Sixteen
Sabina
It’s like the floor vanishes and I’m falling. Down, down, down. Eyes wide, I stare at the women in front of me. Time stops. We all wait. My lips part and I manage to regain feeling in my limbs.
“What did you call me?”
“Taylan? Of course we’ll use Sabina still, but that’s your real name, isn’t it?” There’s no judgment in Antonia’s tone.
I stagger toward the couch, then sit on the edge of the cushion. The others join me, Antonia and Charlotte taking the chairs across from me, Genevieve sits next to me.
“We aren’t going to turn you in, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Charlotte says.
“How did you figure that out but not see how she feels about the enforcer?” Genevieve asks.
“I don’t know. How didyounot see that she wasn’t anything like a normal royal?” Charlotte asks.
“She was Iskvalandian,” Genevieve snaps.
I hold my hand up. “Please. Go back. What is happening here? You all figured this out when?”
“You weren’t exactly princess material,” Antonia says.
“We pieced it together,” Genevieve adds.
“And you never said anything?” I ask.
“We had to be certain, especially after Katherine.” Charlotte looks over at Antonia. “And I wasn’t sure everyone would feel the same.”
“She means me.” Antonia crosses her arms over her chest.
“And how do you all feel about this?” I ask.
“Did you kill the emperor?” Charlotte blurts.
“What if I did?” Chills run down my spine as I recall his body rising.
“I’d ask why Elliot’s magic is still bound.” Charlotte lowers her eyes, then pulls on a stray thread on her skirt.
“You know about that?” I look at the others. “Do you all know about that?”
“We do now. Charlotte told us what her boyfriend said. About how when he uses his magic, it nearly kills him. How the emperor ties all the men to himself to give himself more power and to control them.”
I lean forward and take Charlotte’s hand. “What happens to him?”
“It’s terrible, Sabina. His back is covered in welts, sometimes they even split open. He can barely even walk after.”
“Did the emperor make him use his magic?” I ask.
She nods. “A few times.”
“What does his magic do?” I ask.
“He won’t tell me. He said it was too dangerous for me to know.”
I squeeze her hand. “I understand. Are there others? Did he say anything about that?”
She shakes her head. “I don’t know. He wasn’t even supposed to tell me but I saw the injuries and he was drinking to try to numb himself. He confessed everything.” She looks up at me, her eyes welling with tears. “It’s awful. He’s in so much pain when it happens. Why didn’t it stop? The prince—the new emperor—has him using it more than ever. He’s constantly in pain.”
