33. Vesper
How many live executions have we been through in the past few weeks?
I had lost count. But at some point, after we murdered Aurelia’s handmaiden, it was happening every single day.
It was because of the war. The king used it to exercise power and keep his family in check. After all, what was a war without some bloodshed?
But today was special.
The stage was set as it was every other day. It took over the side garden, with the fountain where Aurelia once had her tantrum hidden behind the large makeshift stage.
Normally, there would be three of the Solei family members or guards kneeling on the creaky wooden stage, but this time there were seven, all of their faces covered with bags. And a few of them were still struggling. Many of them had come to terms with the fact that they were going to die and didn’t struggle by the time they were hoisted up in front of the crowd.
If they had gotten far enough to be tied up on the stage in front of the entire family, there was no going back. Nothing to save them. Rumor had it that the dungeon was filled with traitors. Many of the guards who had come with the family started to realize how fucked they were now that the two families were going to war and tried to run.
It never ended well.
Princess Aurelia was slightly in front of me, but close enough that her back brushed across my arm. Our attendance was mandatory. Almost as if it were a reminder that this was happening because of us. And, of course, we needed to show our support. We couldn’t seem ungrateful in front of the king.
Especially Aurelia. She was still on thin ice with her father.
She looked up at the stage with a grim expression. The executions were wearing us all down. But not the king.
He stood tall with his shoulders back and a satisfied smile on his face. He would look over the crowd every so often as his most loyal guards were bringing up the eighth and final person.
Cedar was behind me, her presence suffocating. Since the night she spilled just how many people from the organization had been after us, I hadn’t been able to relax.
Every night, I stayed with the princess. Every night, I looked outside of her windows, praying not to see another one of my people show up.
It should have been reassuring that I hadn’t seen any of them yet. But instead, it made me all the more paranoid.
“Today we have a special show,” the king said, stepping forward and pulling a golden sword from one of his guard’s outstretched hands. He motioned for each guard to stand behind one of the victims-to-be. “Take off the bags!”
I hadn’t been prepared for what was waiting for us under the head coverings…or who.
All of them—all seven—were people I knew. People I had gone to school with. Families I had gotten to know during my upbringing in the secret organization that ran my life.
I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. It took great effort to remind my heart to keep beating. I took calming breaths through my teeth. He found them. Found us.
Just like Cedar had said…it had been him all along.
But what made him do this in front of everyone? Something big had happened. Did one get too close?
The thought alone of one of them getting close enough to warrant this caused the hair on the back of my neck to rise.
Two of them had rats on their necks. Three had horses. One dragon. And then there were two snakes.
Snakes. Meaning that at some point, far in the past…we had been tied by blood. Family. Like Tate. His young face and ghost of a smile flashed across my face.
Who are they? How far removed were we?
The families spanned generations. The more proficient the killers, the more they were rewarded, and the more likely they were to expand for the chance that their kids would someday carry on the family business.
I didn’t want to look into their eyes, but forced myself to keep my gaze still on the stage.
No wonder Cedar had been so close to me. She knew. She was there to remind me how vital it was that I didn’t react.
Last she told us, there had been thirteen… How many did this make? Had there been more?
I had been so diligent. Every night, I had been up, watching, waiting for them to show up. And they were getting closer and closer…but how did I miss it?
“These vile creatures have been sent to harm us,” the king said. “And not in small numbers. I have been trying to keep this under the radar so there was no panic, but it looks like we are waging yet another war.”
Aurelia’s gaze shifted to mine. Even if it was just for a second, I could see the question on her face.
What are we going to do?
“We won’t stop, not until she’s dead!” one with the horse on her neck screamed. “You think this will scare us? There’s nothing you can do to protect her!”
The king stalked across the stage and thrust his sword straight into her chest.
Her words rang through my head even as the blood gargled in her throat.
We won’t stop. There’s nothing you can do to protect her.
“This is number thirty-five,” the king said, his voice lowering to a growl. “So take this as your warning—if you’re out there watching, you can try, but it will all end the same.”
Thirty-five. And I missed every single one of them.
How close had they gotten? How many times had I been sleeping next to the princess, completely unaware, while they were just a few steps away?
He pulled his sword out of her chest, her body jerking against it as the light dimmed from her eyes. He motioned for the other guards to finish the job. There was no hesitation in their movements as they sliced their throats.
One of the ones with the snake on their neck looked at me, a flash of recognition going through their eyes just before the end.
They won’t stop until she’s dead. And if I made it, how many others were already in the ranks, lying low?
I looked around the crowd, trying to catch even a single person’s gaze, but none of them dared to pull their eyes from the blood bath.
Does that make them more suspicious? What if they were just putting on a show? Acting as if they were truly a part of the family, only to try and stab the princess in the heart.
All of them looked suspicious to me. The voices in the back of my mind kept criticizing them, pulling apart their appearances and trying to remember if I’d ever seen them in the palace before this.
I am missing something. It’s been happening right under my nose, and they were going to try to kill her. Princess Aurelia can’t die. Not after everything I’ve done to help her. She can’t. I won’t let it. Not over my dead bod?—
“Reel it in,” Cedar whispered, her body much closer than I remembered. Her words were enough to stop me from spiraling and shock me back into my body.
Vesper knows how to end it. She had warned me. She had warned me, and I hadn’t listened. It was my fault. They were dying needlessly because of me. The princess was in danger because of me.
I needed to end it.
They were already cleaning up the bodies. People around us were yelling, chanting, calling for more revenge.
The king had them right where he wanted them. My gaze traveled to him, but his eyes were already on me. He saw right through me. I could feel it. He knows.
We were surrounded. It didn’t matter if it was her father or the organization.
There is only one way out.
Aurelia’s hand found mine and squeezed. Cedar was by my side, her arm brushing across mine.
The witch knew… But did the princess? Did she know what I was about to do?
As I looked into her eyes, I knew she didn’t. I knew that she still had hope.
Hope that I would have to crush.
I was spiraling. Panicking. I had never felt so uncontrolled in my life.
I had always had a plan. Had been following a specific path my entire life and never veered off of it.
Until I met Aurelia.
Until I decided that I needed to save her. And there was no looking back after that.
My father sent me here thinking that maybe I would change my mind. That maybe his beatings would have reminded me of what was important.
But they had only reinforced the same idea.
The organization is cruel, violent, and will stop at nothing to see the end of their prophecy.
The universe had been telling me this. Yelling it at me the entire time. Through Cedar. Through Princess Aurelia’s father. Through my own fucking experiences.
I had to end it. And I was the only one who could.
Cedar’s words from that night played over and over in my head.
She has to complete the prophecy. She has to complete the prophecy. She has to complete the prophecy.
She pitied me, I could see it in her face. But that didn’t make the realization of what I had to do any less painful.
I have to do it. I have to kill Aurelia.
There were generations and generations of trained killers coming for her. Not only had one gotten past the king, but she had almost gotten past me as well. Who was to say there wouldn’t be more?
And the one on the stand all but cried out a call for action for anyone who was still hiding.
They would be furious after watching their comrades die.They would want revenge. But how many more would we face? How many more did the king have locked in his prisons?
And all the time I had been in the palace, they had been coming for her. And I didn’t know.
The king slowly and quietly plucked them out and destroyed them before I was even made aware of it. It didn’t make me fear for my own safety. At that point, I couldn’t care less about what happened to me. If I even so much as left the palace, I was dead.
Probably if I stay too. Someone had to have spilled something to him for me to get that look while he was killing them. Was it a warning? A promise?
I could fight him and the organization off, but not for long. Not alone.
But Aurelia wouldn’t be able to hold her own. One maybe. But two? Three? An army?
We weren’t safe in the palace. Aurelia wasn’t safe.
And there would be no end to this—not until the prophecy came true.
I hated how right Cedar was. Whatever seer knowledge she had was inevitable. There was no changing a prophecy. We could try to run from it. I could try to reject it. Hell, the organization could even try to change it by sending other families in my place.
But we wouldn’t see an end…not until I was the one to end the Castle line for good. Or at least that’s what the world needed to think.
“We’re leaving,” Aurelia said as soon as we got to her room. She ran around faster than my eyes could make out. All I could see was the luggage she threw on the bed and the pieces of clothing she shoved inside it. “I’ll contact Atlas. She will help us in the meantime. The witch is coming too. I don’t give a fuck if she tries to fight this.”
“Aurelia…”
“We pack tonight, leave tomorrow night,” she went on. “Father has another engagement tomorrow. I need to attend that, so they don’t notice I’m gone right away. But after that, I don’t have another for three more days. During that time, we should be able to get?—”
“Aurelia…”
“We’ll use herbs to cover our scent,” she said, her wild eyes flashing to mine. “There’s a stream off to the back of the property. We will go there, cover our scent, then be on our way. No one will?—”
I cut her off by holding onto her arms. I hated how panicked she was. Hated how I was the one who made her like this.
I should have realized what it meant to come back here. Should have realized that even stepping foot into the palace was a mistake.
But I couldn’t help but be grateful for it. I didn’t want her to deal with this alone. Not when she didn’t have to.
But that didn’t make what we needed to do any less painful. I would hate myself for it. She would hate me. There was no way to even guarantee that it would work…but I was running out of options.
“I’m glad I came to the palace,” I said, letting my hand brush across her cheek. “I’m sorry for everything. I know you’ve been put in a difficult spot because of me.”
She gave me a pinched look. “My life has always been hard, Vesper. At least when you came, I had something to look forward to. I don’t care if we have to be on the run for the rest of our lives. I don’t care if we’re constantly looking over our shoulder. We will make it work, I know it.”
She has too much faith in me.
We couldn’t run. Not just yet. There were probably more people just like me in the palace, waiting for their chance to get at the princess. Who’s to say they wouldn’t burst in any moment?
Even then, when would this stop? We could run, but how far could we get before we were ambushed?
We needed a better way out. We needed to finish the prophecy.
“Do you trust me?” I asked, searching her face. “I have a plan.”
I didn’t want to do this. I wanted us to live a life together, even if it meant having to bend to her father’s will. To hide my tattoo forever. I’d even carve it out of me if I needed to. At least then we would be surrounded by guards. She would be comfortable in the place she had always known.
Don’t make me do this, I prayed.
But I didn’t know who I was pleading to anymore. Was it a god? The universe?
Myself?
There was no person or being out there who could help me. I would have to do this part on my own.
Up until then, I had been training my whole life for the moment when I could see the prophecy through. I had gone through grueling training and abuse to make me into the cold-blooded killer they desired.
But they never prepared me for the heartbreak it would cause.
I could feel it. My heart being ripped in two as I made my decision.
I grabbed the hilt of my sword with a shaking hand. But unlike when Nadine cornered me, my heart was calm. There was no panic in my body. Nothing pushing me to rush this. Just a serene heart and an unwavering decision to do whatever I needed to keep us safe.
She gave me a sad smile.
“Do I have any other choice?” she asked. I hated seeing her like that. I wanted her fiery spirit. I wanted her to yell, kick, and scream.
I didn’t want this to be easy.
“Believe me when I say I never wanted this,” I said, my thumb rubbing against her cheek. I committed her face to memory. “I fell for you. I wasn’t supposed to, but I did.”
“Just tell me what we need to do,” she whispered. Her pleading had my chest twisting in pain. “Please, Vesper.”
Fuck. I couldn’t take it. My heart felt like it was being ripped out of my chest. My throat began to close, and my eyes began to sting.
There would be no way out. Not for me, and not for her. We either lived fighting for our lives or died together.
I have to complete the prophecy. And this way, maybe both of us can be free.
“Forgive me.”
I leaned down, my lips brushing hers, so she didn’t see the weapon at her side before the blade pierced her chest. I pulled away, forcing myself to take in everything she was feeling. Hurt, Anguish. Betrayal. All of it clear on her face.
I deserve to see it. Deserve to feel this way.
There was nothing I could do except hold her as her blood seeped out of her wound and onto my sword. It was deep and straight through. She wouldn’t last long with a wound like that untreated, even as a vampire.
She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. The wound was too deep. Blood pooled in the back of her throat and started leaking out of the sides of her mouth.
Her eyes fluttered closed. How awful was it that the last thing she saw was her own lover murdering her? That even on the brink of death, she would be reminded of just how wrong she had been to trust me.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, and leaned down to kiss her.
Please forgive me.