Page 26 of A Broken Promise

He paused, observing the crowd. “Yet yesterday, I was attacked in this house.” Loud gasps and murmurs now sounded through the crowd.

The edges of the fork cut hard into my hand.Public execution it is, then.

I should stab him right now.Stab him before he says another word. But frozen as a sheep at the slaughter, I sat motionless.

Pathetic.

“By Destroyer laws, I have the right to incinerate this entire house, for such an assault that happened on your lands, under your rule.” His eyes went to Inadios as the crowd surrounding him took a few steps away from him, leaving him stranded.

I could smell fear on him, his face turning bright red, fidgeting with his sausage-like fingers as he opened his mouth, but the General continued.

“But I hope today serves as a reminder to all of you that Destroyers are always just and kind, and value loyalty of those who obey. That our patience and restraint are never ending.”

Dimitrii huffed, earning a sharp, irritated look from Orest.

“The punishment by death will be placed on the one responsible for the attack,” the General carried on.

I swallowed hard and closed my eyes. My life didn’t flash before me, I hadn’t lived long enough for that. My soul didn’t tremble from fear, but from the broken truth of longing for the end. Longing for those who I love, who have long crossed this line, though drops of regret, as if dye in the water, tinted my soul. Regret, that I had never lived up to the promise I made so many summers ago amidst the burning trees.

To live a better life.

Shame.

It was shame masked as sorrow as I took my last breath.

Loud screams abruptly interrupted my tangled thoughts. I opened my eyes to see the crowd panicking and screaming. Some were frozen in terror. Some were hastily attempting to jump out of the garden area because it was now surrounded by a ring of white flames.

Surrounded, Destroyer soldiers stood guard without letting anyone out, as if herding prey.

My mouth dropped open in complete shock when I saw Dimitrii. His skin was untouched, yet silver flames came out from his mouth, his eyes, his ears. His face twisted with pure agony as Cleansing Fire burned him from the inside out, turning his blood to liquid fire. Orest and Broderick held him up as the Destroyer General nonchalantly crossed the distance between them. Unable to make a sound, Dimitrii's body was frantically convulsing in pain.

“This is what happens when you touch what’s mine,” the General said, cold hatred radiating from him. He watched Dimitrii burn for another minute, then with a single flick of his fingers, the entirety of Dimitrii’s body immediately turned to nothingness—small specks of white ash, withered in the summer breeze, never to be seen again.

I gasped for oxygen, but as if those ashes poisoned the air, painfully, I suffocated. My lungs burned as my heart raced at impossible speeds. The bright flames of Dimitrii’s eyes flashed behind my eyes with each blink, adrenaline making my brain cloudy and my vision blackening.

Orest’s fluorescent gray eyes seized mine.Breathe,he silently willed. My lungs, as if on command, slowly opened.Breathe in and out. My chest expanded unevenly, letting the cool air in, heart beating intensely.

Breathe in and out.

“She is having another panic attack,” Orest muttered to the General. “Probably going to pass out again.”

The General rubbed his temples and then yawned. They were completely unphased by what had just happened, their voices calm and calculating. He turned to watch the rapidly fleeing crowd, no longer surrounded by the soldiers or the ring of fire.

“I still have a few more things to take care of but we will leavetomorrow. For now, take her back in and keep watch.” Orest quickly nodded and approached me.

“Come with me.” He extended his hand, but I didn’t move. My eyes lingered on the towering figure of the General departing away from us. The remaining Royalty all bowed as he walked past them. He sat down amidst a group of few Lords that, unlike the crowd, were calm though clearly intrigued. So casually he picked up the conversation, as if nothing had happened, as if he didn’t turn a man—a whole man and his soul—into ash.

“Can you walk?” Orest must have asked me this twice because before I could answer, he already had me picked up and put me over his shoulder. Refocusing, I quickly blurted out.

“I’ll walk…Yes, I can walk.”

Surprisingly, he hastily set me back on the ground.

“Sorry, you didn’t look like you could at the moment,” he said. I adjusted my twisted skirts. “Just don’t pass out on me this time. Deal?” Orest smiled and offered his arm for support, but I refused.

We walked as fast as my body allowed. However, broken bones and burns were of little concern to me now. My mind was stuck in perpetual hell, I realized. As if an animal in a cage—aware, yet unable to do anything about it.

But Orest’s welcoming earthy scent of oak and lavender calmed me, almost putting me to sleep by the time we made it to the room.

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