Chapter 51 - A King Who Failed
I have not left this room.
Not because I cannot.
Because the moment I step outside of it, I will not be a king anymore I will be something worse. Something far less controlled. Something that does not stop when it should.
And if I start
There will be nothing left of this palace, this court, or this world that resembles order.
So I stay.
The doors are shut. Guarded. No one enters without permission. No one leaves unless I allow it. The walls of this room have become the only thing standing between my restraint and their extinction.
And still
She is gone.
A full day.
A full day without her in my sight.
Without knowing where she is.
Without knowing who has touched her.
Without knowing if she is
My hand tightens violently against the edge of the desk.
The wood cracks beneath my grip.
Splinters press into my palm, but I don't feel it. I only hear the sound the sharp break echoing in the silence and I realize too late that I've destroyed something else.
Again.
It doesn't matter.
Nothing in this room matters.
Nothing in this palace matters.
Nothing in this empire matters
Not if she is not in it.
I inhale slowly.
It does nothing to calm me.
The air feels thick. Suffocating. Heavy with the scent of blood that still lingers from what Veronica has done in this room. It clings to everything the stone, the wood, the walls, the people.
My gaze shifts.
Slowly.
And settles on them again.
Her family.
If they can even be called that.
The girls are huddled together, clinging to each other like frightened animals, their shoulders shaking as they try and fail to keep their sobs quiet. One of them is biting her lip hard enough to draw blood, as if pain will keep her from making noise.
It won't.
Nothing will.
The boys stand behind them, stiff and useless, trying to look composed, trying to look like they belong here.
They don't.
They never did.
And then
Him.
Her father.
The man who dares to call himself a king.
The man who
My body moves before my mind finishes the thought.
I cross the room in two strides and grab him by the front of his collar, dragging him forward with enough force that his feet stumble beneath him before I slam him into the table.
The impact rattles everything on it, wood groaning, a sharp crack splitting through the room as something breaks beneath his weight.
"Look at me."
My voice is low.
Controlled.
Too controlled.
He doesn't.
My fist connects with his face.
The sound is sickening. Bone against flesh. His head snaps to the side, blood spilling instantly from his mouth, spraying across the table and dripping down onto the floor.
He stumbles.
Falls.
I don't let him.
My hand tangles in his hair, dragging him upright again, forcing him to face me.
"Look. At. Me."
The command is sharper now.
Stronger.
He obeys.
Because he has no choice.
His eyes meet mine.
They are weak.
Shaking.
Full of something I don't care to name.
"Say it."
His lips part, blood coating them, slipping down his chin.
"I—"
"Say it."
My grip tightens, forcing his head back further, his body straining awkwardly as he tries to hold himself upright.
"Tell me you didn't know."
His breath catches.
"I didn't—"
My other hand slams into the table beside him, splintering the wood completely this time.
"Say it like you mean it!"
The room flinches with him.
"I didn't know!" he shouts, desperation cracking through his voice. "I swear to you—I didn't know she would do this!"
Silence follows.
Thick.
Heavy.
I go still.
For one moment.
Just one.
Then I laugh.
The sound is low.
Empty.
Cruel.
"You didn't know."
I repeat it slowly.
Like I'm testing the weight of it.
Like I'm deciding if it deserves to exist.
My expression hardens.
"You are a disease."
The words cut through him.
Through all of them.
Sharp.
Precise.
Final.
His entire body stiffens.
"A sickness," I continue, my voice dropping lower, darker, something far more dangerous threading through every word. "Rotting from the inside out."
I release him.
He falls.
Hard.
Onto his knees this time, barely catching himself before collapsing completely. Blood drips from his mouth onto the stone floor beneath him.
"You don't deserve to be a father."
The words land heavier than anything else.
He freezes.
Completely.
I step toward him.
Slowly.
"You had a daughter," I say, my voice rising now, anger bleeding through the cracks of control, "and instead of protecting her...."
My foot slams into his ribs.
The impact is brutal.
His body jerks sideways, a broken sound tearing from his throat as he crashes onto the floor, clutching at his side, struggling to breathe.
I step over him.
Look down.
"You handed her over."
The words are quieter now.
More dangerous.
"Like she meant nothing."
"I didn't..."
My boot connects with him again.
Harder.
This time his body curls in on itself, a choked gasp leaving him as he tries to shield himself from the blow.
"Stop," I snap.
My voice is sharper now.
Louder.
The room feels smaller.
Tighter.
"You don't get to hide behind ignorance," I continue, pacing once before turning back toward him. "You don't get to pretend you had no choice."
I crouch down slightly.
Close enough that he has no choice but to hear me.
"There is always a choice."
The words are quiet.
Deadly.
"You chose her."
My gaze flicks briefly toward the broken woman in the corner.
What remains of his wife.
"You chose her comfort over your daughter's life."
His head shakes weakly.
"I didn't know...."
My hand closes around his throat.
Tight.
Not enough to kill him.
Enough to remind him how easily I could.
"You knew enough."
My grip tightens slightly.
"You knew the kind of woman she was."
Another breath.
"You knew what she was capable of."
Another.
"And you still let her make decisions for your kingdom."
I release him suddenly.
He collapses forward, gasping, clawing at his throat as he struggles to breathe.
"You want to be king?" I ask.
No one answers.
Of course they don't.
They're too busy trying to survive.
"Then carry the weight of it."
My voice sharpens.
"Carry the blame."
I stand.
Turn away from him.
Pace once across the room.
My chest feels too tight.
Too heavy.
Something is wrong.
Not here.
Not with them.
With me.
I failed her.
The thought slips in.
Uninvited.
Unforgiving.
I failed her the moment she stepped into my kingdom and I believed I could keep her safe without watching everything.
I failed her the moment I let these people breathe inside my walls.
I failed her..
Like I failed all the others.
My jaw tightens so hard it aches.
I turn back sharply.
The movement makes them flinch again.
"If there is a single mark on her—"
My voice falters.
Just once.
Just enough.
Then it hardens again.
"I will burn your kingdom to the ground."
The words are quiet.
Certain.
"I will erase your name from history."
A step forward.
"I will make sure that every single one of you..."
My gaze moves across them.
One by one.
"...regrets the moment you were born."
A hand grabs my arm.
"Enough," she says lightly.
I don't look at her.
"Let go."
"No."
Her voice doesn't change.
Of course it doesn't.
She never fears me.
She's the only one who doesn't.
"If you kill them now," she continues, almost conversational, "we lose everything useful they have left."
"I don't care."
"You do."
"She's still out there."
The words hit.
Hard.
"She needs you thinking," Veronica adds, her tone still calm, still logical. "Not losing control."
A small smile touches her lips.
"We can kill them later."
Of course she would say that.
Of course she means it.
I exhale slowly.
"Pray," I say quietly.
No one moves.
No one breathes too loudly.
"Pray that she is unharmed when I find her."
I take one final step closer.
"Because if she isn't—"
I don't finish.
I don't need to.
They understand.
They all do.
And this time
I see it.
Real fear.
Good.
Because if I failed her
Then there will be nothing left in this world worth saving.