MAVEN HAS BETRAYED ME. NO, he never has
be on my side at all.
My eyes adjusted, seeing the bars through the dim light. The ceiling was low and heavy, like the air in a basement. I’ve never been here before, but I recognize it anyway.
“The Broken Bowl,” I whispered loudly, thinking no one would hear me.
Instead, someone laughed.
The darkness continued to lift, revealing more of the cell. A shadowy figure was sitting hunched on the railing next to me, moving with his laughter.
“I was only four years old when I first came here, while Maven was not even two years old. She hid behind her mother’s skirt, afraid of the darkness and the emptiness of the cell.” Cal chuckled, every word he said was as sharp as a dagger. “I don’t think he’s afraid of the dark anymore.”
“No, I don’t think so anymore.”
I am the shadow of fire . I believed Maven when he said those words, when he told me how much he hated this world. Now I know it was all a hoax,
a very masterful trick. Every word, every touch, every look is a lie. In fact, I used to think I was the liar.
Instinctively I reached for my abilities, searching for a pulse of electricity, something to give me a spark of energy. But nothing appeared. There was nothing but emptiness, nothingness, an empty sensation that made me shudder.
“Is Arven near here?” I asked, remembering how he disabled my abilities, forcing me to watch as Maven and his mother destroyed their family. “I can’t feel anything.”
“It’s because of the cell,” Cal said flatly. His hands drew shapes on the dirty floor— fire . “Made from Silent Stone. Don’t ask me to explain it, because I can’t, and I don’t want to try either.”
He looked up, his eyes glaring through the darkness at the endless rows of cells. I should be afraid, but there is nothing left for me to be afraid of. The worst has happened.
“Before those battles, at a time when we still had to execute our own kind, the Bengkarak Bowl hosted all the sources of nightmares. The Great Greco, who used to tear humans in half and devour their livers. Poison Bride. He was an animos of the Viper Clan, who sent snakes into my great-uncle’s bed on their wedding night. “People say that my uncle’s blood turned into venom because he received so many snake bites.” Cal lists them, the criminals in his world. They sound like stories made up to scare children.
small children so that they are not stubborn. “Now, we. The Traitor Prince, they would call me. ‘He killed his father for the throne. He can’t wait.’”
I couldn’t resist adding to the story. “’That bitch forced herself to do it,’ they would gossip to each other.” I can see it in my mind, shouted on every street corner, from every video screen. “They’ll blame me, the Lightning Girl. I have poisoned your mind, I have corrupted you. I was the one who made you do it.”
“You almost made it.” He muttered back. “I almost chose you this morning.”
Did this incident just happen this morning? It seems impossible . I pushed myself up against the bars, leaning just inches away from Cal.
“They will kill us.”
Cal nodded, laughing again. I had heard him laugh before, laughing at me every time I tried to dance, but this sound wasn’t the same. The warmth had disappeared, leaving nothing behind.
“The king will see to that. We will be executed.”
Execution . I’m not surprised, not one bit.
“How are they going to do it?” I barely remember the final execution. Only shadows remained: silver blood on the sand, the roar of the crowd. And I remember the gallows back home, with ropes swaying with the roar of the strong wind.
Cal’s shoulders stiffened. “There are many ways. Together, one by one, with swords, guns, abilities, or all three at once.” He exhaled heavily, already surrendering to his fate. “They will make it painful. The execution will not take place quickly.”
“I’ll probably be covered in blood everywhere. It will astonish the whole world.” That grim thought made me smile. When I die, I will plant my own red flag, radiating it across the sands of the vast arena. “He wouldn’t have hidden me at that time. Everyone will know who I really am.”
“Do you think that will change anything?”
Must. Farley has the list, Farley will find the others … but Farley is dead. I can only hope he passed on the list to someone who is still alive. The others are still out there, and they must be found. They have to continue, because I can no longer do it.
“I don’t think that will happen.” Cal continued, his voice filling the silence. “I think he will use it as an excuse. There will be more war nets, more regulations, more labor camps. Her mother will create another great lie, and the world will continue to spin, just like before.”
No. It won’t be the same as before.
“He will look for people who are just like me.” I realized that out loud. I’ve fallen, I’ve lost, I’ve died. And this was the final nail to seal the coffin. My head
my hands drooped into my lap, my nimble and skilled fingers wrapped in my hair.
Cal shifted back against the bars, his weight sending vibrations along the metal. “What?”
“There are others. Julian found it. He told me how to find them, and—” My voice broke, not wanting to continue. “And I told Maven.” I want to scream. “Maven took advantage of me so perfectly.”
Through the bars, Cal turned to look at me. Even though his abilities were so far away, suppressed by these wretched walls, fire seemed to burn in his eyes. “How does that feel?” he growled, his nose almost touching mine. “How does it feel to be taken advantage of, Mare Barrow?”
In the past, I wanted to give up anything to hear him say my real name, but now it hurts like the sting of fire. I guess I took advantage of both of them, Maven and Cal. How stupid I turned out to be.
“Forgive me.” I forced myself to speak. I hate those words, but that’s all I can give. “I’m not a Maven, Cal. I didn’t do this to hurt you. I never intended to hurt you.” And softer, almost inaudible, “Not everything is a lie.”
His head slammed into the bars, so hard it must have hurt, but Cal didn’t seem to notice. Just like me, he had lost the ability to feel pain or fear. Too much has happened.
“Do you think he will kill my parents?” My sister, my brothers . For once, I was glad Shade was dead and out of Maven’s reach.
I felt a surprising warmth flow through me, seeping into my trembling bones. Cal had moved again, leaning against the bars directly behind me. His heat was gentle, natural—not fueled by anger or skill. His warmth was truly human. I could feel him breathing, his heart beating. Beating like a drum as he found the courage to lie to me. “I think he has more important things to think about.”
I know Cal can feel me crying, my shoulders shaking with every sob, but he doesn’t say anything. There are no right words for this. But he remained there, my last fragment of warmth in a world that was in ruins. I cried for them all. Farley, Tristan, Walsh, Will. Shade, Bree, Tramy, Gisa, Mom, and Dad. They are all warriors . Dan Kilorn. I couldn’t save him, no matter how hard I tried. I couldn’t even save myself.
At least I have my earrings . Small, sharp dots on my skin, that will stay with me until the end. I will die with them, and they with me .
We stayed like that for what seemed hours, even though nothing had changed to mark the time that had passed. I even managed to fall asleep once, before a familiar voice snapped me out of consciousness.
“In another life, I might be jealous.”
Maven’s words gave me chills and not in a good way.
Cal jumped to his feet faster than I thought he could and threw himself against the bars, making the metal sing. But the bars remain firm, and Maven, the cunning, disgusting and terrible Maven, is just beyond his reach. But he still flinched trying to get away.
“Just save your energy, sis,” he said, his teeth gritting with every word. “You’ll need it soon.”
Even though he didn’t wear a crown, Maven stood with the arrogance of a terrible king. His uniform was strewn with many new medals. The uniform had belonged to his father; I’m surprised the clothes aren’t stained with blood. He looked paler than before, although the dark circles under his eyes had disappeared. Killing makes him sleep soundly.
“Are you going to be in the arena?” Cal growled through the bars, both hands gripping the metal tightly. “Are you going to do it yourself? Do you even have the balls?”
I couldn’t find the strength to stand, no matter how much I wanted to lunge at the bars, tear at the metal with my bare hands until the only thing I felt was Maven’s throat. I can only watch.
He laughed dryly in response to his brother’s words. “We both know I’ll never be able to beat you based on ability,” he said, throwing back advice
Cal himself from a time long gone. “So I beat you with my head, My Dear Brother.”
Once, he told me that Cal hated feeling defeated. Now I realize the side that is always fighting to win is Maven. Every breath, every word was aimed at this bloody victory.
Cal growled softly. “Mavey,” he said. But that little call didn’t contain any affection anymore. “How could you do this to Dad? To me? To Mare?”
“A slain king, a treasonous prince. So much blood.” He grinned, dancing at the edge of Cal’s hand. “People are crying in the streets over the loss of our father. Or at least, they pretend so.” He added with an indifferent shrug. “The stupid wolves are waiting for me to slip up, and the smart ones know I won’t. The Samos Clan, the Iral Clan, they had been sharpening their claws for all these years, waiting for the arrival of a weak king, a king full of compassion. Do you know that they drool when they see you? Think about it, Cal. Decades from now, Father will die slowly, peacefully, and you will ascend the throne. Marry Evangeline, a princess with steel and blades, with her brother by your side. You won’t survive coronation night. He will do the same thing Mother did before and replace you with his own child.”
“Don’t tell me you’re doing this just to protect a dynasty,” Cal snorted, shaking his head. “You did this to yourself.”
Once again, Maven shrugged. He smiled to himself with a sinister and evil smile. “Are you that surprised? Poor Mavey, Second Prince. A shadow for his brother’s fire. A weakling, a trifle, is destined to stand aside and kneel.”
He shifted, moving away from Cal’s cell to stand in front of mine. I could only stare at him from the floor, not trusting myself to move. His body odor was even cold.
“Engaged to a girl whose heart is tied to someone else, to her brother, the prince that no one can ignore.” His words were laced with savagery, heavy with wild fury. But there was a truth behind it, a clear truth that I tried hard to forget. It made my body shudder. “You took everything that was rightfully mine, Cal. All .”
Suddenly I stood up, shaking hard but still standing. He’s been lying to us for so long, but I can’t let him lie now.
“I was never yours, just like you were never mine, Maven,” I snarled. “And it wasn’t even because of him . I thought you were perfect, I thought you were strong, brave and good . I thought you were better than him.”
Better than Cal . Those were words Maven never thought anyone would use. He frowned, and for a moment, I could see the boy I knew from before. The real youth never existed.
He reached out, grabbing me between the bars. When his fingers wrapped around my wrist, I didn’t feel anything
anything other than disgust. He gripped me tightly, as if I were some kind of lifeline. Something had snapped within him, revealing a desperate boy, a pathetic and hopeless human who was desperately trying to hold on to his beloved toy.
“I can save you.”
Those words made the hairs on the back of my neck bristle.
“Your father loves you, Maven. You don’t see it, but he really loves you.”
“Lie.”
“He loved you, but you killed him!” The words came faster, spilling like blood from a vein. “Your brother loves you, but you turned him into a murderer. I
-I love you. I trust you. I need you. And now I’m going to die because of it.”
“I am the king . You will live if I will.
I will make sure of it.”
“You mean you’re lying? One day your lies will strangle you, King Maven. My only regret is that I wasn’t around to see it.” Then it was my turn to grab him. I pulled with all my strength, making his body stagger against the bars. My knuckles brushed his cheek, and he yelped like a kicked dog. “I will never make the mistake of loving you again.”
But to my surprise, she recovered quickly and smoothed her hair. “So you chose him?”
It turns out all of this just came down to that. Jealousy.
Competition. All so that the shadow can defeat the fire.
I had to throw my head back and laugh, feeling the two brothers’ eyes on me. “Cal betrayed me, and I betrayed him. While you betrayed us both, in a thousand different ways.” Those words were as heavy as a rock but true. Very true . “I didn’t choose anyone.”
For once, I felt like I was controlling the fire and Maven had been burned by it. He staggered back from my cell, somehow defeated by the girl without her lightning, the chained prisoner, the mortal before a god.
“What are you going to tell them while I’m bleeding?” I hissed at him. “The truth?”
He laughed softly. The little boy had disappeared, replaced by the murderous king again. “The truth is what I make up. I could start a fire in this world and call it rain.”
And some will believe it. Stupid people. But others don’t. Red and Silver, high and low, some will see the truth.
His voice became a growl, his face the image of a beast. “Anyone who knows that we are harboring you, anyone who has even a shred of suspicion, will be dealt with.”
My mind raced, drifting to everyone who knew something odd about me. Maven outright beats me at it, seeming to enjoy sequencing lots of deaths.
“Lady Blonos has to go, of course. Decapitation is very suitable for skin healers.”
She was a pompous old woman, a bully—but she didn’t deserve that.
“The servants have it even easier. Beautiful girls, sisters from Oldshire. Mother takes care of them herself.”
I never even knew their names.
My knees hit the floor heavily, but I barely felt it. “They don’t know anything.” But my pleas are in vain now.
“Lucas will be eliminated too,” he said, smiling with teeth showing brightly in the darkness. “You will see that for yourself.”
I felt as if I was going to vomit. “You told me he was safe, with his family—!”
He laughed, long and hard. “When will you realize that every word that comes out of my mouth is a lie ?”
“We forced him, Julian and I. He did nothing wrong.” Pitying felt so terrible, but it was all I could do. “He is from the Samos Clan. You can’t kill any of them.”
“Mare, haven’t you been paying attention all this time? I can do anything,” he said angrily. “It’s a shame we couldn’t get Julian here on time. I would love to make him watch you die.”
I tried my best to hold back a sob, covering my mouth. Beside me, Cal growled softly, thinking about his uncle. “You found it?”
“Of course we found it. We arrested Julian, as well as Sara.” Maven laughed. “I chose to kill Skonos first, finishing the job started by my mother. You know that story, right, Cal? You know what my mother did, whispered into Coriane’s mind, drove her crazy.” He moved closer, his eyes wild and scary. “Sara knows. But your father, even you, refused to believe it. You let my mother win. And you’ve done it again.”
Cal didn’t respond, leaning his head against the bars. Satisfied he had destroyed his brother, Maven turned to me, pacing right in front of my cell.
“I’ll make the others scream for you, Mare, every one. Not just your parents. Not only your brothers and sisters but everyone who is like you. I will find them, and they will die with you in their minds, knowing this is the fate you brought them. I’m the king and you could be my Red queen. Now you are nothing .”
I didn’t bother fighting back the tears streaming down my cheeks. It’s no use anymore. Maven loved watching me break down and sucked his teeth as if he wanted to taste me.
“Goodbye, Maven.” I wish there was more I could say, but there are no words for the crime. He knows who he is, and, worst of all, he likes him.
He lowered his head, almost bowing towards the two of us. Cal didn’t want to look and instead gripped the bars, pressing against the metal as if it were Maven’s neck.
“Goodbye, Mare.” The grin disappeared, and, to my surprise, his eyes looked wet. He hesitated, not wanting to leave. Like him
suddenly realizing what he had done and what would happen to all of us. “I told you to hide your heart. You should have heard.”
How dare he.
I have three older brothers, so when I spat at Maven, my aim was perfect, hitting him right in the eye.
He immediately turned around, almost running from both of us. Cal watched him go for a long moment, unable to speak. I could only sit, let my anger subside again. When Cal leaned back with his back to me, there were no words left to say.
Many things have happened that led to today’s events, for all of us. A forgotten son, a vengeful mother, an older sister with a long shadow, a person with a strange mutation. Together, they have written a tragicomedy.
In the story, in the old fairy tales, a hero comes. But all my heroes are gone or dead. Nobody came for me.
It must have been early morning when the Sentinels arrived, led by Arven himself. With the suffocating walls, their presence made it difficult for me to stand, but they forced me to rise.
“Sentinel Provos, Sentinel Viper.” Cal nodded to the Sentinels as they opened his cell. They pulled him to his feet roughly. Even now, facing death, Cal seems calm.
He greeted every guard we passed, calling out their names. They stared back at him, angry or confused or both. A kingslayer shouldn’t be so kind. The soldiers were even worse. He wanted to stop to bid them a proper farewell, but his own men became hard and cold as soon as they saw him. And I think that’s as painful for Cal as anything else. After a moment, Cal turned silent, losing the last shred of resolve he had. As we climbed out of the darkness, the noise of the crowd grew closer. Faint at first, but then it became a muffled roar right above us. The arena was full, and they were ready for a show.
It all started when I fell into the Spiral Garden, a body made of sparks, and now I ended up in the Swollen Bowl. I will go as a corpse.
The arena attendants, all drab-eyed Silvers, descended on us like a flock of doves. They pulled me behind the curtain, preparing me for what was to come with deft movements and rough hands. I barely felt them, pushing and pulling, squeezing me into a cheap version of a training suit. It was meant as an insult, forcing me to wear something so simple as my last garment before death, but I preferred the roughness of this fabric to the softness of silk. I vaguely remembered my servants. They paint me every day; they knew I had something to hide. And they will die because of it. Nobody will paint me nowadays or even bother
wiping away the dust from the night spent in the confinement room. Another exhibition of splendor. Before, I wore silks, jewels, and a pretty smile, but that didn’t match Maven’s lies. A Red girl in rags was easier for them to understand, and easier to kill.
When they dragged me back outside, I saw them doing the same thing to Cal. There would be no medals, no armor for him. But he was back wearing his fire-creating bracelet. The fire still burned, burning within the broken warrior. He had given himself up to die, but not before taking someone with him.
We stared at each other, just because there was nothing else we could look at.
“What will we face?” Cal finally spoke, taking his eyes off me to face Arven.
The old man, white as paper, stared back at his former students without a single glimmer of regret. What did they promise him, for his help? However, I can already see it. The badge on her heart, a crown made of black charcoal, diamonds, and rubies, that once belonged to Cal. I have no doubt he was given much more.
“You were a prince and a general. In his wisdom, the merciful king has decided you should at least die with glory.” He smiled as he spoke, showing his sharp little teeth. Mouse teeth . “A good death, one no traitor deserves.”
“As for this Red girl, the Trickster.” He turned his frightening gaze on me, sharpening his attention. The weight of its suffocating power threatened to drag me down. “He will not hold a weapon at all and die like a devil.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but Arven glanced at me, his breath reeking of poison. “That’s the king’s order.”
Without weapons . I want to scream. No lightning . Arven won’t let me go, even if I die. Maven’s words resonated strongly in my mind. Now you are nothing . I will die as nothing. They don’t need to hide my blood if they can claim that my powers are somehow fake.
While in the lower cell, I could hardly wait to step out onto the sand, to send my sparks to the sky and my blood to the earth. Now my body shuddered and trembled, wanting so badly to escape. But my damned pride, the only thing I still had, wouldn’t even allow that.
Cal took my hand. He was shaking just like me, afraid of death. At least he still had a chance to fight.
“I will protect you as long as I can,” he whispered. I could barely hear him over the stomping of my feet and the pounding of my poor heart.
“I don’t deserve it.” I mumbled back, but I still squeezed his hand as a thank you. I have betrayed him, I have ruined his life. This is how he repays me.
The following room is the last one. It was a sloping passageway, leading down a low ramp to a steel gate. Sunlight danced in, showering us with all the hubbub of a packed arena. The walls distorted the noise, turning the cheers and screams into the howls of a nightmare. I guess that’s not far from the truth.
When we stepped inside, I saw we weren’t the only ones waiting to die.
“Lucas!”
A guard held his arm, but Lucas was still able to look over his shoulder. His face was covered in wounds and he looked paler than before, as if he had not seen the sun for days. That’s probably true.
“Mare.” Just the way he said my name made me wince. He was the one I betrayed too, taking advantage of him just as I used Cal, Julian, the colonel, just as I tried to take advantage of Maven. “I’ve been wondering when I’ll see you again.”
“Forgive me.” I immediately offered my pathetic apology, and it still wouldn’t be enough . “They told me you were with your family, that you were safe, or else—”
“What if not?” he asked quietly. “I am nothing to you.
Just something to be used and thrown away.”
The accusation cut like a dagger. “I’m sorry, but it has to be done.”
“The Queen made me remember.” Make . There was pain in his voice. “Don’t apologize because you don’t mean it.
Really.”
I wanted to embrace him to show him that this wasn’t what I wanted. “I mean it. I swear, Lucas.”
“Your Majesty, Maven of the Calore Clan and Merandus Clan, King of Norta, Northern Fire.” The call boomed throughout the arena, echoing down to us through the gates. The cheers that followed made me wince, and Lucas flinched. His end was near.
“Are you going to do it again?” Those words cut so sharply. “Will you sacrifice me for your terrorist friends again?” Yes, I will. I didn’t say it out loud, but Lucas saw the answer in my eyes. “I’ve kept your secret.”
That was the worst insult he could throw at me. The knowledge that he had protected me, even though I didn’t deserve it, gnawed at my soul.
“But now I know you’re not different, not anymore.” He continued, almost spitting. “You’re just like everyone else. Heartless, selfish, cold—just like us. They have taught you well.”
Then he turned, facing the gate again. He didn’t want to hear another word from me again. I wanted to approach him, to try to explain, but a guard held me back. There was nothing more I could do but stand firm and wait for our impending doom.
“O my people.” Maven’s voice filtered through the gate along with the sunlight. He sounds like his father, like Cal,
but there was something sharper in his voice. He was only seventeen years old and already a monster . “My people, my children.”
Cal snorted beside me. But outside in the arena, complete and utter silence swept over. Maven has them all in the palm of his hand.
“Some would call this cruelty.” Maven continues. I’m sure he has memorized a stirring speech, which was probably written by his mother, who was none other than a witch. “My father’s body has not yet cooled down, his blood still stains the floor. But I have been forced to take over his position, to begin my leadership in the shadows of violence. We haven’t executed our own kind for the last ten years, and it pains me to start that terrible tradition again. But for my father’s sake, for my throne’s sake, for your sake , I must do it. I’m still young, but I’m not weak. Such crimes, such atrocities must be punished.”
High above us, high in the arena, boos roared, cheering death.
“Lucas of the Samos Clan, for crimes against the throne, for colluding with the terrorist organization known as the Red Front, I pronounce you guilty. I sentence you to death. Submit to execution.”
Then Lucas walks down the ramp, towards his own death. He didn’t glance at me for a moment. Doesn’t mean I deserve it. He will die, not just because of what we forced him to do, but because of me
which are actually. Just like the others, he knew there was something odd about me. And just like the others, he will die. As he disappeared through the distant gate, I had to look away and stare at the wall. The sound of gunfire was hard to ignore. The crowd roared, delighted to witness the violent exhibition.
Lucas was just the beginning, the opening act. We are the real show.
“Walk,” Arven said, urging us forward. He followed as we began our slow climb.
I can’t let go of Cal’s hand, in case I trip. Every muscle in his body tensed, preparing to fight for his life. I reached for my lightning bolt in one last attempt but none was present. There wasn’t even a tremor left in me. Arven—and Maven—had snatched it away.
Through the gate, I watched as Lucas’ body was dragged away, leaving silver bloodstains along the sand. A wave of nausea washed over me, and I had to bite my lip.
With a loud groan, the steel gate shook and shot up. The sunlight blinded me for a moment, freezing me in place, but Cal pulled me forward into the arena.
White sand, as fine as talcum powder, shifted beneath my feet. As my vision adjusted, I almost forgot to breathe. The arena was enormous, a wide gray maw of steel and stonework, filled with thousands of angry faces. They all glared at us in deafening silence, pouring their hatred into my skin. I couldn’t see any Red figures, but I wasn’t expecting one. This is it
which the Silvers call entertainment, another play for them to laugh at, and they don’t want to share it.
Video screens filled the arena, reflecting my own face back at me. Of course they had to record it to broadcast it across the country. To show the world another Red figure who was so humiliated. The sight made me freeze; I look exactly like myself again. Dirty, with tousled hair, simple clothes, the dust fell from me in small clouds. My skin was red with the blood I had been trying to hide for so long. If only death were not waiting for me, I might smile.
To my surprise, the screens flickered, switching from images of Cal and me to something blurry—security video footage, all the cameras, all the electric eyes. With a shaky breath, I realized how Maven had planned it so carefully.
The screens played it all back, every stolen moment. Sneaking out of the Hall with Cal, dancing together, our secret conversations, our kisses . It then continues with the murder of the king in its terrible and complete splendor. When put together like that, it’s not hard to believe Maven’s story. It all comes together, the story of the Red Devil who seduces the prince, which drives him to kill the king. The crowd gasped and groaned, consumed by the perfect lie. Even my parents would find it hard to deny it.
“Mare Molly Barrow.”
Maven’s voice boomed behind me, and we spun around to see the stupid king looking down at us. Crib
the seats themselves were decorated with black-and-red flags, filled to the brim with familiar lords and noblewomen. They all wore black, abandoning their own clan colors in honor of the slain king. Sonya, Elane, and all the other Prominent Clan children looked down at me in disgust. Lord Samos stood on Maven’s left side, with the queen on his right. Elara hid behind a mourning veil, perhaps to hide her evil smile. I thought Evangeline would be standing nearby, content to marry the next king. After all, he was only after the crown. But he was nowhere to be seen. Maven himself looks like a dark ghost, his pale skin contrasting with the black glint of his armor. He even wore the sword they used to kill the king, and his father’s crown sat in his hair, gleaming in the sunlight.
“We once believed you to be the missing Mareena Titanos, a citizen of my kingdom who was murdered. With the help of your fellow Reds, you tricked us with technological tricks and tricks, infiltrating my own family.” Technology tricks . The screens showed me back in Spiral Gardens, pulsing with electricity. In the footage, it looks unnatural. “We gave you education, status, power, strength—even our love. For that, you repay our kindness with betrayal, turning my own brother against his blood brother with your tricks.
“We now know that you were a spy for the defeated Red Front and were directly responsible for the loss of countless lives.” The images shown shift to the night of the Shooting Sun, to a dance hall filled with blood and death. Farley’s flag, a piece of red cloth with a torn sun flying about it, stood out amidst the chaos.
“Along with my brother, the Seventh Prince of Tiberias, of the Calore Clan and the Jacos Clan, you are accused of many despicable and violent offenses against the throne, including fraud, treason, terrorism, and murder.” Your hands are no cleaner than mine, Maven . “You killed the king, my father, bewitching his own son to do the deed. You’re a Red Devil”—he swept his gaze over Cal, who was now almost lighting a fire with his anger—“and you’re a weak man. Traitors to your own throne, your own blood, and your own color.” The king’s death is played back, confirming Maven’s lies.
“I declare you both guilty of your crimes. Submit to execution.” A great roar of boos reverberated throughout the arena. It sounded like pigs screaming, roaring for blood.
The video screens flashed back to Cal and me, expecting us to cry or cry to be saved. Neither of us moved an inch. They won’t get that from us.
Maven stared across the side of his box, squinting, waiting for one of us to throw a tantrum.
Instead, Cal gave a respectful salute, two fingers touched to his forehead. It was better than punching Maven in the face, and Maven immediately moved back, disappointed. He turned his head away from us, towards the far side of the arena. When I turned around, I thought I would see the armed group that had killed Lucas, but instead I was greeted by a very different sight.
I don’t know where they came from or when, but five figures appeared amidst the sand.
“It wasn’t so bad,” I muttered, squeezing Cal’s hand. He is a fighter, a soldier. Five against one would probably be even for him.
But Cal frowned, his attention focused on our executioners. Their figures became clearer and fear rolled over me. I know their names and abilities, some greater than others. They all harbor great power, complete with armor and uniforms intended for battle.
A mighty arm of Rhambos to tear my body apart, a son of Haven who would disappear and strangle me like an invisible ghost, and Lord Osanos himself to drown Cal’s fire. Not to mention Arven, I reminded myself. He stood near the gate, his eyes never once leaving my body.
Don’t forget the other two figures. The magnetrons.
Almost poetic, actually. In matching armor, with matching roars, Evangeline and Ptolemus looked down
us, their fists looked ready with long and terrible daggers.
In the corner of my mind, the clock was ticking, counting down. There’s not much time left.
Above us, Maven’s voice cracked. “Let them die.”[]
