Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
I can see why Tovi isn’t sure how long she’s been here. The lanterns, hanging from the ceiling outside the cells and not illuminating much, never seem to run out of oil. With the guards upstairs, we don’t get to see a scheduled guard change to mark the time either. It’s only when Liesolette comes ambling down the stairs that I assume at least the evening has passed.
She comes straight to me with a small paper bag in her hands.
“I’m only helping because he said it was truly life and death, and you are here on behalf of the Queen Ofnemoris. But this is it. I won’t pass anything else between you,” she says in her strong, but hushed voice.
I gratefully take the package. “Why are you helping at all, Liesolette?” I ask as I hand over her kerchief with a smile of thanks.
“You can call me Lottie. Regardless of who owns me, I know Nemoris blood runs through my veins. Maybe Queen Neoniri will offer me a boon for this, or maybe you will use this as leverage,” she finishes, eyeing me carefully .
“Who was it? Who gave you this?”
She shrugs. “Nemorisborn man. Intense. A little broken looking and desperate.”
Leaving me with my small package and Tovi pressing her face against the bars of the cell between us. I consider who she meant, as I watch Lottie go up the stairs.
“What’s in the package?” Tovi hisses at me.
I glare at her impatience and open the bag to see two fresh apricots. I tip them out into my hand, looking in the bag for anything else, spotting writing inside. Ripping the bag open, I see the words, “Sit tight. We have a plan.” They are written inside a crude drawing of flames with cat ears and whiskers. Firecat. I smile as I crumple the bag tightly and drop it into the sewerage line.
Tovi hops from one foot to the other, picking her lip as she tries to see what’s in my hands. They don’t know she’s here. The thought of leaving Tovi behind to rot or be executed by the King Oferdu hurts more than her betrayal ever did. There must be something so pathetically wrong with me if I will cling to the hope of her friendship even after she betrayed me. Leaving without her is not an option.
“Here,” I whisper, gesturing to Tovi that I’m going to throw her something.
She catches the apricot with ease, her breath hitching as soon as it lands in her hands. I start eating mine straight away. The smell and taste is pure bliss. I hope the bitch appreciates the apricot. Giving away my favorite fruit while locked in a dungeon is madness.
Tovi hasn’t eaten her apricot yet. Turning it over and over in her hands, inspecting every inch of it. “If you don’t want it, then give it back,” I say, sucking my pip clean and throwing it into the drain.
“I want it,” she snaps. She closes her eyes with a frown. Taking a deep breath and opening her eyes again, she peers at me. “Why don’t you hate me? And why do you think you are pathetic?”
Fucking object empathy .
“Just eat the stupid apricot, Tovi.”
Another bowl of gruel marks the end of our day, just as revolting as yesterday’s. I hope “sit tight” means their plan will come to fruition soon, because dungeon food is a form of torture all on its own. I sleep in short bursts, constantly waking myself up with the ghosts of my memories.
Nothing happens all day. No visit from Lottie, no rescue from the team, no conversations with Tovi. Another bowl of gruel. If I have a few weeks of this, I’ll be as unstable as Tovi. More , considering how unhinged I already am. A small giggle pops out of my throat, and Tovi’s head snaps in my direction. I have to bite my lip to stop from giggling more, and Tovi looking at me like I’m insane is only making my delirium worse.
The next morning, a procession of guards, including Lottie, march down the stairs. Tovi and I look at each other in alarm. I mouth at her, asking what this is, and she shrugs, her panic as wild as the rage inside of me.
One by one, each prisoner is brought out of their cell and manacled to a chain. Tovi and I are at the end of the long chain of about fifteen prisoners. I look at Lottie to ask what’s going on but as I open my mouth, she gives me a cutting glare with an almost imperceptible shake of her head.
Manacled together, a guard addresses us all with his booming voice. “Today is the scheduled day of the moon for crime sentencing. You will be brought before the king and judgment will be passed immediately.”
Tovi squeaks in front of me and takes a step back, stepping on my toes and I bump forward into her. Maybe this is part of the plan, and I whisper to Tovi not to panic as we’re marched up the stairs.
Reaching the top of the stairs is unbelievable. The fresh air tastes sweet and clean. Now I can see everyone clearly, Tovi and I are the only women and the only Patrons. I am the only non-Erduborn.
Men are crying, some with what looks like relief as they breathe in fresh air, some with desperation as we’re marched toward our sentencing before the king. Tovi hasn’t made a sound since we started marching. I grip onto her filthy shirt, partly to let her know I’m here with her and partly because I need something to ground me to the Divine earth.
“I’m sorry, Mika,” Tovi whispers frantically. “I’m sorry for what I did to you, I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry.” A small sob punctuates her final word.
“Don’t you dare. This isn’t the end, stop it!” I whisper, digging my fingers into her back to make my point. “Don’t give up now.”
The fifteen of us are lined up in front of an empty dais and told to kneel. The chain connecting us is removed but our manacles remain. Most of the guards leave along with Lottie, with a few remaining to station themselves between us and the dais, their swords drawn.
The king’s violet eyes are all I can see as he enters the room and sits down on his throne with feline grace. He doesn’t look at me; he doesn’t look at any of us. He looks bored and annoyed. Covered head-to-toe in jewelry, a large and gaudy crown sits upon his head. Multiple rings, necklaces, and the buttons on his clothing are all jeweled.
Standing to the king’s left is an older-looking Laguzborn Patron with short-cropped gray hair and a thin frame. He’s l ooking us all over, and I quickly avert my eyes before he sees me staring.
I’m staring down at my hands as someone else comes into the room, and the original guard starts speaking. “You will be heard one-by-one and sentenced immediately. You,” he points to the man who was first on the chain. “State your name.”
The man does as he’s told, and I look up to see the guard shuffling through papers on a table in front of him. He’s reading out the man’s transgressions as my eyes lock onto someone sitting to the king’s right. My heart slams into my spine and down into my stomach painfully. Prince Eryn.
I hear the king’s voice for the first time, and it sends chills down my spine. He asks a question and the prisoner responds, but I miss the entire exchange. My focus is locked on Eryn. I can see he’s struggling to breathe normally, his eyes becoming bloodshot. I look around in fear of being seen locking eyes with the prince, but everyone important is staring at the wailing man being led away. Flicking my eyes back to Eryn, I mouth, “It’s okay,” and try to give him a small smile. His lips turn into a thin line, and his jaw twitches.
Listening to the ridiculous reasons these men have been imprisoned and their equally ridiculous pleas is already hard enough, but hearing the wails when the king declares their punishment is death, fills my stomach with lead.
On the tenth man, the Laguzborn man standing next to the king tilts his head to the side with a frown, watching above the prisoner’s head. Once the man finishes speaking, the Gifted Laguzborn whispers something to the king that has him sit forward with a smile full of malice.
“Dion, you should know better than to lie,” the king says, sounding excited . “Now, I do not know what to believe. Perhaps you really did pay for the loaves of bread. But now that Lylle has told me you have lied, I am going to have to assume the truth is much, much worse.
“Dion, you are sentenced to death by hanging today, as the sun sets. Guards, escort him with the rest,” the king orders, returning to his bored look and sitting back on his chair.
The next three men are also sentenced to death. And now it is my turn.
“State your name.”
“Mika.”
“Charged with trespassing in the Royal Castle. Found impersonating a Gifted Patron Oferdu.”
“Father,” Eryn interrupts before anything further is said. “May I sentence the last two? You said you wanted me to start taking on some duties. Allow me to practice?”
Eryn stands but doesn’t look at me, thankfully. A small bolt hits me in the chest at the risk the young prince is taking. He shouldn’t be doing this. The king stares at his son, a small smile curling at the side of his lips as he side-eyes Lylle, raising his eyebrows.
“Sure, my son, have fun ,” the king purrs, looking at Tovi and me.
The prince sits back down, brushing his pants and steeling his face with cruelty. He looks good. He has a small crown, not as hideous as his father’s, and a few rings—a particularly pretty one that he’s wearing on his pinkie. I recognize it from the painting in his room as belonging to his mother.
“Mika, what is your reason for being in the castle, and why were you impersonating a Gifted Patron Oferdu?” he asks me, one flick of his eyes at Lylle. A warning: I cannot lie.
“I was looking for someone. The easiest way to move about without detection was in a uniform. My friend,” I gesture to Tovi, “was in the dungeon the whole time. An unlikely coincidence.” My rage flutters like an angry bird, but keeps the claws retracted. I didn’t lie.
If Eryn is surprised, he doesn’t show it. My gaze looks to my right, and I see Lylle looking disinterested, with no hint that he detected a misdirect in the truth. I am somewhat emboldened.
“You, state your name,” Eryn directs at Tovi, eyes wide as she darts her eyes between me and Eryn, giving her name quietly.
Eryn’s next question is directed at the guard handling our paperwork. “Xavi, what are her charges?”
“Caught moving about Castle City with no official permissions. Resisting detention and assaulting a peacekeeper.”
“Tovi, what is your reason for being in Castle City without permission, and why did you resist detention, assaulting a peacekeeper?” Eryn’s cool voice asks her, the only sign that he’s anything but cool is the fast and bulging pump of the lifeblood line in his neck.
“I, too, was looking for someone. The person I love. I had traveled here alone in shame after…after I betrayed my friend here,” Tovi’s voice catches as she gestures to me, and continues with a wobble. “I had barely eaten for days and was delirious by the time I reached Castle City. I thought what I did was the right thing, but I know now that it wasn’t. Please forgive me?”
Lylle’s head tips slightly as he stares above Tovi. The king whispers something and he looks back, chuckling and going back to his disinterested look. Whatever he saw, it wasn’t enough to flag Tovi as a liar.
“What are your Gifts? I see you’re both Patrons of the Divine.”
“I am a Null, sire,” I answer quietly .
Tovi follows. “And I am a Junky, with object empathy.”
The king’s interest is piqued, a smile that I could only deem venomous slowly spreading across his lips as he looks me over. He doesn’t look me in the eye once, only assessing every inch of my body instead. My skin crawls.
“Lylle, do both of these women speak the truth?” Eryn asks, not looking over at the living lie detector.
“I see no lies, Prince Eryn.”
“Thank you. Mika, Tovi,” Eryn addresses us both, making eye contact with calculation beyond his sixteen revs. “Both of your crimes are punishable by death.”