Reign of the Fallen (Reign of the Fallen #1)(86)
He throws back his head and howls, scratching the cage floor with his bony fingers, and it’s all I can do to stay standing.
His eternal reign is over.
The other Dead in the cage writhe, either in pain or fear. I can’t be sure. I drop my gaze, sickened by the monster wearing the king’s crown. The cries rippling through the crowd make what I’ve just witnessed seem even worse.
“The king loved his people, Prince Hadrien!” a merchant shouts from near the front of the crowd. “He fed soup to the poor and brought gifts to new mothers and wrote poems for the harvest festival! How could you do this to him? To us?”
It’s everything I wish I could say. Instead, I press my lips together to keep from screaming and concentrate on getting close to Hadrien again. I don’t want the guards to see the knife slide into his ribs until it’s too late for anyone to stop me or a healer to intervene. If I can attack soon, there’s still a chance I can save the queen.
The caged Shade howls, then crunches down on something. Many people scream. The king-monster must be feeding on the other Dead trapped in there with it.
“Remove the rest of their shrouds,” Hadrien calls to one of the guards. “And start passing out torches to the living.”
Raising his voice, he shouts at the retreating crowd, “You see? That monster was your king! This is what the Dead all become, if given the chance. But we can fight them, my friends! Together. With me on the throne, a living king. We’ll close Death’s convents and forbid anyone else from becoming a necromancer! We’ll reopen the temples of Change and finally thrive!”
There are too many guards at Hadrien’s side now. For the moment, I’m forced to clutch my dagger and glare at him from several paces away.
“We’ll fight them with fire!” a woman calls from somewhere behind me. Lyda. “Take a torch and pass the rest along! The guards will help you light them. You see? The living are more powerful than the Dead!”
Her words are like a blow to the stomach, sending a wave of nausea through me. I wonder if Evander’s mother knows that by supporting Hadrien’s insanity, she helped to murder her own son. I don’t really want to hear the answer.
If I make it out of this, I never want to see her again.
“Take a torch! Hurry!” Hadrien shouts.
The crowd has stopped retreating, many of them staring at the Shade wearing the king’s crown as it presses against the bars of the cage, straining to get free.
“We can burn these monsters out of existence and take back our city! All you have to do is listen to me.” Hadrien’s teeth are stark white against his tan skin. “We can get rid of all the Dead before they become Shades and hurt those we love! It’s time to take Karthia back from the cold hands of the Dead!”
“Why should we trust you?” yells a girl no older than nine. She clutches three dolls made of gray rags like they’re weapons. “King Wylding was my friend!”
“King Wylding let your friends and neighbors die of the black fever,” Hadrien retorts, his eyes flashing. “I tried working on a cure once, and do you know what your monster of a king did? Threw all my research away. Burned it! Years of studying and perfecting a life-saving potion, all gone.” His voice breaks as he shouts, “The Dead hold us back with their fears! My sister Valoria has created inventions, inventions that could make Karthia a better and safer place to live, yet she’s forced to hide them because of the laws of people whose time in Karthia should have ended long ago!”
I’ve made it to Hadrien’s side again. No one is in my way. No one is stopping me from doing what I need to do. I can’t bear to look behind me at what’s in the cage. I just need to act. Now.
“Goodbye, Hadrien,” I whisper as I jab the dagger toward him.
With a cry, he leaps aside as the blade nicks him in the ribs. But I know in a glance I didn’t hit quite the right spot. The blade tore through his shirt and made a gash in his pale skin, deep enough to draw blood, but not enough to kill. I chase after him, heart pounding and mouth bone-dry, raising my dagger for a second attack.
But in an instant, two guards are on top of me. They rip off my mask and pin my arms too tightly behind my back, forcing me to drop my dagger.
“Sparrow, my love,” Hadrien murmurs as I struggle against his guards. I kick both of them in the shins a few times, but they don’t loosen their grip. “You were supposed to die in Elsinor.”
He runs a finger slowly along my cheek, and I spit at him.
“Now, there’s no need for that,” he says coolly as another guard clamps a hand over my mouth. I glare at Hadrien, hoping he can feel the hatred pouring out of me from my eyes alone. “I should have known better than to underestimate you.” He leans in, brushing his nose against mine, and all I can do is gag behind the guard’s callused hand. “I really do admire your strength, my Sparrow, even if it’s proving to be a colossal thorn in my side.”
The sincerity in his voice makes me shudder. Not because he admires me in his twisted way, but because if not for Evander, there was a time when I could have liked the prince in return. I did like him, at least as a friend. But now I understand there’s nothing but rot and weakness at his core. Nothing worth saving.
“I had a feeling it wasn’t really Vane under there. He was usually trying to tell me what to do, not just quietly observing,” Hadrien continues, still much too close to my face. “But I’ll admit you fooled me for a moment, Sparrow.”