Chapter 55
MYRA
Myra’s breaths grew shorter with every step she took, with every clang of metal that followed. Over a thousand voices slipped beneath the cracks of the closed doors and pounded against her eardrums.
She had imagined this moment going differently when they had started on this path—all three of them had.
Rian was supposed to push open the doors to the throne room and stroll inside with his head held high.
His people were supposed to greet him with open arms. Instead, the man who was supposed to put an end to this frivolous war and remove his brother from the throne was covered in chains.
Rian spun, elbowing one guard and kicking at another.
Myra reached for her power. She had to do something. She had to help get them out of this. They had to find Laurince. Her power was a dull thrum in her core, yet she latched onto it, coaxing it.
She sought the threads of the guards. Finding them, she tightened her grip. Emotions welled up inside her like a balloon, but before she could release them, they popped. The threads broke in her hands.
This wasn’t right. She wasn’t powerless. She wasn’t weak.
But there she was, unable to stop the guard from slamming his fist into Rian’s jaw. Rian bit the rod, and blood spilled out of his mouth, dripping down his chin.
Why would Sebastian do this? Why would he drag his brother, the king, into a crowded room chained? Did Sebastian wish to make himself an enemy of the people? Did he wish to turn them against him? Rian was their king, their ruler.
Before Myra could piece the puzzle together, two guards stepped toward the closed doors and thrust them open. As the crowd turned toward the sound, Sebastian’s voice broke over the murmurs.
"The people of Frenzia, our king—my brother—has returned."
Gasps echoed through the vast chamber as a guard pushed King Rian inside the room, restrained and gagged.
A guard shoved Rian in the back, and Rian stumbled. When he steadied himself, his gaze swept across the room, his eyes narrowed. Confusion streamed off him and soaked Myra’s feet.
Myra squinted down the aisle toward the man pushing himself off the golden throne. Anger rippled around Myra, twisting around her ankles. But she could no longer decipher her rage from Rian’s, the two intertwining.
Although Sebastian shook his head in disappointment, the stench of victory seeped from his pores.
The gold crown encrusted with red rubies rested on a plush pillow atop a pedestal beside him.
Myra was marginally surprised it wasn’t already sitting on Sebastian’s head.
By the way Ferencia and the guards spoke, she would have assumed Sebastian had already claimed it.
Crown or not, it seemed Sebastian was one step closer to garnering the title as whispered conversations brushed her ears as they descended the aisle.
A few wandering eyes turned to Myra, but none stayed too long, their attention fixed on their king.
Myra recognized a few of the people standing around the perimeter of the room—staff members whom she had dined with only a few months ago, handmaidens she had chatted with daily.
When they looked at her, they quickly averted their gazes, letting their attention fall to the floor.
She found Bax standing among the guards.
When their gazes connected, he pursed his lips, and Myra sensed a faint trace of apprehension and failure drifting off him.
But he wasn’t the only one who had failed.
She tried to tamp down her rising anxiety, but the rattling of the chains accompanying her every step only enhanced it. As she scanned the room, two things became abundantly clear: none of the winged guards were present, and Laurince was nowhere to be seen.
Sweat dampened her neck, soaking her hair.
Once they reached the front of the room, the guard forced Myra into a seat.
She fell into the chair with an oomph. Several guards inched closer, their hands resting on the hilts of their swords.
But Myra barely noticed them as she spotted Ferencia standing in the front row among some of the council members.
Myra’s brows drew together.
Sebastian and Rian’s mother was absent from the audience.
When Ferencia’s eyes met Myra’s, a small smirk rose to the woman’s lips. Ferencia swiped a finger across a sparkling necklace adorned with a dozen brilliant rubies.
Myra curled her hands into fists. Her nails bit into the flesh of her palms as she sneered at the traitor. Laurince had trusted her, yet Ferencia had betrayed them. And for what? A shining new necklace from Sebastian? Was that the price of her betrayal?
Sebastian stood and approached the edge of the dais. He signaled for those gathered to sit, and everyone in the room obeyed his command.
Myra tried to grab the threads and shift them, but they slipped through her grasp like water. Not before she sensed the amusement and triumph coming from Sebastian in waves as he observed his brother.
"Kneel," the guard beside Rian ordered.
"I yam yer eng," Rian spat around the restraint, his words mangled, but the meaning clear enough.
The guard only sneered, as if Rian’s title was meaningless. He grabbed Rian by the shoulder and forced him to his knees. Rian tried to fight him off. He tossed his hands in the air, and his chains clanged violently.
Myra looked toward the staff members, the people—to anyone who might help. But instead of friendly faces, she saw only the horrified looks of the onlookers as they watched their king lash out. How had Sebastian turned Rian’s own people against him so quickly and effortlessly?
Then Myra felt it.
Beneath the anger and terror, pools of betrayal, dissatisfaction, and hurt soaked the throne room. And their emotions were all directed at Rian.
The whispers brushed her ear, sinking into her skin.
"Where has he been?"
"Has he been hiding away this entire time? While we suffered and grieved? While we buried our dead?"
"Why did he let those traitors into our kingdom?"
"Why didn’t he protect us?"
The people believed Rian had betrayed them. They believed he had abandoned them. When they were grieving, when their temple had burned to the ground, Rian was hidden from sight. It was Sebastian who was there to hear their laments.
And this display? Rian’s anger and refusal to repent were only making it worse.
Sweat dripped down her neck as the emotions of the room whipped around her.
When Rian locked eyes with Myra, she shook her head, silently begging Rian to stop resisting. Didn’t he see he was only making it worse?
"It breaks my heart to see you like this, brother. It truly does," Sebastian said.
Rian paused, glancing around him. It was as if someone had poured a bucket of ice-cold water over him. He collapsed onto his knees, defeated.
The guard bowed to Sebastian, and the tiniest hint of a smirk twitched at the corner of the prince’s lips. It was barely deducible to those far away, and the moment it appeared, the next second it vanished.
Sebastian folded his hands behind his back and looked at the people.
"The return of one’s king after months of searching and terror should be a joyous occasion, so it is with great sadness that we must bring forth our king in chains.
However, sometimes drastic measures must be taken," Sebastian said, his voice steady.
He took a deep, exaggerated breath and pressed a hand to his heart as he glanced at his brother kneeling before him.
"Recent discoveries have brought to light that we have been deceived.
As you all are aware, we have been searching far and wide for my brother after his disappearance.
We were all horrified to hear that the Pontians dared abduct our king.
However, we have since discovered that it was all a ploy.
Our once-beloved king and his fiancé, Kalisandre, were colluding with Pontia and Tetria. "
Gasps of horror slithered through the audience.
Rian shouted around the restraint, "Yew eyer!"
Sebastian frowned. "I know that these are grand claims. No one wishes to discover that their king has betrayed them. Learning about my brother’s deceit feels as if he has stabbed me in my heart.
But I would not lie to you. After all that we have been through, after we have been forced to live in terror after the attack.
After we were forced to question the loyalty of those around us.
Many of us in this room lost loved ones.
My own mother has been locked in her room, overcome with terror.
It has been a hard few months, but we are finally one step closer to bringing justice to those who have harmed our kingdom.
"We have recently learned that when Kalisandre was taken by the Pontians the first time, she forged an alliance with the Nadareans. Good men died trying to save her, but their lives were lost in vain. Kalisandre came here with malicious intent to begin with, only seeking a marriage with King Rian to gain his power and throne. But it wasn’t enough.
She had to turn our king against us, too. "
Rian shouted over the gag in his mouth, but none of his panicked words were audible. Dread shone in his eyes as he looked across the room, begging the people not to believe his brother’s lies. But no one believed him. The people looked upon their king with confusion and hurt.
The guards tightened Rian’s restraints, restricting his movements.
"But do not take only my word for it," Sebastian said, raising his voice to speak over the growing whispers and disgruntlements. "Hear it from someone who has witnessed these atrocities from the beginning."