It killed me inside, but I let nearly every ounce of fire slip back inside me, save for thin strips around my breasts and waist. I would not stand naked in front of him. I didn’t have much left, but I had my dignity.
He frowned slightly at the remaining flames as if judging whether or not they might be a threat. Ultimately, he let it go. “Now I would like you to go over to the stairwell and scream for help. Loudly, please. Let the guards at the base of the stairs know the king has been murdered. That should bring them running.”
I grit my teeth and, for a brief second, wondered if I was strong enough to save Sin.
“Do not bother, Raynella,” Belarius chided as if reading my mind. “Should you attack me, my concentration might lapse. I would hate for Dreisin here to meet an untimely end. Now do as I say.”
Seeing no other option, I walked over to the stairwell, took a few steps down and shouted loudly in Rivellan, “HELP! PLEASE HELP! THE KING IS DEAD!” I kept up the litany until I heard the clomping of boots echoing up the stairs.
My throat raw from screaming, I walked back over to Belarius. “I did what you asked. Now let him go.”
Belarius gave me a wicked smile, and my heart ceased beating.
“Whatever the princess desires.”
He flicked his wrist.
It was just the slightest little motion. Inconsequential really. Barely noticeable. And yet it was all he needed to rip my universe apart.
My eyes connected with Sin’s as the cage of air holding him vanished.
“I love you,” he mouthed.
I lunged forward, but there was nothing I could do.
Sin didn’t even scream as he plummeted a thousand feet to his death at the hands of jagged rocks and an unforgiving sea.
Chapter fifty-two
Everything that happened after that was little more than a blur. It felt like I was moving through gelatin. Like the world around me couldn’t possibly be the real world. Like I couldn’t possibly still be alive when Sin was dead.
The door burst open and scuffed, black leather boots entered my field of vision.
“She murdered your king,” Belarius shouted. “Take her to the Sonaria immediately.”
Rough hands hauled me to my feet.
“What is going on?” Dey demanded.
The guards held tight as I sagged limply in their arms, no longer caring about what happened to me.
“Raynella has murdered your foster father with her secret magic,” Belarius said calmly.
I could feel the compulsion in the air as if my own magic despised even being in the vicinity of it. It felt oily and alien against my skin.
“You are the interim king now. It is very important that you do exactly as I say,” he continued. “She is still needed to fulfill the prophecy, so she cannot be harmed.” He paused. “Harmed much, anyway. Have the guards seal her in the Sonaria so she cannot use her fire magic to kill you too. We will decide how to proceed with her later.”
“Aquiservians,” Dey barked sharply. “Do not let her summon any flames. Lock her in the Sonaria. Nobody is to speak with her until I allow it.”
I almost laughed at his order to restrain me. As if I had any strength left at all. Every bit of fight I had remaining died alongside Sin. They could torture me for all I cared. Nothing could feel worse than this.
A layer of cold water slid over my entire body save for my nose and eyes, compliments of the guards that glared at me like I was filth.
Dey approached me, his eyes sweeping over my arms and the ramentum I had worked so hard to hide.
“What did you do, Rain?” he asked, his voice bitterly angry.
I had no answer for him, and so he called for the guards to take me away.
