CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE ISI #2
“Look around you.” I gestured to the healing land. “The wasteland that threatened our borders, the corruption that spawned the Skathes and death is retreating. The ground you stand on is turning green again. Streams run clear. Life returns because bad magic has been defeated.”
They could see the grass growing beneath their boots where it had only been swampy muck a short time ago.
A soldier near the front stepped forward, his hand on the hilt of his weapon. “They say you betrayed us, Princess. Ran off with the rebel king. That you chose magic over your own people.”
“I chose truth over lies.” I met his gaze.
“I chose to stop the Day of Mercy killings that murder innocent people whose only crime is being born with abilities they didn’t ask for.
I chose to save children who would’ve been tortured into submission.
I chose to stop those who were harvesting our people’s magic for evil. ”
Recognition flickered across several faces. A young woman toward the back whispered something to her companion.
“Some of you lost family to the Day of Mercy. Brothers who showed a spark of power as children. Sisters who could light candles with a thought. Parents who tried to hide their gifts to protect you.”
The young woman who’d whispered pushed through the ranks to the front.
“You saved my brother,” she said loudly enough for those around us to hear.
“Five years ago, when he was taken. I saw you that morning in the square, saw you tell him something. He told me later the guard watching him looked away as if he’d been directed.
This allowed him to escape. He fled to the north and is in hiding. ”
Other voices joined hers.
“My cousin—”
“The blacksmith’s brother—”
“My only daughter, and a new mother herself—”
The tide was turning. I could see it in the way the soldiers looked at each other and in the shifting of their feet and the lowering of weapons. They’d been told I was corrupted, traitorous, and dangerous. But some of them had seen me show mercy in a kingdom that had forgotten what the word meant.
“I’m not your enemy,” I said. “Magic is not your enemy. We sealed a breach in the veil that was allowing the Skathes into our realm. If we can do that, we can build a future where people aren’t murdered for abilities they were born with.”
Trew’s presence beside me radiated quiet menace to anyone who might consider attacking while I spoke.
The knowledge sent warmth through me even as I faced my father’s army.
A commotion erupted in the army’s center. Soldiers parted as my father rode forward on his warhorse, a huge destrier made up of all muscle and barely contained violence. He’d been chosen, like everything else my father controlled, to intimidate.
The horse stamped and snorted as it approached, its ears flicking back and forth. When my father jerked the reins to position it close to where I stood, the animal’s eyes rolled white. It didn’t want to be here anymore than I wanted to face its rider.
Pherin landed on my shoulder with enough force to make her presence clear. The horse shied sideways, fighting the bit as my father sawed on the reins to control it.
“Amarissa.” King Cyril’s voice carried across the area. “How dare you address my soldiers as if you have any authority.”
“I bring truth.” I kept my voice level despite the rage simmering in my gut. “Something you never possessed.”
“Truth?” He laughed, the sound cutting. “You stand beside the man who murdered your sister. You’ve bound yourself to rebels and magic-wielders who want to see our kingdom burn. And you say you’re speaking the truth?”
Magic flared behind me, Trew’s control slipping. I held up one hand without looking back, and the surge subsided.
This was my battle to fight.
“Syllavar didn’t kill Addie,” I said. “You’re the reason she suffered.”
“Lies,” he spit out. “She’s dead, and you’ve sided with the very people who murdered her.”
“My mother could wield magic. Addie and I inherited her abilities. Magic came from her bloodline, our grandfather Velacross who could walk between realms.”
Genuine confusion flickered across his face before it hardened into granite.
“Impossible. Marlane was pure. She would never—” He stopped, his jaw working. “You’re more corrupt than I thought if you’d slander her memory to justify your own betrayal.”
He truly couldn’t let himself believe that the woman he’d loved might’ve possessed the very thing he’d spent decades trying to eradicate.
“How could you betray your people like this?” he asked. “How could you betray me?”
“I betrayed nothing. I stopped pretending the Day of Mercy was anything but murder. I chose to save people instead of watching them die.”
“You chose treason.” He gestured to the army behind him. “These soldiers know their duty. They know what must be done when corruption takes root, even in royal blood. You’re not my daughter any longer.”
The words would’ve dropped me to my knees once. But I’d found family in Syllavar, in Trew and our friends and the people who’d chosen to stand with me instead of over me. This man’s rejection felt like I was shedding a skin that no longer fit.
“Father.” Addie stepped forward, striding over to stand beside me. Her hand found mine, our fingers linking together. Her drake companion stretched its wings on the ground beside her, shooting tiny bursts of flames that made our father’s horse back up a few strides.
He stared at Addie, his mouth ajar. “You…live?”
“Indeed,” she said, giving him a bright smile. “Syllavar rescued me. They didn’t hurt me, though your friend, Lord Alfred, did.”
“But… But…”
“He tortured me, and you let him.”
“I…I didn’t know! You can’t say this about me.” His gaze fell on her drake, and realization took hold.
In his mind, both of his daughters had been corrupted by the thing he’d dedicated his life to destroying.
“No,” he hissed. Then louder. “No!”
He dismounted, his hand snapping to the sword at his hip. He wrenched it from the sheath and rushed toward us. “Both of you must die.”