“The king called you for a special project. You answer it, you’re in.”
I flip back to the hooded man. “You realize intercepting someone else's mail, and at that, theking’s mail, is punishable by death?”
“Punishable by death if I’m captured.”
I narrow my eyes. “So…say I infiltrate Vitalis. Then what? My end of the bargain is done?”
“You know of the King’s little secret. But what you don’t know is how much of a risk he is to everyone in the realm. You kill him.”
I step back, shaking my head. “I’m not some assassin?—”
“You’re right. You’re simply a desperate sister looking to free her brother for a crimeshecommitted. You’re a smart woman with morals looking to correct the wrongs you’ve created.”
My face falls. How does this stranger know so much of me? So manythings that no one else does? “No. I’m not interested.” I turn and begin to walk away.
“That’s too bad. It’s your first and last chance. Good luck trying to free your brother when he’s no longer here in Millton.”
I stop in my tracks. Slowly, I look over my shoulder at the hooded figure. “What are you talking about?”
A wider smile stretches over the man’s face. “Your brother isn’t here. Hasn’t been in two months since I took him.” On cue, the man pulls out something from his robes and holds it in an open palm.
My heart drops. There in his hand is our father’s family ring. An undeniable source of proof.
“And if you don’t decide to take my offer…then I’ll be sure to beat him bloody and bruised until that’s all his skin knows. His body will ache bone-deep from how we use him. I’ll keep him alive until his body gives out and all he experiences is endless agony. And you, my dear, will be the reason for it.” The man pockets the ring again and begins to turn away.
“Stop!” I blurt, reaching a hand out before my fingers shake. My stomach curled into a coil like a snake.
How can I possibly be so selfish to leave Connor, who’s already been punished for my crime, to be left for a lifetime of pain?
The hooded man pauses.
“Alright…I-...” I whisper weakly, “I-I’ll make a deal with you.”
Fifty-Nine
- MARCELLA -
Present day
“No,” I whisper, shaking my head at the memory of the blood oath I struck with the hooded man. “No, no, no. Please, no!” I scream into the empty throne room as I can’t will my hands to remove the dagger from Cyrus.
Black blood smears across his skin, his hair. Contrasted heavily against his light features. His eyes shift behind his eyelids.
“Cyrus, can you hear me?” I lean closer to his face. “Open your eyes, please! Fight me!”
His eyes slowly peek open, before they shift to me. Opening a little more when they connect with mine.
“You have to fight me,” I whisper brokenly. “Please.”
Lifting a weak hand, he cups my cheek. “Did they all get out?”
I nod, unable to form a word without breaking completely.
A shaking grin lifts his lips, a haze of peace in his eyes. “I meant it when I said my heart is yours…whether you wish to keep it, or slay it.”
His other hand he rests over mine on the dagger. “I’ve been in love with you for as long as I can remember. I thought I could shove it away. That perhaps I could find someone new. But the fact of the matter is that anyone I see…anyone I tried to shift my affections to, all I could think of was you. All I could ever see, dream of, think of…wasyou.”
The oath with the hooded man keeps me frozen. Calls for me to bleed him out. To end him. And yet, staring at the man in front of me, gentle as ever with kind hands and a loving gaze…
