Crush the King (Crown of Shards #3)(118)
Nox slipped up behind Mercer, dug his hand into his cousin’s hair, yanked his head back, and cut his throat.
Mercer clapped his hands over his neck, as if he could somehow keep all that precious blood inside him where it belonged. Nox stepped to the side so that he could see his cousin’s shocked face. He looked at Mercer a moment, then coolly lashed out with his boot and kicked his cousin off the terrace. The Mortan crown prince toppled over the wrought-iron railing, dropped down, and landed with a loud, sickening crack on the bleacher steps fifty feet below. People screamed and scrambled away from his broken, twisted body.
That tense, heavy silence dropped over the arena again. Nox looked at Maeven. He tipped his head to her, and she did the same to him. Then Nox held his bloody dagger high in the air before dropping to one knee.
“Long live the queen!” he yelled. “Long live Queen Maeven!”
For a few seconds, there was more tense, heavy silence. Then several of the Mortan nobles and merchants on the terrace also dropped to their knees. It was easy to see which way the wind was blowing and what needed to be done in order to survive, and all the other Mortans, including the guards, quickly lowered themselves to the ground and took up Nox’s chant.
“Maeven! Maeven! Maeven!”
Maeven lifted her chin, smiling at the sudden adoration, but not everyone was joining in with the cheers. Leonidas was staring at his mother with wide eyes, as if she were some strange, horrifying creature he had never seen before. Several of the Mortan nobles on the terrace looked stunned, while others were giving Maeven speculative looks, the wheels already turning in their minds as they thought about what her reign would mean for them.
Finally, the cheers died down. Maeven turned and gave me a traditional Bellonan curtsy. I couldn’t tell if she was mocking me or not.
After a few seconds, Maeven climbed back to her feet. Then she moved forward and stopped right in front of me. “Like I said before, Maximus wasn’t the only one who was wrong,” she purred. “So were you, Everleigh.”
“And what was I so wrong about?”
“I didn’t have to leave Morta to escape my brother,” she replied. “I just had to kill him and take the crown that should have been mine all along.”
I didn’t respond to her taunt, although I kept a tight grip on my sword, just in case she tried to kill me again. But Maeven had other ideas, at least for today, and she looked me up and down the same way she had Maximus earlier.
“Go get cleaned up, Everleigh,” she purred. “You look a fright. After all, there is still a royal ball to attend tonight.”
She sneered at me again, then picked up her skirt, stepped over her brother’s body, and left the arena floor.
The second that Maeven vanished, everyone started talking and yelling, chattering on and on about this strange, shocking, brutal turn of events. I stayed where I was on the arena floor, watching, but Maeven didn’t double back. Then again, why would she? She had just become the queen of Morta. She had far more important things to think about right now than killing me.
“Evie! Evie!”
I glanced over my shoulder. Paloma and Sullivan had made their way down the bleacher steps and were running across the arena floor, their weapons clutched in their hands.
“Highness!” Sullivan said, stopping in front of me. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Just a little tired, bruised, and bloody.”
Sullivan wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close. I leaned my head against his shoulder, soaking up his quiet strength and drawing his clean vanilla scent into my lungs.
Paloma looked down at Maximus’s body, then over at the archway that Maeven had walked through. Finally, she turned to me.
Paloma frowned. “Why are you smiling? Maximus might be dead, but now Maeven is queen.”
My smile widened. “I know.”
Paloma frowned again. Sullivan frowned at me as well, as did Cho, but I didn’t feel like explaining myself right now, so I grabbed my shield and jerked my head toward the same archway Maeven had used.
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s get out of here.”
With my friends by my side, I stepped over Maximus’s body and left the arena. The king was dead.
Long live the queens.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Many of the spectators were still gathered on the plaza outside the arena, and they started yelling, cheering, and clapping when I emerged out of the archway. I hadn’t killed Maximus, but I had still given them a bloody good show, and they wanted to show their appreciation. I forced myself to smile, lift my hand, and wave to the people.
Captain Auster, Xenia, and Serilda were waiting for us there, along with Leonidas and the Bellonan guards, and we slowly threaded our way through the crowds. So many people were on the steps and packed into the plazas along the waterfront that it took us twice as long as normal to get back to the bridge, especially since everyone started yelling and cheering when they caught sight of me. By the time we finally made it back to the Bellonan camp, my cheeks were burning and my arms were aching from smiling and waving for so long.
I gave a final round of smiles and waves to everyone in the Bellonan camp, then escaped into my tent. Calandre and her sisters helped me out of my bloody fighting leathers and into a hot bath, while Aisha healed my frozen skin and other injuries. Once I got cleaned up, I crawled into bed, although I told Calandre to wake me in time to get ready for the ball.