It’s time to start making my own rules.
“If you do this, you are going to be hunted down.” Kaelis states it as a simple fact.
“And that is different from how I’ve lived my life until now?”
“You will never find safe quarter in this world again.”
I don’t miss his choice of words:in this world.His gaze is singular and as intense as ever. I glance at the rest of the crew. “Go.” They oblige me, and I take a step closer to the prince.
He doesn’t back down. If anything, there’s a spark of amusement in the voids of his eyes; my tenacity has always delighted him. “Kaelis, Iknow what you’re after and what you need to get it. If you think you canforcemy sister to ink her golden Major for you, I will fucking destroy you. She has been abused by one prince. I will not stand for her to ever be under the command of another.”
He leans back slightly, insulted. “What makes you think I would?” I open and shut my mouth, looking away. Kaelis catches my chin with his knuckles, gently guiding my face back to his so he can look into my eyes. “I will protect you, and her. I swear it on my life.”
Not his name or his titles, because we both know he doesn’t really care about those…but hislife.One thing I know Kaelis values.
I dip my chin.
“I know you’re hurt, Clara, so I don’t blame your anger. But I am not your enemy,” he says, gentle but firm.
“I know,” I whisper, glancing in the direction of my crew.
“Good. We shouldn’t waste any more time.” He releases me.
I catch up to the rest of them quickly; Jura has taken the lead with the lantern. Kaelis isn’t far behind me. As I fall into step with them, I give Gregor a pointed look. “Guard her with your life.”
He scoffs, mildly offended. “You think I wouldn’t?”
No. And that’s the only reason why I’m allowing him to touch her.
I toss the key ring to Ren. “Unlock the doors—it’s the large iron one. I assume they’re all keyed the same down here.” There aren’t enough keys on the key ring for every cell in Halazar to have a unique lock. Based on what’s there, I’m assuming it’s one for the dungeons, and then one key for each floor above. “We’ll start with the dungeons, then move up to the others.”
“Is that wise?” The moment Jura asks, I arch my brow. “Aren’t they dangerous criminals?”
“ ‘Dangerous criminals’ like me?” I ask. “Like Arina?”
“I…You…” She swallows and looks away, clearly uncomfortable in her guilt at the suggestion. “You both were different.”
“Yes. And no.” I look to my sister. Ren continues to hover uncertainly, keys in his hand. “Therearedangerous criminals here. But not all of them are. Tell me, Jura, how many more would you condemn toArina’s fate? What is worse: freeing a hundred criminals or imprisoning one innocent man?”
Her lips part, but there’s no sound. Her gaze drifts to Arina. Every scar etched across my sister’s body reads as a narrative of Oricalis’s unyielding cruelty. Jura’s gaze softens some, then hardens with her resolve. I know her as well as I know my sister, and I’m certain she’ll make the right choice.
“Besides,” I continue, “I’m destroying this place one way or another. But my fight is with Oricalis and all who uphold the throne, not with those who are also crushed underneath their heel. Good or evil, I’m not their judge, nor will I be their executioner. I’ll give them a chance to survive. The rest is on them.”
Jura says nothing more.
I scan the rest of them. “Any other objections?” No one speaks, not even Kaelis. “Good.” I nod to Ren and then begin the march out of Halazar, once and for all.
Ren does as instructed and unlocks cell doors along the way. Three of the remaining four cells on the third level are empty. One bars in a corpse that sends a shiver down my spine.It could’ve been Arina.
On the second level of the dungeons, we find our first living prisoner.
“Go,” I command, my voice echoing off the barren walls loud enough for any others on the floor to hear. “Halazar ends today. Your life is yours again.”
He doesn’t waste precious time questioning or second-guessing. Instead, with a strength his withered frame shouldn’t have, he scrambles up and pushes past us.
We carry on like this, Ren dashing ahead and unlocking doors, the rest of us—save for Kaelis and Gregor—throwing open the doors and telling people to go.
We emerge into Glavstone’s office to a cacophony of alarm bells reverberating through the halls and passages of Halazar. Their desperate clanging carries across the Farlum River like the frantic cries of dying beasts. But any help will come far too late.
