Page 39 of Risen
I sent a sideways glance at Yukio.Our emotionless pixie didn’t try to hide what he was feeling this time.The slow, evil grin that curled his lips made it clear how glad he was to see his old king and tormentor.
Robin and Ruya stood side by side, regal and powerful as a couple of queens, the naga prince standing a slight half-step behind them.They were flanked by the rest of us in an obvious show of power and strength as Robin delivered her speech.
“The emperor is dead,” Robin said, her voice ringing as her words and Ruya’s staggering omega aura commanded the attention of every person gathered here.“The syndicate is no more.And those who took part in decades of murder and oppression will answer for their crimes.”
It was awe-inspiring to witness.I knew Robin was a born leader, of course.I had pledged myself to her even though I was an alpha myself.Everyone in our court followed her more or less without question.But now I saw just how strong her charisma and natural alpha influence really was.Everyonehung on her every word, deferred to her in this as if she had been born to be their leader.As if she really was royalty, rather than an orphan with a vendetta.
The group of syndicate goons had grown to nearly a hundred people now, as the griffins finished their drop offs.The salamanders crowded them, shoving them closer to the steps.Sorcerers in torn robes, vampires with blood still drying on their collars, smug high fae, shifters who had worn power like a fur coat for far too long.Each of them carried the stink of old privilege, though most were bruised, bleeding, and stripped of their glamour now.They were forced to their knees under the eyes of the very people they had ruled, before the unaligned paranorms they had deemed useless and unworthy.
The crowd was restless—roaring, jeering, hungry for blood.I felt it thrumming in my own chest.Robin had promised, once, that she would purge every single one of them.And I believed her.No one here would try to stop her.Except… my eyes fell on Ruya again, surprised when she didn’t open her mouth to object or show an ounce of displeasure on her serene face.
Robing stood tall in front of The Fox, fire wreathing her shoulders and rippling along the faint dusting of shimmering scales that was visible along her arms, Ruya’s calm brushing against her aura, Sadavir steady at her other side, the rest of us behind her.She looked every inch the dragon queen she had denied being for so long.And as an alpha, I could sense the mate bond humming through her, webbing her in connections she had never let herself trust before.Sadavir’s looming presence at her side was evidence of the change in her.Some invisible shift that softened her edges even as it steadied her spine.
I braced for the order to execute the prisoners.Robin raised her voice again, full of power and poise, and utter authority.“If our positions were reversed, many in the syndicate wouldn’t hesitate to eradicate those they felt unworthy.”Her golden eyes slid over the subdued syndicate members, then lifted to the crowd again.This was it, the moment of bloody retribution.
“But we are not the syndicate.”
I felt my eyebrows creep toward my hairline.What?
She swept her gaze over the huddled goons again.“I know some of you may have served involuntarily because you didn’t feel like you had any other option but to bend the knee to the people in power.I won’t say what I’m about to offer you is much different.But at least it’s a chance to redeem yourselves.”
An uneasy hush fell over the crowd.
“Some of you served because you were blackmailed,” she said to the kneeling leaders, her tone sharp as broken glass.“Some of you because you feared for the safety of your family and loved ones.Some because you could see no other way.”She shrugged.“And of course, some of you are simply worthless scum.”She turned her head just enough that the nearby streetlights caught her eyes, and for a heartbeat I thought they looked like Ruya’s, flashing an almost crystalline blue.
“If you took power from the weak,” Robin said evenly, “if you bled them dry for your own gain, you will die here tonight.But if you were bound by blackmail, by threat, by some other leash—then you will have the opportunity to continue breathing.”
She gestured.The curse breaker stepped forward, a crooked smile cutting across his bland face as he was joined by Yukio.He muttered words that burned the air, and a circle of light spilled out across the cobblestones next to where the prisoners knelt.The spell was reinforced with Yukio’s fae magic.It reeked of binding magic, precise, sharp, impossible to wriggle free from.
“Step into the circle and swear a bargain,” Robin said, her voice low but carrying through the night.“Swear that you will serve not the strong, not the wealthy, but the lowest among us.Swear to act only for the good of all, or die here tonight.But remember, my little darlings,” she purred, danger glinting in her dragon eyes, “there are consequences for breaking a magical bargain.If you should ever betray our people again for your own gain, you will die a slow, horrible, painful death.”
Ruya drew in a sharp breath and let it out, her only outward sign of distress.Shit.The bargain she had made with the wild fae.What was it?I swore to myself that I’d get to the bottom of that mystery once we were done here.
The crowd erupted at Robin’s words—some in outrage, some in relief.But she stood her ground, silencing them all with a warning glare.Ruya surprised us all but stepping forward.Her aura unfurled around her, reaching out to the crowd, enthralling every paranorm there.
Her rich alto was softer, less sharp-edged and commanding than Robin’s had been.But everyone here hung on every word.“I know you are hurting,” she said to the rebels around us.“I know the way the darkness and pain coils inside you, threatening to turn your soul black with its rage.But you deserve better than that.All of you—all ofus—deserve better.The new world we are creating will not tolerate cruelty and oppression, and it will strive for justice.But it will not be devoid of compassion.”She paused, and something hung in the air, giving her words the weight of prophesy.“This act of mercy tonight will ensure that there is balance.It will ensure our hearts never blacken like those we seek to depose.”
No one breathed.The sense of cold, clear, all-seeing magic held everyone in its thrall.
Then Ruya took a breath, stepping back and breaking the strange spell.
Robin took our omega’s hand and lifted it to press a kiss to her fingers, the gesture reminiscent of a supplicant kissing a monarch’s ring.Then she addressed the prisoners once more.“Before we start the bindings, however, there is one among you who is exempt.”Her gaze pinned O’Dell and she shook her head.“I’m afraid you have debts to pay.Renouncing your ways isn’t an option.”
O’Dell glared up at our court from his place on the ground.His eyes lit first on Cicely, then on Yukio.“You may be enjoying your little game,” he said in a silky voice, as if he wasn’t kneeling there in irons.“But you’ll never be anything more than lowly animals to be commanded, tools to be used by one master or another.”He scoffed.“Even now, your so-called savior uses you to do her dirty work.”
Clever of him, I suppose, to make one last-ditch attempt to wind the two fae in our court back over to his side.Clearly he thought if he could rile Cicely enough to create a distraction, enrage Yukio enough to turn on his new current court and demand his freedom, maybe he could slip away.
But he vastly underestimated the men he had used and tortured, and he clearly didn’t understand emotions.Both Yukio and Cicely were too smart to fall for his petty manipulations.They knew their place and their value in our court.They knew they were loved.They knew they were not possessions or weapons, but people, with choices and freedom.
Robin didn’t deign to speak to O’Dell.She simply glanced at Cicely, then held out a dagger.“You can borrow this, if you’d like,” she drawled.“Or, if you’d prefer, you can use my strength.I have a strong grip.Good for strangling.I am at your command, sweet Cicely.”
The faun’s face was devoid of emotion as he studied Robin’s face, then glanced between the offered dagger and the man who had stolen his voice and made him a slave.I felt for him.He was owed justice.But he was a beta, after all.He wasn’t made for torture and murder.
He surprised everyone when he turned back to Robin and signed.“Will you help me, please?”
I braced my feet wider apart and forced my arms into parade rest to keep from moving.The alpha in me wanted to protect the beta, to shield him from distress.But he was an adult.He could make his own choices.
Cicely descended the steps with Robin at his side, halting before O’Dell.The faun’s brow furrowed, and I realized he was using his mind speak to talk to the ex-king of the syndicate fae.O’Dell’s expression turned thunderous at whatever passed between them.
