Page 52 of Crownless King

My stomach tightened with knots at the memories of the night I’d stabbed him.

Why hadn’t the queen pulled the dagger out and set his spirit free? It was safe to assume there were no sentimental feelings holding her back. Queen Pavline had clearly moved on already, searching for a new husband.

Then the circlet of golden thorns over the king’s brow caught my attention, and the answer came to me. The queen didn’t dare take the crown off. That piece of jewelry held too much power to risk removing it. Tiane was the one of the current royal bloodline, not Pavline. And Tiane wasn’t the only one of the ruling bloodline left.

Now, I understood why Voron wished for the queen to know early on who he was, why he allowed High Lord Cardinali to warn her weeks ago. He wanted her to know she could not start a new dynasty as long as the current one still existed. It gave him time to gain the support of the High Lords, while the queen spent weeks plagued by indecision, scared to remove the crown from Tiane. Voron controlled the weather, but as long as Tiane wasn’t dead, the power of the crown remained with Tiane.

“You see, ladies and gentlemen,” Voron said as the sounds and sights of the scene faded back into the book’s pages. “I’m not the usurper here. I simply come to claim what’s mine.”

The people in the room remained still, stunned by the proof they’d just seen. In their silence, Voron sauntered to the bed and ripped open the curtains between him and his twin brother.

The two looked nothing alike. Voron was pale and dark-haired. Tiane had tan skin with hair so blond, it looked almost white with silvery shine. Only the color of Tiane’s eyes was the same as Voron’s on a sunny day. But Tiane’s eyes were now closed, never to open again.

“This should’ve been done long ago,” Voron said softly, reaching for the handle of the dagger.

His fingers hovered over the handle. I waited, expecting him to grab and pull it out. But he fisted his hand, pulling away.

A confused murmur ran through the small crowd behind us. Two kings in one kingdom were one too many. The world seemed suspended in anticipation, unable to move on. It needed a solution.

Voron stared at the face of the man who had usurped his power and taken his place. But I believed that was not what Voron was thinking about right now. Maybe he saw the twin brother he never got to grow up with, the last of his real family he was never allowed to be a part of. Maybe he wondered if things could be better between them under different circumstances.

Whatever it was, I realized that if Voron ended his brother’s life, it would haunt him forever.

I saw past the gorgeous blond locks and the innocent serenity of Tiane’s face on the pillow. I thought back to when his eyes were open and there was nothing but cruelty in them. I remembered when he held that very same dagger at my chest, slicing my skin open for his entertainment. I remembered the fear that racked me and how it thrilled him. I recalled the helplessness, terror, and desperation I felt just before I stabbed him. I’d been ready to die that night. And I would have died, had it not been for the otherworldly magic in the weapon I used.

A wave of resentment and determination washed over me. I stepped forward, approaching the bed from the opposite side.

“Allow me.” I grabbed the handle of the dagger and yanked it out in one firm movement.

My hand didn’t shake, not even when I tossed the dagger back on the bed, a rusty smear of blood staining the pristine white coverlet.

“Sparrow.” Voron gazed at me from across the bed, looking shocked but relieved.

I turned to face the courtiers and the priests.

“You have one king, now,” I said, my voice ringing high with the emotion I refused to display in any other way. “Voron is the one true Sky King.”

I finished what I had started. I killed a man. I didn’t regret it. It had to be done. But I mourned the last shred of my innocence that disappeared with my becoming a murderer.

The doors to the room burst open and royal guards rushed in, followed by the infuriated Queen Pavline.

“How dare you?” She glared at Voron and his men, then at the courtiers, who promptly retreated to the walls. “How dare you disturb the peace—”

Her eyes widened in horror as she spotted the dagger on top of the covers.

“What have you done?” she wailed, wringing her hands.

“He deserved it all and more for what he’s done to others,” Voron replied calmly.

The queen shook with hatred.

“You should’ve stayed down in the Below,” she snarled. “King Herane took care of you for us. He thought you dead and never warned us about the vulture that you are. Now look what you’ve done! You murdered your own brother.”

“He didn’t,” I said. “I killed your husband. I believe you know why.”

“You?” The queen turned her head to face me, her movements ominously slow. “You were meant to be a solution. But you, dirty little rat, you ruined everything!”

Shimmering green-and-purple wings snapped open from the queen’s back. She leaped over the king’s bed to me. Swiping the dagger off the bed, she lunged at me with it.

---