The royal family room.
Oredison Palace, Gazda.
Sometime past two in the afternoon.

I was already in the royal family room, the second to last gown already half-buttoned onto the mannequin, when I finally found Arden's lanterns again. I'd search and search, unable to locate them—not with my ability so frayed and trembling. What I'd just done—it had been the biggest use of force I'd done in weeks, months even. And I'd struggled to regain control afterward.

My ability wanted to roam. It wanted to finish what it had started in the library. So, it took a while to find the lanterns and tether my ability there again—watchful and waiting.

I'd only had a pulse on it for about five minutes before I felt Arden's oil lantern flicker out. My fingers grew still against the silk laces of the gown's corset as I fought to remember what that meant.

The oil lantern was for the arena.

If he'd doused that flame, it meant that Caine's men had left the palace and gone to the arena. It meant that we'd succeeded and the arena was burning. Some, if not the brunt of Caine's forces, would have been injured or killed in that blast. The thought—that fragile step towards victory—stole my breath away.

The one remaining lantern still tugged at my ability—the flame difficult to track amongst so many other fires. And yet, I knew it. I recognized the heat pulsing from the kerosine lamp. When Arden put it out—it would mean that everyone was in their place. It would be my signal to light the explosives.

Timing will be everything, Birk had said.

One more gown.

I finished with the bodice and adjusted the sleeves, doing up the pearl buttons on the black velvet cuffs. I thought it was an awfully grand dress to be positioned in the family room, but then I'd seen the set Madame Leroux had created. It was holiday scene; boxes of presents were stacked before a roaring fire decked with evergreen garland. The entire room was warm and spacious and bright.

In another world, I could imagine Uri and Cohen playing here as children. Despite everything, I could picture Viera sitting on the floor with them, Larkin curled into her side, a book propped open in Britta's lap as she read some sort of fairytale aloud. Something that would make the king laugh.

That was the childhood they'd deserved. As I turned to leave the room, the final dress tucked into the crook of my arm, I knew that it was not the childhood they'd had. I wondered when the last time a true family had inhabited these rooms. When was the last time laughter rang freely down these corridors?

I didn't shut the door as I left. I wanted the fire caused by the explosion to travel. I wanted it to eat its way across the plush carpets and heavy curtains. I wanted it to feast on the closed bedroom doors. I'd make sure it did.

Two hallways down, up a little set of stairs, and I was outside the royal bedchamber. The mannequin was posed near one of the tall bay windows in the hallways, its fake hand resting on the sill as if it were admiring the view. I looked out the windows too and gasped—the blue sky was punctuated by rolling black clouds of smoke. They flowed from the middle of the city like a gushing wound. Farther off, I could see more spots of smoke, other areas the rebels had attacked.

I knew if I took my hand off of Arden's lantern long enough, I could reach out and feel the heat of those fires. I wanted to, truly, but I was afraid of missing the moment—the signal. I was afraid I wouldn't time things correctly and I'd end up putting the people I loved at risk.

I shook my head, scattering the thought as I began to pull the gown over the mannequin's stump of a head. I'd just finished with the buttons when I heard the creak of a door and the sound of heavy footsteps.

Every muscle in my body tensed, prepared to run. I waited, counting breaths. They...They were coming my way. Shit.

I turned the other direction to find that it was a dead end—I'd known that. I'd realized it all those months ago when I'd come to find Kai—back when this had become his bedroom. I didn't give myself time to overthink, I turned and tried the knob on the royal suite. It turned in my hand.

Then I was inside. I'd shut the door behind me with a quiet click, before the footsteps even rounded the corner. I relaxed for exactly two second before I realized that if the person was heading my way, then there was only one place they could be going. Here. To this room.

My eyes roamed the large sitting room. Off to one side there was a bathing room and a slightly opened door through which I could see a large bed—the sheets were rumpled from sleep, but there was no one here. The lights were all out, the hearth cold. My eyes flitted to a desk in one corner as I searched for a place to hide.

Sketch books. Kai's sketch books.

Because this was his room.

His room and Kinsley's room.

I didn't let myself think about that as I slipped into the bedroom. The lights were off here too, leaving the spacious room to be lit by only the smoke filtered sunlight pouring in from the balcony doors. Doors that were open.

I ran to them.

I could climb down—but one glance at the drop below had me stepping back. No. I couldn't. I'd die if I tried. It wouldn't be like in Pellarmus. There would be no one on the ground to soften the fall—and it would be a much higher fall.

I spun, frantic and afraid. There were only a few choices of who the footsteps could be. Kai was a choice, and if it were him, then I'd fine. But it could also be Kinsley. Or Caine. Bile rose in my throat at just the thought.

No.

I couldn't be found here by either of them.

I'd just rounded the bed, on my way to the wardrobe where I could try to hide, when the door to the suite opened. I spun, turning to face the bed. I didn't know what I planned to do. The footsteps drifted into the room, but whoever they belonged to didn't seem to notice me. I waited a full breath, then two more, before I took a step back towards the large wardrobe.

I heard the shuffling of papers—they were at the desk.

I took another step.

The floor creaked beneath my boot.

I died a little on the inside.

The female voice in the next room was soft. "Who's there?"

I took a step forward, back towards the bed, needing something stabilize myself before I absolutely lost my shit. My control—my abilities tether to Arden's lantern faltered and I grasp for it, too afraid to let go. Even if I was caught in the blast, I couldn't miss his signal. They needed me to get this right. My hands found the blankets just as Kinsley's shadow darkened the doorframe into the bedroom.

"Shouldn't you have already made up the bed?" Her voice was sharp with annoyance, but it wasn't what I expected. It wasn't the anger, the hatred, the frantic glee I knew she'd have if she knew it was me. "Well?"

I winced, hoping she wouldn't recognize my voice as I muttered a quick apology. "Running behind schedule." I made a show of tugging the blankets off the bed. I wouldn't—couldn't—think of what might have happened her. In this bed. Between Kinsley and Kai.

"What is your name?"

I said the first name that came to my head. "Maya."

There was a beat of silence. "I am your queen, you will bow when I approach you and you will speak when I address you."

And there it was, that familiar entitlement.

I didn't pause to look at her as I stripped the bed. I'd seen maids do this over and over again. On the days when I'd been locked in my bedroom, it had been my only source of entertainment. I made quick work of it.

And still, she lingered in the doorway.

The floor creaked as she took a step towards me. "What's that on your hand?"

I ball my my hand into a fist. With all of the moving and having to touch the different fabrics, the concealing cream on my palm had faded. But I didn't think Kinsley needed to see my mark to know who I was. What I was. She knew by the coiling power in her blood, it was a sensation I felt too.

Kinsley knew. And she wouldn't take the risk that Larkin had. She wouldn't let me walk out of this room—not when she had to know I was here to put an end to her reign.

My mouth was dry, my throat too tight. I floundered, frantic and afraid. My ability was frayed—too thin, too many things pulling at it. Arden's lantern, trying to keep a feel on each dress, each target. To remove even one of those tethers might mean revealing the entire plan too early. I'd nearly ruined everything when I'd killed Dahlia.

If I let go of my ability now and pulled it back, aimed it at Kinsley, I'd risk not being able to find the signal again. I might not be able to find Arden's lantern. And my friends needed me.

Kinsley took another step in my direction. "Turn around."

I turned.

Kinsley's head tilted to one side as she took me in. She wore an emerald green dress that fell just below her knees. Her posture was stiff, regal. And her black hair was perfectly styled so that it showed off the crown she wore.

I knew that crown.

It was the same one that had fallen from Uri's head after she'd been shot. Matte black and littered with black diamonds and onyx stones. Kai had worn a crown like that too. I wondered if it were all the same crown, or if there were two of them. One for the queen and one for the king.

And Kinsley truly did look like a queen.

"Oh, Monroe Benson..." Her voice was quiet.  "Oh, you poor, naive thing. You never know when to give up, do you?"

I stepped back until my legs hit the edge of the mattress. "Where's Kai?"

"My husband is otherwise occupied. We're being attacked—the city is in ruins. Which I'm sure you had a hand in."

"I'm not here to fight you, Kinsley. I just need to find Kai."

"I know that. I knew you would come for him. There was no way you could be in this city and not seek him out. Is that why you're snooping around my bedchamber like a little rat? Looking for my leftovers? We made love in that bed...And in his rooms too." Bile rose in my throat, but I forced myself not to respond. "You may be clinging to some old fairytale romance, some lie you've concocted for yourself, but he isn't. He's moved on. He's found me. The goddess has brought us together, joined us just as we were always intended to be joined. My father calls it fate. And you would ruin it, if given the chance. You're like a sickness. A vile, nasty thing. And you just can't give up. But I'm truly curious, tell me, how does burning my city down help your cause? You're harming people. Families will go hungry, they'll lose their housing to fire or poverty. And all of it over what? Some silly romantic notion of a teenage girl?"

"Kinsley, if you don't know what this is all about, then you're only justifying our cause. If you can't see the harm this monarchy has caused, then you're truly not fit to be queen of Erydia. Which doesn't really surprise me, since I knew you were a selfish piece of shit from our first interaction. You've never cared about anyone other than yourself, why start now?"

"That's not true. I care about plenty of things. Power. Money. My family. The heir I'll have with Kaius. I've missed my monthlies. I wonder if the goddess has seen fit to bless us so soon...?" She placed a palm against her flat stomach and held my gaze. "Wouldn't that be something?"

I didn't school my expression of disgust well enough because she smiled, pleased to have struck a nerve. Her tone changed, grew serious. As if she were truly concerned for me. Like I was some silly child that needed to be shown the error of her ways.

"Caine wasn't sure you would come. But I knew you. I knew you'd come here to rescue him. But he isn't in any danger. He's fine. He's king. You do realize that Kaius has accepted his place on the throne. And in my bed. This bed. And turns out, he's a good lover—better than I'd expected. But then, you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

My blood was on fire and my hold of my power slipped, just slightly. The tether on Arden's lantern frayed and I had to focus my attention on strengthening that connection. My voice was tight with restrained anger as I said, "Funny, it didn't seem like he'd accepted it when he shot at you in the arena."

Kinsley's smiled slid away, her hand falling from her stomach as she registered my jab. "He will not do that again."

"I would hope not. Since he's your husband. And he loves you so terribly much. Tell me, Kinsley, what is he to you? A toy? A means to an end? Will you kill him once he's impregnated you? Will you even have the patience to wait and see if it's a boy?"

"Give it a rest, Monroe. I understand that everyone else would be fine allowing you to live in your fantasy world where you marry the king and live happily ever after. But that isn't reality. He sent you away and he married me. He gave you a chance to escape all of this with your miserable life—and I was willing to let him have that. He pitied you and wanted to see you safe. I would have let you live, if only to please him. But you just couldn't take the hint. You just couldn't let him go. Even after he asked you to. It's embarrassing, truly." She took a step towards me. "He isn't in love with you anymore."

I'd never wanted to kill anyone as badly as I wanted to kill her. I wanted to kill Kinsley and it wasn't because she'd taken Kai. No. It was because she'd taken my birthright without earning it. And that darkness inside of me wanted to melt that damned crown off her head.

"Who are you trying to convince? Me or you?"

Her eyes settled pointedly onto the bed behind me. "I don't need to convince anyone. I know the sort of man he is. And we're more alike than you will ever understand." She stepped forward, so we were only inches away from each other. "I have known him ways you never will. Vulnerable, intimate ways."

There was an unnatural calm to my voice as I said, "Kinsley, do you remember what I said to you when we first met?"

She blinked at me. Clearly surprised that I hadn't retaliated, hadn't taken the bait and allowed her to wound me. But my heart was already so raw and broken when it came to Kai, I didn't think there was anything that this girl could do to hurt me more than I already was.

It was my turn to step forward. We were so close now I could see the specks of amber in her brown eyes. "I told you that I wouldn't leave your body to the birds."

"I seem to recall you making some threat about burning me." Her lips twitched. "Funny how you promised me a better ending than either of your brothers got. I heard those radio messages. Your brother sure did change sides easily enough. I always thought Kace was a coward, even when he was working with Larkin. You know, I was the one who gave the order to have him executed. I suggested it. You were gone and Kaius was...becoming hard to manage. I thought it would be good to send you a message. Both of you a message. So, they were all executed. Women, children. Everyone in the camp died. And they were left to the birds."

That power in my blood heated, slid sweat slick hands down the length of the tether that connected me to the lanterns, to the dresses, and to everything that made me who I was. A dark void seemed to open up to me, and that dark power beckoned. In that place there would be no hurt. No pain. Only power. In that space, it was dark and cold and I could rest.

And it had been so long since I'd found a safe place to rest.

Kill her. Take her crown. Char her bones and fry her skin. Make her scream and beg. Make her repent for what she's done. Wicked, terrible girl. Cheater. Liar.

My grip on the tether slipped.

"But you're right," she said. "Kaius has been moody recently. Being king weighs heavily on him. He's becoming harder and harder to—"

"Control?"

"Rule alongside."

"Yes, well, now that the leash is gone, I'm sure he is more difficult to deal with."

She stepped back from me and folded her arms behind her back, the action nonchalant. Unthreatened by me. That alone made me want to set the entire palace on fire.

"Yes, well," The door to the bedchamber creaked open and heavy footsteps sounded. "That's why you're here."  When I only stared at her, her smile grew. "Did you really think Larkin wouldn't tell me you were here? Our relationship may be different than it once was, but she still tells me everything. And she knows how badly I want to get my hands on you. Caine and my father will see once I've apprehended you. They'll see that I'm capable of ruling. They'll see I was right."

"You aren't capable of ruling, Kinsley. And me being here won't change that." I glanced around the room, suddenly nervous.  The footsteps outside the door where growing louder, moving towards the bedroom. I tried to find a second exit, another way out of the room. "And.." I swallowed, unsure what to do or what any of this meant. "And you certainly aren't the reason I'm here."

"Oh? Really? I disagree. You see, the executions in that little camp were insurance. If you wouldn't come back for Kaius, I knew you'd come back for revenge. And then the girl in the arena, that was the final little push. It was only a matter of time after that." She turned and walked towards the bedroom door.

Her words settled on my skin, heavy and frightening. Was it all because of me? Had she killed those people in Third Corps as a way to lure me here? But I hadn't come here because of those deaths. Yes, they were a source of motivation for wanting to end Caine's reign; but they weren't the only reason I was here.

"I'm not stupid, Monroe." Kinsley said, "I know that in order to have a long and happy reign, I need to keep my husband under control. I can't have him stabbing me in the middle of the night or throwing a tantrum at state dinners. And as you so eloquently put it, the leash is off now. His performance in the arena proved that. But now you're here to help me remedy that. I'm sure he'll be so happy to see you." She walked to the door and called, "Enter."

White-hot fear seemed to dig it's claws into my heart at her words.

I took a step back, nearly falling onto the mattress behind me as two guards entered the bedchamber. They converged on me. And it was like I'd traveled back in time. Back to a different day in this palace. A different set of guards who had grabbed me and taken me to await execution.

I'd been afraid then. But that fear was nothing compared to the horrible realization that they would take me to Caine. And goddess knew what he would do once he finally had his hands on me.

I fumbled for a moment, caught between wanting to use my ability and needing to keep my focus on the dresses and the signal. It wasn't over. If Kinsley thought I was here for Kai, then she must not know about the explosives or our attack.

She spoke from her place by the door,  "I don't think there is anything—anyone—that can control Kai as easily as you can. What's the old saying? 'He who holds the gold makes the rules.' Looks like I just become one goddess-touched girl richer."

Like hell she did.

As the first guard moved into my space, I spun and kicked him in the stomach. When he buckled at the waist, I got him again in the face. I turned, prepared to run, but the second guard had reached me.

He caught me around the middle and I did what Kai had taught me to do—I went limp. The sudden surprise of my full weight had the man staggering. I landed hard on my butt. There wasn't time for pain, I pushed up from the ground and ran. The guard caught hold of my hair, hauling me backward.

Kinsley hadn't moved from her place by the door. She just watched, half bored and half bemused. I was going to kill her. Actually kill her.

I used the momentum of being pulled back as leverage as I  spun and punched the guard in the face.  There was the sickening crunch of bone as my arm caught his nose. He stumped back, tripping on the guard behind him who had only just started to stand. I ran for the door to the sitting room, but I didn't make it.

One of the guard's hand knotted in the length of my skirt and it tore. For a moment, I thought I might be able to still make it out, but the fabric caught around my legs and then I was falling. Before I could do anything, before I could think about all the millions of lessons Kai had taught me about fighting an opponent bigger than me, he was there—his body pressing mine against the floor.

His hand caught my hair and yanked my head forward and then back. Stars danced behind my eyes as my skull hit the wood the floor. The air left my lungs all at once—a gasp and a scream wrap in one broken sound. For a split second, I couldn't see, couldn't move.

When my vision finally cleared, I found the guard still looming above me, his body weighing mine down, keeping me from moving. He grinned triumphant and glanced up to his queen, ready for her praise. I forced my body to go limp again. I waited until the guard turned back to me, and then I spat in his face.

He recoiled long enough to loosen his hold on me. I spun, kicking out at him with one foot and trying to gain leverage on the floor with the other. My knee collided with his jaw as he reached for me, it was enough to knock him backward. His head the footboard of the bed with a thud and and he didn't get up again.

I got to my feet and ran, unsure where I would go or if there were more guards outside in the hall. I couldn't imagine that Kinsley had only brought these too with her. Not if this was some sort of trap.

I had three steps of a head-start and then the other guard was there, his hand catching my arm. He turned me around in one swift motion and, before I react, slapped me across the face. I stumbled against the nearest wall and flinched further back as he hit me again. This time I had enough sense to turn my face away from his fist—it did little good.

My head collided with the edge of one of the windows as I fell. All the air pushed from my lungs in one pained cry. My vision danced black and flickering silver. I couldn't think straight, couldn't see past the blood dripping into my eyes.

I whimpered and slid back, pressing myself into the floor just below the windows, trying to put space between us.

The guard leered over me, his hands braced on the edge of the windowpane. I tried and failed to kick at him, but he only laughed. The sound rang loud and hateful in my ears.

With what focus I had left, I held tight to the tendril of power that connected me to the lantern and the explosives. I tried to lash out with what was left of myself, some stray ember or tendril of flame.

But I was alone.

Birk had so much faith in me. Jaxon had so much faith in me. Kai had so much stupid faith in me. But I was only one person.

And as the guard's hand found my face, as his fingertips dug into my jaw and he pulled me up—until I was standing, half dressed in front of him—I knew I had one choice. I'd only ever had one choice. Kill or be killed.

Those fingers tightened until tears welled in my eyes. I reached up, using my right hand to try to claw my way out of his grasp, while my other hand slid along my left leg looking for a knife. Searching, desperate.

Misleading.

He saw the motion; he saw my fingers shifting beneath the torn fabric of my skirt. His eyes lit with realization as he caught the movement. Sweat dripped down my face as he shoved my head back against the wall and looked down at my free hand, at my exposed leg.

"Ah, what do we have here?" Cold air bit at my skin as his hand replaced mine on my thigh and he shoved what was left of my skirt away. He looked up at me for just an instant, expectant, excited, as his fingers slid up, searching for the weapon he knew I'd been grasping for.

The weapon that had been strapped to my other leg. He smiled, full predator, but it faltered as his fingers found nothing but bare skin. I smiled too.

And then I plunged my dagger into his gut.

***

Update because it's exam week.

Thank you for your patience. I'm the worst. I swear, I want to give it all to you, but my heart just can't right now. Thank you for sticking with me as long as you have. It means the world.

The emoji for this chapter is: 🥕