The boy met my stare and nodded. Pinned to his shirt was a white feather.
We are with you, Mikhail. You are not alone.
I swung my gaze over the crowd and saw them everywhere—white feathers. I was not alone. The rebellion was larger than I thought, and they were with me. It was amazing how much that knowledge made a difference. That not only did I want to be strong for these people, but they also wanted to be strong for me.
I was taken onto a raised platform where the prisoners stood in a line, hands bound before them, with nooses around their necks and trapdoors beneath their feet. My Va-va. Her family. Olga. They met my stare too, and I saw no condemnation in their eyes, only more support. In front of them was a wooden contraption, the sight of which made me want to vomit. The central portion was wide, with planks extending to either side of it and leather straps everywhere. A pinioning block.
Standing beside the pinioning block, Nikolay waved a hand toward me as I was forced to stand behind it. “Here he is! The traitor. My own consort led a rebellion against me. I will not kill him. Instead, he will be pinioned to serve as a reminder to all of you. Treason will not be tolerated. Not in any form.” He nodded to my guards.
They removed my manacles. To pinion a Larch, they had to be in swan form.
“Shift,” Niko ordered me.
I stared at him. The man who had taken my virginity after killing my parents. Now, he'd taken love from me as well. Murdered it. Dear Gods, he was a murderer. Had he killed his parents?
The image of Nikolay's face flashed through my mind along with his slurred words,Yes, both of our fathers were murdered.
I wouldn't put it past him. He was that conniving, that cruel, and he said that he hated his father. It would have been easy enough for him to pay someone to mess with his parent's private jet. Or, better yet, do it himself. He was smart enough to pull it off. But he was a fool to bring me up there onto that platform. To put me in front of my people with all the knowledge I'd gained. Nikolay had bought into his own deception. Believed the lie he had placed upon me. That I was weak. That I was submissive. That I was his. I was none of those things. Not anymore. I had been praised for the beauty and strength of my voice but my true voice had been silenced when I was four years old.
The time had come for me to speak.
“I am not the traitor; he is! He is the murderer we've been searching for!” I shouted as I pointed at Nikolay. “He killed our people to keep his secret! And last night, he killed the Garin for discovering the truth!”
I expected Nikolay to try to silence me. To grab me or shout for the guards. But he only stood there, gaping at me. So I hurried on.
“His real name is Kemarre. His people came here from Australia to take what my grandfather had built for all of us. Nikolay Kemarre has murdered an entire village, including my parents and brother, all to cover his lies and his father's evil, and then he murdered more of our people to cover that. I am Mikhail Alexeiovich Lebedev, and I am your true king!”
Some people were stunned, just staring at me as if I had lost my mind, but many more—those adorned with white feathers—cheered.
“Enough!” Nikolay shouted. “Pinion the traitor!”
The guards grabbed me.
“He speaks the truth!” Lord Pavel shouted. “I was here when Mikhail's parents ruled. I hid when the black swans went through the castle killing our soldiers. I hid instead helping the King and Queen flee. And for that, I will forever be ashamed. But I won't hide anymore!”
I blinked at that. Of all people, Pavel would have been the last I'd expect to show courage. But then, if I could, why not him? And it sounded as if he had his own demons to conquer.
“Be silent!” the false king shouted.
“No! I won't be silenced anymore! There stands the real heir to the Lebedev throne!” Pavel pointed at me. “And all of us who knew the Lebedevs can see the truth of it upon him. Mikhail bears the marks of the Lebedev line!”
“Hair like freshly fallen snow and eyes like the heart of a glacier,” Erik, the Master Mechanic, said reverently. “The real Lebedevs were white-haired, not black like a raven. And in swan form, their feathers were so pale that they glowed in the sunlight.”
“And their swan feet had five toes!” Lady Anya said. “Just like Lord Mikhail's swan. All of us from the old court know the truth, but we let the impostor terrify us into silence.”
“Strap him down! Do it, now!” Nikolay said to my guards. To the crowd, he said, “Those who speak against me will be next!”
Sir Ivan's jaw clenched, but Timur,fucking Timur, tore my robe off.
“Help me get him down,” Timur snarled at Ivan as I struggled.
“This is wrong!” Ivan hissed. “You know he speaks the truth. Our people came here under the guise of friendship and stole their kingdom.”
“Yeah, and now it's our fucking kingdom!”
As the guards argued, I shifted into swan form and spread my wings wide. My feathers caught the sunlight and reflected it, shining as if I were a star fallen to earth. The gathering gasped, even Timur went still.
“Look upon his feet! See the mark of a man upon his swan!” Pavel pointed. “Feel the truth in your heart! All of you know how much Mikhail does for us. How he cares for us. It was the same with his father. He is our king, not this charlatan who has done nothing but torment us and drive away the Gods!”
