Page 16 of Fearless

“Paedyn?”

“Hmm?” My gaze lifts to Ellie, finding her staring at me in question. “Sorry, did you say something?”

She smiles comfortingly. “Yes, I asked what you wanted me to do with your hair.”

“Oh, um, just leave it.” I nod distractedly. “It will help cover my scar.”

Another sad smile. It’s not the first she’s given me. “Right.” Stepping away, she scans my face. “You look…”

Ellie trails off, and that worries me greatly. “What? If I look ridiculous, please tell me.”

“No. No, not at all.” Her gaze lingers over the length of me. “You look… hardened, in a way.”

Those words don’t surprise me. But her next ones do.

“In fact, you look like a queen.”

I spin my father’s ring beneath the massive table, if only to distract myself from the foreign one now encircling a nearby finger.

Shifting in my plush chair, I sneak a glance down the length of wood to find that nearly every gaze is already pinned on me. I lift my chin slightly before mustering a cool facade as my only defense against so many prying eyes.

The colossal table sits in the center of the throne room, and even despite its impressive size, the court is thoroughly cramped around it. My gaze climbs from the expanse of dark wood until it lands on…

Comfort. Relief. Him.

Gray eyes flick between mine, soft in that way they only are when looking at me. That tether between us grows taut, heavy with the weight of so many unspoken words. But even the strongest of ties wear over time. It will be the slow death of us, spending every day alongside each other but never truly together.

Kai’s gaze tears from mine when the looming doors swing open.

Every body clumped along the table’s edge clambers to its feet when the king enters the room. Having spent my life learning how to blend in, I quickly stand alongside them. When my eyes lift to find Kitt, it’s his brother they find their way back to—a repetition of the past I can’t seem to escape. His black tunic is cut close to the body beneath, inky like the ebony waves that fall over his brow. As if feeling my gaze, he pulls those strong arms behind his back and tosses me a quick wink.

I dip my head, hiding the twitch of my lips. Then I tuck our moment into that quiet part of my mind, right alongside the others. Just in case we never get the chance to share another.

Kitt strides to the head of the long table, where Kai flanks his right and I his left. It’s only after the king lowers himself into his extravagant seat that the court follows, numbly sitting back into their own.

“Good afternoon,” Kitt greets warmly. “I’d like to first thank you allfor joining me in this meeting. I know there is much to discuss and even more to answer.”

The sheer kingliness he exudes is still jarring, in a mournful sort of way. I miss the carefree boy he was before a crown was pushed onto his head. Before I pushed him to be like this.

But his very life has led up to this moment, this ruling of a kingdom. And it suits him more than I could have imagined. Or perhaps it’s my revived hope for Ilya that has me suddenly looking at him with respect rather than revulsion.

Everything changed in that study, history unwritten and loyalties reformed. Kitt seems equally as unenthusiastic about our engagement, and I warily wonder about his feelings for me. How much does the king despise me for killing the father he once cared so dearly for? Our marriage will be nothing more than a political union, but if we are meant to spend the rest of our lives together, I hope to restore some semblance of the friendship we once had. That is, if he even wants it.

“To begin, I will first address the terrible misunderstandings we all believed to be true.” Kitt’s gaze travels around the table. “I hope then that the reasonings behind my decision will become clear.”

I take a deep breath, straightening my spine like Ellie suggested. But I don’t, however, arrange my features into something that resembles pleasantry. Instead, I remain stern, feigning strength in the face of a kingdom so eager to cut me down.

“Decades ago, Healers claimed to have found an undetectable disease hidden within the blood of Ordinaries.” Kitt’s voice carries, sounding so much like the king before him that I nearly flinch. “With prolonged exposure, that disease was said to weaken the powers of Elites. And since becoming your king, I have discovered this story to be a lie.”

Chaos erupts around the table. I sit silently within it, my heartpounding as Kitt’s liberating words hang in the air. I never thought I’d hear the truth from a king’s lips.

I lean in slightly, searching his face. But he doesn’t meet my gaze, doesn’t glance in my direction at all as he states, “Seeing that Ilya was such a weak kingdom before the Plague, King Edric did what he believed was best—banished the Ordinaries. He did this to preserve our Elite strength, offering a story that the Healers eagerly backed. You—the people—needed little convincing to rid our kingdom of those lacking power.”

Confused glances are thrown around the table, followed by hushed accusations. The king’s voice cuts through them all. “My father strengthened our kingdom greatly in the past, and for that, we should all be thankful. But now he has unwittingly weakened us by cutting off our resources, leaving me to do what I must to save us.” A long pause, a sinking in of words. “So we will welcome the Ordinaries back into Ilya.”

My lips twitch into a smile.

After decades of lies, us Ordinaries deserve a far grander reveal, a proclamation across the kingdom. But this is the best apology an Elite king will give. So I revel in it.

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