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I stand from my throne, filled with a righteous rage that has my hairs standing on end. “You did well soldier. You’ll be rewarded, but we’re going to deal with this first. Elizabeth, come.”
When we reach the dungeons, I find Kato opening the cell for Titus and Korinthia. I let him lead them out, enjoying the way their eyes widen when they see Elizabeth and I.
“Wondering why we’re not assassinated yet?” I ask.
They exchange a worried glance. It’s almost hard to see them like this. While they both had inflated ideas of their own worth before, they now look like wet rats who would chew off their own tails to escape a trap. It seems for them, the man and woman did not exist independent of titles.
“I don’t know what you heard, my son,” says Korinthia, putting her hands up defensively. “But we would never plan such a thing.”
Titus licks his lips as quick as a serpent. “But if we did, you would want to be careful how you treat us,” he says.
Korinthia’s head snaps toward him. She shakes her head almost imperceptibly, urging Titus to stop talking.
“You’d have to worry that plans were already in effect that could catch up with you if we died,” continues Titus. “If we were planning something like that, keeping us alive would be your only hope of safety.”
“I was looking forward to starting fresh as king,” I say. “Leave the violence in my past and focus on loving my beautiful queen. But I’m going to make an exception for the two of you. Kato, take them to the town center. It has been too long since we’ve had a public execution. Let’s show the city what happens to traitors.”
“No!” shouts Titus. “You can’t do this to us!”
“Roark, think about this,” pleads my mother.
“About what?” I ask. “The fact that you both planned to have me assassinated twice now? Or that you just made it painfully clear I can’t let you live without fearing that you’ll try to hurt my queen? No. You’re both all out of chances. I take no joy in it ending this way, but it will end.”
I look to Elizabeth, who gives me a quick nod in return, even though her face looks pale.
“Take them, Kato. We’ll be there shortly.”EpilogueElizabethIt has been a month since Korinthia and Titus were executed in front of the entire city. I thought I wouldn’t be able to look, but I did. I watched as they hanged because being queen isn’t just about doing what’s easy or what makes me feel good--I’ve learned that from Roark. I’ll carry the weight of their deaths for as long as I live, but Roark has taught me to bear the weight with dignity, to hold it deep inside and use it as fuel when I’m presented with difficult moments.
I haven’t returned to see my foster parents since Roark took me the night everything went to hell, and I don’t know if I ever will. A small part of me still longs for the love and affection that I never received from them as a child, but I know it won’t happen. They took me in for a paycheck, not because hey wanted a child to love. They treated me like dirt because they hated that I was destined for more. Jealousy turned any positivity they could have had toward me to poison.
I’d like to think if they knew what Titus had planned for me they wouldn’t have been so happy to get rid of me, or maybe they would have even treated me better… But I doubt it. Frankly, the more I think of it, the more I realize I can live without trying to fix that part of my life. Moving on gets easier every day. The palace is my home now, and Roark, my king, is my family.
I’m sitting in one of the circular dressing rooms on the ground floor of the palace. Huge bay windows surround me, letting in startling views of the crisp blue winter skies and flurries of snow that buffet the frozen trees outside. The palace decorators have already made a winter paradise in the interior of every room, picking out color schemes that scream winter bliss and cozy comfort. I bite my lip, watching in the mirror as Marcella, Kadene, and Niera circle me and work on my dress, hair, and makeup.
“I’m so excited,” says Marcella, who hasn’t stopped smiling since she showed up to get started this morning. “A royal wedding,” she says wistfully. “The entirety of the Shrouded Kingdom is talking about it. There will be cameras everywhere.”
“I heard Mikah will be there,” says Kadene, who looks meaningfully at Niera.
Niera studies the floor, speaking in a forced tone of disinterest. “Really? I hadn’t heard that,” she says.
Marcella winks at me. “You look particularly lovely, by the way, Niera. Is that a new dress?”
