The first thing Rina noticed when they arrived at the administration-level station was the scent of decaying flesh. Like scraps of offal thrown into the street for dogs and crows, or— The image of thrashing limbs hanging from a gallows in Amadore flashed through her mind.

She squeezed her eyes shut and breathed deep to centre herself.

With a scarf wrapped about her hair, she followed Josiah and the other guards. Avil had elected to come, despite Josiah's protest, pointing out the tension in the city. His inappropriate humour had been a welcome distraction in the carriage, and she wouldn't say no to another guard. Not with the air drawn so tight about them, ready to snap. Mai must have underestimated the unrest.

Her escort strode through the street with apparent ease. Pedestrians parted for them, turning and muttering between themselves, a few straining their necks to see who she was. Dressed in blue, it was clear she wasn't of the magister class, but in the colourful silk robes and with her hair modestly covered, they likely assumed she was a Euran noblewoman. She just hoped they didn't realise who she was.

She noted the rigid posture of her guards, the way they scanned the crowd with their hands on their pommels. They hoped the same thing too.

Her eyes mirrored the sweep of her guards, her scalp prickling. All appeared fine, but the air was so tight—and that smell.

The station was close to the court grounds, and soon they turned a corner revealing the outer wall. She saw it—the cause of the stench.

Four beams of wood had been erected over the gates of the law courts to create two crosses. Ro's form was chained to one, stripped of her magister's robe, only a strip of cloth across her chest and pelvis. Chunks of her body had been pecked away by carrion birds, the twin bones of her right forearm visible against the wood. Beside her, Nab still lived. His trial had been days ago. Now, all he wore was a loincloth, and his skin was red and blistered from the sun.

A crow settled on Nab's shoulder, and Rina flinched as Nab shrieked at it. The bird leaped from him, but only flew a short distance away, perching atop the wall and quirking its head to assess him.

"Fuck," said Josiah.

Avil snorted. "Didn't they tell yer 'bout the example the Magisterium set for high treason?"

Josiah glared at him. "Of course they did..." His words trailed off, then he said, "But seeing it—ugh." He put his sleeve to his nose. "Smelling it—is another thing."

"True that. How go you, Yer Grace?"

Rina swallowed her bile as another crow landed. The first crow jumped from his perch and attacked the second crow.

"Where I'm from they—" A wave of nausea rolled through her. "Sometimes they leave the bodies on the gallows for a few days to set an example of what happens to rebels. But it's not this warm, and they don't leave them this long."

Concern crossed Avil's face. "Perhaps we should take the back way."

"The orders were specifically to take her through the main entrance," said Josiah. "The future empress is not to sneak in like a criminal."

"Huh—so snuck through the front in plain sight, then?" said Avil.

The gate was almost above them now. Rina slowed and craned her neck up at Nab. His light-blue eyes were bloodshot, and his thick lips blended into the burnt skin of his face. She felt it the moment he recognised her. The hate. The loathing. She didn't blame him.

His lips began to mouth something. She strained her ears, trying to comprehend the croaked words. "Ah—ah—ah."

Avil gripped Rina by the shoulders, but she jerked away from him, staring up into Nab's gaze.

"A—bom. A—bom."

Other courthouse visitors stopped and stared.

"A—bom—in—a—tion."

More mumbles and murmurs. Someone hissed, "Is that her?"

"A—bom—in—a—tion!" Nab's voice rose. "A-bom-in-a-t-ion!"

Fingers began to point at their group. Another guard, she knew by the flash of maroon, grabbed at Rina and tried to pull her through the gate, but she shrugged him off, her eyes training up to Nab.

"Look at those eyes—they're yellow. It is her."

"A-BOM-IN-A-TION. ABOMINATION. ABOMINATION!" Nab had found his voice now, the words tearing from his throat. "ABOMINATION! ABOMINATION! ABOMINATION!"

Someone gripped Rina again, harder this time, but she threw them off, a corner of her mind aware of the series of grunts and thumps as her would-be rescuers landed on the ground.

"What are you doing?" asked a new voice. Rina turned to see a mature man with a long white beard, grey eyes, and dressed in cloth of purple and silver. A noble or a wealthy merchant. His lips were pressed together and pale. His body trembled. He pointed to Nab and said, "Look at him! He's in pain. If you're who I think you are, girl, have some damned pity and put him out of his misery."

"A-bom-I-a-TION. A-bom-I-A-tion." Nab's voice began to fail, and the crows circled, a third joining them. The fire in his eyes had dimmed to desperation. Please, they seemed to say, even as his mouth continued to work. "Bom—in—a...tion. A—tion. A—bo..."

"Gods, girl, what are you waiting for?"

Rina turned about and looked at the crowd of onlookers. Resentment burned in a handful of faces, but most looked scared. Distraught and wondering if this was what awaited them if they angered their future empress.

She began to shake her head. "No," she said. "It wasn't me. I didn't do this."

"So end it," said the grey-eyed man. "For the love of Mai and the gods above, end it!"

She faced Nab again. His eyes pleaded now. One of the crows landed and pecked at him. This time, his cry barely ruffled the beast's feathers.

"Now, damn it!"

Kill him. He—the crowd—wanted her to kill him. He needed to die. Nobody deserved to die like this. She glimpsed Ro's corpse. Could she murder a third person?

"P—lease...leeeaaase...pl..."

"Yer Grace." Avil stood before her, emerald eyes intense. "Ye know what ye need to do."

"The Gods forgive me, I do." Her body shook as she forced her eyes to unfocus, opening herself to that other spectrum. Trails of light streaked from Nab's body, through the air about him, from the crows. She extended her arms to her side, palms upward, and let the energy wrap about her, cutting the ties of gravity, embracing weightlessness as she consumed the crows, and they screeched and fell.

She paused before Nab, hovering. Her robe flowed about her, the slinking silk tickling her skin.

A judder racked Nab. His chin lifted. Red scorched flesh, bloodshot veins, and the scent of metal. Saliva pooled in her mouth, and a void opened in her soul, screaming to be filled. Her incisors bit into her lower lip.

"Plee...ease."

She smiled at him, then opened her mouth and drank.

The heat. That was the first thing that struck her when she came to, blinking her eyes.

"Is she alive?"

Her cheek burned. She lay on something hard and hot—rock? It vibrated. The pounding of feet, she realised.

"Mubash! The Taint. Get the hell out of here!"

Rina blinked, making out cobblestones and the frantic movement of feet and swishing robes.

"Get her up!"

Her blood thrummed. Too hot. She needed to slow down. Hands gripped her by the armpits and yanked her up, pulling her to her feet. The world swirled, centering on a middle point.

People scattered about her in a flurry of colours. A woman in a pink dress, a howling toddler pressed to her chest, kicked a pile of black and grey as she ran, releasing an explosion of dust and feathers. The crows. Oh, gods. The consumption. She'd used it again.

"Yer Grace?"

Rina looked up. Nausea rolled up her throat. All that remained of Nab was a skeleton hanging limp in the chains, dried, fibrous strands of flesh clinging to the bones.

"Yer Grace! We need to get out of here!" The crowd had dissipated, just a handful of stragglers lingered.

Rina turned to Avil. "What?"

He pointed, and she followed the direction of his fingers. She gasped. A writhing pile of black moved metres from them—mubash. How had she missed them?

"How?"

Josiah began to give orders before Avil could answer. "Men—they're still in their sacks. Kill them before they break through." Josiah turned to her, flushed. "Your Grace, they were—" he gulped, face turning white. "They were inside him."

Two of the guards approached the mubash. They hesitantly drew their swords, the scrape of metal ringing through the air, and they began hacking. The hammer of their swords rang through the air.

"Shit!"

One of the guards, a burly bald man with tanned skin, dropped to the ground. The second guard retreated. Black shapes slithered toward the fallen guard, attacking in unison. The man screamed, and ice claws raked up Rina's spine.

"Run!" a guard, Rina didn't know which one, shouted.

Mehdi latched on to Rina, tugging. She wrenched free. "No, this is my fault."

"Don't, Yer Grace."

Ignoring him, she strode toward the squirming black pile. The bald guard had stilled, froth running from the corner of his mouth to the paving stones. His mouth twitched. A black snake raised its head and stared at her from a set of red eyes, body tensing, then it shot toward her.

Rina let herself fall into the other spectrum again. She blinked. Instead of light emanating from it, the beast sucked it in, the strands warping and fading into the blackness of its body. She paused a moment, and then instinct took over. An instant before it reached her, she lifted her boot and slammed it down.

Blood splashed the ground. A sickly sweetness that made her stomach roll hit her nose. She hadn't noticed this when Olav killed the mubash that came from Ro, but then again, Ro had already been a bloody mess, and when the bloodlust took over, it captivated her senses. She peered down and inspected the blood further. It held a purple, opalescent tinge, like oil in water.

"Careful," warned a voice.

She glanced up in time to see a streak of black darting toward her. This time, she stretched out her hand and sent a flare of heat. A shrill screech escaped the creature, followed by a pop as it burst. More of the beasts broke from their sacs. They seemed to know who was the greatest threat, as one by one, they slithered toward her. Rina killed each one in turn until a small mass writhed. She approached it, wrinkling her nose.

Gods, the stench was foul. Only a couple of the mubash survived, straining against the membranes encasing them, amongst a pile of slime and discarded sacs.

A figure stepped beside her.

"Do it," Avil said, voice cold.

Rina stretched out her hand. She pulled the heat from her body, letting it curl in her Carnelian crystal, the skin of her chest blazing, and sent it down her arm, leaving her palm and fingertips in a crackling flare.

When she was done, all that remained were scorched flagstones. 

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A/N: That's the last part of this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it! Please consider voting or commenting if you did 💚