Closet Bedroom.
Oredison Palace, Gazda.
Sanctus Melynda—The Trial.

I wasn't sure what Britta would do when it came time for Kai's trial. I was anxious, all pent up energy and unanswered questions. I still hadn't seen him and as the morning of his trial loomed before me, I prepared myself to convince her to let me say goodbye. Just one last time. I needed that at the very least.

If the trial went badly, there wouldn't be time afterward. From what I'd heard, the execution would be by firing squad and they were prepared to carry it out today. The maids and footmen had been whispering about it for the last week. I'd heard ever construction worker and guard discussing Kai's impending judgement day. Caine's too. It seemed that Britta's new government would be birthed on the death of those who had committed treason against her family and her kingdom, which I understood in so many ways and hated in so many others.

People were eager for a fresh start. Britta was energetic. I'd sat with Nadia and Heidi at the back of the Synod Chamber as she'd discussed her plans for her government. Elected officials from each of the largest cities in Erydia. She would spend half of her year in Pellarmus and the half here in Erydia. In the meantime, there would be a regent that would rule in her stead and make sure the government remained steady. A peace treaty with Vayelle was already being drafted and trade between Haniver and Erydia had never been more lucrative. Things were already improving, even as Gazda was being actively rebuilt.

The day before, I'd seen plans for schools that would be built in the outer most cities and towns. Places like Varos. Real schools, not crumbling shacks or old houses. And while they weren't the most beautiful buildings, they would be clean and they would have electric lighting. They would be better than anything my brothers ever had. Certainly better than I would have had, even if I'd been allowed to attend school.

But all of those wonderful things might come at the cost of Kai.

And while the rest of Erydia was excited for the future and would greet Sanctus Melynda with joy, I couldn't help but taste bile as I imagined what the next few hours of my life my entail.

I'd start by talking with Britta. The night before Sanctus Melynda, I tossed and turned in bed, thinking about how the conversation with her would go. What I would say, how I would convince her. 

It will only take a few minutes. I won't touch him if you don't want me to. I can talk to him behind bars, if that's what you want. I'll work with you. There can be guards in the room. Whatever would make you happy. I just want to talk to him. Just a few minutes. Please.

I'd beg her. I hated to admit it, but I'd beg her for the chance to say goodbye to him. I'd had no chance to say goodbye to anyone else and the idea of there being no closure to this, of him being there one moment and gone the next...Of him being...

No.

I needed to talk to Britta. I needed this all to be over with.

I was so tired.

I'd barely eaten the last few days because I couldn't keep food down. Even with Isla, Annalise, and Nadia regularly trying to force different types of food down my throat, I couldn't manage more than a few bites at a time. They whispered about me out in the hallway when my bedroom door was cracked and they thought I was asleep, their voices sharp with concern.

Nadia was concerned that I wasn't eating on purpose and thought that they might need to discretely remove any sharp objects from my room. Annalise agreed, fearing that things would escalate drastically if Kai were to be executed. Isla didn't think I'd hurt myself.

Heidi knew exactly what was going on, she knew my nightmares after all. She knew that they were keeping me awake. That they pushed me from sleep, tangled my legs in the sheets, had me staggering towards the bathing room, clutching the rim of the toilet time and time again.

But she didn't explain that to them, instead she only said, "She needs sleep. That's all. If she wanted to hurt herself, like actually hurt herself, I doubt she'd need a damn pair of scissors to do it, okay? Lay off her. Stop shoving food at her and pressuring her to socialize. If she doesn't want to talk to people or leave her room, she doesn't have to. We're all dealing with our own shit at our own pace. Cut Benson some slack, she hasn't had it easy."

They'd been better about it after that, but Nadia and Isla still watched me with worried gazes.

I needed to talk to Britta. I needed to get this all over with. Now.

My body was still slightly sore, my hands trembling with nerves, as I dressed, pulling on a thin cotton dress and a sweater. With the wound on my stomach, pants still applied too much pressure for comfort. Once socks and boots were on, I ran a hand through my hair, faded back to dirty blond now. It was longer now than it had been in a while—a little below my collar bones. It curled a little, the knots catching around my fingers as I walked towards the door.

Britta would likely already be in the throne room. The trial wasn't set to start for another half hour, but she seemed to always be early and I knew enough about her to know that she'd want to make sure everyone and everything was in place for today. It was her first big move as the ruler of Erydia. Her actions today would show a lot about how she intended to rule. And with some much tension and disagreement surrounding Kai, it made everything worse.

Leniency wouldn't necessarily win her support. Many people would want to see his blood spilled and she might oblige them just to quell the angriest of her citizens. My stomach roiled again and I paused, my hand braced against the wall next to the door, breathing steadily through my nose as I waited for the nauseated feeling to pass.

Once my mouth stopped sweating, I pulled open the door to my makeshift bedroom and came face to face with an uplifted fist. I flinched backward, my arm lifted reflexly to block a punch. Britta lifted her hands, her guards behind her calling out a warning.

I stumbled back a few steps, putting distance between us. "What the hell, Britta?"

"Goddess, Monroe! Do you nearly punch everyone who knocks at your door?" She let out a nervous laugh as she lowered her hand to her side. As if unsure what else to do, she smoothed her fingers over the skirt of her dark blue dress suit. She wore a silver crown sparkling with diamonds and a thin necklace of pearls. At a glance, she was Viera. But a closer look showed that her eyes were kinder, her mouth a little softer.

I bobbed an awkward curtsy. "Sorry."

She shook her head, her brow furrowing in bewilderment. "We're as good as family, Monroe. I think bowing is beyond us at this point. Cohen has all but adopted you. And, knowing how Uri felt about you, I think it's only right." There was a tease to her words, but her expression was serious. I got the sense that she meant what she was saying and that was...strange.

I swallowed, unsure what to say. I settled awkwardly on, "Thank you."

Britta shrugged, a gesture that was not queenly at all, and stepped back from the door so I could walk out of my room. "Uri was loud about the people she loved. I envied her in that. When she loved something, it was fully. Whether that was a person or a piece of pie. Didn't matter. She was all in. And she didn't hide it," Britta said as I shut my door and moved to stand in the hall across from her. "I suppose there was only ever one exception to that."

Neither of us said who that exception was. We both knew.

Instead, I said, "I loved her too. I wish she were here today."

Britta swallowed and looked away from her. Her eyes were shining as she ducked her head, cleared her throat, and said, "Yes, me too. I didn't realize how hard it would be to come back here. I knew that it would difficult to return and my parents be gone. I knew that was going to happen. But..." She sighed and turned to look at me. "The dais in the ballroom is white granite. And granite is a very porous stone. I learned that on my first morning after everything was done. I walked into the ballroom to survey the damage and see what would need to be done to make it a usable space again. There was a lot of fire damage, of course. But the dais was actually was in good shape. I went up the steps and looked at the throne and there it was. The shadow of blood where my baby sister was murdered. Marked in a stone floor forever. I didn't expect that."

"I'm sorry."

There was no anger in expression as she said, "Me too. I really am."

"Isla and I talked about her the other day. And I've talked to Cohen about her too."

"I think she's been on a lot people's mind," Britta said. "There are a lot of loved ones that should have been here. Your brothers. My sister. And I'm truly sorry that the three of them are not here with us today. It's likely to be a difficult day." Anxiety flared in the put of my stomach. I licked my lips, preparing to begin what I'd been rehearsing all night, but Britta said, "Which brings me to my point for coming to see you."

"Oh?"

Britta offered me a tentative smile, almost nervous. "I was coming to fetch you."

I stared. "For?"

"I've asked the prison guards to bring him up a few minutes early so you can have time. Not long, but a few minutes."

All of the air left my lungs. "Really?" Heat pricked at my eyes and I fought to banish the tears that had been threatening me for days. "I can see him?"

Britta gestured to the hallway ahead of us. "Only if you want to, of course. I wouldn't force you. I only assumed you'd want to."

"Yes! Yes, I want to. Yes, thank you."

Her smile widened. "Very well then. I have a few more things to take care of before the trial, so if you're ready?"

I nodded and followed her out.

We started walking the short distance towards the throne room. I kept three steps behind her, remembering Dellacov's warning from my first day in the palace. Britta didn't seem to notice at first, but then she glanced back to me, her thin brows furrowing. "Do you distrust me so much that you won't walk by my side?"

"Aren't people like me always supposed to walk three steps behind royalty?"

Britta shook her head and nodded to the empty place next to her. "I meant what I said before, Monroe. Come walk by my side."

I did as she said, hurrying my steps until we were side by side, my scuffed boots next to her polished heels. I wanted desperately to ask what she was planning to do for the trial, if she'd already made her choice or if she would truly listen to Kai's testimony. But I sewed my mouth shut.

It's likely to be a difficult day, she'd said.

As we neared the throne room Britta's said, "You've never told me why you fell in love with him." She glanced at me, her hands folded in front of her, her expression cautious, but curious. "Why him? And why still him?"

I hesitated and then said, "Well, for starters he's handsome as hell."

Britta laughed at that, her eyes crinkling at the corners. She had to cover her mouth with her hand to stifle the sound, her shoulders shaking as she shook her head at me. "Sometimes I can see exactly why Uri loved you so. You are the exact same."

I shrugged. "It's true. He is. You likely can't appreciate it fully because he'd your brother, but he's something else. When I first met him, I was determined not to notice how good looking he was and I didn't want to like him. Kai was annoying. He was my watchdog when I first got to Vayelle. And it drove me insane. But little by little, I started to fall for..." I gestured with my hands, trying to decide what word to use. I settled on, "I fell for myself, I guess. And that was because of him. I started to love myself and that made me love him. I found him all the more attractive because of how I looked through his eyes. "

"What do you mean?"

"Kai saw me. He looked me when I was too angry and ashamed to really look at myself. I felt so guilty about what I'd done during my Culling and how I'd betrayed Cohen. I didn't give myself enough credit. I didn't give myself any grace or mercy. But he did. He thought what I'd done was amazing. He thought I was brave."

"Well you'd helped him begin to dismantle a kingdom he wished to conquer for himself."

I shook my head. "No, it wasn't like that. It was never like that. He was always trying to make me see myself as more than what the Culling had made me into. Kai wanted me to see myself as more than what I'd grown up assuming I could be. For instance, I'd never just used my ability for practical things. I'd always used it for combat. It was always a weapon. Or it was always something I was supposed to hide. Something I was meant to be ashamed of. But not with him. Never with him. From day one, he put me to work. I hated it. Britta, I hated it. But he had me light the campfires in Third Corps every morning and put them put them out every night. That was over twenty fires. And it gave me a purpose. It made me feel necessary. Needed. It made me feel like I wasn't just a weapon. And it showed everyone else in camp that I was safe. I could be trusted. And he made me feel like I was more than just goddess-touched. Like I was just a girl. A miraculous girl with a miraculous ability, but a girl nonetheless. And that was wonderful. I'd never had that before."

Britta nodded slowly, her eyes darting to me as she said, "What else?"

"He challenged me. Made me do things I wasn't always comfortable with. He taught me to shoot a gun. And he would make me run. Goddess above, he'd make me run. So many damn laps. Kai likes running. I don't mind it. In fact, I've learned to enjoy it because of him. But he loves it. It's a stress relief thing for him. And he taught me to channel my stress in healthier ways too. It all made me feel strong. Capable. He believed I could do it. Whatever it was, I was capable of it. And if I wasn't, he'd help me figure out. We'd do it together. And we don't always get along. We aren't perfect. But I like that we argue. We challenge each other. I think I make him better. And I know he makes me better, though he would tell you that he's a bad influence. But he isn't. He's kind. He's a mama's boy. And an artist, but he'd never admit it. And he drinks tea. Lots of different types of tea, a whole collection of it. I use to think it would be fun to try a different kind every morning. Let him make for me however he drinks it. I don't know...I feel like I'm rambling." I looked at Britta, suddenly self-conscious. "We just go well together. Kindling that caught and once we started burning, that was it. There isn't like a super easy way to describe why or when my feelings for him started, they just did. One day I knew that he was mine and that was that."

We stopped outside the throne room and Britta turned to face me. She studied me for a long moment, her expression contemplative.  "Your face flushes when you talk about him, did you know?"

If my face wasn't already bright red, it was now. Heat flooded my cheeks at her words and I swallowed.

I hadn't known that.

Britta continued. "Don't look so ashamed, Monroe. You act as if you've shown your cards, like by showing how you love him on your face you've ruined something. On the contrary, I think it's endearing. I told you that Uri loved loudly and that I envied her for it.  There is an inherent bravery that comes with loving someone loudly, regardless of opposition." She cleared her throat and nodded to the closed doors of the throne room. "I must go inside and begin making sure things are in order. Whatever happens this morning, whether it is the verdict you want or not, please know that it the verdict I have to make. Know that I am not only thinking of you when I make it. I can't only think of you. Even if I would like to." She reached out and gave my arm a gentle squeeze. "Thank you for tell me a little about your relationship with him. I wish I had time to hear more."

My throat was painfully tight. Too tight for words.

Britta nodded to a smaller door set to one side of the main double doors to the throne room. "There is a small antechamber through there. The guards will bring Kai there. I've already instructed them to give you a few minutes alone before the trial starts. If I see Heidi or Nadia, I'll ask one of them to save you a seat. When you leave the antechamber and come into the throne room, look for one of them—I'm sure they'll have a place for you."

With that, she turned and left me alone.

***

Standing in the small antechamber waiting for the guards to arrive with Kai, I couldn't seem to grasp hold of any fear. Not anymore. I felt oddly numb now. I'd been anxious all morning, but now I was removed from it all. Not afraid or worried—not in the way I felt like I should be.

Today, whatever held within it, could be my worst nightmare. It could be worse than suffocation, worse than the darkest room or the tightest tunnel. It all felt a little too familiar. The shadow of an experience I'd had multiple times before. Truth was, waking up and dressing this morning had felt like preparing for a Culling trial.

Except I didn't know who I was facing.

Still, the sun had risen. Now, standing there staring at the door, waiting. I thought that it was unfortunate that I hadn't seen it. There were no windows in my room. I hadn't passed any on the way here. But it might have been Kai's last sunrise. It very well could have been mine.

I didn't know if I'd make it though today if they killed him. It was melodramatic, but I couldn't imagine going to bed knowing he was dead. Knowing it was all over and he wasn't in my life.

I couldn't think about it.

So instead, I I prayed for Caine. I prayed that Heidi would torture him. That she would terrorize him. That she would never let him rest. I prayed that for every mark Caine had left on Anna's body, own Kai's body, Heidi would leave double on his mind. I prayed that he would wished for death and that Nadia would keep him from it. Keep him on the edge of agony forever. I prayed that peace was something he would never, ever know.

Everything beyond that was fluid, awash with trepidation and distress.

I knew only that I wanted Caine to suffer and I needed Kai to live.

The shadow of blood around the throne marking where Uri had died. It's likely to be a difficult day, Britta had said to me. She'd told me that she'd could only think of me when making this decision. Dread was cold weight against my chest.

I couldn't lose him. Couldn't lose Kai.

Kai.

The door to the antechamber creaked open and I turned to see him standing there. Two guards were on either side of him and they'd secured his wrists in front of him with heavy metal handcuffs. But he seemed well enough for someone who had spent a month locked in a prison cell.

His brown eyes seemed to spark when he saw me, as if he were coming fully alive, and I didn't wait for permission—I crossed the room in three strides and threw myself against his chest. We both groaned in pain from old injuries, but I didn't release him. Didn't stop hugging him.

The guards made a sound, as if they weren't sure what to do, but neither of them tried to force me away. Kai leaned into me and pressed his lips to the top of my head. He breathed me in, "I wasn't sure she'd let me see you."

"She showed up this morning and said we could have a few minutes."

Kai nodded, his voice soft, achingly familiar. "Five minutes."

"Five minutes," I repeated.

He stepped back from me and ran his eyes over the dress I wore. It was a sage green, the fabric loose and light. The cream colored sweater I wore over top of it was thick and heavy, warm against the early spring chill.

Kai's gaze settled on my face and he sighed. "You look well.  Better than when I last saw you." His hands lifted, the chains at his wrists clinking as he tugged on a strand of my hair. "Heidi kept me updated on you. You can't imagine how worried I was. You weren't yourself, you ability was trapped inside of you or something. It was like I couldn't reach you. You didn't know my name and you were so pale. When they took me to the prison you weren't breathing."

"Heidi told me."

"I owe her."

I tried to force a smile. "If we make it out of here, I'm sure she'll be more than happy to collect."

He leaned down and pressed a kissed to corner of my eye, and then when I lifted my head, pushing up onto my toes, he pressed another to the corner of my mouth, just a tease of a real kiss. "Your injuries?" The skin of cheek rough against mine as he leaned closer to me.

"Better. I'm still a little sore, the gunshot in my stomach is healing slower than the others, but I'm okay. Nadia works on it a little everyday. It tires me out, the healing. We don't want to push it and with your trial coming up I didn't want to risk being too exhausted to be able to do this. I need to be here. And I feel fine anyway. I just don't want to fight again anytime soon. What about you?"

"Fine." I pulled away to see the tight-lipped smile on his face was all lies.

Someone had found him a set of clean dress clothes for the occasion. A nice shirt, gray trousers, and dress shoes. He made me look under dressed in comparison. Before he could stop me, I reached forward and caught a finger in the neckline of the navy blue button up he wore. Kai attempted to step out of my reach, but it was too late, I'd seen the still healing red welt of a handprint on his chest. It was full palm, five fingers spread as if someone had been trying to push him away.

That someone being me.

My eyes widened and I left go of his shirt, backing away from him. "Kai!"

He caught my wrist with his bound hands and drew me back to him. "I'm okay. I promise."

"Are there more?"

He pursed his lips, his expression turning hesitant. "None as bad as that."

My throat burned and I blinked back tears. "I thought we were done with lies."

"I'm not lying. And anyway, my injuries are not important right now, Monroe."

"Where else are you hurt?" I chewed my lip. "I don't remember a lot about what happened, but I can't believe I burned you like that. I didn't mean to. I've never hurt anyone I loved like...I've never...I would never..." My breathing was coming quickly. Too fast. I started to pull his shirt up, wanting to check his chest for more burns, but he caught my hand, threading my fingers through his.

"Stop. Love, listen to me. I need you to breathe." I was still staring at his chest, at the place where his shirt covered that terrible burn mark. I'd never burned anyone I loved like that. "Look at me." When I didn't, he let go of my hand and caught hold of my chin, tilting my head up so I'd meet his eyes. "It's a burn. If I make it past this trial, I swear you can coddle me all you like. But right now, I need you to listen. We don't have a lot of time. Okay?" When I only looked at him he said, "I need you to say something."

"Kiss me."

He leaned down and brushed his lips against mine, gentled at first, then deeper. His tongue ran along the seam of my lips and I opened for him, letting him claim me completely. It was sweet. A quiet in a way I hadn't realized that kisses could be.

When he pulled away, it wasn't by far. He lingered, his mouth still mere inches from mine. "Are you listening to me?"

I nodded.

"You..." he sighed and pressed a kiss to my jaw. "You shouldn't stay." Another kiss to the place just below my ear. "Let...Let Britta do the sentencing and let the cards fall where they may. But—Monroe, please don't—"

I pulled away from him, met his eyes. "I want to be here."

He didn't look at me as he whispered, "I understand that. But I don't want you to have to watch me die."

I wrapped a hand in the front of his shirt. "Then don't die."

He let out a bitter laugh and turned back to me. "You say that like I have a choice." He reached up and ran his thumb along my bottom lip. I didn't miss the way the cuffs clinked at every single movement he made. He didn't either. "The fact that I'm standing here, looking at you, is a kindness I didn't even think—" The words broke and he shook his head. "It's more than I probably deserve from her."

"You've never done anything to Britta."

Out beyond the closed doors of the antechamber, in the throne room beyond us, I could hear a crowd already gathering. I wondered if my friends were there. I wondered what they were hoping for. I wondered if they'd already discussed their plan for how they would handle me if Kai was executed.

I flinched as Kai lifted a hand and pressed a finger between my eyes, over the crease there. "Stop worrying, love."

He pressed a kiss where his finger had just been and then let his lips move lower, first to my cheek and then to my jaw. I clung to him, lifting my chin to give him better access, wishing he'd kiss me properly again.

When he didn't move to claim my mouth, I tangled my fingers in his hair and pulled him down to me, capturing his lips with my own. He kissed me back, fiercely. Deepening the kiss until I was dizzy with it. He moaned against my mouth, the two of us staggering, slightly off kilter with the handcuffs and me pulling him down towards me.

"I'm staying," I breathing against his mouth. Before he could argue I kissed him again. "Not up for discussion."

Behind Kai, one of the guard coughed loudly.

Kai broke away from me, his breathing heavy, his smile shaky as he whispered, "I'd kiss you until they drag me out of here, but I owe you a million apologizes."

"I don't want to hear them. It's forgiven. If we get past this, we'll discuss it. For now, I don't care."

"Then hear this instead: I love you, desperately. More than you will ever understand."

I smiled and rose up on my toes, kissing him again, this time softer. "And I love you. And while all of that is very sweet of you to say, I'd take the kissing as substitution for the apologies."

He kissed me once more and then buried his face in my hair as he said, "I've missed you."

"I bet you haven't missed me stealing your jackets."

He threw his head back, a noise escaping him, somewhere between a scoff and a laugh. "No, actually. It's been nice not having to find a new one every few days."

There was more noise from inside the throne room and I turned to look at the door that would lead directly into the room from the antechamber. We were both silent for a long moment, the brief moment of forced humor gone and the reality of our situation once against returned. Bile rose hot and acidic in my throat. Heat pulsed at my fingertips, pressing at the underside of my skin and clawing at my ribcage, as if my ability knew I was danger and wanted to protect me.

But there was no protecting me from this. This terror was a poison my body had been trying to rid itself of for a week and it wasn't working. I couldn't calm down, couldn't get my mind to stop imagining the worst possibilities. The worst outcomes. I couldn't stop seeing him dead, a bullet through his head, a pool of blood beneath him.

And he told me not to stay, not to watch, but how could I possibly leave him?

Kai straightened and ran the backs of his fingers against my jaw—against the yellowing bruise there—drawing my attention back to him. "Where will you go after this?"

I closed my eyes. "Don't ask questions like that." I leaned into his chest, tucking my head against his chest.

I'd hated handcuffs from the moment Dellacov had put them on me and taken me down to the prison after I'd been discovered spying for the Culled. But I'd never hated them more than I did just then. I wanted his arms around me. I wanted to be held.

"Why not?" He asked, his voice filled with an emotion I couldn't quite name. A forced calm. An indifference I knew he didn't feel. A sadness. "I want to know what you'll do."

"Asking implies you don't plan to go with me."

"I just want to know," he whispered, his breath tickling my hair. "I want to be able to imagine you happy. Where will you be happy? On your family's farm? You liked being there." His voice turned hoarse as he said, "I know it was probably infuriating to be trapped there all the time when you were growing up, but you were happy when we were there together. You were content. I loved baking bread with you and working in the barn. I liked laughing with you. Going to bed each night and waking with you each morning. Gathering eggs and helping make breakfast. Simple things. I remember that as a happy time. Even if there were scary things happy around us. Will you return there after this? This you be happy there again?"

"None of that was because of the farm. It was because of you and you know that. If you want to imagine me happy, imagine me with you. Where ever you are, that's where I want to be."

"I may be no where, Monroe." His hands tightened on my shoulders and he pulled me back so he could look at my face. His golden eyes were shining, "I can't control it. I have made so many bad choices and I would go back and change so many of them for you if I could, but this is a choice that isn't mine to make."

"I need to believe that you're going to live through this."

"I can't let you walk into that room believing a lie, Monroe. I will not let you walk into that room believing a lie, especially not one I led you to believe. I've made that mistake before. It was my biggest mistake."

"Giving me hope isn't a lie."

"I don't know what will happen. I want you to be happy on the other side of it. Whether that is tomorrow or in ten years. I want you to be happy. You deserve happiness. So much of it."

I pressed a kiss to his jaw. It was covered in dark stubble, as if they'd let him shave a few days earlier but hadn't bothered to let him do so since. "Stay. Stay with me."

I felt the guards behind him shift. A herald in the throne room announced Britta's entrance. Our time was up. The guards began to pull him away from me and I stepped towards him, following them out into the hallway.

Kai's voice was steady, his eyes locked on mine as he said, "I love you."

My throat was so tight the words were no more than a whisper as I said, "I love you too."

"Don't watch," he said over his shoulder. "If she chooses—If it ends badly, please don't watch. In the end, don't watch. Please, love."

I didn't answer him, I couldn't speak past the lump in my throat, past the ringing in my ears. I moved to stand in the doorway, watching as the guards pushed him towards the main entrance to the throne room. They'd parade him in from there. They'd give the people the spectacle they craved.

Kai met my eyes, just one last time. "Swear you won't watch, Monroe. I can't—Please?"

I nodded. "I swear."

With that, a trumpet sounded and the guards pulled the doors open. I heard people gasp, conversations piddled out like a rainstorm ceasing all at once. Kai held my gaze for just an instant longer and then he was gone.

🔥🔥🔥

Super long chapter this week. There may not be an upload Thursday, it will depend on how wild work is! 🧡 Love youuuu.

If you enjoyed this chapter, leave this 👻 emoji in the comments.

Also, don't forget that the published version of The Culled Crown, now titled Of Cages and Crowns, will hit shelves on November 22, 2022 (that's the day before my birthday!). So, it would be a pretty cool birthday present if you'd pre-order OC&C from your fave bookseller. All pre-orders go towards first week sales, so it really helps me and helps OC&C look super good. If you do pre-order, head over to instagram and let me know. I'd love to hear that you've ordered and thank you personally! If you're unable to pre-order, that's totally cool, please do share the link to the soon to be published version of the book with friends that you think would like it! Again, you can find OC&C at most of your fave North American bookstores. As for international booksellers, those are still in the works so stay tuned! 🔥👑🧡