Page 3 of Children of Anguish and Anarchy

King Saran’s beady eyes held the same hate.

Do your worst.I meet his stare. I won’t cower. I won’t show fear. But more boots follow overhead. Instead of opening my cage, the Skull uses his ring of brass keys to unlock another.

“Let me go!”

I crane my neck as the familiar sound of Orïshan travels down the stairs. Two Skulls enter with a struggling prisoner between their burly arms. A canvas bag covers the boy’s head. Fresh blood is splattered across his bruised chest.

The boy thrashes as the Skulls throw him into the second cage. The men struggle to shackle the prisoner’s wrists. With a sudden wrench, the boy slips free and kicks, sending a hard heel into a Skull’s nose.

“Náðu hann!” the injured Skull calls.

I watch in awe as the boy puts up a valiant fight. He drives his other foot into the second Skull’s chest. He throws a wild punch, colliding with another Skull’s mask. Though blinded, he strikes in all directions, doing everything he can to attack.

“Þú lítill skítr!” the third Skull shouts. His ferocity makes me curl. He seizes the boy’s hand and holds it in the cage’s doorframe. I turn away as the bronze Skull slams the door shut.

“Agh!” The crack of breaking bones echoes through the cell. The boy writhes on the floor. Phantom pain shoots through my own fingers. I hold them as they shake.

New shackles clamp shut around the boy’s wrists. The Skulls lock him inside and retreat. A padlock clicks behind the hold’s door. I don’t dare speak until the thundering boots fade.

“Are you alright?” I lean forward. I don’t know what to do. What tosay. A string of curses flies from the boy’s lips. Blood leaks from his broken hand.

His chest heaves with shuddering breaths. But after a long moment, he pulls the canvas bag off his head.

It can’t be.…

My mouth falls open. My heart sinks into my chest. The damp walls around me close in. My cage starts to spin.

“Inan?” Rage grips me as I dare to whisper the name.

The boy shifts, and a thin ray of moonlight illuminates the amber eyes I know far too well.

CHAPTER TWO

ZÉLIE

MY GODS.

Blood pounds between my ears. I don’t know what to think. What to feel. A part of me wants to wrap a chain around Inan’s neck. Another part of me can’t believe that he’s here.

The last time I saw Inan, we were in the palace cellars. TheIyikarazed the royal throne to the ground. As the palace fell, I chased Inan down. He was my final target.

I went in for the kill.

“You’re alive.” The familiar scratch of his voice is like a chain pulling me back in time. In an instant, I’m thrown back into our fight.

The moment before we were knocked unconscious by the thick cloud of white…

There are nights when you visit my dreams. Nights where I can forget. When I wake, I drive myself insane thinking of what could’ve been.

I don’t know what comes next, but I know it’s time for this reign to end. But should our paths collide again, I will not raise my sword.

I am ready to end my life at your hand.

My own hands shake as I stare at him, remembering that fateful night. Inan vowed to dissolve the monarchy. He vowed to destroy his own birthright.

After every broken promise between us, I didn’t allow myself to believe another lie. From the moment we met, the crown was everything to Inan—worthy of every sacrifice. Orïsha’s throne was the very thing he lived to protect.

It didn’t matter who else had to die.

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