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A murmur of shock swept through the crowd and from Penellaphe.
Lev reached inside his cloak, and damn, he was fast. He cocked back his arm—
“Seize him!” shouted Jansen.
Vikter shouldered Penellaphe back a second before I folded an arm around her waist, drawing her against me as an object flew past us, smacking into the wall and falling to the balcony floor.
Lev had thrown a hand—a Craven hand.
Vikter bent, picking it up. “What in the name of the gods?”
Holding onto Penellaphe, I found Lev on his knees, arms twisted back, and blood smeared across his mouth. My arm tightened around Penellaphe’s waist as I fought the instinct to intervene. I couldn’t. There was nothing anyone could do for Lev now. He knew that, yet he still glared up at the balcony with defiance—he stared at Penellaphe.
At me as he yelled, “From blood and ash—” A guard gripped the back of his head. “We will rise! From blood and ash, we will rise!”
We would.
For him.
For all those who stayed silent, who couldn’t speak.
We would rise.
THERE IS A CHOICE
“Where in the world did that man get a Craven’s hand?” Tawny asked as we crossed under the banners, moving past the Great Hall while Vikter remained behind to speak to the Commander.
“He could’ve been outside the Rise and cut it off one of those who was killed last night,” I figured, walking beside Penellaphe but staying a step back, my thoughts on Lev and his inevitable fate. I didn’t know the man all that well, but I hated not knowing a damn thing about what would happen to him.
He should’ve stayed quiet, but he’d hit a breaking point, and I was sure the babe that had turned Craven had a hell of a lot to do with it. It was understandable. There would be more like him. That should thrill me. It didn’t because they would meet the same fate as Lev.
“That’s…” Tawny swallowed as she pressed her hand to her chest. “I really have no words for that.”
“I can’t believe he said what he did about the children—the third and fourth sons and daughters,” Penellaphe said.
“Neither can I,” Tawny agreed.
What he asked was a damn good question. Those children were not serving the gods. They were nothing more than cattle.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if more people thought along those same lines,” I said, raising my brows as they looked at me in shock. Well, I could only assume that was how Penellaphe looked at me. She was wearing the damn veil. “None of those children have been seen.”
“They’ve been seen by the Priests and Priestesses and the Ascended,” Tawny said.
“But not by family.” I scanned the atrium, seeing nothing but statues. “Perhaps if people could see their children every so often, beliefs like that could easily be dismissed. Fears allayed.”
“No one should make claims like that without any evidence,” Penellaphe argued. “All it does is cause unnecessary worry and panic—panic that the Descenters have created and then will exploit.”
“Agreed,” I murmured, glancing down as we reached the staircase. “Watch your step. Wouldn’t want you to continue with your new habit, Princess.”
“Tripping once isn’t a habit,” she stated. “And if you agree, then why would you say you wouldn’t be surprised if more felt the same way?”
Because I didn’t agree. However, I couldn’t say that. “Because agreeing doesn’t mean I don’t understand why some would think that. If the Ascended are truly concerned about those claims being believed, all they need to do is allow the children to be seen. I can’t imagine that would interfere too badly with their servitude to the gods.”
Penellaphe glanced at her friend. “What do you think?”
“I think you are both saying the same thing,” she said.
One side of my lips curled as we climbed the steps in silence and entered the floor for their chambers. Upon reaching Tawny’s room, I stopped. “If you don’t mind, I need to speak to Penellaphe in private for a moment.”
Tawny looked at Penellaphe as if she were on the brink of either shouting or laughing.
“It’s fine,” Penellaphe assured her.
Tawny nodded, opening her door. “If you need me, knock.” She gave a dramatic pause. “Princess.”
Penellaphe groaned as the door shut.
I laughed. “I really do like her.”
“I’m sure she’d love to hear that.”
“Would you love to hear that I really like you?” I teased, facing her.
“Would you be sad if I said no?”
“I’d be devastated.”
Penellaphe snorted. “I’m sure.”
I grinned. Her snarkiness… I liked it.
She went to open her door. “What did you need to talk about?”
I stepped in front of her. “I should enter first, Princess.”
“Why? Do you think someone could be waiting for me?”
“If the Dark One came for you once, he’ll come for you again,” I said with an impressively straight face as I walked into her quarters.
Two oil lamps were on by the bed and the door. Wood burned in the fireplace. Yet the chamber felt cold and devoid of life.
