“You came back,” Hyacinth finally spoke. “Why?” Her lilting voice held that same curiosity it had during those discussions in the Synastysi. She looked at Aya not like a threat, but something strange to be observed.
Aya swallowed hard, willing her mind to stay present. She could not lose herself in the past, not even with the horrors she’d witnessed in this room begging for her to return to them so that they might torment her more fully.
“I know the rumors you’ve heard. I understand why it is difficult to believe anything else,” Aya began, her voice steady even with the way the buzzing in her head lingered. She couldn’t shake the smell of blood from her nose, despite the fact she knew the throne room had been cleaned of it months ago. “But Hyacinth…you have to listen to me. I am not the Dark Saint the realm thinks I am.”
Hyacinth blinked, her hands clasping in front of her. “So it is not you who killed a shipload of prisoners in Sitya? It is not you who has driven the gods to seek retribution across the realm?”
Her voice remained light, but her skepticism was evident in the way her eyes narrowed. Aya reached for patience as she shook her head.
“It’s Evie,” she told her. “The Original Saint has returned. I brought her back through the veil during the Battle of Dunmeaden.”
That small furrow in Hyacinth’s brow deepened, but she stayed silent. Aya seized it for the opportunity that it was.
She told Hyacinth everything—from the dreams she’d had, to the desperation that had led her to pull Evie through the veil, to the revelations that Evie had made with regards to Gianna and her own lineage.
“You once told me her path was one of isolation and darkness, too, but that she did not let it consume her. You were wrong, Hyacinth,” Aya finished. “She’s not a saint, she’s a demigod, and she plans to kill the gods for what they’ve done to her.”
For a long moment, Hyacinth simply stared at her. Aya’s pulse leapt into her throat as she awaited the High Priestess’s judgment.
“You dare to accuse the gods of murder?” Hyacinth finally spoke, her whisper sharp. Pink splotched high on her cheeks as she shook her head in disgust. “I have devoted my life to studying and worshipping the Divine, and you make a mockery of them with theselies.”
“Why would I lie about this?” Aya asked desperately. “Why would I return alone and unguarded if I were working with Kakos?”
“But you were not alone. Your precious Enforcer was with you.”
“And neither of us raised a finger against the guards you had waiting,” Aya bit out, her anger mounting. “I could have leveled them with a single brush of my hand, and yet I let them bring me here. Why would I do that if these rumors were true?”
“I’ve brought you to Katadyré,” Hyacinth mused. Aya frowned at the mention of the prison island. What did that have to do with anything?
“You’ve seen what guilt and desperation for repentance does to people,” Hyacinth continued. “I imagine this is your own search for redemption. Or perhaps it’s simply another trap you’ve laid. Either way, I will not fall for it.”
Aya’s irons rattled as she curled her hands into fists, her nails biting into her palms, as if she could contain her rage in those small points of pain. “Our people have already suffered because of their queen’s zeal. Do not make the same mistake, Hyacinth. I am begging you.”
She had not come this far to simply let the High Priestess continue on as Gianna had. This devotion to the Divine was devoid of full understanding, and it had to stop. Hyacinth had to make itstop.
“Our people have suffered because of you,” Hyacinthsnapped, her voice sharp with anger in a way Aya had seen only once before—in a meeting room in this very palace, when Gianna had first spoken of the Decachiré returning.
Hyacinth paused, her lips pressing into a firm line. Her spine straightened as she schooled her face into something more composed. “But I will give them the justice they are due.”
As if they hadn’t already tried to enact their own justice. They had burned her father beyond recognition. They had murdered him in cold blood, and all because they could not see Aya for who she was.
A year ago, she might have even agreed with them. But after all she had sacrificed for her kingdom, for her people…
Aya had not lied when she spoke of her rage to Evie. But she had tried to understand, tried to reason with herself and remind herself that there were innocents among them. But were there?
The whole reason Aya had sought out Hyacinth was because she’d known facing the people without support would be a lost cause. And yet her own comrades had handed her to another zealous queen without taking a mere second to consider her innocence.
They are not deserving of your mercy.
She hated how easily the demigod’s words rose in her mind.
She hated how easily she agreed with her.
Hyacinth cleared her throat, her gaze moving beyond Aya to the back of the throne room. Aya turned to see Yara standing just inside the door. She hadn’t even realized she’d been present.
But Yara didn’t deign to spare her a glance. She kept her focus on the High Priestess as Hyacinth said, “Let the people know the Dark Saint and the Enforcer have been captured. Tell them that they will be beheaded in the throne room for their crimes at midnight.”
***
