“My king, what is the meaning of this?” she asked.
“We have traitors in our very midst!” Elijah boomed. “Five alicorns have been found guilty of ferrying information to the Black Claw, betraying us to the cult that wishes to end our country so dearly!”
Shock and terror bust out amongst the audience. Elijah waved his hand. My heart plummeted as five alicorns were dragged onstage, all in chains. The terror within me mounted as I realized that Lady Iris was at the line’s head. Her hair was askew, and her robe was bloody. Her face had been beaten so badly it was barely recognizable. I searched the other faces, and realized… Elijah had arrested the entire Alicorn Court.
I wanted to run, but as Elijah had captivated the audience’s attention, guards had swarmed in out of nowhere. They surrounded the square, boxing us in and providing no way of escape.
Lady Iris spoke with a quivering voice. “My lord, I assure you, we’ve done no such—”
“Silence!” Elijah barked. “I will not tolerate betrayal in my kingdom! Tonight, all shall see the penalty for treason!”
A guillotine was brought onstage. Yeah, that’s right— an actual fucking guillotine, like the one they used to behead Marie Antoinette back in the revolutionary days of France. Some members of the Alicorn Court began to sob. Tightness grew in my chest as panic swelled, and all I could focus on was the greedy glittering of Gabby’s eyes, like she was excited to watch this.
“They didn’t betray the country. The Alicorn Court refused to give Eli the location of the alicorn stone,” Kiara whispered in horror. “He’s slaughtering them for it.”
The awful feeling that this was our fault sank in. The Alicorn Court had chosen to help us, not Eli. Now they were paying the price with their lives.
“They deserve a fair trial!” Ethan cried out. Elijah’s eyes flashed, and he searched the crowd for who had said such a thing, but couldn’t place the caller.
“I will have order amongst the fae!” Elijah cried out. “There is no fair trial for traitors and spies. Guards, ready the guillotine!”
Lady Iris stared at the guillotine as if it was her worst nightmare. I grabbed Ethan’s arm. “They helped us! We have to do something!”
“If we try anything, we’ll be slaughtered,” Theo said anxiously as he glanced around. “There are too many guards for us to fight off alone.”
I knew Theo was right, that we were outnumbered— but how could we just stand here and watch?
Lord Radcliffe came onstage. A bit of relief flooded through me. He was Lady Iris’ mate. He’d stand up to Eli and stop this.
Lady Iris must’ve been thinking the same thing. Tears flooded her face as she said, “Thank the gods. Please, tell them I’ve done nothing!”
Lord Radcliffe’s face was dispassionate. Then, in a cruel voice, he said, “I give no mercy to traitors.”
Lord Radcliffe changed into an alicorn. He put his head down as he charged forward, hooves pounding against the wooden stage. Lady Iris didn’t even have time to scream before the alicorn embedded its horn into her chest, spearing straight through her heart.
Iris’ head slumped to the side, and her body went limp. She collapsed onstage, dead, as Radcliffe pulled away his horn and the crowd roared with bloodlust. Radcliffe stood tall as his wife’s blood dripped down the point of his horn.
My hand went over my mouth. Lord Radcliffe’s loyalty to Elijah went so far, he was even willing to kill his ownmate.The sickening reality that Lady Iris was dead swept upon me, and there was nothing we could do about it. A guard grabbed the prisoner behind Lady Iris, stepping over her body as he shoved the prisoner to his knees in front of the guillotine. The alicorn was weeping as the guard forced his neck over the chopping block.
At this point, some people were trying to escape, mostly families with children. But the guards blocked the way with their swords, preventing the crowd from abandoning the square.
“No one is allowed to leave!” Elijah boomed. “All must see the consequences of betraying their king!”
Ethan clung me to his side and tried to block my eyesight so I didn’t see what happened, but he wasn’t quick enough. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the blade come down, and my ears rang with the swish of the guillotine. There was a harshthump, and I saw the man’s head come loose from his shoulders and land in a basket below the guillotine, eyes still wide open with shock. His neck spurted blood all over the stage, and his corpse slumped to the side. The guards moved his body out of the way as the next prisoner was dragged to the guillotine. She screamed and screamed, her throat emitting bloody murder until she was finally silenced by the blade as well.
I didn’t see the other deaths— Ethan had forced me into the front of his coat. His hand was on the back of my head, his other arm keeping a firm grip around my middle so I couldn’t move. But I’d seen the first, and I heard all the sounds. I could imagine every death one by one as lives were brought to a cruel end by the guillotine.
Ethan’s body sagged in disbelief, and I was able to sneak another glance. Eli began tossing the heads of the Court into the crowd. Some people screamed, though a couple of college boys ran forward laughing, kicking the heads back and forth to each other like balls, spewing blood all over the streets. A few shifters put the heads on spears and paraded them around, like they were trophies to show off in the spoils of war. Lady Iris’ body was nailed to the backboard of the stage. People laughed and threw things at her corpse, and nobody went to stop them.
The fae were cruel, wicked beings that desired blood. Tonight made me realize why the other supernatural races were so afraid of us. We slaughtered our own without mercy, then toyed with their bodies as if they were our playthings. It nearly made me sick to share their blood, to be a faerie myself.
“Is it over?” Odette whispered, face buried in Theo’s jacket. The other shifters had done the same thing Ethan had, and were refusing to let the other girls watch, save for Alexei— he was on his hands and knees, sobbing as he felt the aftereffects of every person that had died in the square. Kiara was kneeling beside him, rubbing his back and throwing desperate glances at the stage.
“It should be over soon. They’re all dead,” Ethan said, voice haunted. “Eli’s had his entertainment. He’ll begin calming the crowd.”
I hoped such a thing would happen, but it was at this point that Gabby strode forward. The crowd fell silent, and the torment of the dead stopped— Gabby spoke so infrequently, it was practically a treat to be addressed by her. Everyone was wondering what she would say.
Gabby folded her hands in front of her. “I need everyone to listen. The Black Claw plans to attack the city here, tonight.”
