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I was the only one left.
Balthazar strode to me, smacking the club in his hand. “Ah, my dear Petra,” he hissed. “Such strength you’ve shown.” I said nothing, my stare steady on his. “Let’s see if the Benevolent Saints will see you through.”
I heard the air whoosh around the club and then I was on the floor, stars swimming in my vision–
“Petra,” I heard in a sweet voice. “Petra, come downstairs. I made breakfast.” I tried to move my feet toward the familiar voice but they wouldn’t budge. “If you don’t come down here, Da’s going to eat it!” Larka. Da. And another voice calling my name, a female voice I didn’t recognize. I was afraid to move because I knew that the moment I began to pad toward the stairs, the words would dissipate. I knew this wasn’t real. Tears flooded my eyes as I rolled my head back and forth, spitting blood. I opened my mouth to scream that I was on my way, sure that if I responded it would make it real, but candlelight was flooding in, the room was on fire and–
I was alive.I was alive.
Rolling onto my side, I let reality take hold again. I sat up, my bones protesting, my muscles on fire. I pushed myself clumsily off the bloody floor, the shackles clanging against each other as I stood once again. The Board of Blood stared at me, their faces blank except for Higgins whose mouth hung slightly agape. Wiping my face on my bare shoulder the best I could, I straightened as tall as my broken ribs would let me, my blood soaked hair stuck to my back. My right eye was beginning to swell shut, but I made sure to look at each and every one of the men in front of me.
Ludovicus rose, stepping down from the dais. “My turn.”
The men parted to make way for their leader as he strolled toward me. My shoulders rose and fell in great heaves, each breath seeming to crack my ribs further. My thigh throbbed where the arrow had been wrenched away. Ludovicus circled me, his hands behind his back.
“The Saints have smiled upon you today, Petra,” he said in an amused growl. “Inkwell must raise them scrappy. Strong.” Still, I stayed silent, keeping my eyes locked on his, blood dripping from my chin down my dress. I was unsure whose blood I wore, but I was sure not all of it was mine. “Born on the Night of the Holy Stone of Blood Saints. Did you know, Petra, that you were the only child born in Eserene after the sun went down that day? The only child born when the world was darker than Hell itself?” I fought the urge to narrow my eyes. The pain in my ribs grew worse as rage built inside my chest at his pointless babbling. Ludovicus continued to circle. “It comes only once every three hundred years, you know. Some say those born that night are given the gift of Saints’ blood.” He paused in front of me, leaning his head close to my face. “What do you think of that?”
“Bullshit,” I said flatly, spitting blood onto the floor. Eyebrows raised throughout the room.
“Excuse me?” he hissed.
“Bull. Shit.” The words were daggers coming out of my bloodied mouth.
Garit lunged toward me but Anton and Higgins held him back as Ludovicus raised his palm in their direction. Ludovicus cocked his head, his eyes narrowing as a nauseating smile graced his lips. He leaned closer to me, his lips just inches from mine, but I did not break my gaze. “The holiest night of the year, and the Saints decided to grant life to a disgusting littlebitch.”
“The Saints have done nothing for me,” I uttered, my voice low, just as solid as his.
He pushed his lip out in a mocking face. “That isn’t true, now is it?” His voice had turned whiney, his tone a knife on glass. “You’ve survived thus far, have you not? You don’t believe there is any divinity behind that?” He leaned closer still and I was afraid that if our lips met I would gag. “The time has come to find out,” he whispered in my ear, each word clinging to my bones. I swallowed hard, staying silent. Finally, he nodded, pulling his head away, motioning for the brothers to retrieve something from the chest.
The Book of Saints.
“The time has come to take your vows,” Ludovicus said. “Then you will be ready for your final challenge. Please step forward, sweet Petra.” I obeyed, holding in a groan at the pain. He dipped his chin slightly and Arturius and Anton shuffled to me, producing keys from their pockets and unlocking my shackles. I rolled my wrists and ankles.
The fucking dagger.I still had the dagger strapped to my leg, something I had forgotten while having the life beat from me. My hands were free, if I could just–
“Right hand on the Book,” Ludovicus commanded, holding the Holy Book in his hands. I reluctantly placed my hand on it, the leather uncomfortable and unfamiliar, like the Saints knew I was a waste of their time. I just needed the dagger... “Please, recite the following vows. For the crown, you will bleed.”
I took a deep breath, flexing my jaw against the pain. “For the crown, I will bleed.” My hand grew warm upon the book. It felt every bit of wrong.
“For the Court you will bear.”
“For the Court, I will bear.” The other brothers snickered quietly.
“For the King you will live.”
“For the King I will live.” And where was King Belin through all of this?
“And for the realm…” A pause, the leather growing warmer under my fingers. Ludovicus’ eyes rolled slightly back in his head. If I could maneuver the right way, I could get to the dagger and send it flying into his throat before he knew it. “You will die.”
“For the realm, I will die.”
“Very good,” Ludovicus whispered.
The men moved behind me. “Your final test, my darling.” Balthazar walked to the wooden box and picked up a sheathed dagger, the gemstones laid in gold catching the light as he placed it in Ludovicus’ palm. I didn’t know if those chained alive to the columns had died or if my brain shut them out, but a silence fell, so thick and eerie that it made me want to weep, made me want to hide. “Katia, Keeper of the Benevolent Saints, deserves something so precious, don’t you think? And how lovely that you’ve worn a diadem matching hers.” He unsheathed the dagger. “Walk to me, curtsy, and present your wrist, please.”
The brothers looked to me expectantly. Everyone was dead or dying. No one was here to save me. It was on me to make it through.
My feet moved of their own accord, my eyes glued on Ludovicus as his lips turned up in a smile so wicked I felt it in my bones. I reached him, the humiliation of conceding to the cocksucker creeping in. My knees bent and I dipped into a curtsy in front of him, raising my wrist to his waiting hand, just as I’d been instructed. Just as I had practiced.Do something, dammit.
