Chapter 8
Eight
Sabina
The carriage rumbles to a halt within a few hours of leaving.
It’s barely past sunrise, the morning still young.
I peer out the window, wondering if they’re resting the horses or if Caiden is on his way to me.
I’m surprised when I see little buildings in view. Homes and shops. People walking around.
We’ve stopped at a village. I open the door and climb out, surprised to see that there are more guards around us than I thought. Some are on horseback while others are in full armor standing in rows facing the village’s Main Street.
People are rushing away. Mothers grab their children; shops close their doors and windows. A chill runs down my spine, and I search for Caiden or Brevan. Anyone who can tell me what is going on. Someone to tell me that it’s not what it looks like.
Caiden walks toward me wearing leather armor and a smile. I’ve never seen him dressed for battle. He looks every part the warrior emperor with a sword hanging from his hip and daggers strapped to his thighs.
“What’s going on?” I close the distance between us.
“This village has been on our list for a while. And since it’s on the way to the winter estate, I figured we’d stop on the way. Let you see what Brevan does when he’s not at your side.”
My insides feel like ice is forming in my lungs, making it impossible to breathe. “Don’t do this.” My voice is small, unfamiliar. I’m not sure if I actually spoke aloud because Caiden doesn’t react.
“Come. Let’s find you a good place to view what comes next.” He grips my upper arm and I stumble behind him, confused and afraid. We walk up a hill, my slippers sliding over the loose dirt.
“Please don’t do this. We can continue on. These people didn’t do anything,” I say.
When we reach the top of the hill, Caiden releases my arm. “Didn’t do anything?” He scoffs. “They’re hiding relics. Trying to create magic outside the scope of the emperor. Beyond what the gods allow. It’s treason. And you know better than most what the penalty for treason is.”
That’s when I see Brevan atop his horse. He’s in black from head to toe, his expression hard. There’s fury etched into his face in a way that makes him unfamiliar. He’s not the man I fell in love with. That’s someone else.
He shouts orders and the men on foot tear into the village, racing ahead of the horses and spreading out.
They break down doors, yelling and pounding.
People are dragged into the street. People scream.
Children are torn from their mother’s arms. Men are forced to their knees, soldiers shouting down at them before shoving swords into their unarmed bodies.
Someone throws a torch on a thatched roof, and it explodes in flames. The red and orange seems to free me from my daze, and I blink several times as the scene below me sinks in.
I can’t let them do this.
Without looking at Caiden, I race down the hill, holding my skirts up so I don’t trip. I wince when I step on rocks and my arms fly out to catch myself from falling more than once as the useless slippers skid over the earth.
When I make it to the street, I shout at them to stop. To leave the people alone. There’s so much sound, so much chaos, nobody can hear me.
I look around, desperate to find Brevan.
They’re under his command. He can end this.
He’s deeper into the village now, climbing off his horse in front of the largest building on the street.
It’s a fine home, built of brick. He points his sword as he calls orders I can’t hear, and his men flood into the building, weapons drawn.
“Go ahead,” Caiden says.
I flinch. I hadn’t noticed him approach.
“Here, I’ll help you.” He grips my arm again, and this time he drags me toward the fight.
The street is littered with bodies, my skirts dragging through dirt, over puddles of crimson. Children cry from a cage where they’re being detained by soldiers. A few women are with them but more are dead on the street.
Whispers fill my head. Threats and promises and secrets and lies.
Murmurs as gentle as a lover’s caress. Cries as sharp as a knife.
My fingers tingle and something slithers uncomfortably inside me.
I glance over at Caiden. He’s unbothered by the voices.
The echoes of so many warring for dominance in my mind.
That’s when I realize I’m the only one who can hear them.
I look at the body of a man who stares up lifelessly at the sky. I can feel him. His agony, his longing, his hopes and dreams. His desire for vengeance.
I can feel his death.
It’s like satin wrapping around me. Cool and delicate. Flowing and beautiful. Tenuous, flitting in the air, as likely to blow away as it is to wrap around my throat.
My fingers twitch and the man spasms. His eyes turn, dead irises finding me. I suck in a breath, then continue, terrified that I might do something I can’t control.
I have power over the dead. I remember the emperor, how he returned. The god’s mark on my wrist that appeared after.
And now I’m surrounded by them.
They whisper and scream. They cry and laugh.
The dead are calling to me.
There’re so many of them, their voices a cacophony that makes my head ache.
I wince, struggling to continue walking amidst the onslaught.
I can feel them. It’s like an icy wind, fingers trailing down my arms, through my hair, along my ribcage, clawing their way up my legs, around my middle.
They’re all demanding something of me. I stumbled, feeling like I’m being pulled away from Caiden.
He grips me tighter. “You need to see this. You’re not going anywhere.”
My breathing grows rapid as I fight against the overwhelming sensation.
I can barely feel Caiden’s touch anymore.
Too many other sensations. My skin crawls as more of the dead demand things of me.
They beg and cry and scream, but I can’t make out any of their desires with so many of them calling to me.
When we reach the front of the large house, I’m shaking so hard that it’s taking everything to remain upright.
I’m whimpering, fighting the urge to claw my own skin from my bones to silence the voices.
My head turns from one side to the other, trying to shake them off. I cover my ears and close my eyes.
Caiden pries my hands down, pinning my arms to my sides. He’s behind me, pressing himself against me as he holds me in place. Sweat beads on my brow, and my breaths come out shallow and fast. I’m feeling dizzy.
“It’ll be over soon,” he assures me.
I fight the voices enough to find Brevan. He’s staring down at a row of men being held by his legionnaires. More of them drag men from the building. They force them to their knees while the enforcer paces in front of them.
He’s speaking, but I can’t hear him. The dead are too loud. I keep my eyes on him, on the row of men on their knees. At least they’re alive. They aren’t asking anything of me.
Brevan looks over at Caiden, then his gaze moves to mine.
I hold his stare defiantly, daring him to look away.
Fire crackles around us, flames already licking through most of the surrounding buildings.
There’s a red glow around us and smoke obscures the view, but I can see him clearly.
The set of his jaw and the dangerous glint in his eyes makes him look like a stranger.
“What are you waiting for?” Caiden demands. “Kill them all.”
Brevan returns his attention to the men in front of him. Suddenly, the legionnaires holding the men run. My brow furrows, matching the confused look on the prisoners in front of Brevan.
When I realize what he’s about to do, the voices cease. I fight against Caiden, screaming. My own voice blotting out the cries of the dead. “Stop! Don’t do this!”
Brevan doesn’t look at me. He lifts his arms, then a blinding white light erupts around us. I squeeze my eyes shut, and Caiden releases me. I fall to my knees as the voices return, louder and more intense than before. New screaming joining the others.
Agony so intense it rips through me, my insides feeling like they might be torn away. I fall to my side, pulling my knees to my chest, covering my ears with my hands. “Stop it! Stop it now!” I think I’m screaming, but I can’t tell if it’s me or if it’s the cries of the dead.
Tears stream down my face, hot and stinging. I taste salt and copper. At some point, I bit through my lip.
The voices turn into a roar, and my mind takes me back to that night when I hid with my brother. As my village was slaughtered. Just like this.
Someone picks me up, but I keep my eyes squeezed shut. I don’t want to know who it is, because I’m pretty sure I recognize the way he smells, the gait of his steps, the way his body still makes me feel safe.
I can’t. I can’t go there. I’m still locked in my memories. Screaming dead and so much blood. I’m set into the carriage, the door slammed. We’re moving, and I still can’t make myself uncurl.
I don’t open my eyes until the voices cease. Until I’m shivering as the sweat cools.
Hatred seethes inside me like a poisonous snake, twisting and turning, all-consuming. I wanted Caiden dead before, but now I want to watch him suffer. I want to drag his death out so he feels the same pain he’s given to others.
Brevan would never have used his magic on innocents unless Caiden ordered it, would he?
Doubt flickers in the back of my mind, reminding me that the reason he didn’t use his power was the physical pain it caused him.
With the emperor dead, it’s possible the pain is gone. That his true power is unleashed.
He’s Caiden’s weapon like Brevan was the emperor’s before Caiden. He killed all those people without flinching.
How could he do that?
But what would I do if it was one of my brother’s lives at the end of my leash?
They all sacrificed themselves to bring this empire down. Every single one of them. Both my parents. All gone for the chance at seeing this empire crumble.
None of them would forgive me if I did what Brevan did. They’d never speak to me again. They might even turn against me.
Yet, Brevan killed them all ruthlessly.
And it wasn’t the first time he’d done it.
Was his sister’s life worth more than all of theirs? Worth more than my family? The ache in my chest mutates into something sharp and jagged. Layers of betrayal and self-loathing that hadn’t been there before are emerging.
I thought he was different. I thought he was as much of a prisoner as I am. But I’m not killing innocents.
He’s a monster. So is Caiden. So are all the men who stood by and did nothing or helped with the slaughter.
But then again, so am I.