Page 105 of Choosing Jenny
Longshot abruptly cut himself off before finishing the sentence, and I instinctively knew he’d been about to sayElizabeth. My stomach clenched at the thought of Justice using my sister as leverage or a pawn in any way.
“There would have been consequences,” he said instead. “You and I both know our ruler is on the edge of setting Halla on fire. He won’t be happy until someplace somewhere is burning in his name. One man is not worth an entire planet. Buster…he is already imprisoned, has been for sixteen years since he lost the war. His family is dead. He was the easiest person to give Justice to get him off our backs for a spell. Buster already led one rebellion against Justice—it is plausible he would try again, which was what stopped Justice from asking too manyotherquestions.”
Mal’s fists flexed at his sides. The tense set of his shoulders eased a fraction, but not completely. “You don’t get to make that call on your own. We are in an alliance!”
Longshot paused. “I did not think of it that way. Apologies.”
“Your apology doesn’t mean shit,” Mal said, his jaw tight. “Justice is sending me to Yesanol to execute Buster myself. He’s making me take you, Discord, Tiger and Jenny to witness his beheading, so all of you can spread the word and terrify any allies still thinking about starting a war. Do you really thinkapologieswill balance that out?”
My knees went weak and my stomach lurched. “I have to…witnessthat?”
“Not the issue at hand, Jenny.” Jac’s gaze narrowed on Longshot, his displeasure tangible. “How do you plan to make amends?”
“I am afraid I do not have a plan for that.”
Mal glanced at Jac, his features lined with resignation. “There is nothing we can do now, aside from following Justice’s order. There are no other hands to play. Justice wants to make an example out of someone, so he can wield that power and force his enemies to give up their quest for a rebellion. I know how Justice’s mind works. If we don’t give him that, he will find someone else and it will likely be someone who is standing here right now. Or someone laying in the infirmary.”
We all gasped, and Jac visibly stiffened as he stepped toward Mal. “Are you threatening my consort?”
“I wouldnever,” Mal said, holding firm. “I am only telling you how Justice thinks. He’s ordered me to execute Buster and bring along Longshot, Discord, Jenny and Tiger because he suspects I am on your side. He’s testingus, and we have no choice but to do what he says and stand strong, because he’s expecting us to crumble. Now that Longshot has given him a name, Justice will trusthimmore. Once I complete the execution, he will trustmemore. If we’re smart, we can use that trust against him.”
Jac didn’t look satisfied. “How do I know you didn’t do this out of revenge, Longshot? You fought for Justice during the war. Do you fight for him still?”
“Animosity or revenge is not why I chose Buster Dembeck,” Longshot replied evenly. “I never hated the men I faced on the battlefield. They were merely what I was told to aim at. Buster Dembeck is someone the ruler has long hated, and giving Justice an excuse to do what he has always wanted to—executing Buster—it makes him trust me far more than before. And the more trust he has in me, the easier it will be for Justice to fall complacent and we can betray that trust. I do not fight for him still, Jacaranda. I am a sniper at heart. I always have been and always will be. When Justice dies at my hand, he will never see it coming.”
“It is the only way,” Mal reluctantly agreed with Longshot. “We cannot ignore Justice’s summons. We need to go and get this over with.”
I swallowed down my dismay at the entire situation. “I need to say goodbye to Sarah.”
Jac shot me a look. “I would not recommend telling her about this tonight, Jenny. If you do, she will stress and worry and not sleep. I’ll tell her in the morning.”
Oh. Goody. Two secrets to keep from my sister, the Queen.
I knew he was right. “Okay. I’ll be right back.”
The weight of secrets weighed heavily on me and made my steps slower than usual. I was just so tired…of everything. Justice’s hatred drove the wheels of two worlds, and I felt caught between the middle of them.
I dreaded witnessing an execution. It was different than killing in self-defense. When I killed those men at Illiapol, I’d been protecting myself. Surviving a terrifying situation. Their life or mine. I still suffered nightmares from Illiapol, but I’d come to terms with what I’d done.
But the execution of an unarmed manwho was our ally, that was all kinds of wrong.
I shoved the thought out of my head before I gently knocked on the infirmary door. As I walked in, I pasted on the same well-practiced customer service smile I used to wear at the coffee shop, the one I reserved for five a.m. shifts when I was too tired to be polite but had to fake it anyway.
Sarah’s eyes lit up when she saw me and she set aside the book she was reading. “Hey, you.”
“Hey,” I returned quietly.
I closed the door, then walked to the side of the bed without all the equipment she was currently hooked up to that was monitoring her condition. Ode was softly snoring on her bed in the back corner.
“We’re going to leave in a few minutes, but I wanted to say goodbye first.” I didn’t say where we were going. Just let her assume it was back to Mal’s estate.
“I’m glad you came.” She grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. “I was hoping to seejust youat least for a little bit.”
“Oh? How come?”Don’t say Elizabeth, don’t say Elizabeth—
She smiled happily. “I was thinking how nice it is that I get to have at least one of my sisters around when I have my biscuit.”
She said her name without saying her name. Thanks, god. I really needed the extra guilt.“Yeah well, the biscuit is going to need at least one aunt around to spoil them.”
