After Peri left, I showered. I didn’t even bother to find something to eat. I knew my mother and Grim were home, which only meant they aimed to make me sweat it out. Keep me wondering when the guillotine would fall.
I distracted myself with the violin. Playing my favorite piece by Vivaldi, notes that had embedded themselves into my essence wept from my soul. It was the only time I truly found peace.Safe. Free. I might as well be floating away with the notes flying through the room.
I didn’t know how much time had passed as Vivaldi morphed into Bach, then Bach transformed into Beethoven. My door squeaked open, followed by the click of it shutting, startling me, but I didn’t falter. I would play until the assholes dragged me out of here.
I closed my eyes and ignored my racing heart, knowing what awaited me. I sensed Grim and Amethyst’s energy draw closer to me, but I wouldn’t acknowledge them until forced to.
“Chrome.”
I kept playing, despite hearing Grim’s corrupted voice taint the art I created.
“Boy, look at us.”
I didn’t.
“Chrome,” my mother tried. I damn sure wasn’t going to acknowledge her. I believed she was well aware of what Grim did to me in the prisons. She probably considered it “part of the process.”
When I didn’t respond again, she said, “Fine. Do what you must…” Her tone was exasperated.
The wrist that held the bow was snatched from the violin. I didn’t resist. The music abruptly cut off, plunging the room into thick tension. The final note was a high-pitch screech that raked its nails against my eardrums. Hopefully theirs, too.
Cold metal slapped around my wrist just before it locked into place, causing my Kinetic magic to go dormant within my veins. I shuddered just before the violin was yanked from my other hand and a black bracelet locked into place by my mother. This one silenced my Elemental power, leaving me empty and frigid.
“Not only were you late,” Grim said with excitement. “You were late because you were talking to the princess. Why is that?”
I shrugged. “It was an accident. I’m sure you saw it on camera.”
“We did,” Amethyst answered. “But what did you talk about?”
“World domination...”
I braced for a blow that didn’t come. “Watch your mouth.” Grim snapped. “If you want to make it difficult, then we can add your punishment onto Gray’s.”
My heart lurched to a stop as chills tremored down my spine, I wanted to dice them up slowly with Elemental blades, covering their bodies in deep cuts that would gradually poison them to their agonizing deaths.
The wrath consuming me boiled on the edge, threatening to bubble over. The last thing I could give them was any indication that I cared, so I remained placid, shutting down every emotion that raged inside, going numb.
“You gonna sit here and talk to me all night or get this show on the road?” I asked, void of life.
“There’s the compliant little soldier we know,” Grim taunted. “Remember, if you resist, Gray gets it worse.”
My first thought went to her public punishments and how she was set to start training tomorrow. I couldn’t allow them to put her through another one if I could help it. Keeping quiet, I stared at the wall past my sorry excuse for a mother and stepdad.
“Good,” Amethyst said. “Get up. Let’s go.”
Chapter 14
Slate
The king had designated Princess Gray’s training schedule to begin first thing in the morning before school for two hours. We were to meet in the training room at five a.m.—further proving how cruel he could be.
I arrived thirty minutes early, full of anxious jitters that this was actually happening. That the fate of…well, everything depended on the princess getting trained and trained well. No pressure.
However, I wanted to build her up and genuinely give her the confidence that she deserved and needed to fend off the negativity she faced from the outside world.
The training room was empty this time of day, so I fidgeted with the weapons, making sure they were in their proper order and lined up just right. I stretched and even did a small workout, seeing as I needed to bulk up just a bit.
In the midst of my push-ups, a pair of feet appeared directly in my line of vision. I paused in a plank, peering upward to find the princess standing before me with her arms crossed, unsure.When she looked down, I couldn’t stop the broad smile that swept over my face. “Good morning, Princess.”
