Chapter Fifty-Three – Mira
Chapter Fifty-Three
Mira
My fist slammed into the wall.
Again.
And again.
‘Stop it,’ Lillian said severely from the cell next to mine. ‘None of this is your fault.’
I didn’t believe that, and I wasn’t convinced she did either. Zandri might have killed Aric, but he had died because of me. Because I had lost control.
‘You should eat something,’ Lillian murmured. ‘You need your strength for . . . for what comes next.’
I didn’t need strength to face my death. Death was easy – an escape from all my mistakes.
But I couldn’t tell Lillian that. I hadn’t been able to meet her eyes, not once, since I had regained consciousness in this cell, the memories of Aric’s final moments replaying in my mind. An endless, torturous loop.
At least Lillian was safe. Zandri wouldn’t kill her – not as long as she was bonded to Scarlett.
‘Kalure still needs you,’ Lillian tried. ‘ I need you. If an opportunity presents itself . . .’
‘Zandri will have planned this out to the last detail. She won’t give me the opportunity to escape.’
‘Scarlett might–’
‘Scarlett can’t do anything.’ My voice was flat. ‘Even if she wanted to help, which I doubt, she recognises a losing battle when she sees one.’
‘That’s not true,’ Lillian shot back. ‘I can feel her through the bond. She has a plan.’
‘A plan to save me? Or a plan to save herself and take the throne?’
Lillian’s silence said enough. She didn’t know. But still she pressed on. ‘I’ve seen the way Cassius looks at you. It’s possible that he–’
‘Cassius hasn’t returned from wherever the guards took him,’ I said harshly. ‘He’s probably already dead.’
I sensed Lillian’s disapproval, but I had no energy for hope or scheming or anything else.
My guilt over Aric’s death made me sick.
It still didn’t feel real – but I had seen it happen.
I had watched the life drain from his eyes, and since Lillian was alive, I knew that Scarlett hadn’t resurrected Aric. Which meant he was far beyond my reach.
‘We should have had more time,’ I murmured, more to myself than Lillian.
‘Life is short,’ Lillian said ruthlessly.
‘Particularly in times of war. Aric knew that. He could have died at any point during the battle – but he lived long enough to avenge Kain and to die for you. He would expect you to keep on fighting, Mira. To honour his sacrifice by reclaiming your country and destroying Zandri.’
I let her words settle over me. There was truth to them, but–
‘Aric isn’t the only person I failed,’ I whispered. ‘I failed the clansmen and the shifters. Even the priestesses turned against me.’
‘They turned against you because of Odessa ,’ Lillian said sharply.
‘Partly,’ I agreed. ‘But they might not have if I hadn’t used blood magic. And I used it even before Zandri started controlling me.’
‘You can’t know that.’
I thought of my panic when Cassius had fallen. My determination to save him – no matter the cost.
‘I do know that,’ I said. ‘It was my decision. And it was a selfish one. It cost me the loyalty and respect of my people.’
‘The real question,’ a familiar voice drawled, ‘is whether you would take it back. Especially considering your feelings for my ex-fiancé.’
I turned to see Odessa studying me from the other side of the bars. Somehow I hadn’t heard her approach, and judging by the surprised look on Lillian’s face, she hadn’t either.
‘Quite the role reversal, isn’t it?’ Odessa continued, her eyes hard. ‘I’ve thought about that moment many times, Mira. The kindness I thought you showed in stopping outside my cell in the Ravalian Court. The way I thanked you.’ The bitterness in her voice made my heart ache.
‘I never wanted your parents to die,’ I said, approaching the bars. ‘You must know that.’
‘Do I?’ Odessa tilted her head, and I noticed that her pale hair was unbraided like it had been back in Ravalia.
Though she was still dressed in the robes of a priestess, any softness and warmth had disappeared – discarded like a useless mask.
‘You might be naive, Mira, but even you had to realise what would happen once you framed my father as a traitor.’
I forced myself to meet her gaze. It was easier than looking at Lillian – easier to see loathing staring back at me rather than sadness or forgiveness. Odessa’s eyes were a mirror to all the dark emotions constricting my chest.
‘Cassius told me he would advocate on your behalf. That you and your family would be banished.’
Odessa’s eyes flashed but she said nothing. Just stared at me with all the contempt she could muster. All the contempt I deserved.
‘How long have you known?’ I asked, hoping that perhaps some of her friendship had been real.
That hope was dashed as Odessa said, ‘Before you rescued me from the Ravalian dungeons.’
All this time . . .
‘Don’t look at me like that.’ Her voice was cutting. ‘You weren’t my friend any more than I was yours. You only pretended to care about me to absolve your guilt.’
‘That’s not true,’ I said immediately. ‘I did care about you. I–’
‘Save your breath,’ Odessa interrupted. The anger on her face faded all too quickly, replaced by something tired and resigned. ‘It doesn’t matter now. You’ll pay for your crimes soon enough.’
Before I could say anything else, she motioned two guards forward. They unlocked my cell and tightened manacles around my wrists.
I glanced over at Lillian. ‘Is she coming too?’
‘No,’ Odessa said, with a thin smile at my obvious panic. ‘She stays. Scarlett doesn’t want her to witness this.’
Which meant no chance to say goodbye. To hug her tight.
Tears welled as I met Lillian’s gaze. My pulse thudded in my ears but I forced my voice into steadiness as I said, ‘I’m sorry that it came to this. More sorry than you can ever know.’
Lillian extended her hands through the bars. I grasped onto them like a lifeline.
‘No matter what,’ she murmured, repeating her long-ago words, ‘you’ll always be my sister.’
The guards wrenched me away, but I was grateful for the chance to hide my face. To hide my grief.
‘Hate me all you like,’ I said to Odessa as we walked, ‘but make sure Lillian is looked after.’
‘You have some nerve,’ she muttered, ‘asking me for a favour. I don’t even like Lillian.’
The coolness of her voice might have convinced someone else, but it didn’t convince me. ‘ Everyone likes Lillian.’
Odessa said nothing, which I took as reluctant agreement.
‘Who will do it?’ I asked at last, wincing as we stepped out of the stairwell into the blinding Kalurian afternoon. ‘Zandri?’
‘Scarlett.’
I blinked. Trying to imagine what it would be like to see Scarlett standing over me, a sword slashing down – or perhaps it would only take one touch. One touch to poison me with the death in her veins.
‘But I claimed the right to first blood,’ Odessa continued, her gaze dark. ‘So you’ll be facing me first.’
I wanted to rage at her, but instead I said softly, ‘Jadis will never forgive you for this.’
‘Don’t mention Jadis.’
‘Why? Because you’re afraid it might weaken your resolve?’
Odessa stopped and the guards did too, pulling painfully on my manacles.
This close, Odessa’s face was highlighted in icy, unforgiving detail.
‘You still haven’t put it together, have you?
Every smile, every laugh, every shared confidence – it was all a lie , Mira.
I never stopped being a Mask. I imagined killing you a thousand times over. ’
‘You had plenty of opportunities. You could have buried a blade in my back so many times–’
‘Zandri offered me a far more satisfying end, in exchange for my assistance.’ Odessa smiled at me.
A pretty smile that concealed the darkness lurking beneath.
‘It’s so much better like this – to watch you die at a public execution, just like your mother.
Just like mine . Practically poetic, wouldn’t you agree? ’
She resumed walking, pulling me along by the chains, until the central Kalurian courtyard came into view, a crowd already in attendance. My people, waiting to watch their queen lose her head.
And at the front, smiling pleasantly at me–
My cousin and executioner. Scarlett.
My gaze went past her – to Zandri. The woman who had murdered Aric and who had ordered the death of my father.
I desperately tried to summon the anger and vengeance that had kept me alive in the Ravalian Court, allowing me to survive against impossible odds.
Nothing came. My fire had finally burned out.
And that was how I knew–
This was the end.
The knowledge didn’t frighten me. If I had to die for my mistakes, then so be it.
But I refused to die chained and on my knees. No matter how defeated I felt, I would die fighting.
Like the warrior queen I had become.