Glass Sword (Red Queen #2)(134)

Once, he said I would rise alone. Now I know he was lying. For I have certainly fallen.

The front of the platform is empty, raised above all else. A good place for an execution, if Maven is so inclined. He sits there, waiting, seated on a throne I don’t recognize.

My jailers pull me toward him, forcing me to approach the king. I wonder if he’ll murder me in front of everyone, and paint the steps of his palace with my blood. I flinch as he stands. I realize we face each other as betrothed people would, stark and alone before a crowd of faces. But this is not a wedding. This might be my funeral, my ending.

Something glints in his grip. His father’s sword? An executioner’s blade?

Instead, I feel shivering cold as he clamps the something around my neck. A col ar. Jeweled, gilded, sharp-edged, a beautiful thing of horrors. My blurred tears make it hard to see, until I’m sure of nothing but the black-armored king before me, and the brand scalding my collar-bone.

There’s a chain attached to the collar. A leash. I am nothing more than a dog. He holds it tightly in his fist, and I expect him to drag me from the platform. Instead, he stands firm.

He tugs smartly, testing the chain in hand, making me stumble toward him. The points of the collar dig in. I almost choke.

“You put her body on display.” His lips brush my ear as he forces the words through clenched teeth. Pain hums in his voice. “I’ll do the same to you.”

His expression is unreadable, but his meaning is clear. With one hand, he points at his feet. His fingers are whiter than I remember.

I do as he says.

I kneel.