Chapter 31 #2
"Where is she?" Kallie called out as both parties stopped fifty yards away from each other.
Domitius clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Have you fallen so far that you have forgotten how to greet those stationed above you, let alone your father?"
"You are not my father," she spat, hands curling into fists at her sides.
Domitius laughed, and the sound grated on her skin.
"I’d rather not waste time rehashing things we have already discussed. We have more important matters, do we not?" He looked past her, as if searching for something or someone behind her. "Is Myra not with you? I had assumed she would have wanted to be here for this."
"She is not part of this deal," Kallie said.
An amused smirk curled at the edge of Domitius’ lip. "Ah, but is she not? We have her to thank, after all."
"Enough of this," Graeson said, stepping in line with Kallie. "Stop delaying. Where is my mother?"
Domitius’ attention turned to Graeson, and he tilted his head, assessing. "I must say, I’m glad to see you didn’t die when the tunnel collapsed. It would have been a pity to have lost someone so..." He paused, rubbing his jaw with his hand before smiling and saying, "Special."
Kallie’s brows twisted together, but before she could question it, Domitius waved his hand. Twigs snapped in the distance, forcing her attention away and toward the figure stumbling through the brush.
"Mother?" Graeson jerked forward, but Kallie quickly grabbed him by the wrist, yanking him back.
The woman lifted her hands to block out the sun. The chains on her wrists rattled.
"Ah, ah. Be a good little guard dog and stay put," Domitius ordered as another winged guard led Lysanthia. "If you move before I say, she dies. Got it?"
As if to prove his point, the guard unsheathed his short sword, and the steel glinted in the sunlight. Without a sound, Lysanthia lifted her chin and kept marching forward.
Graeson went rigid beside Kallie, his chest rising and falling hard with every uneven breath. But he didn’t move.
Domitius smiled at his obedience.
Lysanthia’s ink-black hair hung down her face as if pulled by heavy weights.
The guard pushed her to hurry her along.
Graeson’s mother stumbled but managed to steady her feet.
She straightened, and her hair peeled back away from her hollow face.
The seer’s skin was pale, nearly translucent, as if she hadn’t seen the sun in years.
"Now, Kalisandre," Domitius called, curling a finger inward, "be a good girl and come here."
Graeson’s breathing hitched. But this was why they had come here. This was the plan: Kallie for his mother. That was the deal.
"Not until she is safe," Kallie said.
Domitius sighed as if annoyed. He beckoned the guard forward, and the man dragged Lysanthia by the chains. When he reached the halfway point, the guard shoved Lysanthia to the ground. Her knees buckled, collapsing beneath her.
"You bastard," Graeson hissed.
"I believe you are the bastard," Domitius countered.
Through gritted teeth and quietly enough Domitius couldn’t hear, Graeson said, "I’m going to—"
"Nothing," Kallie interrupted, glaring at him as he shook with rage. "You are going to do nothing. He’s doing this on purpose. Do not fall prey to his games, remember?"
The muscles in his jaw popped, but after a second, he nodded.
Kallie looked at Ellie and said, "No matter what happens, you protect her first."
Ellie nodded just as Graeson spat, "What? That wasn’t the plan."
"I can handle myself, Gray. Trust me," Kallie urged. She needed him to believe in her. If they didn’t save Lysanthia, she wouldn’t be able to live with herself. Graeson wouldn’t be able to live with himself.
Kallie faced the men on the opposite side.
The third guard had already joined Domitius, his hands clasped in front of him.
In the center of them, Lysanthia sat with her head down, her hair shielding her features.
One foot after another, Kallie strolled forward.
Each step she took became heavier than the last, but she kept going until she was beside Lysanthia.
When the seer dragged her gaze from the floor and looked at Kallie, her expression almost brought Kallie to tears. So much was visible within those gray eyes—Graeson’s eyes—that Kallie had to blink away the water blurring her vision.
"You are even more beautiful than my visions led me to believe," Lysanthia said with a small smile. "And you have your mother’s eyes."
"And Graeson, yours," Kallie said, the tears stinging.
"Do not cry, my dear," Lysanthia said. "I knew this was coming years ago, but some fates cannot be changed."
Kallie’s brows pinched together. Lysanthia had seen this version of the future? The question was on the tip of Kallie’s tongue, but before she could ask, the seer spoke.
"I am sorry for the pain that will come."
"The pain? What pain?" Kallie asked, her heartbeat thundering in her throat.
Instead of answering, Lysanthia only said, her voice a near echo, "Know that this was the only way."
The seer’s words sank like a stone in a lake in Kallie’s stomach. This was the end. Kallie could feel it in her gut, see it in the way Lysanthia looked at her.
"We do not have all day, Kalisandre," Domitius demanded.
Kallie peeled her gaze away from the seer. She had too many questions, but no time to ask. Swallowing them, Kallie moved.
But as she passed Lysanthia, the seer spoke once more. "A sacrifice was always needed."
Kallie stumbled, hearing the warning within the seer’s voice.
Kallie’s sacrifice would not be in vain. She would make sure of that. The others would live. Graeson deserved this. His mother deserved to be free, to have a life with the son she never got to see grow old.
"Bend the knee, Kalisandre," Domitius ordered when she reached him.
Kallie’s head fell to the ground in submission.
In her periphery, she saw Graeson run to his mother, pulling her up and tucking her into his arms as he squeezed her.
She wanted to memorize the way Graeson’s hair fell over his face, the width of his shoulders, the way his eyes peered into her very soul when he blinked them open to look at her over Lysanthia’s shoulder.
Peering into those gray, tear-stained eyes, Kallie’s heart cracked. She should have told him how much she cared about him, how much his encouragement and trust meant to her. That this sacrifice, while for the good of the seven kingdoms, was also for him. Mostly for him.
Because, bond or no bond, she would do anything for him.
For her entire life, Domitius had doubted her, believed she wasn’t strong enough. But not anymore. Kallie called out to the swirl of power waiting eagerly within her. In an instant, it filled her veins, coating her tongue.
She lifted her head, a wicked smile peeking through the strands of hair that had fallen in her face. "I think it is about time you bent the knee to me, don’t you, Kage?"
Wide-eyed, Domitius fell, his knees smacking the ground with an ungraceful thump.
One of the winged guards made to move forward, but a flash of silver sliced through the air, landing beside his toe.
"Next time, I won’t miss," Ellie called out, twirling another jagged star around her finger.
The guard stepped backward, his fingers twitching at his side beside his sword.
Kallie’s power hummed within her, a torrent of energy buzzing inside her. She was not afraid, not of herself and not of death.
"Actually, Ellie, I think I have a better idea," Kallie said as she observed the guards. "Join him."
One after the other, the guards’ knees struck the ground, their wings flaring out in anger as they fell victim to her command.
"That’s better, don’t you think?" Kallie asked, looking down at the man whom she had looked up to her entire life.
She slipped the dagger from its strap and brushed the tip of her blade along the edge of Domitius' neck, enjoying the way his eyes widened in terror. She dragged the metal from his jugular to his jaw before tipping up Domitius’ chin.
She had once admired him, respected him, wanted to be him. Now she only wished to drive a sword through his heart.
Although, a quick death would be a mercy for him. Domitius deserved to feel all the pain he had caused her, her family, and her friends.
"Tell me, Father," Kallie spat, the term that once held so much weight now leaden on her tongue. "How does it feel to be on your knees before me?"
"You think you’re strong for holding steady? Is that it?" Domitius sneered, his nose still held high. "You do. It’s laughable, really."
"I’m not laughing. Now am I?"
"Oh, Kalisandre, you still haven’t learned, have you? What good does killing me do? You have nothing. Your so-called family, the ones who share your blood, they despise you. You’re the very reason their beloved prince is dead. You have no friends, no home, no kingdom, no crown."
He was wrong, yet the blade shifted in her hand.
She couldn’t have cared less about a title.
It was the other claims that had her halting.
Kallie wanted to believe she had earned a home with Graeson and Terin, but she had seen the way Dani looked at her.
The stony stares and hushed whispers. They may have been on speaking terms now, but it didn’t mean Dani had forgiven Kallie.
Nor did Kallie want to be forgiven. There hadn’t been a day that went by since Fynn’s death when guilt didn’t coat her tongue and taint her lungs.
Every breath Kallie took was another reminder that Fynn no longer breathed, that his and Dani’s child would grow up fatherless, just like he had.
As if knowing he had hit his target, Domitius drove the verbal knife in deeper. "Your brother—Fynneares, was it?—he’s dead. But he has a twin, does he not? The crown has been passed to him. So where does that leave you, Kalisandre?"
"Kal," Graeson called out.
She shook her head. Graeson promised he would let her do this. She had to be the one to end it all.
For Fynn.
For her father.
For the innocents who had died because of Domitius’ greed and her mistakes.
"I could have given you everything, Kalisandre," Domitius taunted.
"You used me!" she shouted, her anger snapping like a strike of lightning.
"Of course I used you! Do you think they won’t?" he asked, glancing at Graeson and Ellie. "You don’t even realize the full extent of your ability!"
Kallie’s blood buzzed, her power coursing through her.
"All you ever cared about was my ability, and you turned it against me.
You manipulated my mind!" Kallie’s voice shook, but she did not relent.
"You’re right about one thing, though: I no longer have a claim to a crown.
For years, I have been chasing a hunk of metal.
An accessory shaped and crafted, given some artificial authority because of the symbol it provided to the people.
A crown means nothing when you have no one to share it with.
When everyone around you either fears you or hates you.
"I may be without a crown, a kingdom, or even a penny to my name, but I at least can walk out of here with my mind intact. I can at least walk out of here knowing I didn’t sacrifice my soul in order to achieve my goal."
She thought of Graeson and Ellie behind her.
She thought of Terin and Esmeray in Pontia.
She thought of Dani, her belly growing bigger and her and Fynn’s child growing stronger every day.
The innocent lives across the seven kingdoms, who were suffering and would continue to suffer if the war went on.
Myra, who had lost her brother to madness.
The numerous guards Kallie had sacrificed in order to further Domitius’ plans.
Graeson’s mother, who had lived beneath the marble castle for almost two decades.
She thought of the father she never got to know.
She thought of Fynn in the Beneath and the promise she made to him.
Enough was enough.
Kallie knelt before Domitius, pressing the tip of her blade against his heart. "You have taught me many things. You taught me to fight, to wield my gift, to hold a sword. You turned me into a weapon. It is only fitting that the same weapon you forged years ago is the one that becomes your undoing."
But as Kallie went to drive her dagger through Domitius’ cold, black heart, she hesitated as a coy smirk rose on his face.
And that hesitation cost her everything.