Chapter 26
Twenty-Six
The thing I’ll miss most when I leave this castle is the bath. Warm water anytime I want it. A deep tub. Creamy, deliciously scented soaps and luxurious oils. It probably would have been better if I never experienced this. Now I’ll know what I’m missing.
A knock sounds on the bathroom door, and I’m grateful I decided to actually take a bath instead of making my way to the poison garden.
I considered it as a way to help Juliette.
Just a few bundles of leaves tucked away in between some pages of a book.
She could take it with her when she moves to the earl’s estate. He’s old. Nobody would suspect her.
The knock sounds again.
“Yes?”
“Sorry to bother you, Your Highness, but the prince has requested your presence. It’s rather urgent.”
I don’t recognize the shaky voice, but the tone is timid. My stomach twists as I imagine all the things that could be wrong.
I rinse the soap and exit the tub. As I dry off, I try to empty my mind. It does me no good to speculate. I’ll find out soon enough.
At least I got one last bath.
I cringe. I can’t even keep the thoughts away for a few minutes.
After ensuring that my room is empty, I dress and find the towel that Marian used on my hair. I have no idea how the magic works, but it dries my hair so well that you can’t even tell I just got out of the bath.
My face is still pink from being outdoors at the market, so I skip adding any makeup and quickly plait my hair into a long braid, then pin it around my head to hold it in place.
I think I look rather young and innocent this way. Hopefully that will aid me in whatever I’m walking into.
Another knock sounds.
“I’m coming,” I say.
The door opens, and Juliette barges in, slamming the door behind her. She leans against it, panting and wild-eyed.
I run to her. “What happened? Did the earl hurt you?” I roll up my sleeves then say through gritted teeth, “Where is he?”
“It’s not the earl. Well, it’s about the earl, but he didn’t hurt me.
” Tears stream down her cheeks, and she’s struggling to get her words out around her sobs.
“I came because I needed you to hear it from me first. I’m sorry.
I’m so sorry. I swear I didn’t say a word about you, but I didn’t have a choice.
He offered me a deal. I didn’t have a choice. ”
“Juliette, what didn’t you have a choice about? What are you saying?”
She looks at me, desperation and fear in her eyes. “I had to. I just couldn’t marry him.”
“What did you do?” I ask. She couldn’t just wait for the poison? I should have taken that to her right away.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“Juliette, just tell me.”
She wipes her face with her sleeve, then hiccups a few times before she can ease her sobs enough to speak.
“What is it?”
“It’s Katherine.”
“What about her?” My heart pounds.
“I told the emperor that she was looking for ways around his immortality,” she says. “I told him she could be a spy.”
“What?” I stumble backward, hand on chest. My heart hammers so hard I can hear it in my ears. The whole castle might be able to hear it.
“He told me there was a spy and that if I could help him find them, that he’d let me out of the marriage.
That I could never marry. That I could be free.
” She falls to her knees. “She’s going to die because of me.
I didn’t think. I was just so desperate.
I really thought they’d just talk to her.
That the prince would help her since it was his plan.
But when they found a fire ruby on her, it was all over. I didn’t know. I’m so sorry.”
“How could you?” I ask. “We trusted you.”
“I know. And I didn’t tell him your name, but she might. And I wanted you to know that I will take responsibility for this. I will join you both in the afterlife. I can’t live with this shame. I am not this person. I was desperate.”
“Stop talking. Right now.” The harshness of my own voice startles me. “You will not be taking your own life. You want to fix this? Finish what she started. Help people. In any way you can.”
“I can’t.”
“You can and you will. You understand me? If I don’t make it, you find out a way. You tell everyone you can until someone does something about it.”
She nods, a flicker of acknowledgment crossing her face. “I didn’t say your name. I swear to you, but saying Katherine was bad enough. She was my friend.”
“I know.” I’m not sure what else to say. I’m too angry to comfort her. What she did is unforgivable, but I can see why she folded.
A harsh knock sounds, and Juliette scrambles away from the door, her eyes wide with fear.
I mouth the word, Hide. And she races to my bathing chamber. As soon as she’s tucked away from view, I open the door.
Four legionnaires stand there. All of them wear expressions of pure malice. Two reach out and grab me, each one taking an arm.
“What’s going on?” I ask as they drag me from my room. I’m stumbling over my own feet to try to keep up with them.
“Where’s Brevan?” I look around for him, desperate to see his face. If he were here, I’d know how serious this was. He’d show it in his expression. But he’s not here, which is probably even worse.
“Tell me where we’re going,” I demand.
They’re practically carrying me because I can’t keep up with their pace. As we continue down halls and stairs, icy dread begins to claw its way down my spine.
I recognize this route. I know where we’re going.
When they stop in front of the wooden door, one of the guards kicks it instead of knocking. Eyes peer at me from behind metal bars. They’re cold and detached. Then, they vanish and the door opens.
They push me across the threshold, then shove me so I have to continue forward. The dungeon smells like mold and decay. Worse than the last time. I don’t think I want to know why that is.
“Why am I here? What is this about?” At least I have enough wits about me to act confused. My brothers taught me that. If you’re ever captured, pretend you don’t know why you’re there. Never admit guilt before they have proof. Even then, you continue to deny until death.
A lump rises in my throat, making it hard to swallow. They’d be so disappointed in me. When they died, I walked away. And when I came back, it wasn’t to help anyone but myself. I wanted revenge.
They shove me into the torture room I walked past last time, and it only takes a second for my eyes to adjust and see why they brought me here. “Katherine?”
They’ve stripped her down to her underclothes and chained her to a wall.
She hangs by her wrists, her legs probably too tired to hold her up.
Her head lolls to the side, but she looks up when she sees me.
Her hair is matted, and one of her eyes is swollen shut.
Blood drips from her temple down the side of her face, and she’s got red slashes up and down her bare arms.
I try to run to her, but the guards detain me. I pull and struggle. “Let me go. Release me right now. You have no business torturing one of my ladies.”
The door creaks, and the legionnaires drag me around so we’re facing the newcomers. Caiden saunters in, a malicious grin on his face. Brevan is behind him, his expression stony.
“How could you do this to her?” I shout at them. “How could you?”
Caiden stops inches from me and glares down at me. His eyes are dark, emotionless pools. “She is a spy. A traitor. And she was in your rooms. She spent time alone with you. She was researching in the library with you.”
“I was. Alone. Sent. Messages,” Katherine says, her words stilted and slurred.
“She used a passageway in your bathroom. Tell me how you wouldn’t know that?” Caiden says through gritted teeth. “You are a spy. Sent by your father.”
“No. I’m not. I came to for the alliance. To be your wife.” Saying those words feels like someone punched me in the gut.
“You didn’t know about the panel in your room?” Caiden asks. “You never peeked inside the tunnel?”
“No, I didn’t know it was there, I swear,” I say.
A vein in Brevan’s temple twitches, but he doesn’t look at me. He’s staring ahead, eyes unfocused.
“Please,” I say. “Let her go. Have mercy. She’s my friend.”
“She’s not your friend. She was lying to you. To all of us.” He marches over to Katherine, then passes her. There’s a fire burning in a hearth, iron pokers sit in the embers.
“No!” I lunge, but I only get two steps before I’m hauled back. I kick and scream, and I manage to break free.
I’m captured again, strong arms pinning mine to my sides. I squirm, but he’s too strong. I don’t need to look to know it’s Brevan. “Let me go,” I say, quieter this time. Desperate. “Please.”
“Stop talking,” he says.
Caiden stalks toward Katherine. Silent tears stream down her cheeks.
“I’ll ask you one last time—who were your accomplices?”
“Alone. I. Was. Alone.”
Caiden grabs one of the hot irons and shoves it into her side. It singes through her underclothes, and the scent of burning flesh fills the room. Katherine screams.
I squeeze my eyes closed for a moment, then make myself open them. I have to be present. I have to figure something out.
I could confess.
I could tell him the truth.
But then there would be two of us being tortured.
Guilt makes my chest tighten. This isn’t fair. It could have just as easily been me.
“Hold her.” Brevan pushes me toward the legionnaires who carried me in.
The rough gesture startles me, and before I can react, they have an even tighter grip on me.
Brevan pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket. “We found this in the kitchen, stuffed in a crate that was going to the market, remember? She was delivering it to someone. Her contact is outside the castle.”
Caiden returns the hot iron to the flames, then grabs a new one and shoves it into her side. I turn away, but her scream is so intense I can almost feel her pain.
“Tell us who you talked to. Who your contact was.” The sounds of sizzling flesh and her screaming tells me he burned her again.
Tears stream down my cheeks. How can I let this continue?
“I. Don’t. Know.” Katherine’s voice is stronger than it was. As if she’s fighting back.
She’s bloody and bruised, but she’s not breaking. Her eyes catch mine, and I see strength. Determination. Power.
She glares at Caiden. “I never. Met him. In case. We were. Captured.”
“She’s telling the truth,” Brevan says.
“Were you going to kill my father, or were you just the spy?” Caiden asks.
“If I could. I’d. Kill you. All,” she says.
Caiden pulls another hot iron from the fire and presses it against her cheek. She shrieks in pain, and I make myself watch, hands trembling, eyes welling with tears. My throat is tight, my heart breaking.
Caiden tosses the iron on the ground, then he looks over at me. His expression softens. “I’m sorry you had to see that. And I’m sorry you had to breathe the same air as this traitor.”
He walks over to me, and I flinch when he gets close.
His shoulders slump as if he’s hurt by my reaction.
I’m still being held, but I know fighting against the legionnaires isn’t the right move.
If I’m still playing the part, if I’m making use of this chance that Katherine bought me, I must stay still.
Caiden cups my face. “My beautiful bride. What a terrible ordeal this must be for you.”
I don’t trust myself to speak.
“Don’t worry, my little raven, you’re safe here. I’m going to make sure she can never hurt you again.”
The tears that filled my eyes spill over and stream down my cheeks. He wipes them away with his thumb, then kisses each cheek.
My lower lip trembles, but I maintain as much composure as I can.
Caiden takes a few steps before pausing to look back.
“Brevan, carry our guest to the pit.” He points to a pair of legionnaires.
“And you two, bring my bride-to-be. I want her to see this serpent meet her end. It’ll be good for her.
After that kind of betrayal, the only thing that helps is to watch your enemy suffer. ”
Brevan unchains Katherine, then catches her as she collapses forward onto him. He scoops her up gently, carrying her like a bride. He doesn’t look at me as he passes me.
The legionnaires holding my arms guide me forward. They move slower this time, though. As if they don’t want to make it to the pit in time. I swallow hard, but my mouth is so dry it’s difficult. My eyes sting and my throat burns.
A part of me that still wonders if Caiden is playing a game. If he’s going to toss me in with Katherine.
We pass the cells, but I don’t look. I can’t. I can’t see any more pain. It’s too much.
The air grows warmer with each step until it feels like we’re next to a roaring fire. Then, I see the pit.
A yawning hole in the rock that leads down to nothing but darkness. On the walls around us, torches flicker, providing light. But none of it penetrates that inky black pit.
A few legionnaires stand behind me, and one of them moves closer to the pit. He throws a rock down the hole.
It falls.
And falls.
And falls.
I hear the thud when it lands.
He and his companions laugh. I’m grateful that the men holding me aren’t as callous.
Brevan stands near the drop, still holding Katherine.
Her head rolls to the side, and she looks at me. She mouths, I’m sorry.
Tears begin again. There’s so much I want to say. I want to beg for her life, I want to apologize to her, I want to confess and tell them to take me instead. But I can see the injuries. She’s already on borrowed time.
Caiden moves next to me. “Are you ready to see Death, my little raven?”
I turn to him and note the intense joy radiating off him. He likes this. He likes to cause hurt. I lift my chin, then nod.
The gesture seems to be enough for him, and he points to Brevan. “Throw her in.”
Brevan hesitates.
For a brief, shining moment, I hope. I look at Katherine. Her breaths are ragged, her eyelids heavy.
Then, they close.
And her chest stops rising.
Brevan moves to the hole, then holds her out like an offering. I whisper a silent prayer to Mara right before he drops her.
She falls.
Her hair fans out around her face, her limbs extend. She almost looks like she’s floating.
Suddenly, a roar sounds, and a creature leaps to catch Katherine, jaws open wide, horrible sharp teeth each the size of my forearm. Nostrils exuding smoke and eyes slit like a cat’s. I see horns and claws, and wings that hang beside a massive serpentine body.
They have a dragon.