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The court is packed with soldiers and korabi nobility. I see hundreds of korabi who once treated me as a friend, but were greatly disappointed by my shame. If anybody else had Lyric in custody, they would be strutting into this hall in triumph. I am making up for past sins, and as such there is no fanfare. I can hear each of my footsteps falling as hundreds of eyes stare at me.
I go before King Krush not in the full dress uniform I once wore when standing in this hallowed space as his father’s guard, but in my bounty hunter’s harness. I know what I have become. I know how far I have fallen. And I know there is no redemption, not even now that I have brought them the woman they fear more than anyone.
Statues of the last thirteen kings have been installed around the throne. The initial notion was to create humility in the one who occupied the throne, remind him that death comes to all. But the most recent statue stands over Krush’s left shoulder. King Krash. The king I failed. The one I lost.
I cannot look directly at it. It may only be carved of stone, but it brings back memories of a vicious and bloody death that I should have been able to prevent.
“Your majesty,” I intone, going to one knee before the throne. I do not make eye contact with Krush. I can already see his sneering smirk in my mind’s eye. I have wondered if my role in his father’s death was of satisfaction to Krush. Not only did it allow him to ascend the throne many decades early, it also allowed him to cast me out. “I beg your forgiveness, and make an offering of the human who led the attack on the palace.”
“So. You bring me my father’s killer,” Krush says. “About time.”
He has not changed much from the brash soldier I used to know, but I cannot begrudge him his poor opinion of me.
“Have we scheduled the execution?” he asks his advisor. “I want it to be public. And painful. I want the screams recorded and inscribed on the wall of traitors. I want them played at the coming in and the going out of every court from now until the end of my reign, so her suffering will be eternal.”
I have no intention of allowing Krush to kill Lyric. She is far more precious than this beast of a king could ever understand. He does not honor her bravery, or admire her spirit. He sees her as a human embarrassment to be crushed. Perhaps literally. I cannot argue for her directly. It would shock the court and it would no doubt mark me as even more of a traitor than they already believe me to be. To confess to having softer feelings for a human would be to debase myself in the eyes of all who listen.
“Sire, if I may…”
“You’re still here?”
That is as close as I am going to get to permission to speak.
“She doesn’t remember who she was. She doesn’t remember who she is.”
Krush is intelligent. He does not need the problem of those circumstances laid out for him. Executing someone who has no recollection of their crimes is unsatisfying to say the least. There can be no atonement when there is no memory.
“Not being able to remember does not make her any less culpable for her crimes.”
“Agreed. But there will be little satisfaction in punishing her for something she doesn’t remember. Her memories are starting to return, but she is a long way from knowing who she is, or what she has done. We have waited a year to mete justice to her. We can wait a few days, weeks, or even months more. There is much that can be done to a human. They are soft and weak, but they regenerate and tolerate pain very well.”
My words lay out a cruel path, but it is one that might allow her to survive—at least a little longer. She will not die today.
Krush is nodding. He likes spectacle. He likes revenge. He loves displays of power.
“We will bring her before the court and torment her for their amusement. We will make an example of her before all other scum. The punishment of the human rebel will be broadcast to absolutely every corner of Megaris. Millions of eyes will witness what happens to humans who believe they can resist our order, and who take action against us.” He looks at me directly. “You captured her, so you will do the honors. You will defile the human, and you will do it at my bidding.”
He intends to humiliate me, thinking I would consider mating with her to be a hardship. The king does not suspect I would never allow anybody else to touch her. She is mine. Mine to capture. Mine to love. Mine to hurt.
