“Thank you,” Matthias says hoarsely.
Chapter forty-six
Selene
When they come, it’s with ceremony, and a full guard.
Callan shifts, steadying me. “You can’t walk.”
“I can.” I will walk out there on my own two feet. My hand still holds Matthias’s, and his hold tightens as the bars swing open.
I don’t recognize the guard who enters, nor those who follow to hold our arms. But I recognize the blue tint of the metal in his hands well enough. He slips the cuffs around my wrists, tightening them to the point of pain, and then does the same to Callan.
But not Matthias.
Matthias frowns as they push us from the cell, shoving him back. “Wait—”
They ignore him. Callan and I glance at each other as the bars slam closed with a clatter behind us, sealing him inside. Matthias shouts behind us, his voice climbing higher. “You’re missing one!”
His hand bangs into the metal as he shouts again.
But I would rather he be in there than where I suspect we are going. Perhaps Callan was wrong, and Petyr does not need us after all, for whatever plan he has concocted.
I am curiously detached as we’re placed into a cart, our arms brushing together. A guard climbs in and sits opposite us, silent as we pull away. I keep my voice low, “This is not how I had imagined our end.”
“This is not the end,” Callan says just as quietly. “He’s planning something. I just don’t know what.”
It hurts to look at him. But it hurts more not to. I take in the shadows beneath his eyes, the blood spattered across golden skin. The bronze eyes, dulled beneath the weight of whatever they’ve placed on us. “I would have liked a life with you.”
It’s the closest I can get to voicing the emotion in my chest.
Callan’s eyes close. “I would tell you that I love you, Selene Amaris. But that feels a lot like giving up.”
I swallow. “I wouldn’t mind hearing it.”
The ghost of a smile plays on his lips. “You’ll hear it every day from me when we get out of this.”
I sit beside him, and I drink in his warmth, until the cart stops at the edge of the square. I catch a hint of gray beyond the canvas before hands reach inside and we’re unceremoniously yanked out, guards grabbing hold of our arms and pulling us forward.
We’re led out through a narrow path in the crowd. I follow Callan’s steps past the hearth, toward the gallows. The square is full of faces—more than I have ever seen, from both castle and town—all of them watching in silence. Petyr has called everyone here to watch, it seems. The faces are a curious mixture of anger and fear, and I wonder which of the players in this particular game they’re angry at. What lies Petyr may have told. It’s quiet enough that I can hear the scuff of my boots against the stone.
I look for any sign of Sol, of Leo, or Merrick, but they’re well hidden within the crowd, if they’re here at all. Ryn’s horrifiedface catches my eye, Leesa beside him, and I attempt to force a smile. My side burns where the arrow punctured my skin, and I glance down to see the scarlet stain spreading even through the strips of Callan’s shirt.
Petyr stands on the dais, an expressionless Wendlyn and a smiling Metallurgist on either side of him as we’re led up the steps. I look at the thick noose, swaying in the breeze, at the outline of the trap door beneath, and turn my face away.
When they separate us, Callan begins to struggle. But they pull him away from me, placing us at opposite ends of the platform and forcing us down to our knees, so we’re left staring at each other across the stage.
Petyr does not make us wait long.
“Friends.” His voice is sorrowful, and I curl my hands against the restraints as my fury grows. “I bring terrible tidings, this day. A conspiracy is afoot—one that could destroy what remains of our small town, even as we fight to cling to hope in the midst of so much darkness.”
Nyx. Celeste.
Petyr spreads his hands, gesturing to Callan. “I have discovered that my brother—my own flesh and blood—has been leading a rebellion beneath my nose. Using his position to smuggle much-needed goods out of the town, taking food from your mouths and giving it to the deserters who abandoned us.”
I watch. The smallest smile lifts Callan’s lips. The crowd doesn’t make a sound.
“He has abused our trust in him.” Petyr’s voice lowers. “But there is hope. I believe you have been greatly misguided, brother. Others around you have unduly influenced you, and Iwillstamp it out. We will be close again, as we once were, and you can be by my side as we enter a new age for Boreas, for Asteria, and for the people webothwant to save.”
