Page 62 of Conspirators' Kingdom

Chapter 26

Taisiyabreatheddeeplyonceshe was free of the cabin. The fresh sea air was cleansing after spending so long cooped up. The day was bright and clear, the wind refreshing and crisp, a slice of beauty and tranquillity before bloodshed soiled the day. Taisiya didn’t bother with any preamble.

“Pepi, step forward,” Taisiya called out.

A green man stepped forward, his dark eyes grim. He didn’t bother to tuck his pink hair behind his ears as it swept over his handsome face.

“I know you tried to murder my husband. You’ve failed, and your punishment is death. Because I am a generous princess consort, I will give you two options: tell me the names of your accomplices and you will die quickly. Refuse, and you will die in the exact manner you had planned for the prince. What is your answer?”

Taisiya tossed the iron bowl onto the deck to the shrieks and gasps of those assembled. Any sympathy they had for the man died when they recognised the infernal device and felt the nearness of the deadly metal. Several hissed. Pepi’s face remained impassive.

“Your husband killed my wife. I am already dead. Do what you will.”

“She was the fool who refused to bow?” Taisiya sneered. “Then you’ve thrown your life away for nothing. If she’d loved you, she would’ve chosen to live with you, rather than die for her pride. Vasilisa, the blades.”

Vasilisa stepped from the shadow of the mast, fae leaping out of her way and cringing at the feeling of the iron’s naked nearness. Taisiya took the blades proffered by Vasilisa and nodded. Vasilisa coated herself in darkness and held the fae man still as Taisiya sank each of the eleven blades into him. By the end, his shrieks and thrashing had been reduced to guttural groans and the occasional spasm. His ears, chest, arms, legs—all were stuck through with iron. Sticky crimson blood coated Taisiya’s hands and she fought her rising gorge. When it was done, Taisiya looked at her companion.

“Feed him to the void. The sea creatures have already grown fat.”

Vasilisa dragged the man by his hair into the nearest shadow without a word.

Taisiya looked at the tear-stained faces of the fae gathered. Terror, deep and primal, looked back at her from behind their colourful eyes. Good. Only monsters could inspire true, paralysing terror. Now they knew precisely their fate if they tried to cross her.

“Tell any who will listen that Princess Consort Taisiya delights in the cries of any fae who dares harm her beloved husband.”

Horrid spectacle done, she turned from the crowd and returned to the cabin. Once the door was closed, she slid to the floor, her knees gone weak. Bas already had a bucket ready. Though her gut roiled threateningly, she wasn’t sick.

“Progress?” Vasilisa asked as she popped into the room, bloody iron spikes gathered in her hand.

Taisiya nodded. She looked down at her blood-slick hands. Even though she hadn’t been sick, she didn’t feel any pride. If this was progress, why did she feel so hollow?

When Mereruka woke in the night, his fever had finally broken, though his body was stiff and aching. Raising his arm to steady himself in the hammock, he was pleased to find the strength in his grip had mostly returned. So had his ability to cloak himself in glamour, for that matter. Thank the forgotten gods.

Biting back a groan, he worked his way out of the hammock and to his feet. In the darkened cabin only Bas and Vasilisa slept in their hammocks. Taisiya’s was empty. A pang of worry lanced his chest. Mereruka stepped outside the cabin, his footsteps as silent as he could make them. Once on the deck, the chill sea breezes had him shivering.

“Mereruka?”

Taisiya stood at the railing, copper tendrils escaping her sleep-mussed braids. She looked so damn small, her eyes wide with concern and a large, thick shawl wrapped around her shoulders. She made her way to his side.

“How are you feeling?”

“Well enough.” He smiled and leaned down to kiss her head. “What has you up in the night?”

Her expression closed up as she pulled the shawl tighter around herself.

“My weakness, perhaps. You don’t need to—”

“Nonsense,” he interrupted. “I need to stretch my legs. Tell me everything.” Mereruka placed his arm around her shoulders and guided her along the deck.

She was silent for a time before she finally decided to speak. He took it as a good sign that she hadn’t pulled away from him.

“I killed the man who gave Bas the device. He wouldn’t speak the name of the person who gave him the device. He was seeking revenge for the death of his wife… I… I wasn’t sick afterwards, despite what I did.”

He tightened his grip on her in reassurance.

“I did what I had to do, as princess consort, as my duty demanded, to ensure my safety and yours, and yet… I feel I’ve crossed a line. Lightning kills instantly but iron… I’m not proud of what I’ve done. This doesn’t feel like any kind of victory.”

“Good,” he said.

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