AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Fifty
Aika
Achingly familiar footsteps echo on the stone dungeon floor, and my heartbeat falters.
I didn’t expect him to come.
When Remy comes into view, illuminated by a few flickering lanterns, his face is filled with a sorrow I’ve never seen him wear before.
He thrusts something at me through the doors — a pile of clothes. He turns around while I put them on, and I wonder if it’s as much to hide his face as to give me privacy.
I carefully guide my shoes through the leggings, setting the slippers he brought me aside. Jealousy is a ridiculous emotion, given the circumstances. Still, I can’t help but wonder which woman’s shoes he just happened to have lying around.
“All done,” I announce.
He turns around, scanning me briefly.
“Going to take those ridiculous shoes to your grave? Literally.” He chokes out a bitter laugh.
“May as well go out in style.” I shrug.
I’m not about to admit I am stuck in these sands-forsaken shoes, that I’ll be hobbling all the way to the noose in them.
A beat of silence passes.
“What happened after I left the hallway?” he asks.
“Nothing.” It’s not even a good lie, but I’m too tired to come up with anything better.
“Nothing,” he repeats, his tone mocking. “So, you panic about anyone finding out you’re the vigilante, then I leave, your dress magically tears itself, and you have an epiphany and decide to turn yourself in?”
He waits for me to respond, but there’s nothing I can tell him.
“Do you not understand what’s at stake here? My mother has been tearing apart the kingdom trying to find the vigilante, and you come right out and admit to it?”
I notice he doesn’t say his father, and I wonder if Mother used her considerable influence with the queen to propel that manhunt.
“Why is she so worried about a criminal who only targets other criminals? It’s not as though her precious nobles are at risk.”
He lets out an angry breath through his nose. “When the people stop trusting the crown to do justice, crime gets more prevalent everywhere. It puts everyone at risk.”
A bitter laugh escapes me. “If the crown isimpotent, Remy, maybe they should work a little harder to actually stop crime rather than just making it look like they’re trying.”
“The vigilante is a criminal!” His voice rises on the last word. “Why are you so determined to martyr yourself for the sake of your right to burn people alive?”
“I don’t know, Remy,” I yell right back. “Why isthe crownso much more upset over a bunch of dead slavers than the innocent people who were taken? Or maybe I’ve just missed all the human traders and drug pushers you’ve taken into custody tonight?”
I make a show of cupping my hands around my mouth and yelling, “Any slavers out there? No?”
Remy shakes his head furiously. “You really want to discuss the shortcomings ofthe crown,” he emphasizes the word like he knows I was referring to him, “when you’re facing the gallows?”
“If I’m facing the gallows, there will hardly be another time to discuss it.” I shrug with all the nonchalance I don’t feel.
“This isn’t funny, Gemma — Aika — whatever the hell your name is. I can’t get you out of this.”
“It’s Aika,” I mutter. “And I didn’t ask you to get me out of this.”
“So, what, you’ve just resigned yourself to hanging? Why would you do that?”
