Torrent of Tears (Scourge Survivor Series Book 3)(10)
“I can decide for myself, thanks.” My gaze shifted back over the crowd. The shrill call of Estes’ whistle seemed to have drawn the attention of more than the two soldiers. I was stunned at how many people were throwing thinly veiled scowls our way. “Who is the man being taken onto the block and what exactly is his crime?”
Estes looked at me, then to Freya.
“Excuse me.” I waved my hand between them and snapped my fingers. “I asked you the question. Not her. Now tell me, who is the lawbreaker sentenced to die?”
Estes narrowed a dark gaze on me and I saw the warrior within him rise. Despite his air of refined civility, the man didn’t like being on the receiving end of an order. “He is a betrayer of the Queen, Princess, and before you ask, he has confessed and has accepted his sentence. This is a fully sanctioned execution. No need to concern yourself.”
Over the heads of the crowd I checked out the bronze stage. It glistened in the descending sun, casting copper light up the stone wall it backed against. A man with disheveled brown hair was led across the raised platform to the guillotine. By the slow shuffle of their procession and the awkward gait of the prisoner, his feet must have been bound at the ankles. He wore what once had been an elegant tunic, now ripped and stained with blood. Apparently, other forms of penance had already been exacted from him.
With the guillotine’s blade and mouton rising toward the late afternoon sky, a pompous man, wearing a long red coat and a golden sash, strode to the front of the stage. No matter the land or realm, there was no mistaking preening politicians.
Raising a scroll before him, the man read aloud, “Balor, fourth generation breeder to the Queen, barer of Eligibles, has been charged with the following crimes: concealing the birth of an Eligible from the Queen, unlawfully rearing said Eligible for two cycles, accessing the portal pool without permit, traveling beyond the boundaries of Attalos without permit . . .”
The crowd buzzed with a cacophony of gasps and chatter as the orator continued.
My stomach twisted, my mind numb. Was he saying . . .
The prisoner shuffled to the front of the stage heavily favoring his left leg. Battered purple and blue, he straightened to his full height. The hum of the crowd fell silent as he cleared his throat. “I, Balor, seven-time breeder to the Queen of Attalos, confess to all charges and make no apology. The child left in the Realm of the Fair was placed with a host family of my choosing for her own good. Neither she nor her caregiver knew of my deception, actions, or intentions and should not be held responsible.”
The man with the sash grabbed a fistful of Balor’s hair and yanked his bowed head up to face the crowd. “You see, he confesses and shows not a kotyle of remorse. And how did you breach the City safeguards and enter the Realm of the Fair undetected—”
That’s my father.
The world spun as the pounding of water crashed inside my head once more. I tried to Flash up to the stage, but my power didn’t come. Grabbing shoulders, I squeezed past bodies, forcing my way through the blurred and swirling crowd. The words from the stage were swallowed by the buzz of my own blood thundering in my ears. With my legs and arms heavy as I continued my struggle, it was like swimming with lead limbs to an ever-distant horizon.
“—and you swear no one helped you open the portal pond. You had no aid or accomplice in your actions?”
He smiled then, and I could see what a handsome man he was beneath the violence of his situation. “I do so swear.”
The politician scoffed. “A confessed betrayer of our Majesty’s grace and a righteous kill for us here today.”
“No,” I gasped, unable to find my voice. Listing to the side, I grabbed another woman, still well back from the stage and tried to straighten. “Stop this.”
With Balor’s admission complete, two uniformed soldiers walked him around the back of the structure and laid him along the bench. I’ll never make it. Balor’s hands and legs were strapped down. His head rested in the bottom lunette. They lowered the top piece to encircle his neck.
I’m not sure if he heard my screams or sensed me somehow, but before the blade fell he found me amongst the crowd. The sheer joy that stirred in his soft eyes shattered me to my depths. His irises were violet, like mine, his nose a bit bigger, but the same shape. “Alexannia,” I heard in my head as if a memory unlocked, “my sweet daughter.”
The violent keening of metal cut through my scream and the world fell away.
CHAPTER FOUR
“Easy Princess. Take a couple deep breaths.”
I tried to open my eyes, but my eyelids wouldn’t obey. Instead, I lay still, letting the deep male voice calm the chaos in my mind. Almost without thinking about it, the rush of water inside my head dialed down to white noise. I breathed through my nose, the spice of the man’s cologne and the sweetness of fresh coffee filling the room.
My stomach rolled. “Where . . . am I?”
“You fainted,” someone huffed. “Right in front of two hundred people.”
My mind pieced together the past few hours, my sibling’s judgment, passing through the portal pond, coming to Attalos . . . my lost past.
“A little compassion, Princess,” the man said, as two warm fingers pressed against the inside of my wrist. “To discover the man who bred you at the moment of his execution would shock anyone.”