Page 201 of Scourged

“Whatever you want, Shawth, I’ll give it to you. Partake in any ritual, swear any oaths, drain my entire body of blood. Just … please. Let themgo.”

Muffled bellows of revolt rolled through the gardens, even as the risers fell into a still, breathless silence. Mariah slumped her head, chin hitting her chest.

She fell to the grass, knees meeting the soft ground with a quiet thud.

Somewhere, she heard Andrian’s roar of fury. The guards struggled to contain him, dragging him away from her as he cried her name. Her Armature thrashed against their bindings. Their desperation leeched into the air; desperation to escape, to claw their way to their queen, to pull her up from her knees.

But Mariah was done fighting. Her family had given her everything. Taught her how to be strong in a world that would try to keep her weak. She could not pay the price her defiance now demanded.

Shawth had won.

Shawth crouched down before her, groaning slightly as he wobbled on his balance.

“Whatever I want?” he whispered. “So, you offer to me your blood by your own free will?”

“Yes,” Mariah breathed. “Whatever you want from me, I’ll give it willingly. But only if my family, my Armature, and my court can go free. Let them go to Kreah. They will leave the kingdom and will never bother you again.” She didn’t dare raise her gaze. Her words were steady and sure, but she didn’t trust herself. Didn’t trust her resolve if she looked anywhere but at her knees.

The gardens were silent, and her heartbeat thundered in her ears. The beast in her chest was snarling and thrashing. She did her best to soothe it, desperate to quiet the rage. She had no magic to push it back, so it raged against her, and she weathered it as rocks weathered the waves of the sea.

For her family, Mariah could do this. For as long as it took to get them out, to get them to safety, she could do this.

Shawth rose. Mariah’s gaze followed him, and he stared down at her, puzzled.

“Hm,” he said, crossing his arms. “How disappointing. I had expected you to fight harder than that.”

“You’ve won. What’s the point of fighting?” She glanced at her mother.

She shouldn’t have.

Lisabel’s expression almost tore Mariah in two. There was no disappointment on her mother’s face, only heartbreak. Pure, terrible, awful sadness glistened in Lisabel’s golden-hazel eyes.

“I’m sorry.” Mariah blinked, a single tear falling from her cheek, before she stilled.

She’d spoken those words out loud.

Shawth watched them, and his puzzlement faded away to wicked delight.

“You have all heard it,” he said, raising his voice so it carried across the gardens. The sun burned down on them, far more intense than it should have for the late northern spring. “An ascended queen has offered her blood to us willingly. Our god shall have his offering, and the curse will be lifted.” Raucous cheers answered him, even as cruelty sparkled in his eyes.

Dark cruelty. Inhuman cruelty. Otherworldly cruelty.

“Of course, our god needs the pretender queen alive. But she has offered her blood, and her blood, he shall take.”

The beast roared in Mariah’s ears. Her heart hammered in her chest. Her lungs froze, fingers curling into desperate, reaching claws. Her muscles strained against the hands holding her. She lurched to her feet, throwing herself forward, taking a single, feeble step.

Toward her family. Toward her mother.

The demon holding Lisabel tightened its grip, its serrated claw digging further into her neck. A scream she did not hear pulled itself from Mariah’s throat.

The journal. The dagger. Our family. I want to know, I need to know, I needyou?—

So many thoughts and memories and dreams and hopes slammed into Mariah. Bitter regret and frantic rage pummeled her, battering her broken soul. If she could just get to her mom, could just get that monster away from her, then she could understand …

Lisabel’s mouth opened, a single tear sliding down her bruised and bloodied face.

My light, she mouthed.It’s okay, my light. I forgive you, my light. I am so proud of you …

Over and over and over. More tears landed on Lisabel’s swollen lips. The demon behind her parted his maw in a ravenous growl.

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