Page 145 of The Endless War

“And yet you seem content to believe lies.”

Zarrah stared at this woman she’d once loved like a mother. Her savior and salvation. For the first time, it occurred to her that the Usurper believed her own lies, lived in her own delusion of the truth. “Near the end of his reign, my grandfather, Emperor Ephraim Anaphora, voiced his desire to see an end to the Endless War. To work toward peace with Maridrina, for he was tired of the slaughter. Tired of thousands of children growing up as orphans. Tired of the violence. Sorather than naming you, the daughter who lived and breathed the war to the point it had become her identity, as heir, he named his younger daughter. My mother, Aryana, was like-minded to him and desired peace above all else. Yet rather than acceding to your father’s wishes, when you learned of his intent, you rallied the officers in the military loyal to you and usurped the crown. When he died, you arranged for the assassination of all witnesses to the signing of the declaration, then destroyed the document itself, not realizing that my mother was in possession of the second.”

The Usurper did not react, only stared her down, eyes cold and calculating. “Are you finished with your little story?”

“No,” Zarrah answered. “I am not. My mother knew you were willing to kill to keep the crown, so she pretended to accept your rise to power, supporting you publicly. But in private, she and her husband, my father, took the first steps in gaining supporters. Together they falsified his death so that he could go to the south and rally those who desired an end to the war, sowing the first seeds that you were not the rightful ruler of Valcotta. Somehow, you learned of her plans, and you made arrangements for her assassination. And mine, because I was her named heir. You supplied the Maridrinian spymaster with details of when and where my mother and I would be near Nerastis, knowing full well that Silas Veliant would not miss the opportunity for blood.”

The Usurper shook her head. “These are lies told by Keris Veliant to turn you against me.”

“It is the truth that turned me against you.” Zarrah lifted her chin. “You rode into that villa believing we would both be dead, but what a shock to discover that I still lived. You couldn’t very well kill me with your soldiers watching, but in truth, I don’t think that’s what stayed your hand. I think it was the way I looked at you when you rode through the gates, like there was no one in the world but you. And you realized that you could make me yours. Could raise me in your image, fighting your battles and defending your honor, worshiping you like a goddess and therefore blind to your every flaw. That you could make me the perfect heir, for not only was it my birthright, but when the day came for me to ascend, it would be as though a second coming of you sat upon the throne. I was yourfucking immortality!”

The Usurper flinched, and Zarrah bared her teeth. “But then I met Keris. You knew something was drawing me away from your way of thinking, and you tried to fight it. Forbade me to have anything to do with it. But it was too late. My mind had been unleashed from your control. You knew it, which was why you didn’t attempt to rescue me, likely thinking Silas would kill me the moment I walked through the gates of his palace. But Silas Veliant was a game master as well,Auntie, and I see why he kept me alive. Not because he was afraid of provoking your ire, but because he knew that you werepissing yourselfthat he’d tell me the truth.”

The army was shifting restlessly, but Zarrah didn’t take her eyes from the Usurper’s face, for she couldn’t risk her aunt turning around to see the claws of the trap descending.

Not yet.

“Silas alluded to it so many times, knew that my father was the commander of the rebellion in the south, and now, looking back, I think he never intended to kill me. That it was his plan to eventually have me learn the truth about you, then unleash me to join my father, for what better way to strike a blow than to have Valcotta turn to civil war.”

“And you have realized his dream for him,” the Usurper spat. “Valcottans against Valcottans, when we should be united and looking north to honor and glory. If we fall to Maridrina, it will beyourdoing, dear one.”

“I am not your dear one!” Tears poured down Zarrah’s cheeks. “I am not yours, and I will die a thousand times over before ever being yours again. We had a chance for peace. A chance to end the war, because that was what Keris was fighting for, and you killed him.”

“No, Zarrah,” the Usurper answered. “Youkilled him.”

She had. And her soul would never recover from it.

Zarrah finally allowed her eyes to break from the monster’s.

She looked out over the sea of imperial soldiers and knew that, for all her heart would never be whole, she had made the right choice. That losing him would not be in vain.

“An inventive story you have spun,” the Usurper said. “But to what end? You have lost. Keris Veliant will soon be meat for thecrows. Your pitiful army is in my grasp. What do you have to gain from all of this?”

“I want you to admit to me that it is the truth,” Zarrah said. “Admit it to me, and I will burn this piece of paper, this last bit of concrete truth of your crimes. Refuse, and I will run into your army and scream my story and show as many of them the proof as I can before you put me down.”

The Usurper cast her eyes skyward. “You think they’ll believe you, girl?”

“Some of them will,” Zarrah answered. “And they will be the ember that slowly flares into the inferno that will destroy you. So choose, Auntie.”

Silence stretched, and Zarrah swore that no one in the stadium stirred. That no one breathed.

“Fine,” the Usurper answered. “Have it your way. It is the truth. All that you say is the truth.” Pulling a knife, she added, “Now burn it, or I will cut your throat before you make it two paces.”

Drawing the small lamp in front of her, Zarrah pressed the corner of the document to the flame. Watched as fire consumed it until all that remained was ash and melted wax, along with the smile on the Usurper’s face. She leaned across the table, and with the last proof of her crimes destroyed, the monster’s voice was unleashed. “I was raised to rule. Eldest and strongest, yet in his final days of his life, my father turned against me and named your mother his heir. Said that she was the empress Valcotta needed—balm to the fucking wound,he called her. But I saw the truth. Saw that she’d make us weak, and I refused to let that happen. I should have killed her then, but I loved her too much, and it seemed she was content. Then I discovered she conspired against me, and I could not allow that to stand. I had fought too hard to make Valcotta strong to allow her to tear it apart. She gave me no choice. Just as you now have given me no choice. It’s over, Zarrah.”

“No,” Zarrah answered, staring out over the sea of shocked and angry faces of the Imperial Army, each one of them having heard every word of the conversation, just as the stadium builders had intended. “It has only just begun.”

The Usurper whirled, confusion rising on her face as shouts filled the air, voices demanding justice. “How …”

“I believe this is checkmate, Petra,” a velvet voice murmured, seeming to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. “Peace’s champion has won the day.”

On the far side of the stadium, an armored soldier appeared from the shadows of the opposing pavilion. He pulled off his helmet, revealing blond hair, the sight of his face nearly bringing Zarrah to her knees.

“You’re dead!” The Usurper shrieked. “Welran killed you after your filthy army handed you over!” And then, seeming to remember herself, she added, “Seize him!”

“No need to shout, Petra,” Keris answered. “These are the whispering courts of Meritt, perfectly designed so that the game masters’ voices can be heard by every player and every spectator, even if they speak no louder than a confession. A genius construction, though I understand you outlawed handball some years ago for being anunworthy pursuit.A good friend of mine never forgave you for it.”

Keris started down the steps, and the Usurper shouted, “Seize him! This is the King of Maridrina! He is our enemy, come to destroy us!”

---