CH.30 Trust is a fragile gift
"I wouldn't take that scarf off if I were you. She can be quite annoying when she opens her mouth. If she tries to escape, kill her," Iris told the rebels.
"Why should we take orders from a witch?" the rebel commander was ready for battle.
"Because you don't have a choice," she told him. "Well, you do, but you wouldn't really like the other option."
Jace walked Iris to her horse. They were silent the entire time. Only the sounds of the forest broke the divine silence that carried through the night.
"Thank you for helping me, even if you don't have to," Iris finally told him.
"You made it clear that we had no choice," he said.
"They, not you. You always have a choice," she objected.
"Will it ever be like before? Before all this?" he left the question hanging in the air.
"I don't think so," she replied. "Both of our lives have changed. We have changed. And time cannot be turned back. But becoming who we are today doesn't erase the past. Memories will remain forever."
"I have one question."
"Then ask."
"Are you doing this for revenge or for the prince?"
"I want both, Jace."
After a short walk to clear his mind, Jace returned to the hideout. The rebels were already waiting for him.
"You forgot to mention that your beloved Iris is a witch." hostile glances were directed at him.
"How do you know?" he asked them. "I didn't tell you, and she was careful not to give herself away."
"We talked a little bit with the prince's bride. She stole her face to win the prince. And she calls torture a game? Not only is she a witch, she's also a psychopath."
"Iris is good inside, Malcolm," Jace told the rebel leader. "I know her. She's not bad."
"Anyone who gets involved with demons is corrupt," said the red-haired rebel. "They will corrupt your soul until there is nothing left but evil."
"Iris isn't making a deal with that demon. He's her protector," Jace objected.
"Whatever demons touch, they destroy," Malcolm said. "Iris you knew is not her anymore."
Their words were etched into his mind, attacking his worst fears. He could see the change in her eyes. She was cruel. The tone of her voice sent chills down his spine. He almost didn't recognize her anymore. He saw her face, but the person behind it was someone else entirely.
"Is that demon at least pretty?" asked Monique, the only girl fighting with the rebels.
The rebels gave her confused looks. They were startled by her question.
"He looks normal," Jace stammered. "Like a human. But he's terrifying."
"Is he handsome?" she asked again.
"Why do you need to know that?" Malcolm asked her. "Demons are evil, sinister monsters."
"Witches supposedly sleep with demons, so he must be handsome."
"Iris isn't sleeping with him." Jace refused to even think about it. "She's in love with the prince."
"You're perverted, Monique."
"I don't want to sound like I was listening, Jace, but I was listening, and I heard what you and the witch were talking about earlier," Mathias said.
"It's rude to listen to private conversations," Jace chided him.
"I know," he said with a smile. "However, I have a suggestion. It occurred to me when I heard you wanted to leave. You need freedom to do that, since there is a bounty on your head. What if you took the prince's bride back to the palace and earned yourself a living as her savior?"
"No!" the rebels shouted. "That's out of the question."
"You are brave now, but when that witch sat among us, you were scared like little children. It is one thing to fight against a tyrannical king, and another to meddle in the affairs of demons. And besides, the prince's bride is of no use to us if that witch pretends to be her."
"True," the rebels agreed. "True."
No one wanted to get involved with beings who would not only make them bleed, but would destroy their minds from within. Trapped forever in a living hell. Their sinister laughter would sound in one symphony with their screams of agony and despair.
"But what if she comes to take revenge with the demon?" someone said.
"She imprisoned him in her home. No one needs to be afraid of him," Jace said.
"And her?"
He hesitated. Once, he wouldn't have hesitated for a moment, but now? She was so foreign to him. He couldn't believe how much she had changed in just a few weeks.
"She would never hurt anyone."
"You heard her. She can't be trusted. You need to stop idealizing her and end it with her."
"I will not betray Iris," Jace refused.
"If you want freedom, you have no choice, Jace. That witch of yours won't help you. She's just using you. Now you do what she wants, and she'll be back soon. And she'll keep doing it until she gets tired of you."
"I will not betray Iris," he repeated. "There is good in her."
"Mathias is right," Malcolm told him. "You are too kind, Jace, and too easy to use. She uses you because you love her. Because she can. If you desire freedom, betrayal is your only chance."
?
The guards captured Jace at the palace gates.
He did not resist. He allowed them to shackle him and take him to the dungeons, where he impatiently waited for a chance to speak to the king.
As night fell, he began to fear that he would be left there to rot until his execution.
However, in the morning, his request for an audience was granted.
They brought him before the king. He sat on his magnificent throne of gold. The queen stood at his side. The same mask of ruthlessness covered her face as the king's. Jace was brought to their knees.
"Bow to the king, rebel!" the guards hissed.
A discreet door, blending into the wall, opened behind the royal throne. Prince Edmund emerged.
"I apologize for being late," he said.
He stood at his father's side, his face stony. They turned their attention to Jace.
"What made you surrender to us, rebel?" the king asked him. "Are you tired of life?"
"No, Your Majesty," Jace spoke. "I have come to beg for mercy."
The king laughed. "Do you even know your crimes? The reason there was a bounty on you?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, and I am sorry. I wanted to make a difference in this world, but my dreams were bigger than I could achieve. Now, I only desire a peaceful life."
"You attacked the royal family. You tried to kill us. You can ask for peace in hell, rebel," Prince Edmund told him, venom on his tongue.
"Of course, I didn't come asking empty-handed," Jace told him.
He regained his pride. He wasn't going to bow down to them, not even if it meant saving his life. He saw with his own eyes why he hated the royal family so much. Their arrogance and haughtiness. As if they were the masters of the world.
"I want to negotiate. My freedom in exchange for you getting your bride back, Your Highness." He turned his gaze to the prince.
"My bride is in this palace. I just left her," Prince Edmund laughed at him.
"The one you left is not your bride."
"What do you mean?" the king asked him.
"She's a witch."
The royal family stared at him in shock. "A witch?" the queen couldn't believe it. "Witches haven't lived here for ages," said the king.
"You just don't know about them," Jace said. "The witch's name is Iris."
"Madam Tremaine's stepdaughter?"
"Yes. We've known each other since childhood. We were friends. She brought her stepsister to me so that no one would discover her secret. She stole her face and is impersonating her."
"If you are friends, why would you betray her?" the prince wondered.
"She's not the one I knew anymore," he replied.
"I'd rather be interested in how we know you're telling the truth, rebel?" said the king.
"I'm risking my own life here. Every word is true. She bears the devil's mark on her left palm. You can see for yourself. If you take off the hairpin she wears in her hair, she will reveal her true face."
It made sense. She wore gloves all the time. Supposedly to hide a scar from a cut on broken glass, but what if she was hiding something entirely else?
"And where is the real Anastasia right now?" the prince demanded. "Where is she?" anger boiled within him.
"I'll bring her to you when I'm sure of my freedom," Jace said adamantly.
The prince wanted to walk towards him angrily, but his father, the king, stopped him.
"So be it, rebel. If what you say is true, you will be granted your freedom."