips, imagining Kong's massive silhouette against the fierce glow of burning buildings, his one remaining arm reaching into smoke-filled corners for tiny, trembling bodies.
He rescues them, of course, shepherding them to safety with his gentle, rumbling voice.
Well, as safe as they can be in this broken world.
"My queen."
I look across reluctantly to see the Trade official with the fist sigil on his crest. His pale, pinched face has been staring at me from beside the sterile Medical Hub bed for hours, his thin lips barely concealing his concern.
Concern for whom?
The Royal Collective?
The Trade Master?
"Yes?" My voice sounds hollow even to my own ears. I’m tired and fighting a deep need to grab Eagle Rome and hide under this bed, waiting for my sentinel to find me.
I’m feeling little, in my heart and in my head, but I cling to adulthood, to serious thoughts and articulate speech.
"Did you hear what I asked?" His words are clipped, precise like a scalpel.
"No...” My voice is small—I’m slipping. “Sorry." I blink myself back to the present, inhaling a grounding breath.
"After the Common captured you, Master Cairo came to save you, yes?" His eyes narrow, searching my face for deception. “Is that what you said?”
I lift my chin, looking through my lashes at him. "Yes.” Usually, I’m a poor liar, but this isn’t untrue—at least not entirely. It’s Cairo’s plan; he’s clever enough to line up every domino. He just never imagined it would be me pushing them over.
He said, ‘So, this is the plan. We will tell Sire that the people of the ruins took you. I saved you. I was at the Trade-tower— the closest to you. I left with a few men to ensure a discreet recovery mission. I struck a deal with the Common in exchange for you. That is what happened here. You will have your final treatment, and your Guardian will remain in service as long as he is quiet. Understand?’
I understand, Cairo.
“He brought only a few men.” I focus. “He tried to keep it peaceful. He knows what my brother is like.” I gaze away, exhausted. "Look what happened when he arrived.”
I don’t know who this man is—a faceless, nameless Trade servant. I suspect he already knows that Master Cairo came to recover me, perhaps even expected my arrival after the rescue mission.
Cairo wouldn’t announce his plans to capture and torment The Queen of The Cradle? Would he? A concept my Sired Mother shared with me many years ago before I was carved comes back.
She said, ‘Few people have ever met one. Not unless you have done something to compromise the unity of The Trade and The Crown."
"What do you mean by unity?"
"Their… Alliance."
Two words repeat in my mind: alliance and unity. Did Cairo break the rules? What he did to me compromised the unity of The Trade and The Crown, didn’t it?
I have always considered the Shadows to be his assassins, but perhaps they are The Cradle’s security.
Power is such a fragile thing.
He has control over them, but that doesn’t mean he can summon them at his whim.
Does it? I can only hope he hid his plot to capture me, to finally convince me to be the marble queen he needs to rule the weaker Common.
I truly hope his dark plans were concealed in layers of noble intentions, and that no one knows.
Except me. And I would have forgotten or ceased caring after my final treatment.
It’s all I have…
"And then the Common turned on you?" The Trade man leans forward, a waft of chemicals and citrus clinging to his white uniform and clean skin.
"I didn't see what happened,” I say, also only half-a-lie. “I was in a cage. I didn't see what happened to Master Cairo after the Royal Collective attacked the ruins."
"So, he could be alive?" he presses.
"Trade be kind, he is." I let the words hang between us like smoke.
"We will search for him, my queen." His loyalty to Cairo is nauseating, but I play the part. “Get some rest.”
"How are the Shadows activated?" I ask as he rises to his feet. I keep my voice level and firm. “Will they be harming anyone?”
He freezes. "Why?" Suspicion darkens his features. “That is a confidential file, my queen. You understand.”
"I understand the importance of Cradle security, but there are children in the ruins,” I say. “If any survive the fire, I do not wish them to become collateral damage.”
I rub the charm dangling in my palm, thinking of small bodies among the ashes. It would be my fault if they died.
“Master Cairo said you were a sweet queen.” He smiles at me.
This smile is genuine but pathetic, because he truly believes Master Cairo considered me sweet—he didn’t.
He considered me a burden. This man’s smile, soft and patronising, as if accompanied with a sigh of reverence, shows me he has no idea what Master Cairo really thought of me.
Just like the rest of them, he probably only knows branches of information, nothing of the foundations—the trunk or roots.
"Until we find the Trade Master’s remains,” he offers. “The Shadows will operate on a search and find basis only. No one is to be dissolved." His Trade terminology for blatant murder makes my stomach turn, and I swallow to mask it.
Was the Trade Master’s body not left in the cellar? Head mashed into the ground. Did Rome do something with the body after I was evacuated from New Whyte?
"Please find him.” I force sincerity into my voice while my fingers trace the citrine sun on my charm, all but counting the seconds until I might see Kong again. “He came for me before everyone else."
I don’t know why I imagined that Shadows appear from dust, the boogie-man who manifests to take vengeance.
The Shadows will execute—dissolve—the ones responsible for weakening the unity of The Trade and The Crown, rid the foundation of usurpers, but first, they need evidence.
I imagine, if we had killed the Trade Master in front of witnesses, then the Shadows would come for us right now as I sit in the Trade-tower awaiting my brother’s return.
The man bows and exits the room; the door closing softly behind him, and my eyes inevitably return to the charm.
"Rome.” I smile up from the Medical Hub bed as my brother strides in, looking every bit the king he is—broad shoulders barely fitting through the doorway, his head towering above all.
“You're here. Are you okay?” As I ask, my gaze sweeps over him, from his freshly washed face down to his clean dark armour, searching for any hint of what transpired after I left.
“Did the doctor check you over?” He grabs a chair from the corner, sliding it to my bedside, taking a seat so we are eye level.
“Yes.” I flinch at the memory of his clinical touch, though I know it was needed. My stomach stirs. I was cut and dirty before I came here, and they helped me—cared for me. Not all corals are evil.
That’s progress for me; not to split them into all good and all bad.
I watch Rome’s eyes drift to my hand, so I reach out and take his. “Did Kong find the children?" I ask, the question loaded.
Is he okay?
Are they okay?
Is he back?
Have you seen him?
"I returned first,” he says, and my stomach drops. “The guards are still cleaning up.” Rome turns his chin toward the side, eyes scrutinising the open door.
"But he will be fine?" I say, more of a declaration than a question, though my voice trembles slightly, betraying me.
Rome’s brows weave, twin creases forming between them. "What were you thinking, Tuscany?”
I don’t know how to answer that question because I don’t know the answer. I wanted to help… someone. I wanted to have a Purpose, a reason to leave. And I felt a sense of urgency, as if this chance was fleeting.
"I was desperate to make it count,” I admit. “My campaign, that is. I thought it might be the last.”
"Have I made you feel trapped?" Rome asks, hints of regret curling at the edges of his tone like cruel memories.
"Yes," I confess, a single word that carries the burden of years.
Rome stills. “For that, I'm sorry.”
I inhale his acceptance and apology; though it doesn’t erase the past, it helps.
It helps move forward.
"I will be spending more time at the Lower-tower," I declare before I can stop myself.
Rome nods, his expression unreadable. "I thought as much."
What? "You did?"
"Bled mentioned it to me before, and I presumed he would try to convince you to take up residence there.” He pulls his hand from mine. Elbows resting on the mattress, he locks his fingers together and clasps them at his chin, a blue gaze studying me over the top.
"And…” I lead. “Do you approve?"
"No.”
Disappointment finds me.
“You are the queen; you belong in The Estate," he goes on.
"Sire..." I begin.
"But Aster has pointed out on many occasions that my possessiveness is insufferable at times.” A twitch of a smile hits his lips. “She, of course, is stuck with me. You should not be.”
“What does that mean?”
He looks uncomfortable in his skin for a moment, whatever he wishes to say crawling inside him against his will.
"You know I love you," I add, my voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t wish to leave you. That isn’t why I wish to go.”
Love; a word I now truly understand.
"I wait for you to fail, Tuscany,” Rome concedes. “To break. To fall. And while I do this because I'm desperate to catch you, I realise that my sharp gaze may be the very thing tripping you up.” His glowing blue eyes reflect a vulnerability at odds with his formidable physique.
"Rome," I whisper.
"I thought I'd lost you...” He clears his throat. “When Aster’s Silk Girl friend sent word you were missing and why—”
“Ana,” I drawl.
Learn their names!
He grumbles. “That you went to ruins S. I thought that was it. I’d lost you.
” He exhales hard and leans back, folding his arms over his chest, eyes unwavering from my face.
“You may heal better away from my eyes. You’re touching me.
You’re smiling,” Rome says, a confession and a sharp truth.
“And Kong is yours," he grunts fast, throwing those words out as if they mean nothing, though I know they do. They mean a lot.
"He always has been," I reply, a soft smile curving my lips.
"Yes,” he hisses. “Just like with fucking Odio. The women in my life like to take my possessions.”
I like my brother when he struggles with his humanity; it is very entertaining.
"And what of our... closeness?" I ask, steeling my spine and resting my hands in my lap. “We have become close.”
He shakes his head. "I do not need to know. It’s best I do not.”
"I want you to accept it. It's important to me," I press, my eyes pleading for understanding. “I don’t want there to be a rift between us—or you and Kong.”
“For now,” he adds. “I don’t need to know for now. This is not news to me, Tuscany. He's been in love with you for years.”
"Aren't you going to say if he hurts me, you'll kill him?" I tease, a nervous giggle escaping my lips. I’ve never had a lover; I’m forbidden to have a lover.
Rome lifts his brow. “I haven’t heard you laugh like that since—”
“My Rite.”
“Yes.” He sighs hard. "I can't see a scenario where Kong would ever hurt you, sweet sister. At your door, in your arms, he will be there. Not because I ordered it, because I never did, not because you ordered it, but because he simply cannot stay away from you. It was and is rather infuriating, actually. But I will never question his loyalty.”
"Not even now that he is...” I hesitate. “That we've crossed a line?”
"I wasn't talking about his loyalty to me, but to you," Rome clarifies, rising to his feet and walking to the exit. “I have taken care of everything,” he adds, stopping in the doorway. “Everything is clean and organised, and the traitor is in custody.”
I read between his words. He has done something with the body, burnt it, dismembered it.
“The traitor?”
“Brook.”
I gasp. “How did you know?”
“Your Army ladies are on their way back to The Estate. I interrogated them at Windmill Five. The tall one and Aster’s friend—”
“Essen and Ana! Rome, you know Essen. You grew up with her,” I say, frustrated my brother refuses to learn anyone’s name. They are simply referred to as their trade or their relationship to me or Aster. My brother is an arsehole; there is no doubt.
“Whatever.” His jaw pulses. “The annoying one is a terrible liar. She has been silenced and is in custody. But don’t concern yourself with that for now. We need to meet with the Acting Trade Master.”
Already?
I blink.
“Will Kong return soon?” I need him. Little Tuscany needs him before we can cope with another Trade Master.
Rome half-smiles. “One arm, no arms, that man will live because you need him to.”
Despite the impending meeting with the Acting Trade Master, my chest feels so full, I’m frightened it will burst.
I nod at Rome. “Okay. I will be ready to meet him soon.”
As I can be…
He can’t be worse than Cairo. Can he?
When Rome turns to leave, he pauses again, looking back at me, his expression flashing with that amusing discomfort that hints he’s about to say something nice.
"I'm proud of you, sweet sister,” he says. “Have I ever told you that?"
I wince. “No.”
"Hm," Rome murmurs as if an entire conversation can be condensed into that single syllable.
As he stares at me again and I at him, for a moment he looks younger, not the scarred, merciless king but the stunning boy who occasionally smiled at my silly antics. Who tried his hardest to keep me safe until it was impossible to.
He lingers in the doorway, and I think, in another life, he might have doubled-back for a hug. Instead, he simply nods. A gesture brimming with a thousand unsaid apologies and a lifetime of sentiment.
Then, he thunders into the corridor, his footsteps receding, still loud, the intimidating footfalls of the King of The Cradle.
I wait until the corridor outside this Medical Hub room is empty before I let tears stream down my cheeks.
Too many feelings swarm through me; happy with Rome; frightened for Kong; hiding from the Acting Trade Master; eager to sleep several days away.
Overwhelmed.
All-the-whelms.