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“We have assumed the death of Nathaniel’s fiancé and were very surprised when she came back, but even more so with the news that she bears. It’s so shocking that I advise you all to brace yourselves. Winter?”
Winter returned her attention to the queen. “Yes?”
“Please repeat what you told me in our private meeting. Repeat your confession to our kind leaders and the people gathered below. Reveal the truth.”
Just like that, all eyes were on her, an unbearable heaviness that weighed down her soul. She pushed past it, rolling her shoulders against it and the heavy chains, then counting to ten in her head to calm herself down. She opened her mouth.
The doors slammed open before she could begin speaking. Footsteps stomped forward with loud, uneven thuds before a figure stumbled into view, then giggled incessantly. Hazy green eyes looked around before realizing that she had just interrupted an important moment, which made Nicola cringe hard and whirl to face the queen.
“Nicola—” Nicholas hissed in anger.
“Mother, I’m so sorry,” Nicola said, ignoring her brother. “I was told we all needed to come, and I just got the message. You see, I was reading up in the library to find evidence and lost track of time. It gets boring in there when there’s nothing but books to keep one company, so I got carried away.”
No one could have misconstrued what carried away meant. Nicholas was the first to voice it out, disgusted.
“Are you drunk?”
“As I said, I got carried away.”
“Carried away? Are you serious? You—”
“Silence, both of you.” Helena’s voice was like thunder in the halls, silencing everyone. “Nicola, you bring disgrace to our family, but that will be dealt with, too. Stand aside while we continue this trial.”
“What trial? What—” Again, Nicola whirled, then gasped as she latched on to the sight of the chains. “Brother! Winter! Oh, my, goodness.”
“Nicola…” It was Nicholas again, this time sounding more controlled, almost cajoling. When Nicola looked up at him, he smiled and gave an encouraging nod. She blinked.
“Yes, yes, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize what this was.” She cleared her throat, sounding so morose and regretful. “Mother, can I please apologize to the crowd first? If it would not be too much to ask. I am deeply regretful of my actions.”
Silence.
“Very well.”
Nicola beamed at her chance, then struggled to sober up and bow down. But she managed, spreading a murmur over the crowd.
“I’m very sorry, house leaders and people of Ostrov Krov…that it took me a while to get to the bottom of this. But now I have the answers that you are looking for.”
Light blasted a wall in the hall, then a flat area outside the castle. The same image formed on the two spaces, starting when the queen had closed the door to the private dressing room. Like magic, the rest of the scene unfolded to where Winter goaded her until the queen revealed her confession, bit by dirty bit. It was interwoven with Winter recording her journey upon procuring the video camera, recording when the seller explained where the device was from and how it worked—with multiple confirmations from other merchants. The entire video wasn’t overly long, ending with Helena’s sweet, smug words.
“Confess. If you truly love my son, make everyone believe it was you. Then I will spare him.”
The murmur turned into a hush, eerie and powerful. Shock glissaded at Winter from all directions, but it was a time bomb ticking and coming to an end. She froze when that snap came, a shattering of movement, voices, vibes—everything—turning order into chaos. Her gaze strayed to the queen, no longer as put-together as the woman seemed to realize that she had been cornered. For the first time, the panic was there, then a great surge of anger as those soft eyes hardened and flicked towards Winter.
You trapped me,they seemed to say.
“Yes,” Winter mouthed, unable to resist.
The fury slammed into her hard, like a physical punch. The next few seconds were a blur as the energies around her turned haywire, her system unable to take it and shutting down in reaction. When she managed to return to awareness, Nate had hauled his body to cover hers, blocking whatever attack was coming, but she didn’t feel it hit him.
“Nate,” she called out, anyway, unable to hear her voice through the cacophony. But she felt his hand clasp hers and heard his voice whispering in her soul.
“I’m here.”
The chains were taken off them, and it dawned that someone was helping them. It also dawned that there were lesser attacks than she had anticipated and more house leaders forming a circle to protect them, holding off whatever aggression was thrown their way. Unable to do anything in the hum of power, she peered down and made a sound when she discovered that there was restlessness below, too, and houses banding together to hold off guards. But there was something else.
“Rogues!” she screamed. “Rogues below!”
In the throng of people fighting, how she spotted Nicholas was a miracle. She shouted his name, too, endlessly and repeatedly, until her voice was hoarse and her throat was sore. It didn’t matter because someone heard, and soon the vampire who had been sneaking to make his escape was yanked back with precision and held down with intention. Nicholas howled, refusing to stay down until Nicola flew into the grounds, an angel of vengeance.
