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She remembered donning her finest dress that morning. Remembered brushing her hair until it shone like midsummer wheat. Nan had taught her to always look her best, no matterthe occasion, and Rune had a feeling she didn’t make exceptions for public executions. Not even her own.
After pushing to the front of the angry crowd, Rune had nearly buckled at the sight of Kestrel atop the purging platform. Her hair—normally coiffed and held in place by a jeweled pin—fell in untidy strands down her face. They’d bruised her regal cheek and snuffed the bright gleam from her eyes. Someone had even ripped the sleeves off her shirt so everyone could see her casting scars.
Kestrel’s gaze was hawkish as she looked out over the sea of faces, as if she didn’t notice the way they spit at her, didn’t hear the vicious names they called her.
The moment her eyes found her granddaughter, the attention of the crowd followed.
Did you know?Rune could still hear them murmuring.She informed on the old hag. Brave little thing.
She’d schooled her features into exactly the girl they wanted to see: a young heiress so loyal to the Republic, she handed her beloved grandmother over to be executed. It was the role she needed to play now. Rune knew this was just the beginning.
But beneath the mask, her grief had cracked her heart in half.
As their gazes locked, Nan’s parched lips moved, whispering three small words. Words Rune didn’t deserve.
I love you.
The shriek of metal scraping metal had filled the air as the chains raised her grandmother skyward, by the ankles. There she dangled, upside down, with her hands enclosed in witch restraints, hair swinging.
One of the Blood Guard stepped forward with a knife and sliced her grandmother’s throat. The blood splattered and gushed. Nan choked, gasping for a breath she couldn’t take, herbody writhing like a worm on a hook. All trace of poise and elegance vanished as she struggled against her fate. Rune dug her teeth into her lower lip, forcing herself not to scream. Not to weep. Telling herself to be stoic and still as the blood dripped like ribbons, thick and red, and Nan finally fell still.
Afterward, Rune watched them throw her corpse into a mass grave on the edge of the city. She couldn’t take Nan home and bury her beneath the apple tree in the garden, where the blossoms would fall on her in the spring. She couldn’t afford to show that kind of tenderness, in case someone suspected the truth rooted in her heart.
She told only the first part to Gideon. The part about watching Nan die.
He studied her as the sun slipped past the horizon, turning the sky dark purple and washing him in tones of blue and gold. As the waves lapped around them, a kittiwake called in the distance.
You told him too much,she thought, looking sharply away, afraid he’d see the tears in her eyes.Now he has even more reason to suspect you.
Her throat swelled and her eyes burned. She’d stripped off her mask, and without it, she was fumbling.
Suddenly, Gideon was moving through the water toward her. Before she could kick back through the waves and swim away, he reached her. Cradling her jaw in one hand, he tucked a strand of wet hair behind her ear with the other.
“It’s not a crime to have loved a witch, Rune.” He bent toward her until their foreheads touched and his breath tangled with hers. “If it were, you wouldn’t be the only guilty one.”
His gentleness snuck past her defenses, unlocking the deadbolts inside her.
Letting the enemy in.
She looked up as the tears fell down her cheeks. The sea hid their bodies, but it was clear on Gideon’s face that he hadn’t for a second forgotten what was under the waves. He seemed reluctant to close the distance between them, though, unsure if she would welcome it.
Rune tried to tell herself shewouldn’twelcome it. Gideon had probably been in the crowd that day, cheering on Kestrel’s death. She absolutely shouldn’t want him any closer.
He was a witch hunter. He suspected her. He was closing in on her even now.
And yet.
She remembered him on top of her, down in the mine. How solid and heavy he was. She remembered him later, dragging her out of the water. The strength in his arms. The heat of him pouring into her.
What would it feel like to have his body flush against hers?
It was perverse, the way she wanted to find out.
Seeing the thoughts in her eyes, Gideon trembled with restraint. His throat swallowed and his pulse beat hungrily through the hand cupping her jaw.
So, this horrible wanting afflicted him, too.
This is a game,she told herself, nuzzling her face into his palm.It’s only pretend.
