Stellon
This couldn’t be happening.Howwas this happening?
Sweet Raewyn’s life could not end like this.
Twisting my head to see the King, I said, “Please Father. Stop this.”
My sire rolled his eyes and took another sip from his goblet. “You’ll be back to yourself in a few minutes, boy. Trust me, I’m doing what’s best for you.”
You’re asking the wrong person.
The non-verbal message had come from Pharis. In my state of emotional distress, my mental barrier against him had cracked.
All I want from you is your immediate exile,I responded.
He cracked a smile, seeming completely unaffected by what was happening.You’d miss me if I was gone.
The hangman stepped over to the lever that would release the trap doors Raewyn and Sorcha stood upon, awaiting the final order from the King.
My father stood and walked to the front of the platform, raising his hands to quiet the crowd.
“My esteem shines upon you,” he bellowed.
“And mine upon you,” his subjects roared in unison.
“You’ve been invited here today to witness justice,” he told them. “These two humans—one of them a commoner, and one of them a witch—threatened the lives of your benevolent King and my innocent children.”
Loud boos filled the air. Father smiled and allowed it for a few moments before extending his hands and pressing down on the air in front of him.
The attendees quieted instantly.
“Our Kingdom cannot abide sedition of any sort, if it is to continue to thrive. And no foe, no matter how clever—or innocent seeming—can ever hope to stand against us. Let this serve as a warning to any who would dare to try.”
Raising his goblet toward the crowd, he said, “May the Grand Star brighten your way.”
The response was loud and enthusiastic. “And may it ever warm you.”
These people were havingfun—at least the Fae among them. The humans were probably horrified but too afraid to say or do anything about it.
Exactly how my father wanted them.
He looked toward the executioner, and a frenzy of desperation overtook me.
Throwing the contents of my goblet in my guard’s face, I took advantage of his momentary distraction to grab the dagger from his belt and slice through the cord binding me to my chair.
My father turned around, reacting to the commotion. “What the shaded stars—”
I bolted to the staircase leading down from the platform, intending to run to Raewyn as soon as I reached the ground.
Unfortunately, I never did.
“Stop him,” the King ordered, and the guard at the bottom of the steps rushed upward, blocking my path.
When I tried to throw myself over the railing to the ground, he grabbed my clothing. One of the guards who’d been protecting my family on the platform came down to help him, and the two of them hauled me back up to stand before my father.
“You are an embarrassment,” he said under his breath.
I was immobilized, trapped, completely useless to Raewyn.
