Page 64 of The War and Deceit Series omnibus

Then I remember, his father killed his mother yesterday.

In silence, the royals take their seats and look out at their subjects. The queen’s empty throne stands tall, the lack of her presence glaring like a beacon, pulling every eye to it even though you want to look anywherebutthere. Like the act alone would be enough to entice a punishment.

We continue to stand as the king stares out at us like he’s judging us, weighing our worth. I can see Jacob scanning the tables, his eyes locking onto mine. Something changes in his gaze, but his expression doesn’t alter, and he quickly looks away, as if worried about drawing attention to me. Eventually, the king nods, which seems to be the signal we’ve been waiting for to sit. Once everyone is seated, the king leans forward on his throne.

“People of Arhaven.” His voice is clear and strong as he addresses us. “A great evil has entered the castle and is infecting us. It’s a sickness, eating through people’s souls and making them betray us. Betray the Great Mother.” He brings his left hand to his chest before raising it briefly above him in the religious gesture of praise to the Great Mother. Quiet muttering fills the room, and many people invoke the gesture of the Mother. “This evil will not be tolerated andwillbe eradicated from this kingdom.” His eyes sweep over us. “Sacrifices will haveto be made. As many of you saw, my own wife had to be killed. She was infected with this evil, and as such,hadto be executed before she spread it further.”

Many of the lords and ladies start nodding, making sympathetic noises as he speaks about murdering his wife. I can’t believe they believe the rubbish he’s spewing, he doesn’t even sound the slightest bit sorry that he’s lost his wife. After a pause, the king clears his throat again and the chatter dies down as everyone turns to him expectantly.

“Things are about to change around here,” he announces, his words as hard as his steely eyes as his body language changes. “We must eradicate this evil.” There is a shuffling of feet, and the high priest comes to stand beside the king, his serene mask not doing anything to hide his glee at the situation.

“As such, the high priest and his fellow priests will be patrolling the castle, searching for those who are harbouring this evil. They have the power to issue punishments, including execution if they see fit.” More priests enter the room as he speaks, making the servants who were lining the walls move, herding them into the centre of the room. People look nervous now. The idea that the priests could sentence you for a crime without trial is scary. The king pushes up from his throne and takes a step forward.

“Please know that the people from the mountain tribes are no longer welcome in Arhaven and are now enemies of the kingdom, so they will be killed on sight. Failure to report sightings of them is punishable by death.”

My thoughts immediately go to Tor. Although we’ve only met a handful of times, I have an undeniable pull towards him, like the one I have with Grayson. And Vaeril.

Damn, Clarissa. You need to sort out your feelings. One woman can’t have a connection with more than one man,I internally berate myself, before turning my thoughts back toTor. He called me by a different name when we were in the courtyard yesterday, he acted like he knew me, not as Clarissa, but someone else. I wish I had gotten the chance to talk to him, but that won’t be possible now. Something in my chest seems to pulse, and I get a weird feeling, like I know he’s okay, safe. I don’t know how I know this, but I’m going to trust that instinct.

More muttering fills the room as people whisper conspiracy theories between each other. The king allows this to go on for much longer than he previously had. Glancing over his shoulder, he makes a small gesture, and the high priest bows his head in acknowledgement and steps up to the front of the platform. The king nods at him before leaning back in his throne.

“There is one further announcement to make before you can enjoy your breakfast.” His voice makes me shudder, and a feeling deep in my gut tells me that this is not going to be good news. “As you know, all our slaves had to be culled yesterday as the evil had infected them.”

He talks about them as if they were cattle and not people, children, who were murdered. My body trembles with rage, and it’s only when a hand lands on mine that I realise I had been moving to stand.

“Don’t,” Grayson whispers to me, and the realisation of what could have happened hits me, and I shiver as an icy finger of dread trails down my spine.

That was really stupid, Clarissa. Do you want to be killed?I think to myself as I move my skirts, making it look like I had just been rearranging my clothing. The hand on top of mine squeezes gently, and I turn to look at Grayson, bowing my head in thanks, which is the most I can manage right now. I can feel the eyes of the high priest on me, but I keep my eyes averted, knowing if I look up, he’ll see my rage.

“Slaves are a key component to our infrastructure, and without them, everything will fall apart.”

The dread reappears and it’s like I’ve been hit by a hammer, knowing what is coming next. How had I not thought of this? Of course they were going to replace the slaves.

“So, we are asking every family that has children younger than the age of twenty to put one child forward to the care of the kingdom.” My head jerks up at the declaration. No, he can’t be serious, he wouldn’t be so evil as to make a family give up one of their children…would he?

There’s a sudden silence as everyone takes a few moments to process what they’ve just heard. Shocked cries fill the hall as people jump up from their seats, refusing to give up their children. The voices of the maids and servants join with those of the nobility as they share in their shock, fear, and anger. The guards take a step away from the walls, drawing their weapons. They aren’t going to use them, but it’s a threat, one that everyone seems to comprehend. What the kingdom doesn’t realise, though, is that parents would go a long way to protect their children. This isn’t going to be as easy as they think it is.

“It is a great honour, and you should be proud that one of your family members is able to serve the kingdom in such a way. Children from every status will be accepted, unless, that is, they can pay a fee to be excluded,” the priest continues in his benevolent voice, as if he’s oblivious to the pain of his people, but I know him, I can see the sick gleam in his eyes, he’s loving every moment of this. The crowd continues to protest, shouting and gesturing, refusing. I hear women crying and my heart breaks for them. None of the servants and many of the lesser nobility will be able to afford this ‘fee’ and are being put in an impossible position.

The king’s face is hard, and he suddenly pushes up from his throne again and stalks to the edge of the stage. “This is not voluntary. Any family that does not put a child forward or pay the fee will be put to death. The rest of the kingdom has beengiven the same information. Now. Sit. Down.” His words seem to echo around the room as if they’ve been amplified.

This is enough to make everyone pause. The king is not known for being kind or forgiving, especially after everything that happened yesterday. No one wants to push him, he never makes blind threats. Slowly, the nobles who stood begin to sit down, but I can see the rage in their faces.

The king continues to stand at the edge of the platform, his hard gaze watching for any signs of rebellion. After a couple of seconds, he nods once. “The workers are dismissed. Enjoy your breakfast.” He waves away the servants and maids, who are herded out of the room, their protests echoing down the corridor as the guards and priests funnel them out.

The room is eerily silent now that the maids and servants have gone, and everyone looks around, wondering what to do next, stunned by the news.

“Eat,” the king demands, as he sits back on his throne. A large, wooden table is quickly carried over and placed in front of the thrones, plates laden with food set before them.

The sound of dishes and cutlery being moved around signals that everyone is following the king’s order, but I can’t even think about eating right now. I feel sick. I had known, deep down, that something like this would happen, but to force parents to give up a child is the cruellest way he could have done it. Making parents pick between their children and put one into slavery. They’ve seen how slaves are treated, they ignored us as we huddled in the corridors, freezing and starving, and now their child will be one of them. Is this what happened to me?

My body starts to shake again, and that thing I try to keep buried begins to grow, the force of anger behind it so strong that I’m not sure I can contain it.

“Be still, my beloved.”The Great Mother’s voice washes over me, instantly dousing my anger.“They are looking for an excuseto execute you, do not give them a reason,”she informs me, and I close my eyes briefly, taking a deep breath to keep myself calm.“These atrocities will not go unpunished. The scales are unbalanced, and I have very little power over the evil that has infected my people. This is one fact the priests have right—there is an evil, but it was not in those poor slaves.”I can feel her grief over the deaths of all those children, but her comments only confuse me. Why can’t she help? She’s a Goddess, she has ultimate power over all of us. I can almost hear her sigh as these thoughts spin through my mind.“There is something stopping me, a drain on my powers. I need you to trust me, my beloved.”

“I do trust you.”

“Clarissa?” Grayson’s voice has me opening my eyes, and I turn to see his confused expression as I realise I spoke out loud. I go to reply as a shadow falls over me.

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