Page 134 of Reckless
“Don’t even think about it, girl.”
The Imperial must have read the thoughts right off my face. He leers at me, daring my feet to take a single step. “You can’t outrun me, Ordinary.”
I startle at his words. Not because I’m shocked he knows what I am, but because I’ve spent my entire life dreading the sound of those words from an Imperial’s lips.
I straighten, refusing to cower. “I’ve been outrunning you my whole life.”
His hand twitches, fighting the urge to smack me across the face for the second time. He thinks better of it when the Enforcer steps close beside him. “Cuff her.”
Both Imperials nod before the quieter one begins clamping iron around my wrists. My gaze lifts to Kai’s, his mask cold and unfeeling. I think of every moment I told myself I hated him, every moment I was determined to do to him what he did to my father. And then I wear it all on my face.
Pretend.
“There is a horse waiting for you when we get back into the city, Your Highness.”
Kai turns to the Imperial. “Good. Let’s get moving.”
The other Imperial shoves me forward, nearly sending me face-first into the poppies beneath us. I roll my eyes at no one in particular. “Use your words, boys. Us Ordinaries don’t speak another language,and I’m also quite capable of walking without being pushed.”
“And why would we waste our breath on you, traitor?” the ugly one says, snickering beside his friend.
“If you don’t know any big ones, that’s okay,” I say sweetly. “I find that most Imperials don’t.”
I ignore the hatred burning in their gazes and instead focus on the flowers beneath me. The cuffs clank on my wrists, weighing down my arms and chafing against my skin.
We walk in silence, the castle looming closer, until the Imperial to my left feels the need to open his mouth again. “I’m looking forward to the king ridding us of you.”
I keep my expression blank. “Yes, I’m sure his highness is most excited about my homecoming.”
He smirks. “All of Ilya is looking forward to it.”
I swallow, eyes flashing to Kai’s bare back ahead of me. He doesn’t dare turn, his shoulders tensing with each step.
It hits me then. The reality of my imminent death.
I don’t know how I’ll cheat him this time. There is nowhere for me to run. Death can only be fooled so many times before craving revenge.
Our pace is steady, and I pass the time by watching the flowers slowly begin to wilt beneath our feet. The poppies dwindle with each step, seeming to shrink toward the earth and hide from the city beyond.
It’s not long before what’s left of the field turns to gravel, which then turns to familiar, uneven cobblestone. Several Imperials linger at the edge of the city, all bowing at the sight of their prince and Enforcer. He nods dismissively to the group of men before climbing atop the horse waiting impatiently for him.
A rough hand on my shoulder tears my gaze from Kai and pins it on the Imperial dragging me behind the horse. He holds a long ropein his other fist, the end of it tethered to the saddle Kai sits on.
I’m not sure why tears prick my eyes as the Imperial ties the rope around my cuffs. Or why I nearly let them fall when the horse begins moving, dragging me behind it.
Maybe it’s the humiliation of it all. Of being escorted to the king like an animal as I stumble behind one. Or perhaps it’s the Elites that file from their fancy homes to jeer at the traitor. The murderer. The Ordinary.
I’ve never seen this side of the city. The side where the Offensive populate—the only ones worthy enough to live so close to the castle. I gawk at their homes as I pass. These Elites live in excess while those with less power live in squalor beneath them.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Mundanes are declared the new Ordinary, just as Father suspected.
People point, praising their prince in the same breath they use to curse my name. I shut my eyes against the hatred they wear, tripping over stones as we parade through the streets.
“Traitor!”
“… part of that Resistance cult!”
“King killer!”
