Page 79 of The Throne's Undoing

"I have given you everything!" her father shouted, jerking her head back. "I have raised you as my own. I have trained you, shaped you. And yet you still yearn for their attention? Why? Because they share your blood?"

Kallie bit her lip, shaking her head as the ice coating her calves spread over her knees and thighs. "They're nothing. No one."

"That's right," her father whispered, gripping her shoulders. "Blood is only as thick as one makes it."

Kallie nodded, although she did not know if her father could see the movement.

"You've betrayed me once, Kalisandre. But you only need to do one thing to earn my trust again."

That was all she wanted: to have her father's trust, to have his approval.

"Anything, Father," Kallie begged, tears pooling at the bottom of her eyes.

"Fight it," one of the other voices called out. Their voice sang of summer and fresh air, of laughter and joy. But as it flew past her, it grew heavy and quickly turned to mud on her ears.

Kallie gripped the chair, her nails cracking against the metal frame.

"Sacrifices are a necessity," Domitius hissed as he dug his fingers deeper into her shoulders. "Their lives are nothing when it comes to the power you will have."

The scent of lavender and mint calming the rising nausea.

"It's going to be all right." The warmth of the sun filled Kallie's veins the moment Myra spoke. Gentle fingers landed on Kallie's shoulder and squeezed. "I promise."

"You have come so far, Kalisandre. Are you going to let them take everything you have worked for away?" her father demanded.

"No," Kallie whispered, shaking her head and holding back tears. "I won't let them."

"They do not know you," her father taunted. "They do not know what you could become,whoyou could become. They only wish to make you weak, to stifle your power. Theyfearyou. They believe you are a monster."

His words slithered into her mind, soaking into her skin and coating the veins that ran through her body. As he continued, Kallie saw the truth in every word he said.

These people were strangers. They were theenemy.Their selfishness had torn Vaneria apart. Pontia was full of secrets and lies, and for centuries, their rulers had only wished to harbor that power for themselves.

Her father had always been right about them. He was right about everything.

Kallie might have shared their blood and been born a Pontian, but she wasn't one of them.

She didn'tbelongwith them.

"They do not want the best for you," he continued as the frost rose higher and higher. "They only care about themselves. They always have. Pontia has not changed for decades, centuries even, and it never will."

She nodded. "I know, Father."

The frost slipped up Kallie's torso and across her ribcage. It squeezed her abdomen and froze her arms to her chest.

Her breathing became shallow, and her heartbeat raced as her legs grew more and more numb.

"Kals!"

Kallie turned her head at the sound of the voice that had haunted her dreams.

"Fynn?" Kallie called out, her heart hammering. Pain pierced her bones, cracking the ice.

"Whatever means necessary," her father hissed.

"Don't listen to him, Kals!" Fynn shouted as the king said, "He was a sacrifice, Kalisandre. A sacrifice we needed to achieve our dream."

Kallie's face twisted as she swiveled her head between the two men pulling her in different directions.

---