“And then you would murder her,” I bite out.
Adalbrecht shrugs. “Of course. But she would have died happy, and you took that from her too. I do owe you, you know. It’s impossible to find a binding mark like this anywhere else; the prefects don’t let that secret out of their sight. ThePfennigeistgave me an excuse to call them in without getting my hands dirty. After that, all I had to do was make sure you and the boy kept each other occupied.”
My belly feels like it’s turned to lead. I did this. I made this possible. The dance, the guest room, the charade ofimproper interest—in the end, I was always something to be used.
Adalbrecht touches thenachtmahragain. It convulses, then begins to shrink. Emeric doesn’t so much as stir a finger.
“Do you know what we do to thieves in Bóern?” Adalbrecht asks calmly.
The answer to this kind of question is, as ever, no. Or: “No, m’lord.”
“It depends on what’s stolen. What do you think the punishment would be for a treacherous maid who stole her mistress’s name? Who stole her life?” Adalbrecht watches themahrshrivel to the size of a beetle. It slithers over Emeric’s throat.
“I—I don’t know, m’lord,” I stammer.
Themahrcrawls into Emeric’s ear.
Adalbrecht’s blazing eyes flick over to me as he rests a hand on the back of Emeric’s skull. “Think harder.”
The answer should be no, but— “Hanging,” I say, desperate.Little thieves go to the gallows.
A jolt runs through Emeric, his brow furrowing with pain. Adalbrecht looks at me, waiting.
He wants worse.
“Hanging,” I say swiftly, “but—but the maid drops into a barrel, one that’s been lined with nails. So she tears herself to pieces thrashing on the noose.”
Emeric quiets.
“Good girl,” Adalbrecht says. “That will do.”
What have I done?
Adalbrecht enlightens me, shaking out his hands. “As thanks for bringing me the prefect, I will give you a choice. Tomorrow night, I will arrest Gisele von Falbirg’s maid for the crimes of thePfennigeist. The day after, Gisele will marry me in the afternoon. Her maid will be hanged, just as you’ve described, at the end of the wedding ceremony. Gisele herself will die after the wedding night. You can play either role, and so can she. So here is my gift to you: a day to decide which of you goes to the gallows, and which of you goes to the altar.”
My fists clench in my skirts. “There’s nothing to keep her from running.”
“You are a thief and a liar. I am certain you can be convincing.” Adalbrecht brushes a bit of grime from Emeric’s shoulder. “And if you aren’t . . . we will find out how large amahrneeds to grow before it pulps a boy’s skull from the inside.”
I’m going to vomit.
He’s smiling in the gentle, savage way that says he knows it’s over.
He knows he’s got me. He knows I’ll do it, because I wear my own greed on my face.
I hate him so much. I want to seize the copper knife and see if all his blood burns blue. But he’ll kill Emeric before I can put even a scratch on him.
“Why are you doing this?” I spit instead. “You were born intoeverything. A family, power, wealth—”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” he says flatly. “So long as Bóern is strong, it is a threat to the imperial throne, unless that throne ismine. I watched my father send my brothers to their deaths, one after the other to thank House Reigenbach for keeping the empire safe. He bowed to an empress when we deserved to be kings. Then he sent me, and all I had on the battlefield were my nightmares. You should understand better than anyone. This isn’t about petty squabbles or silly games; it’s about taking control of my own life. I’m doing this to survive.”
And for just a moment, the mountain shudders, candor cleaving down to the raw bedrock. He believes it. He believes that he is a victim, because the life he has is not the one he thinks he is owed. That in that way, the world betrayed him, just as it betrayed me. That in this, he knows me; in this, we are the same.
But he will never understand that girls like me become liars, thieves, ghosts, all to survive men like him.
“I stole from spoiled nobles who barely missed the money,” I hiss. “If you didn’t like your life, you could have vanished into the empire. You could have lived like the rest of us, but you didn’t want to lose your castle. This isn’t about survival, it’s about comfort. You’re nothing but a murderer and a monster.”
Adalbrecht closes the distance between us in a stride. He catches my chin in those iron-hard fingers and drags me in close, smiling that awful smile. “And you still dream of me.”
