Page 2 of Blood of the Fallen
Airwhooshedout of me as if I’d been punched in the gut. I shook my head, fear crawling up my spine, turning it to ice.
The Academy burned witches.
I was resigned to death. When I’d saved Nirliq from the sharp knife Val had held at her throat and made her promise to keep quiet while I was abducted, I’d known I was signing my death sentence. Val had promised they would hold me accountable for all my crimes, and I’d had no doubt about the outcome of such a trial.
Guilty. Guilty on all counts.
I’d been aware the sentence would be swift and believed my death would be too. A sword through my heart. That was what I had hoped for. But burning at the stake?
My heart hammered against my ribs as my eyes drifted toward the torch in Captain Silex’s hand.
“No,” I said under my breath. “Not like that.”
Captain Silex stood firm. “The law is the law.”
“No,” I repeated, my gaze roving over every face, trying to find a hint of pity, but not even Val seemed to think a gruesome death at the stake would be too cruel for me.
“Gather the wood,” Captain Silex ordered.
Immediately, her guards scattered and started searching the fringes of the campsite.
“No,” I cried out hoarsely, raw panic clawing at my throat. “You can’t. I’ve suffered enough because of your lies. Kill me. Rip my heart out. Slice my throat. But don’t torture me to further your deception.”
Captain Silex stared impassively at me, not a hint of guilt or remorse in her expression.
“Please,” I begged. “Please.”
Nothing.
I turned to Val. “Don’t do this. I’m not a witch. I didn’t kill Magistrate Magnus. I don’t deserve this. I don’t.” Hot tears slid down my face, and still, I found no sympathy in anyone’s face, especially Val’s.
In fact, when the first guard returned with an arm full of dry branches that he dumped at my feet, what I saw in his gaze was short of pleasure.
One after the other, the guards returned and piled their wood at my feet, laying it around the tree like a fan.
“Any last words?” Captain Silex asked, taking a step closer, the torch held tightly in her hand.
I whimpered, my eyes locked on the torch, fear causing my knees to buckle. I slumped, bark digging into my back, scraping, tearing my skin. I tried to speak, tried to say I wished they would all burn in hell for all eternity, but there was a huge lump in my throat, a ball of terror, panic, and regret that didn’t let me utter a single word.
“Well, then,” Captain Silex pronounced, “judgment has been passed, and I take responsibility for dispensing the proper sentence for your crimes. Jazmin Bronte, you have consorted with wildlings and cast out curses, exposing yourself as a witch. Therefore, tonight you burn at the stake.”
Slowly, she lowered the torch toward the dry wood at my feet. I watched as the flame descended on its path to igniting the worst death imaginable. It took all I had to tear my gaze off their hypnotizing glow and look at Val.
Our gazes locked. For an instant, I thought I saw doubt slash across his face, but before I could be sure, whatever I’d seen disappeared, leaving behind nothing but absolute contempt.
Still, I couldn’t help the plea that escaped me, the useless hope that rose in my heart as I appealed to his humanity. “Not like this, please, please.”
In answer, Captain Silex pressed the torch to the kindling the guards had laid on top of the wood, methodically going around the semicircle of dry branches that surrounded me.
Smoke immediately rose, filling my nose with its acrid smell.
“No.” I turned my head to one side, eyes squeezed shut. “No, no, no.”
The wood crackled andwhooshedas it caught. More smoke snaked upward, lapping over my naked skin and twisting its way into my head.
Almost immediately, heat built up around me, a scorching wall closing in on me, growing tighter and more suffocating by the second.
My eyes stung. I coughed and pushed onto my tiptoes as if I could get away from the rising flames that were already several inches high.
