On the morning of the fifth day, when she appeared with my breakfast in hand, I broke my silence.
“Did you know he beat him?” I asked.
Myrine stilled. Every muscle in her body went rigid as she fought to maintain her focus on the tray balancing in her right hand. Without removing her gaze from the buttered croissant and assortment of fresh fruit, she moved again to set the tray on the corner of the vanity which had been serving as my dinner table. Then she simply turned and strode back toward the door in an obvious bid to make an exit without answering me. I wasn’t having it.
“If you didn’t know, you’re a fool,” I spat at her retreating back. “And if you did, you’re a monster. Even more than I am.”
She froze again in the threshold. I watched the only movement that came from her direction, a slight rising and falling of her torso as she breathed in and out.
“I thought you loved him,” I snapped and then, softer. “I thought you loved me.”
That got her moving again. She stepped through the door and slammed it shut behind her, so sharply the furniture rattled against the empty walls.
My lip quivered so I bit it, hard. That was stupid. Of course she’d never loved me. She wasn’tmymother. She was his and she’d still allowed Cosmo to abuse him. If that was how she felt about her own son, how could she have ever loved me? How could she ever love anyone? Maybe a Viper simply couldn’t feel love.
I left the breakfast where it sat on the edge of the table. I didn’t have the stomach to eat now, not after that interaction, and I hadn’t truly been convinced I’d be able to eat before either. My trial was today. It had been five days, as Milo had said. Unless they’d made a last minute change I was yet unaware of, I’d be marched down to the Deck to face the Tribunal soon enough.Cosmo was claiming I’d committed a cold blooded murder and only later said it was in self-defense to justify my actions. If I was found guilty, I’d be executed. It was the only sentence for murder in Sanctuary. So excuse a girl if she didn’t much feel like a croissant.
How are you holding up?Luca’s voice entered my mind for the first time since my capture.
I frowned and crossed my arms as I paced to the opposite side of the room.
Nice of you to ask,I grumbled, more than a little upset that the only one capable of reaching out to me besides Milo and Pax and their supervised visits had waited this long to ask if I was okay.
I didn’t know, Olympia. My grandfather just now told me about the trial. He said he didn’t want me to overreact.
I snorted and shook my head as I ran my fingers over the smooth silk of the emerald sheets on the bed.
Of course,I replied.That’s just like Raghnall to withhold any information that isn’t directly of use to him.
You didn’t answer me,Luca reminded me firmly.How are you?
I’m a prisoner, Luca. I’m as well as can be expected. Cosmo wanted me dead.
Cosmo isn’t the only one in charge of making that determination.
When was the last time the Viperdidn’tget what he wanted?
The silence in response was uncomfortable. It felt like an acknowledgement of the truth of the statement, a truth I wasn’t actually ready to come to terms with, no matter how ready I was to say it aloud.
I’ll be there today,he promised instead,to support you and to remind my grandfather what the right choice is.
I killed him, Luca, but only because he tried to kill me first.
He hadn’t asked. It was an unspoken policy between us that we never inquired about guilt, merely supported each other no matter what. Luca had stood by my side through more monstrosities than I could count and I’d always backed him on the rare occasions he’d gone toe to toe with his own Patriarch. But this was different and it was important to me that he knew the truth; that I never would have killed Bade if I didn’t have to.
I know, Olympia,he said with a sigh a moment later.
I didn’t want to do it,I vowed.I would never attack him like that, Viper or not, knowing what he meant to you, knowing what–
I know, but I’m not ready to talk about him with you. Not yet.
I nodded, though the grotesque thought fleeted through my mind that he might not get another chance.
Have you talked to Milo?I asked.Only Pax came yesterday so I thought—
My conversation with Luca was interrupted by the door opening abruptly once more. I expected Myrine, come to take away my uneaten breakfast and leave me alone again but, instead, I was face to face with two scowling Guardians.
Olympia?Luca asked, concern underlying his tone.
