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Von Lemerch had not even bothered sitting after presenting the evidence. One by one, the others rose.
Sophina Dorova cast me a coy look as she stood. If she voted to kill my son over a childhood rivalry with Eki, hanging Vanya was nothing.
Mar Heridan was next—another person on my list. I nodded to him, listing the bones I wished I could break.
Savva Novikov, Castle Osipova, Urs von Uster, and Forentiy Makarov followed. Kazimir Bersigov, attending on behalf of the grandfather and whose name he took, gave me a searching look before joining the others, shaking his head. He had seen my desperationwhile questioning him. Seen the cold mask I had clung to while questioning her in the prison disintegrate.
“The vote is unanimous,” the crier declared with obvious satisfaction. “Vanya Komarova of Lowtown, you are sentenced to be hung until dead.”
The last word rang out through the high hall, and I watched Tempest, still in the flying leathers I had given her, for a reaction, a flinch, a sign of fear. There was nothing. Would I have seen the challenge I craved if she knew I still thought of her as the wind which tore through my life? Despite knowing her name and actions, I could not let Tempest go, for I could think of her no other way no matter how she hated me now.
The woman who I took to my bed, who laughed as she soared across the sky in my arms, who I had wished to run away with, was not the one standing before me.Because she had not been real, I reminded myself for the thousandth time.They studied me and crafted her persona, using her power to reinforce the illusion. They made me lose myself around her, forgetting revenge and duty both.
Let her go, the voice inside said again.She was never meant for you.
I forced my clenched fists to relax. Unable to stay a moment longer, I left without a word through the private door behind the podium. It closed with finality.
It was done.
I’d been raised to rule but had no idea how to carry the responsibility. Despite my decisions two months ago already resulting in fire and death, I knew this was the moment I would carry with me. The one that might break me before I even wore the glass crown.
In the private meeting chamber, I collapsed, staring into nothingness. Tal needed me. The clans had not responded to thecoronation invites, Denyev had declared open rebellion upon hearing of my father’s death, and the Talians were not far behind. I had already ordered the prison emptied of anyone held only for dissent or without evidence. It did not matter, for more were brought in each day on proven charges of violence.
I pulled out my new journal, the old one lost in the tunnels, and could not stop myself from tracing her clenched jaw and deadened eyes. Perhaps when all the images had poured onto the crisp paper, I could forget.
The door swung open again and Helia marched inside as if she was already queen. She settled opposite me and pushed her glasses back up. The same dark hair and same nose as Vanya and her twin sister mocked me. Slightly taller and plumper, she looked more like their country cousin than the real princess. After staring while trying not to stare at Vanya for the last five bells, meeting Helia’s gaze took strength I had not thought I still possessed.
She drummed the table, relaxed in the plush chair. “Why do the human dead stay here while the other animals go somewhere else? Where are the horse Spirits? The ants?”
“It’s how it has always been. Maybe they go somewhere else, happier where there are no humans,” I said distractedly.
“Or the gods doomed us to stay here, while the rest could pass on to the land of the dead.”
I shook my head, in no mood to debate theology. Still, I engaged. It was that or allow the scream out. “I wouldn’t blame the gods. If we’re trapped here, it’s probably due to our own stupidity.”
“There seems to be enough stupidity to go around.” Helia tapped her fingers on the table again, focusing her too-large, shrewd eyeson me. “Isn’t it convenient for all involved in this mess she’s a heart turner?”
“What?”
She looked at me like I was the village idiot before waving her hand. A wine bottle and two glasses flew over from the corner shelf. Deftly catching them, she filled them to the brim.
“You look like you need it. My uncle is a heart turner, a strong one, and while everything claimed is theoretically possible it would take a master pushed to her limits. A legendary talent, especially for a poor girl from Lowtown. Convenient for Aunt Flora to have someone to blame—after this we might have to let her out.” Helia sipped her drink, smacking her lips in a most unladylike manner. “At least you have good wine.”
“Flora von Heskin delivered testimony that mind powers were used to control her to deliver you to the Komarova sisters—I thought you would be happy your own family had been cleared. The verdict...”
“Death.”
Helia stated it as if I could have forgotten. As if it could have been anything else.
I drained the wine. “Any of the crimes she committed would have carried the same sentence. They would kill her ten times over if the Goddess allowed it. Her Spirit will be forbidden from the temples, bones rejected from the Grove. The priestess will make sure of it.”
Helia refilled my glass. “Bah, that girl doesn’t deserve death. What proof is there of her being behind any of those things?”
“Her sister—”
She waved her hand in agreement, but as if it did notmatter.
“I believe Lumi kept me alive and the only time she touched me it was most pleasant, but that is beside the point. Vanya is not her sister. If I understand it correctly, Vanya even killed her.”
