“Fuck.” Sie’s voice was rough, his anger was rivaling mine. It was the only sound that reverberated throughout the tent and it felt deafening.
“Yes,” the healer admitted softly.
“And King Lunder’s death was not an accident as the Tennebrisian Kingdom was formerly informed, am I correct?”
“Yes, that’s correct.” Her voice was soft, weak.
“Tell us how he died.”
Moli’s eyes were brimming with tears, and I could tell she was fighting against something. “Po-poison,” she stuttered. “It was poison.”
“And you were there when King Lunder’s death was announced as an accident? When it was told to everyone that he died from choking?”
The girl’s head nodded, the tears that were pooling in her eyes were now falling faster over her dark skin.
“And shortly after Sie was arrested, we found the same exact poison in his room when it was searched,” Synder announced. “This healer worked with Sie to kill the king.” Gasps coursed through the crowd watching the broadcast live. “Do you deny Sie had the poison in his room? That you were the one who supplied him with it?”
The healer said nothing.
“Fuck.” Sie stepped closer to the screen, his fists clenching at his sides. “Fucking deny it, Mols.” She still said nothing. It was almost as if she couldn’t speak. She was sobbing, but I couldn’t hear anything through the crowd’s angst.
The Lux King stepped forward. “You are hereby charged with working alongside Sie Axel Noren and assisting him with themurder of the Tennebrisian former ruler, King Hennley Joel Lunder.”
Before Moli could react, the Lux King engulfed her entire body in fluid, drowning her a couple feet above the stage for everyone to watch. Scottie took a step forward but halted, almost tripping. The movement was so subtle that most would have missed it, but my eyes were trained on her. She looked furious for the briefest moment before it was washed away, her emotions collected again into a calming mask, and I knew exactly what they were doing to her.
Athler.
Sie was screaming at the screen next to me, begging anyone to save the poor girl, even though no one could hear him. Peter rushed to his side, pulling him back a second before he would have destroyed Wells’ monitor.
I saw Savannah out of the corner of my eye, watching him warily. They were killing the healer, drowning her for everyone to see. The girl’s hands were clutching her throat, her face scrunched in agony as she struggled to breathe. The Lux King didn’t retract his powers until she stilled within the bubble of water he created, until her eyes were unmoving and her mouth slackened. Only then did he wave his hand, and the water dissipated. The girl’s body slammed onto the stage with a resounding crack, her leg twisted and snapped as it caught under her and her body collapsed into an odd angle.
Sie cursed, his rage palpable.
“We also have testimonies from multiple rank zero servants who grew up in the Noren household.”
They brought Sie’s family out in shackles.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!” Sie broke through Peter’s hold and punched the table next to him.
They all had dark hair, the resemblance between them uncanny, and my gut twisted as I knew immediately who they were. I was staring at my real father—at Sie’s father—and thatmeant… the boy with them was my half brother. He looked almost identical to Sie, just a younger version of him. His hands were clenched beneath chains, and his eyes widened as he took in the healer in a heap on the stage. He stilled, trying to reign in his anger. His wrist wasn’t burned, which meant he was too young to be witnessing this…
Peter stilled, giving up on trying to hold Sie back. Even Dovelyn looked shocked as she stared at the screen.
Multiple servants stepped forward, each giving a similar testimony about Sie’s childhood, about how he was brainwashed to believe he was better than everyone else. Every story was told in a calculated way, portraying Sie as a modeled version of his father. Each one hinted that there was no coming back from how he was raised. They recalled graphic, detailed memories of Sie being forced to compel them, how if he refused, his younger brother would suffer at their father’s hands. The abuse the servants were telling was horrific and sensing Sie’s radiating emotions, I didn’t think any of it was fabricated.
When they finished, soldiers pushed Sie’s father forward. “Maverich Blanch Noren, you are charged with maltreatment of your servants. You are guilty of murder by default, for brainwashing your son to act upon the ideals you installed in him and for—”
Sie’s screams blocked out of the rest of whatever Synder said. The Lux King stepped forward, casting the same water ability over Sie’s father—myfather’s—head. They were killing him. Realization dawned on me that I’d never get to meet him. I kept looking at my half brother, praying he wasn’t next. He was beaten. Bruises marred his skin, and he wasn’t standing up straight. He was fighting against his chains, stepping in front of their mother…
Sie was pounding into the shield Dovelyn placed over the monitor screen, screaming at the broadcast as he was forced to watch his father drown. I knew the method was intentional.Every painstaking detail the King did was intentional. He chose todrownthem, drown them because that’s what happened to Scotlind. Because as much as that night at the warehouse haunted her, it was also a nightmare for Sie. He relived it whenever he couldn’t sleep, watching the person he loved almost slip through his fingers. His emotions were the strongest, coming to my abilities like a moth to a flame. I didn’t know why I honed in on them because it started to become my own personal hell. I’d lay awake at night wondering what was happening to her, wondering what new horrors would destroy her once I finally got her back. Maybe I figured it was my own form of punishment. I didn’t deserve to sleep. I couldn’t, not while the King still had her.
The Dark Prince’s knuckles started to bleed. He didn’t stop punching into Dovelyn’s shield. He kept going, kept trying to make his fists connect with the monitor. I knew what he was feeling, what he was picturing—he wanted it to be the King’s face instead of a screen.
When Sie’s father was thrown on top of the healer’s corpse, they started ending the broadcast. “For now, the rest of the Noren family will undergo evaluations to see if they are guilty in aiding Sie.” The cameras flashed over Sie’s mother and brother. They were holding hands through their chains, his brother still standing protectively in front of her. His eyes were hard, his breathing ragged.
Sie stopped punching Dovelyn’s shield and dropped to his knees. “Greyland.” He whispered the name so softly, I wouldn’t have heard it without my heightened senses.
The Lux King stepped forward, stepping over the two people he’d just killed. “Please, let this serve as a reminder to you all,” he said as the crowd continued to flow out. “Do not trust anything Sie Noren or his accomplices say. They’re working against everything we have fought to build. They’re trying to eliminate and weed out the lower ranks, while we value allAdvenian life, even the life of servants. You’re not safe as long as Sie is still alive. But we will protect you. We will get through this hiccup in time together, and I promise you, I will not rest until we have Sie Noren’s head on a spike.”
