Page 75 (1/2)
"We had a son too, Tibe," Elara whispers, her voice ragged with rage as she turns back to the king "No matter how you felt about me, you were supposed to love hiainst her mental hold "I do"
I knohat it’s like to be cast aside, to stand in another’s shadow But this kind of anger, this murderous, destructive, terrible scene is beyond my comprehension Maven loves his father, his brother--how can he let her do this? How can he want this?
But he stands still, watching, and I can’t find the words toprepares me for what comes next, for what Elara forces her puppets to do Cal’s hand shakes, reaching forward, pushed along by her will He tries to resist, struggling with every ounce of strength he has, but it’s no use This is a battle he does not kno to fight When his hand closes around the gilded sword, pulling it from the sheath at his father’s waist, the last piece of the puzzle slips into place Tears course down his face, stea-hot skin
"It’s not you," Tiberias says, his eyes on Cal’s wretched face He doesn’t bother pleading for his life "I know it’s not you, son This is not your fault"
No one deserves this No one In , and it co the prince and the king But even that fantasy is tainted Farley is dead Kilorn is dead The revolution is over Even in s, I cannot fix that
The sword rises in the air, shaking in Cal’s tree glea under Cal’s fiery touch, and bits of the gilded hiltfrom his hands like tears
Maven watches the blade closely, carefully, because he is too afraid to watch his father in his last
"Please," is all Cal can say, forcing the words out "Please"
There is no regret in Elara’s eyes and no re tih air and flesh and bone, she doesn’t blink
The king’s corpse lands with a thud, his head rolling to a stop a few feet away Silver blood splashes across the floor in asword, letting it clang against stone, before falling to his knees, his head in his hands The crown clatters across the floor, circling through the blood, until it stops to rest at Maven’s feet, sharp points bright with liquid silver
When Elara screah aloud at the absurdity of it all Has she changed her mind? Has she lost it entirely? Then I hear the click of ca back to life They poke out of the walls, pointing straight down at the king’s body and what looks like a queenher fallen husband Maven yells at her side, one hand on his ! You killed our father!" he screams in Cal’s face Only a hint of a se to rip his brother’s head off He’s in shock, not understanding, not wanting to understand But for once, I certainly do
The truth doesn’t matter It only matters what the people believe Julian tried to teach me that lesson before and now I understand it They will believe this little scene, this pretty play of actors and lies And no army, no country will follow a man who murdered his father for the crown
"Run, Cal!" I screa to snap hio, and the electric pulse returns, surging throughat all to shock theit with sparks until the shackles fall offinto pull hiive hih to catch his attention, before screales to his feet, alht , acting for the cameras Maven stands over her, arms ablaze, ready to protect his mother He doesn’t even try to stop us
"There’s nowhere for you to go!" he shouts, but I’ behind me "You are murderers, traitors, and you will face justice!"
His voice, a voice I used to knoell, seeh the doors and down the hall The voices in irl Look what your hope has done