Dawn is the End #3
“Oh, there’s no need for formalities this late in the game. Please call me Zareth in your last days in this realm. You’ll find it’s faster to say than ‘ambassador,’ and well, frankly, you have very little time left, don’t you?”
“Still waiting for the point, Ambassador…”
He smiled and started pacing in front of my cell. “Would you like to know the chain of events your little explosion has set in motion?”
I remembered I was fae, and I was capable of great insult without words now. So I turned my back on him and faced the back of my cell.
“I will assume you’d still like to know, despite your blatant disrespect.
Your speech and appearances with the queen and the prince were quite the hit.
The poor, pathetic little mortal who sided with the crown was just the beginning.
Your loyalty has devastated support for the rebellion.
After all, why would anyone support a mortal-loving rebellion when mortals don’t even support it?
Of all mortals, the daughter of its beloved, late leader, no less!
Keryth was a martyr, but as her daughter you thoroughly doused that righteous flame.
Genius, really, of His Majesty to publicize your support the way he did. ”
“It wasn’t support,” I protested, heat creeping up the back of my neck. “It was manipulation and lies. No one in their right mind would believe what they made me say.”
“Ah, but they did. You got quite cozy with the prince, did you not? You were a traitor to your kind, in their mortal eyes. So they turned their contempt of Caedyn on you, and oh how they hated you.”
I bared my teeth in a snarl. His smile just grew wider. There was more to this, and he looked as if he were chomping at the bit to divulge.
“After the ball, the king announced that you, the adopted mortal, would marry the prince. They were able to keep the news of your fae nature at bay long enough to spread the happy news. This would strengthen the ties between mortals and fae here in Ashenholt. Just think! If one of them could marry a fae prince… They still hated you, but this gave them hope. It wasn’t you they envied, but the possibility. ”
“But…” My fire heart froze over. The fake engagement was starting to make sense…
“But now the world knows you’re not a mortal. The king first made you the anti-rebellion, and gave the mortals hope to cling to. But the rest you did all on your own that night in the ballroom, once we let the news spread.”
“What do you mean? What’s the rest?”
“Did you not stop to wonder what the fae would think, a lowly little mortal girl becoming one of us? Well, now they hate you for your deception and for breaking their beloved prince’s heart with your lies, then assaulting him with your fearsome, dark powers.
So the fae hate you, the mortals despise you, and you drove the final nail into the coffin of the rebellion.
I’m not sure there is a single more hated person in all of Caelia, than you.
Naturally, the wedding is off. How devastating. ” He laughed and laughed at his joke.
My brain was spinning, and I couldn’t grasp the reason for all of this. The whole ruse of the engagement was to strengthen ties between mortals and fae, but why? I couldn’t make sense of that part.
“I can see that look on your face, the wheels spinning. Don’t think too highly of yourself. It wasn’t personal. You were just the perfect pawn.”
“I don’t understand why the king wants to publicly strengthen ties with the mortals when he just wants to purge them?”
“Ah, very good, Naci. You’ll be dead soon, so I see no reason to spare you the truth.
The king indeed plans to purge this continent, but until we are ready to move on it, we need to keep the mortals here placated, happy, thinking they matter.
Keep their anger aimed away from the crown.
And now it’s aimed at you. They call for your blood as much as the fae.
For the mortals, it’s a bonding experience, really.
“It wouldn’t do to fight a rebellion and a mortal uprising while gathering alliances. It would dwindle our armed forces and deter the alliances we seek. And now, thanks to you, there is no rebellion, and the mortals are content. This is a war. And we’ve nearly won.”
It all made sense now. I felt so stupid for how I served their plans, furthering their agenda.
My actions would hurt and kill many people, mostly mortals.
Caedryn has them looking to their left at me, while he’s the viper coiled in the grass to their right, ready to strike.
I was a distraction, a way to stop the mortals’ dissent so they were easier to kill.
Maybe death would be a welcome respite for me after all.
He must have seen the defeat in my face, because he smiled and squatted down in front of me to get to eye level. “You are nothing, Naci Corren, and so you shall die as nothing.”
“I nearly killed you once, Zareth. I’ll be sure to go for the neck next time and finish what I started.”
He stood. “Next time… I see you’ve yet to accept your fate. Do try to look your best tomorrow, for your trial begins at dawn. I daresay your head will be on a spike by breakfast.”
Oh my gods. My trial was at dawn.
I was out of time.