Page 19 of Anorthic Anarchy

“But they didn’t thwart this one. You succeeded, sir. You’re married now. Shouldn’t you be, um…working on the heir?”

Victory feels hollow, much like everything else. Even my father’s death was nothing to me once I found out what it meant. Everything…except for that kiss. “I will once she turns eighteen tomorrow.” Pulling out a weed from the tomatoes as I pass, I shuck it into the bin nearby. “Go. I’ll be fine here. I need to busy my hands.”

And my mind.

As I scan the vast lines of vegetables and fruits, enough for our manor to live off of, I spot the mounds of soil prepped for new plantings by the gardeners. The old stalks yellowed from the summer’s heat and died on the dirt hills, waiting for rebirth in a different form.

A pair of hedge clippers lies next to a few of the gardener’s machetes. Picking up one, I chop down some of the overgrowth,then lay it on the brick edge of the raised bed. It feels good to work in the dirt.

My gaze catches on the back fields with some wistfulness. There was a time I’d escape into the shadows of corn, taller than my head. Outside was a new world, different from the dusty gloom of the House. A welcome reprieve from the horrors happening inside. The gardeners let me plant seeds while my father wasn’t looking. Every plant told me a different story depending on what words the nature spoke over it.

If only I had been tainted by the soil on my skin instead of the blood in my bones. Maybe things would be different. But nothing can change my name.

Once I clean off my hands, I hurry to the solarium and my pipe organ, still needing to keep my thoughts from venturing into vengeance before the time is right. As soon as I strike the first chords on the ivory, however, the sound triggers all the memories. Like a movie playing across my eyes, I watch as my fingers dance along the keys.

“Hurry, let’s get to the grandstand for my swearing in,” I tell the men as we leave my father’s building.

“Sir, are you sure you don’t want to clean that off first?” One guard points to the blood sprayed over my clothes.

“Not at all. It’s a new era and the old one died the way it should have.”

Approaching the stage in my limousine, the guards clap me on the back. Everyone is decked out in tuxedos for the event and a smile reaches my face for the first time in a very long while.

“Congratulations, sir.” As I wade through the crowds, all I hear is my accolades. My heart soars with pride. I did it. I ended the monster’s reign and will instill something new.

The men are ready to follow my every command, their proud eyes scanning me as I rise to make my commencement speech. Murmurs and hesitant mumblings ring through themasses, still divided up by family. So many ideas surge through my mind that the sun is as blinding as my visions when I gaze out upon the sea of Gnarled Pine Hollow’s citizens.

“Ladies and gentlemen. As you all may have heard by now, I am wearing the blood of your last consort. A terrible man, he—” I stop. Some of my guards near the stairs huddle up and pull on black gloves and masks. Swallowing, my brow furrows. That wasn’t a command I issued.

“He is no longer.” The crowd collectively gasps and questions dart out like a riot of voices as I wave my arms to quiet them down. “Please. There is a new leader here and a new day. Some of you have been corrupted by my father’s ways.” Glancing toward the west, I try to find Franklin, but he’s not there. My pulse rate climbs when I don’t find the leaders of the other houses here either. Something strange is happening.

A sharp wind kicks up dust and the noises dull, replaced by a deadly silence.

I hear a stampede of footsteps far in the distance. Turning my head, I spot several men in black rushing over the hill from the north. My father’s men. All of them. Even the ones who were with me at his office just now…

They all hasten toward the citizens of Gnarled Pine Hollow who stare in awe at the force coming toward them like a tsunami. Even as I take a breath to tell them to halt, one is next to me with a gun pressed into my lower back. “You’re ours now, master.” He spits out the word like it’s a joke.

I stand at the podium, taking my crown as victor with a weapon pointed at me as the herd of my father’s men gore all those from the East Side in a tidal wave of horror. Blood gushes like crimson fountains as women’s throats are sliced and men’s heads are chopped off. One rolls like a tumbleweed, landing at my feet until I realize…

These were never my father’s men.

They were never mine.

All I can do is watch as the people of what I thought was my city die at the hands of whomever has taken over.

The guard in charge of me smirks and laughs. “Congratulations, Consort…

You’re the monster now.”

Chapter 10

Astrid

Pinching my bottom lip between my fingers, I contemplate my situation. It’s notsobad. I’m a married woman now, which is weird, but I don’tfeeldifferent. And the monster hasn’t been mean to me. In fact, my current bedroom provides much nicer accommodations than I have ever had. Nari even served me a wedding meal with a slice of white cake. That was nice.

I could live here.

Who am I kidding? I need to get out.

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