We were all fucked, and there was nothing I could do about it.
Not alone anyway.
Romero was about to be crowned Emperor. The remaining rulers had seemingly stepped aside, granting him his wish,learning nothing from events overseas. It’s why rulers feared kings like Matthias and his father. Kings who weren’t there to further line their own pockets, who didn’t receive feral gratification from making their fellow humans suffer. They offered hope, peace, equality. A world where your place of birth didn’t dictate your potential. A Eusis where the only limitations on what you might achieve were the ones you set yourself. The sort of future that terrified tyrants like Romero. He cared nothing for his people or the threat of the empress. He’d be the hero to save Eusis. He’d unite the nations against the threat of evil. The history books would paint a picture of a man who’d sacrificed so much to save us…he had…he’d sacrificed The Alliance and countless lives in order to call himself Emperor. All without a second thought to the souls he’d betrayed to get there.
He was even prepared to prostitute his only daughter to a monster. Enfys had seemed so content with her future as a Sister of Evella. Her words about how she never wanted to be a wife haunted me. How would she face marriage to a creature like Ifan?
I clenched my fists at the thought of Matthias’s little brother. The youngest sibling who’d been sent to Carush after Raul’s failedrebellion, the ward of the terrifying empress. Asher had been the only one to suspect him. But Matthias, who always sought the good in everyone, trusted his brother. How much had he learned from her? Is that why he’d aligned himself with Romero? Had he whispered dark secrets to the king of Drufaera, in return for certain boons? Boons like a princess for a wife? I dug my pathetic nails into my palms, relishing the pain as I imagined what I’d do to him. What would I say to him about his offer though? The thought of working with him caused bile to rise up my throat. I shivered at his words. Ifan clearly wasn’t content with merely betraying his own flesh and blood. He’d hidden the truth about my abilities from Romero.Why? If Romero knew about my gift, he’d force me to work with him. He’d never send an Anomaly with such potential into the flames of Vyrus, even one he’d despised since the moment I’d been born. Did Ifan truly believe I’d align myself with him after he’d murdered Matthias in cold blood? But then if I didn’t, Pablo would die too. I scrubbed a tear from my cheek, quickly followed by another. And to usethatgift. To face using it without training? I gazed at the blood on the back of my hand. The itch I hadn’t even realised I’d scratched. Perhaps I’d accept him and then when the blight came for me, I’d attack, finally have some revenge for Matthias. For the future he’d stolen from us.
I gasped back huge sobs at the thought of Matthias’s execution. Just as we’d found each other, at the moment when our souls became one again, he’d been torn from me. The next time I saw him, he’d have a hessian bag over his head as a pyre was lit beneath him.
I smacked the back of my head into the door. Surely there was a way out, but as I tugged at the cuffs holding my gift at bay, my heart sank even deeper.
At some point, I must have dozed off, as my eyes struggled to open. I winced at the pain in my neck. The damned itch. How long had I slept? Emptiness consumed me as I recalled all that had happened. I cocked my head, turning towards an incessant scratching from the dressing room.
I sat, straining my ears, my pulse spiking. Someone muttered curses, swearing. Seconds later the door to one of the closets flew open and a great grey mound bounced towards me.
The wolf threw me backwards as he slammed into me, his huge snout nuzzling into my shoulder, sniffing at my hair. I threw my bound hands over him, grabbing him and not caring for his sharp claws or great weight.
‘Get off the girl, wolf, or we’ll never get out.’
‘Glesni,’ I cried as Pablo climbed down, remaining close to me and nipping at the manacles on my wrist.
‘Yes, yes,’ she said, huffing as she crouched down, grabbing the manacles. ‘I should have realised I’d be the one to sort out this shit show of a mess, but I can’t do it alone. I got your wolf. Flew him right over the guards’ heads.’
She chuckled, producing a set of keys and set to work on the manacles. ‘Vyrus’s ball sack,’ she cursed as the cuffs clattered to the floor. ‘I wish we had time for a bath, but I think a quick change of clothes and run through with a brush will have to do for now.’
I threw my arms around her.
‘Uch.’ She pushed me away. ‘Perhaps a quick bath after all, or they’ll smell you coming.’
‘Please tell me you can get Matthias out?’ I stood, stripping off the rancid clothes. Glesni winced as she held onto Pablo to help herself stand. Limping, she came up to me and reached up, grabbing my face between her hands. Tears glinted in those dark eyes of hers. She took a deep breath.
‘Losing Keya tore me apart.’ She took a moment before she carried on. ‘In my whole life I’ve never suffered as I did in the moment I lost her. But we had a lifetime. We made a myriad of memories, some wonderful, some bad, some plain boring, but we had our time. It’ll be a cold day in the flames of Vyrus before I let them take Matthias from you. I hope you’ve realised how much you love each other.’
I grinned at her.
‘Smitten.’
Smiling, she let go and hobbled back to the dressing room, pulling out a plain grey dress and throwing it in my direction.
‘Hurry and get clean. The others are waiting.’
‘Others?’ I glanced over my shoulder as I headed to the bathing room, making out the hazy grin on her face.
Glesni blew out a long breath. ‘Rescuing a king and overthrowing a power-mad prick isn’t a task you complete single-handed, Sorrow Elmswood. Of course I’ve got the others.’
My knees buckled as the weight of hope slammed into me, but I stood tall, straightened my spine. With Glesni, Asher and the others, we might be able to pull this off.
Throwing cold water over me, my soul soared at the thought of freeing Matthias.
CHAPTER 39
Each Anomaly must believe, truly believe, Evella chose you, chose your gift for a reason. When they pit us against each other, which they will, it’ll be the only way we’ll survive the war.
— FOREWORD FOR MRS GLESNI GRACE’S ADVICE FOR MENTORS: THIRDEDITION
Somehow, I’d stilled my hammering heart as Glesni, the wolf and I exited the servants’ halls from a small door by the kitchens.
