Page 67 of Brutal Crown
“Pregnant?” I hear my father choke.
Marco doesn’t say a word. But I hear it, his sharp inhale, the way his hands scrape against the stone floor and curl into fists. He didn’t know.
No one knew, so how did the Elders find out?
Blood rushes through my ears. Truly, no information gets past them. But there’s something they don’t know. Yet.
They don’t know who the father is.
“You allowed a servant to carry the seed of your blood.”
My father finds his voice again. “We were not aware of the pregnancy.”
Nero Primo says coldly, “You are aware now.”
There’s a long, stifling pause.
“Do you deny that one of your blood is responsible?” they ask.
No one answers. My heartbeat pounds behind my eyes. Of course, one of us is responsible. They just don’t know who.
If I speak… Lia will get sentenced faster. There’s a chance I can still save her if the Elders don’t know the whole truth yet.
“Cassian’s death was not by our order,” Sangius Quartus speaks when the room remains silent. “We would not waste a seer unless necessary. Someone else ended him, probably to silence him.”
Dante nods. “We suspected as much.”
“We are already investigating it,” says Nero Primo. “You are not to interfere.”
“And the girl,” Umbra Quintus speaks up, “we want her dead before the end of the week.”
The words settle like poison on my skin.
No. It can’t be. I won’t let that happen.
“It will be done,” my father says with his head bowed low.
I bite back a scoff, bite back everything I have to say.
“You are dismissed.”
We don’t spare any more seconds in the room. I rush out, my body burning with several emotions at once.
Outside, the night air is cool, but I still find it impossible to breathe.
My father storms to the car ahead of us. He hasn’t said a word since we came outside. Elio walks quietly behind my father. I hear Marco’s footsteps crunching against the ground behind me.
“You selfish bastard,” he spits.
Grinding my jaw until it hurts, I turn to face him. “If you want to get into a fistfight, at least wait until we’re out of the chapel premises.”
“You got her pregnant,” he hisses, ignoring my statement. “You put her life in danger.”
Guilt knocks into me, ramming violently against my chest.
“You put her in this mess, all because you couldn’t keep your hands to your fiancée.”
“Keep your fucking voice low and your mouth shut,” I snap, pulling him beside me. “You’re going to put her in an even worse mess if you keep running your mouth.”
