Ajax crashes into the room. His face is as white as crow-picked bone.
"What is it, Ajax?" Ruben asks, standing instantly.
I pull my dagger out on instinct.
A cool draft curls into the room, playing with my hair as Ajax opens and closes his mouth like a bemused fish, gathering his words. The silver jewellery in his eyebrow glints in the jumping candlelight. "The king... his loyalists... they're murdering the Convex rebels."
Knots tear through my stomach, spilling my guts down my legs as I stumble to the window. A hoard of Tranqs arranged in a filled triangle formation, fire arrows. Sharp cries and strangled grunts bore into my ears, into my bones. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Kissing Ruben, the king's son, while my people die as they fight for a better kingdom. Tears blur my vision and I swipe them away furiously. Blood and corpses speckle the palace grounds, and the gardens, as the final remnants of the Tranq building collapse into a pile of dust and ash.
"Where is Aston?" I demand, my voice shaking.
"He's trying to help urge as many Convex back into the tunnels," Ajax says with a huff. He pads up to me, standing so close to my side I can feel his warmth. "They were fighting back. Your people. They are strong. Brave."
"And dead." My voice now yields nothing but hollowness.
"Not all of them. Many of them have fled for the night. But they will return."
"What are we meant to do?" My nails scrape the wooden finish of the window ledge. "How can we stop the king from punishing them all?"
"What can he do?" Ajax says, tilting his chin towards me, forcing me to look at him. "He can only exile or kill them. Most of these people have lost everything already."
Wisps of smoke and the coppery smell of blood rise into the window, performing a morbid dance that curdles my insides. "At the very least, we can round up the dead. Build a funeral pyre."
"Actually, Elle." Ruben clears his throat, joining us at the window. "The rebel Tranqs are holding an exclusive meeting tonight. To discuss the next move. I will be joining them."
"I'll be there." The words tumble out. "My heart wrenches in two as a young man writhes and thrashes, his wail drowning out the other groans of agony. He clutches the arrow in his stomach. One more twitch. Still.
The top corner of my lip tugs up in disgust and terror. More arrows crisscross the crimson-splashed gardens and I squeeze my eyes shut "Where's the meeting?"
"In the forest," Ruben says. He glances over his shoulder, sucking in a harsh breath at the sight of his father's cold, bare room. "We will stop this madness, Elle. It won't be like this for much longer."
"How can you know? You don't even know where your father is." His kiss now feels like an unpleasant burn on my lips that I want to wash away. The wrong time.
Ruben and Ajax exchange a look and I catch a strange glint in Ajax's eyes. "I'm going to find out where he is." Ruben swallows and his shoulders tighten, a haunted look crossing his face.
"And I will take you to the meeting spot in the forest, Elle," Ajax says, tossing me a brave smile.
Groans and sobs of the dying tease and taunt me and I yank the window closed, turning away, leaning against the ledge. "Fine."
"I'll meet you there after sundown," Ruben says, retreating to the door. His eyes dart to my lips for a moment before he heaves a sigh. "You should get back into the palace. My father's loyalists and servants will be looking for you."
I scowl before forcing a fake, sickly-sweet smile onto my face. "Must show my devotion to His Majesty."
Ruben rolls his eyes before darting out the door, his footsteps cascading into the depths of the tower.
Ajax clicks his tongue and shakes his head. "Poor dude."
I press my lips together, cringing at the pitched screech of a dying man below. "Imagine having a monster of a father." I give my head a shake. "I couldn't bear it. My father was the kindest man. He cherished my sister and I."
Ajax traipses towards the exit, and I fall into step behind him. "I'm jealous. My father was a true creature."
"How so?" I focus on my footing, gripping the handrail as we wind down the tight, spiral staircase. Cold air seems to ooze from the chunks of stone around us.
"It's actually how Ruben and I became friends when we were boys." He casts a curious glance over his shoulder. "Let's just say, I still have nightmares about him, and how he died."
"How did he die?" I dare ask, wishing I could shove the question back in my mouth at once.
Ajax pauses, his green hair bright in the flickering candlelight above him. "He used... little bits of poison in my food to manipulate me into being sick my entire life. A sick Concave child entitles families to privileges. A fancy home near the most pristine apothecaries and medicinal professionals. It got him close to the palace, where he weaselled his way into the king's inner circle. I killed him with his own medicine."
Silence ripples between us as we emerge from the tower stairwell and cross into the main hub of the palace. The fiery orange hues of the setting sun blow through the arched windows to our left. Maids and servants, who are usually in a frenzy of activity at this hour, are mere half-frozen shells of people. Some of them stare out the windows at the corpses. Others cower on the floor, sobbing. A few ladies polish a sculpture of the king, trembling with terror.
My heart clubs in my chest and we quicken our pace, weaving our way through the hallways, and corridors, trying to ignore the hopelessness, desperation, and despair shadowing the palace walls as the dead stiffen below the dying sun. Tears slip down my cheeks as we arrive in my room.
When the door clacks shut, a sob tears from my lips.
"Hey," Ajax says, pulling me into a hug, shushing me gently as he brushes my hair, letting me soak his shirt with my tears.
"You killed your father." Pain, for my friend, scorches through my chest, squeezing my heart.
"It had to be done," he says, loosening an ancient breath as if he'd held it for years. "The man beat and destroyed my mother my entire life slowly, painfully, over many years. I found her body when she decided she could no longer take the humiliation. He was a monster, Elle. So, my heart aches for Ruben. I can understand what he is going through, that feeling of responsibility crushing his shoulders."
The wind drains from my lungs, and I fight to gather it back. "I am glad Ruben has someone who sees him."
"You see him, too."
I pull open the wardrobe, and rifle through the array of dull and bright fabrics, before selecting a maroon and brown trousers and linen long sleeve. With a smirk, I gesture for him to turn around.
He chuckles and turns, sitting on the corner of the bed.
I change into fresh clothing and thread my belt through the pants.
Ajax releases a breath of a laugh. "Since we are getting to know one another, something else you might want to know is that I'm not interested in people like that."
"Like what?"
Thankfully, my stash of knives and my sword has been safe in my wardrobe. I shove half a dozen into the belt and pull my sword over my back.
Ajax pauses, shifting his weight. "I don't think about kissing anyone. Not guys or girls. No one. I just don't have the urge."
"Here," I say, striding up to him and handing him a spare knife. "And thank you for telling me. For the record, I think you deserve all the love in the world. I think you are wonderful."
"Trust me, there's still plenty to tell." He turns the hilt over, examining the blade.
"I look forward to hearing all your gory stories over an ale after the king roasts on a pyre." We grin at one another. But my insides twist. Heat rises into my cheeks. "Since we are sharing things, I think I just kissed the prince during the height of a Convex rebellion."
A sparkle in those freezing cobalt eyes dulls. "Love rarely has appropriate timings." He tucks the knife into his belt and grabs my hand. "Now, let's make our way to the forest."
--
As the final breaths of sunlight streak the sky, we enter the northern forest. We snuck through the back gardens of the palace grounds and slipped into the deserted park. Shadows gobble up the last wisps of warmth reaching in through the gaps in the canopy. Birds chirp, darting above our heads. Deep jade moss cushions our footsteps as it sprawls across the forest floor, covering thick roots and rocks. The odd red and orange leaf speckle the vibrant green landscape. Ajax leads me through the stripped bare trees, along a gurgling stream, and into a clearing, where my heart leaps into my throat.
My chest fills with the crackle of nerves as I sweep my gaze around the forest clearing, taking in the dozens of Tranquillities. Armed to the teeth with knives and sheer courage, they all watch me pace before them. I can't believe it. All these Tranqs are ready, waiting, to overthrow King Talin. Another crowd of Convex rebels gathers by the end of the clearing, some of them nursing fresh wounds from today's feat. Tears prickle my eyes and a lump forms in my throat, stopping any words of gratitude from forming on my tongue. Memories of my father's attempts at rebellion flutter across my mind and a phantom fingernail scrapes down my spine. But with the Tranqs standing with us, an ember of my father's bravery and selflessness blooms back to life deep within my soul. If only my father was here to see this.
Aston and Killian also flank the crowd. Ruben slips out from the cluster of Tranqs, standing beside me. Once the rumbling the Tranqs fall silent, Ruben clears his throat.
"It's time we put our heads together and weaken the king," he says, voices low and husky and demanding attention. He paces before the crowd. "But my father cannot know the Tranqs are against him."
I puff out my chest and knit my brows together. "The king is hiding away in his underground bunker. There is a trapdoor just beside the river and I think we can redirect some of the flow down into the tunnels and flush him out."
Ruben snatches a red leaf from the forest floor and twirls the stem between his thumb and forefinger. "We need him to start to feel the rebels gaining on him. It is time –" A shaky breath. "It is time my father knows what it means to feel like prey."
One Tranq in the centre of the group stands forward. "The Tranqs cannot reveal their position to the king yet. We must continue to... pledge our loyalty."
"He knows we're coming for him," a young Convex rebel blurts out from the front of the crowd. He raises his rusty axe, his dark skin catching in the fingers of sunlight cutting through the canopy above. "His Majesty would be fucked if he didn't have the Tranqs protecting him from our blades and our vengeance."
I cannot help but join my people in the murmur of agreement.
Ruben bows his head. "There is a trap door near the river. I'm going to divert some of the flow of the river down into the tunnels. We will flush the king out of his hiding spot."
"Do you think this will work?" Killian says, pushing loose strands of auburn hair from his face. "What if he drowns?"
Ruben scoffs, but his jaw tightens. "Now that would be great. But I think he and his right-hand men will escape with only bruised egos and hopefully, a brush of terror."
Killian glances at the ground, pursing his lips as he digs his heel into the dirt. Ajax steps forward, fiddling with his lip ring. "The only problem with the plan is there are a bunch of miners working in the tunnels," he says.
I nod. "I'll go down and get them out."
Ruben glares at me. "If the king finds you down there, he will kill you."
"I can do this." I curl my fingers around the hilt of my father's knife but find scarce comfort when I look at Ruben and see the little boy who suffered the king's cruel punishments staring back at me. His eyes water. Fire catches in my chest, billowing into a storm. "The king better hope he doesn't run into me."
--
My shoulders tighten as I lower myself into the tunnel, drinking in the darkness, searching for specks of light. But there are not even candles mounted to the walls. Ruben lights a lantern and sticks it through the trapdoor. I grab it and nod at him with grim determination.
"Elle, I –" he cuts himself off, pressing his lips together.
"I'll see you on the other side."
"Just... be safe."
He closes the trapdoor, sealing me within the stone walls and shadows. My breath grazes the walls, ringing back at me. I hold the lantern out in front of me, letting the jumping yellow light of the flame guide me toward the miners in the south of the kingdom. Around corners, down stretches of lonely darkness, deeper and deeper into the kingdom. The ghost of Ruben's kiss brushes across my lips and my insides stir. I swallow, shaking the feeling from my mind. Meanwhile, I can't help but think of Ajax. Of the little boy forced to eat morsels of poison so that his father could use him as a pawn in his little game.
Finally, the ground trembles beneath my feet and the walls and ceiling shake with a groan so intense it rattles my spine. My muscles turn to stone, and I palm the wall, regaining my balance. There's a roaring, thundering whoosh that chills my blood, sending tingles of instinctive terror sliding along my bones.
He's done it.
He's opened the trapdoor by the river and diverted some of the water flow. After drawing in a ragged breath, I keep moving, quickening my pace, knowing I'm close to the miners and I have time to urge them out.
Their voices, threaded with panic, bounce through the tunnels. Close. I'm so close. A strange feeling ripples along my arms and I glance over my shoulder as phantom needles sink deeper into my gut. Water creeps over the floor, gobbling up the soles of my boots and my pulse hammers behind my ears. Then I hear it. A deep, grating belly laugh followed by the distinctive raspy whisper of the vecklings, the obsidian lizard monsters with no eyes.