He gestures. A thick ring glints on his finger. “Crawl. Show your penitence, and pledge your loyalty once more, and we will begin again.”
Air finally fills my lungs as I inhale. Whatever happens to me, at least Callan will survive.
But Callan doesn’t move. A flurry of whispers spread across the crowd, and Petyr’s face flickers. “I will havesilence!”
Flecks of spit appear on his chin. In the uneasy silence that settles over us, Callan’s voice carries all the more clearly. “There is only one person I’ll crawl for. And it’s not you.”
His eyes shift to mine, ignoring the whispers as we lock gazes.
Breathing fails me. He steals the air from my lungs, in the same way that he stole my soul, and made it his.
He smiles at me. Fierce. Determined. Mine.
And I can’t do anything but smile back.
“For you,” he breathes. “Only for you.”
My eyes burn. And he waits. He ignores the seething male between us. His lips twitch up into a smaller, sadder smile that makes me realize—perhaps he was right all along.
I must have a heart, for I can feel it breaking.
And then—only then —does he begin to crawl, hampered by the chains that burn us both.
But not to his brother. To me.
He barely gets halfway across the stage before the guards recover. They drag him back, and Callan grins fiercely at his brother. “I will not pledge loyalty to a man who turns his people intocreatures. My loyalty lies elsewhere.”
“Gag him.” Petyr snaps his fingers. “I hope that’s true, brother. We’ll shortly be testing it.”
He turns to me, and my spine straightens as I spit the angry words at him. “There will be a steep price for what you have done.”
Petyr sighs. The metal is forced into my mouth next, burning the edges of my skin as it wraps around my skull. I hear a click as it closes at the back of my head, a solid band. “So predictable. But it does make things easier.”
He raises his voice. “I sentence both of you to conscription without end.”
Callan stiffens. His eyes shift to mine.
Ohgods. The creatures. Hands clamp down on my shoulders when I begin to struggle. Callan too.
A smirk plays around Petyr’s mouth. “But a price must still be paid.”
Murmurs sweep through the crowd. My eyes flicker. Taking in Petyr’s position. The rope behind him.
My heart stops, as I hear the footsteps.
And I already know. Iknow, for I have seen this.
I saw it in the shadows.
Merrick walks through the crowd with his head held high. Callan begins roaring, shouting through the gag as he climbs the steps, his hands bound loosely in front of him with plain rope.
He walks directly to that trap door, his feet steady as he looks out to the crowd.
Tears burn the back of my eyes. Trickle out, as Petyr speaks once more, this time to Merrick.
“You have confessed to your role in this conspiracy, Merrick. To arranging the theft of royal goods, to assisting with the desertion of soldiers unwilling to carry out their duties. You confessed this in exchange for clemency for another.”
“Yes.” Merrick’s voice does not tremble. “It’s true.”
