Page 80 of A Kingdom of Destruction

“They should pay for what they’ve done,” the woman agreed.

“In flesh. They should all pay for what they’ve taken from us. Starting with this one. Look at the way they show her off.” The man blew a raspberry. “Ridiculous.”

Aven moved on, the brisk pace of the horse taking her away from the pair. Ice froze her spine one vertebra at a time. She fumbled with the reins when her hands went clammy and her stomach twisted uncomfortably.

She knew, in a vague and distant way, how the fae felt about the humans. Their lack of respect for her kind was impossible to miss on a good day and in her face on a bad one. But to hear it talked about so openly and within earshot of everyone else around…

She maintained a brave face through the rest of the parade.

Except the first couple wasn’t the first to discuss their hatred of humans. Not even close. Now that she’d tuned into it, she heard snippets of conversation everywhere. People made no pains to hide it. Every passing minute their voices grew louder, more insistent, as if raised to make sure she heard them.

“She has no business being here.”

“Do you see her? Dressed up like a pig and pretending to be worthy of our crown prince.”

“If you ask me, she deserved to be slaughtered like the rest of her family. To send a message to any other mortals who might think about revolting against us.”

By the end of the parade, her teeth chattered with the effort of keeping it together. She clung desperately to her sanity by the barest thread.

“Aven, you’re quiet. If something is wrong, please say it.” Cillian helped her off the horse, and she leaned into him when she felt off-kilter and ready to fall on her face.

She gripped his shoulders, fingers digging into the finery of his jacket and creasing it. There wasn’t a hair out of place on Cillian, not a bead of sweat. She fell apart at the seams in comparison.

“I need to go. I think the excitement and the sun did something to my head.” Yet she pressed a hand to her belly and the agonized writhing there.

“Done.” Cillian snapped his fingers, and two of his men broke away from the crowd to help her.

Aven shrugged them off. “I’m capable of making it up to my room by myself,” she insisted. Although it might be a stretch for her to get out of the corset on her own. It dug into her bones and cut off her circulation. She no longer felt her feet, and her fingers tingled, bordered on numbness.

They stood in the courtyard with the sky overhead darkening to the bruised purple of twilight.

“Join me for dinner if you’re feeling well enough,” Cillian called out before a mob of nobles overtook him.

Roran was nowhere to be seen, and Aven kept her focus on her feet, one step at a time. One heartbeat at a time, but she still couldn’t breathe with the distance from the crowd.

Even when the door closed behind her, the two guards on one side and her on the other, she wasn’t able to draw in a full breath.She fumbled with the dress, fumbled with the corset, but neither one of them budged.

Everything felt too constricted—her dress and her insides—the latter slowly compressing until Aven started to hyperventilate. Again.

The people around here… she knew they weren’t fans of hers or her family. But wanting her dead? Wanting her to suffer the way her sisters and brothers suffered? They had no idea how horrifying it had been to rush home and see those innocents butchered. Taken down in the prime of their lives because of some vendetta between their two peoples.

It didn’t matter that her father was responsible. It didn’t matter what he’d done. Her sisters, her brothers… they were innocent. They hadn’t made the decision to start the war or use magic against Mourningvale. They were like her. Struggling to deal with the aftermath as best they could.

Aven scrubbed at the rune still lingering on her forearm, although the fabric of the dress hid it from view. Scrubbed until her skin grew too hot and she was forced to stop.

She ignored the knock on her door when it came and refused to let Nora inside to see her.

Refused to let anyone inside or go down for dinner. She was way too tightly strung to eat. Even the thought of getting out of her dress wasn’t enough to let anyone see her.

She needed to get rid of her wand. Destroy the thing and any tie it might hold to her father’s past actions. She needed to get rid of the runes on her body and any scrap of evidence of the magic she’d used.

It wouldn’t be enough to make amends, but she had to try. To do something.

Once night fell, she made her escape, the wand hidden in the folds of fabric. It might be smarter to stay hidden in her room, but she wanted the fresh air, the open sky overhead. Besides, in this place, there was no privacy. At least hidden in the trees she might be able to find a semblance of the stuff without the prying eyes of the guards outside her room.

Except when she opened the door, she found the hallway empty.

Laughter sounded from somewhere far off in the palace as though the celebration of the parade had been moved indoors.

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