The Claiming

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Vain reenters the room once Alec's parents leave.

"Have you two come up with an excuse to not be killed?"

"Not—" Alec begins.

"Yes," I say without thinking. Crap.

"Oh?" Vain says.

"What?" Alec says at the same time.

I'm quiet for a second, wondering what on earth I could say. I guess I spoke out because I'm scared what Vain will do when he finds out we don't have anything prepared.

But then I suddenly have an idea that I wish I could tell Alec about, but for now I'm going to have to hope he's smart enough to know I would never cheat on him.

"I'm pregnant, and I think we can use that to keep Alec and me alive. I don't want my baby to live without his or her father."

I half expect Alec to start asking questions, but he remains silent, hopefully knowing all too well that there is no possible way I'm really pregnant.

After a few heartbeats of pure silence except for the chilling sound of our echoed breathing, Vain walks over to my cell and kneels down to where I sit against the wall. "How far along are you?"

Oh, gosh. I don't know anything about pregnancy. Don't they count it in weeks or something? I take a wild guess and pray I get it right. "Six weeks," I say. I look down at my stomach as Vain's eyes drift there, too. I hope I'm convincing.

He grunts and stands up. "You're in luck, then. Alice is pretty merciful when it comes to keeping families together. She lost her husband soon after her son was born, and then her son grew up without a father, so she blames that for his delinquency record that got him exiled from the city."

My eyes round. I didn't know that about Alice. She exiled her own son?

"I'll convey the information to Alice. Your sentence will be tomorrow morning in front of town hall. Once again, I remind you. If your family comes forward testifying that you both are innocent, they won't be alive much longer... Understand?"

"Yes, sir," I choke out.

"Yes," Alec spits angrily.

Vain stands and heads towards the door, but stops. He then heads to Alec's cell, unlocks it, pulls him out of the doorway and then opens my door as well. He pushes Alec inside and locks the door again. Alec immediately falls at my side and wraps me in his arms protectively.

"I may be doing what seems to be a terrible thing, but I'm not a monster," Vain says. "If Alice decides to have you executed regardless, you should be together." Then he leaves.

Alec brushes my hair behind my ear and tilts my head up with his fingers under my chin. "Please tell me you're not really—"

"No," I say with a weak smile. "I have an idea, though. Do you think there are any cameras in here? Any audio?"

Alec scans the dark room. There's no way we can be seen, but I'm not entirely sure about anyone hearing us.

But Alec shakes his head. "This place is too old and no one has ever really committed a crime it seems—well, except for Alice's son. But they wouldn't have had time to put anything in here, and by how un-advanced this place is, I doubt they have any of the technology to do so."

I kiss his cheek. "Then let me tell you what I have in mind."

***

Alice waits for us in front of town hall with her hands stiffly behind her back and a scowl on her stubborn face. Alec and I exchange nervous glances, scooting closer together as Vain and one of his other officers escort us to the gathering crowd before Alice.

The two of us are pushed onto the front steps, one step below Alice. Alec's parents and Riah and Chance and Chance's family are standing in the front row of the crowd, watching us nervously. Riah's hand rests on top of her slightly distended stomach, and surprisingly, I envy her.

She doesn't have to worry about where to go next, or being accused of murder or... anything at the moment. Just her child and Chance. That's it. I wish my world were as small as hers.

Alice raises her arm to silence the angry crowd of strangers and our fearful families.

The mayor addresses us with hate in her voice. It's hard to believe that someone so furious with us was so kind to us up until now.

I step backwards into Alec, but he can't hold me with his arms bound behind his back like mine.

"These two have committed treason against me and our town. They are sentenced to life in exile, never to come back to Winslow Wood."

No one dares to question her sentence. No one wonders why we never got a trial or what we even did. Alice turns her back on us and storms into the town hall building, signaling that the "ceremony" is already over.

Well, that was fast.

Vain tugs on my arms behind my back. "Come on," he grunts.

He and his other officer lead Alec and me off the steps and down the street back to the police station where a car waits to take us out of Winslow Wood. Alec and I both glance back over our shoulders to see the crowd of strangers dispersing, but our family looking at us somberly, not entirely sure what to do without us, or at least Alec (being that he's the one related to any of them at all).

Vain pushes us by our heads into the back of the car and then gets in the front driver's seat. His buddy stands by the window and talks to Vain too quietly for us to hear.

"You all right?" Alec murmurs to me.

"I know I should say yes, but after all that we've gone through—not one bit."

Vain rolls up the window and starts the car. In silence, we leave Winslow Wood, glancing one last time down the street towards the town hall where Alec's parents, Chance, Riah, Chance's parents, and his cousin all watch us. I know all too well they have that familiar pity in their eyes that they had when they heard the prince had taken me away from Alec the first time.

Except this time, it is probably much, much worse.