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“King or not, Faenir will kill you if anything happens to me.”
“I am counting on it,” Gildir said through a grin. “He will come and prove himself to be the monster he is. You may have softened him in the eyes of our people but that was doomed not to last.”
“Fuck you.”
“Careful, Arlo, I would not wish for you to ruin the chance to see your sister before you die. Myrinn told me your wishes… I know you would do anything for her.”
I stilled, swallowing hard as the image of Auriol filled my mind. Within my chest, tied in knots around my heart, was a cord. At one side it pulled towards my sister as it always had. The other yanked back towards Haxton, towards the man I had left behind.
“Monsters are for slaying, Arlo,” Gildir muttered at my side, facing towards Haxton as though searching the darkness for Faenir as I did, “Never for ruling.”
31
For the sake of your sister, play your part convincingly.
Gildir’s threat clawed through my mind.Play your part.During the carriage journey Gildir had explained how my visit to court would proceed. How I would be presented before Claria and the crowd of gentry as a witness to Faenir’s crime. Except that was not all I was here for now. Myparthad altered, from being a witness to a partner in his crime.
Myrinn’s death was never meant to happen. Gildir wanted me to know that he enjoyed watching my expression as he drove home just how I had killed her… it was my doing. This deviation from Gildir’s perfectly planned story only aided in proving both Faenir’s and my crime to the people of Evelina as a way of ensuring they would not wish to see us take the crown.
There was no proof that Faenir had killed Frila, but Gildir was confident nonetheless, only confirming to me that he’d sent his own sister, one who’d stood firmly at his side with equal views, to her death.
What of Haldor? He had left with Faenir. Could he have stopped him from falling into the trap laid out for him?
Hope was a strange concept as Gildir guided me through the ominously lit corridors woven within Nyssa. With each shuddering inhale I smelt the thick scents of damp earth. The further we got into the Great Tree of Life, the more my legs ached. My chest tightened with each breath, rasping in the pits of my throat as though liquid was within it.
I could feel my life bleed away with time. The rotting sickness I had delayed for so long finally caught up with me. It was greedy and rushed, racing to claim me before I could dodge it for another time.
Gildir led the parade ahead, a circle of decorated guards who regarded me with all-consuming hatred behind him. To them I was no longer the man who could withstand the touch of death. I was a killer.
There was nothing I could do but keep my stare ahead, focusing on each step to ensure my legs did not give out. The promise of seeing Auriol once more before it was too late kept me going.
What will she think when she sees me?Tired and weak, would she know the moment her eyes laid upon me? In my mind’s eye the cloudy vision of my sister broke through the chaos.I saw her glaring at me with the same look the guards shot my way.Gritting my teeth, I could not dwell on what could be, when I was moments away from finding out.
I recognised the destination from my first visit to Nyssa. Unlike before, the doors leading to the throne room were left open due to the crowd of people that overflowed from them, so large that they could not fit completely within.
A path was made between them. No one needed to move a muscle to allow us to pass through. Once they bowed as Gildir swept before them, chin raised and shoulders rolled back, they glowered at me.The weight of their hateful glares forced more pressure upon me. Although I cared little for what they thought, I knew there was no coming back from this, no changing their minds now. Some elves spat across the floor before my feet. Others cursed my presence. Many wept with Myrinn’s name, a whisper across their lips.
“Bring forward the killer.” Claria’s aged voice was recognisable even at a distance. It rang out across the crowd, silencing them. If I closed my eyes, I would have believed that no one was left around us. “I wish to look into his soul when he tells me why he decided to take the life of my darling Myrinn.”
A sharp sword was suddenly at my back; it kept me moving until the twisted throne of wood came into view with the hunched figure of Queen Claria sitting upon it like a child.The Queen’s expression was void of any knowledge of this charade, yet I could see the satisfied glimmer in her grey-glazed eyes that she was enjoying every moment of this.
Gildir stopped before his grandmother and bowed. The bend of his back was so dramatic I was surprised he did not extend a hand and wave it before him. The crowd was so focused on me that they did not notice the hungry grin he flashed my way before he took his place at the Claria’s side.
That was when I saw her.Stiff and straight-backed, her face covered with a white, lace veil, Auriol stood waiting for Gildir’s return. I knew it was her as though I knew my own self. Through the veil I could feel her gaze piercing through me. I longed to see her face, to know the truth of how she saw me, exhausted and covered in someone else’s blood. Blood the storm’s rain had done more to smudge then wash away completely.
My knees cracked against the ground, the pain no more than a whisper.
“Do you have anything to say for your crime?” Queen Claria bellowed.
Play your part.
As if to remind me Gildir reached out for my sister, longer fingers curling around Auriol’s hand. She tried to pull away, but he held firm. As his knuckles paled, I longed to scream out and beg him to stop.
Play your part.
“I have means to make you talk if required,” Claria called out, attempting to draw my attention back to her.
“I did it,” I spluttered, urgent and rasped. “I killed Myrinn.”
