“Long may she reign.”
PART
THREE
We buried her today: our beautiful queen, our beloved sister.
She deserved a grand procession, like the mighty queens before her. Her people should have packed the streets, lighting candles in her honor and throwing flowers at her feet. Saying their goodbyes.
But the Usurper forbade it.
So we took Althea the Good to the temple and built a pyre. Beneath a weeping sky, we spoke the words of parting and pressed holy kisses to her forehead. We anointed her bloodied body, wrapped it in white shrouds, and released her to the Ancients.
And when all that remained of her was ash, we prepared for the worst.
—THE DEATH & BURIAL OF QUEEN ALTHEA,WRITTEN DOWN BY THE ACOLYTES
THE FIVE DECREES OF CRESSIDA THE VICIOUS
A nightly curfew is in effect. Citizens must be in their homes at dusk and remain there until dawn. Anyone in defiance of this order will be shot on sight.
Royal Army officers are authorized to raid any household and arrest anyone who does not cooperate with their search. If a traitor is found, every household member will be arrested and brought in for questioning.
Titles and holdings belonging to traitors, dead or fled, will be seized and redistributed among citizens who have proven their devotion to Queen Cressida.
All citizens who willingly turn in patriots will be well compensated.
Those who refuse to swear an Oath of Loyalty will be executed.
Long live the Queen.
FIFTY-THREERUNE
SOREN’S ARMY SECURED THEcapital. Soldiers swarmed like ants down every street, kicking in doors that wouldn’t open for them and dragging the inhabitants out. Those who made oaths of loyalty to the queen of Cascadia were spared; those who refused were shot in front of their families.
Most took the oath.
Anyone connected to the old regime who hadn’t escaped the city was brought in and interrogated. Those who refused to talk were tortured. If they still refused, they were executed. Those who talked spared themselves an extra night or two, but once they ran out of information to extract, they were executed, too.
Many witches were happy to hunt down the very people who once hunted them. But at the fringes, Rune detected a growing unease.
“They’re afraid,” said Seraphine one night, her voice cloaked by a silencing spell, preventing the two witches posted outside Rune’s bedroom from listening to their conversation.
Rune was trapped here. Every door and window was sealed with Cressida’s magic, and they had encased Rune’s hands in witch restraints, taking them off only to let her eat or relieve herself.
All day and night, two witches were posted outside her door, and when Runewaslet out—for a single hour, at dinner—these guards were her escorts, reporting her every word and action to Cressida.
Rune was like an expensive jewel, locked up tight. If something happened to her, Cressida would lose her only chance of resurrecting Elowyn and Analise.
The only reason Cressida let Seraphine visit was because Seraphine was powerless to help Rune. Everyone was.
“There’s a growing number of witches who don’t support her but will never stand against her so long as she has an army at her disposal.”
Rune couldn’t exactly blame them.Shewas terrified of Cressida.
“As long as she has Soren’s army, and as long as she succeeds in raising her sisters, no one will speak against her.”
“So nothing can be done,” said Rune. Her palms itched beneath the iron restraints that fully encased her hands.
