Page 83 of Death of a Mortal

Chapter 20

Words Like Blades

I stared downat the crowd, feeling all eyes on me. My panic built, threatening to overcome me. The faces of the fae looked back at me with hate and disgust clear in their expressions.

The blood pounding in my ears drowned out the king’s speech entirely. I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to unstick my tongue from the roof of my mouth to speak.

Movement in the sky caught my attention—a black bird landing on a high branch on the closest tree to the balcony.

Noxie.

“I’m here, Naci, just focus on me, not them. You’re gonna be okay. You can do this. They’re just words on a page. I know they aren’t your words. So does Nella.”

“But all of them willthinkthey’re my words, my beliefs.”

“They don’t matter. What they think doesn’t matter.” Noxie was the only thing keeping me grounded in that moment.

The king’s red gaze turned to me, his slight nod telling me it was time for my act.

I looked down at the speech held in my shaking hand, took adeep breath, and let the rotten words coat my tongue and flow from my lips.

“Good evening, citizens of Dolvenar. I stand before you today, behind the royal family of Ashenholt, Their Majesties King Caedryn Veylor and Queen Malvina Thorne, to introduce myself. I am Naci Corren, daughter of Keryth Liora”—my heart felt like there was a knife through it—“the former leader of the failed rebel movement, and…traitor to this kingdom.”

I swallowed hard. The only traitor was me.

The voices below picked up, their chatter rising to meet me on the balcony.

Shouts of “mortal filth” and “scum” were distinguishable above the din.

“Keep going, just remember this is for Nella. None of this is true.”

I took another breath and continued, wanting desperately to be back in my cell, alone and away from the judging eyes of so many.

“The king discovered who I was after I snuck my way into Ashthorn Castle, but took mercy on me, a lost mortal who didn’t know who my mother had been, what she’d done. He opened my eyes to her misdeeds and those of the rebellion, and so I have offered my humble loyalty to the crown and renounced all ties with the rebel movement and my…disgraced mother.”

My heart cracked, my weak knees threatening to give out on me.

“Let my words here tonight carry to the rest of Caelia. To the rebels, I say: Give up the fight. The crown does not wish for war but for peace. To the mortals of Ashenholt, I say: Do not fear the fae. They are kind and benevolent, as is the king. And to the fae gathered here this evening: I ask for your forgiveness on behalf of my mother and the rebellion’s transgressions. The king and queen have graciously given me theirs, and I hope to earn yours as well, and to take my place in Ashenholt.”

The crack in my heart cleaved clean in two, the angry beast in me screaming at what I was saying.

“You did great, Naci. It’s over. You’re done.”

Thank the gods that Noxie’s words drowned out the shouts from the crowd. I didn’t want to know what they were saying.

“It’s only over until the next performance. I fear that, by the time this is all over, I won’t even be myself anymore. I’m afraid I’ll begin to believe the lies.”

“I won’t let that happen.”

* * *

The guards escortedme back to the bathing chamber where the maidens waited to take my dress off and give me a plain green tunic and pants to wear back to my cell.

No shoes. Thin fabric. No protection from the cold of the dungeon. At least that purple gown was gone.

As the king had warned, the guards searched me to make sure I wasn’t sneaking anything back. I was so defeated that it hadn’t even occurred to me to look for anything useful.

Alone, finally in my cell, I closed my eyes and rested my head against the jagged wall, the beast inside me just as defeated. Sleep that night came and went, my unconscious mind not daring to dream for fear of nightmares.