Roche found herself on the other side of solitary, cursing when only a dark stretch of empty cells greeted her. She shut the tunnel with a quick bolt of inkblood and raced down the corridors. She was sprinting, her feet barely touching the ground, chanting Tigris' name like a prayer. She was so focused that she nearly didn't notice the figure locked in one of the cells.
Roche nearly tripped as she gaped at the figure, locked in the middle of the maze of cells. The king was a shadow of his former glory. His eyes were shadowed and haunted, a thick stubble protruding from his chin. His lips trembled, actually trembled, as Roche's shadow crossed over him. She knelt in front of him on the other side of the bars, and his eyes barely focused on her.
"King Romulus," she murmured sadly, "What happened?"
The king's eyes moved towards hers slowly. Roche's heart shattered as she noted the broken look in his ice blue eyes.
"I've no one left," he whispered, his voice hollow and thin.
Roche swallowed down a swell of emotion. For so long, she had feared this man. If he knew who she was, he would burn her, just as he'd burned thousands of others. But Roche remembered how he'd wept over his wife's corpse, how he'd struggled under the bloated weight of her dead body.
And though Roche hated him for the bitterness he'd let twist his heart, she couldn't muster anything but pity for him, more for Tigris' sake than anything. What would she feel, after all the revelations she'd had yesterday, seeing this echo of her father cowering in this cell?
As if the thought of the princess' name was a cue, the ground began to tremble. Roche felt the inkblood in the tremor, and her blood turned to ice.
"My children," the king mumbled morosely, his eyes staring vacantly at Roche, "They're all gone. He's killed them all."
A chill went up Roche's spine. She was running before she could register that her feet were moving, the halls blurring around her.
Tigris, Tigris, Tigris.
Firelight flickered up ahead, the glow of torches. Too many torches. Roche's heart lodged in her throat. She reached for her inkblood wrapping shadows around her as she skidded to a stop before a crowd of bodies.
"Is that why you betrayed me?" Finn's voice rang out across the crowd. Roche bit back a curse. She needed to get to the front of the crowd. There were zombies packed between her and Finn and Tigris.
"Excuse me!" Roche hissed to the zombies closest to her. They turned, their rotted eyes swivelling around in confusion when they saw only the shadows wrapped around her. Roche registered the hum of Kai's voice replying to Finn, but she was too busy diving into the fray of zombies. The undead warriors glanced amongst each other in confusion as Roche jostled them, the concealment enchantment making it seem like nothing but air was shoving them around.
They chattered in confusion, jabbing each other accusingly with their desiccated limbs as Roche wove to the front of the crowd. Her heart pounded in her ears as she burst through the front line of the zombies, their torches crackling in her ears.
Her heart lurched to a stop as she observed the scene before her. Kai was standing a hair's breadth away from Finn, caressing his face tenderly. He leaned closer, his broad lips curving with damning words.
"I choose her. I choose Tigris."
Finn stumbled back like he'd been slapped, his features mottled red with fury. Roche edged closer, trying to stay quiet as she scanned the space behind Kai. Where the hell was Tigris?
"So be it."
Roche sensed him gathering his inkblood. She saw Tigris, tucked in the hallway on the other side, hands wrapped around her as she fought to get to Kai's side. And then there was a whistle of air, and Finn was stabbing his inkblood blade towards Kai.
Fear crystallized in Roche's chest.
Tigris cried out, and Roche was moving, her concealment enchantment falling away as her vision tunnelled to the blade in Finn's hand.
She barreled into Finn, wrenching him away by the shoulders. The zombies screeched as Finn staggered to the side with the force of Roche's shove, his blade falling apart as his concentration shattered.
Kai stared at Roche, his eyes wide and chest heaving. Roche's blood roared in her ears. Only an inkblood could fight Finn.
This was her fight.
"Go!" she shouted, shoving Kai away. She felt inkblood stirring behind her, pointed towards Kai. She leapt for her friend, infusing inkblood into her arms to toss the man towards Tigris. Finn's blast hit the wall, sending rocks and chunks of plaster tumbling from the ceiling.
Roche spun around, her hands lifted in defense. The zombies were crowding closer. Finn shook as he faced her, his eyes bright with fury.
She needed to keep him and zombies away from him. As rocks tumbled from the ceiling, falling into Finn's curls, an idea struck her.
She rallied her inkblood, shooting it behind her and towards the entrance she'd used. Fissures formed in the ceiling, and the room began to tremble.
"ROCHE!" she heard cries come from the doorway. She barely had enough time to put up a shield as the ceiling caved in. She turned, one hand raised defensively with an invisible shield. Time slowed as she met Tigris' wide eyes before rocks obscured her vision. A shout rattled out of her throat unbidden as cart size chunks of rock collided with her shield, sending her to her knees with the impact.
Finn was shouting, his inkblood lancing out to slow the fall of rocks around him. Roche weathered the barrage, turning to watch as the other side of the room collapsed inwards, blocking all hopes of escape.
The zombies screamed as rocks pinned their limbs. They thrashed, reforming under the wreckage but held fast in place.
Roche's ears rang. A huge piece of debris nearly crushed her. She expanded her shield, covering her entire body in a hard shell. Her breath came out of her in painful gasps. Finn was shouting, still new to his powers. His shield kept dissipating, much to his horror. An almost child-like kind of innocence and terror gleamed in his features as he staggered side to side, dodging pieces of debris as he backed towards the blocked entrances in desperation.
Roche watched a particularly jagged piece of debris slice across his forehead, and red dripped down his snow white skin. Something in her chest snapped as he gaze connected with hers. For a moment, she saw the man she once knew.
She wasn't letting that man go.
"Skuedo!" Roche shouted, throwing her arms out. Another shield formed around Finn, a hard, egg-like dome that glimmered to life with a golden glow as a fatally large chunk of the ceiling moved to crush him. Finn cried out, crouching with his arms over his head. The debris cracked in two, and Roche staggered as she held their shields intact.
Her blood roared in her ears as the world quieted. Her eyes struggled to focus as the dust settled. The first thing she could see was the wide, forest green of Finn's eyes. He stared at her, hacking into his arm.
"You... saved me," he said, shocked.
Roche straightened, glancing at the ceiling. When no more debris tumbled down, she dissolved the shields with a wave of her hand and smiled at Finn, feeling somewhat shy.
"You're my friend," she said quietly, "I'm not going to let you die."
Finn's face darkened. He kicked a rock away from his formerly pristine boots. "We're not friends, Roche. Not anymore."
The words were as brutal as daggers. Roche swallowed away her pain.
"Why can't we be?"
"Because of what you've done!" Finn snapped, flipping his curls out of his face. Blood drenched the strands as he narrowed his eyes at her. "I thought I could trust you to join me, of all people. Yet you destroyed the tome."
"Maybe if you'd talked to me about the Council, we could have discussed something different!" Roche protested, "But you decided to scheme on your own, and look where that's led you! Your people are dying, your sister is heartbroken, and let's not even talk about how torn Kai is."
Pain flickered across Finn's face, and Roche felt hope rise within her. He could still be persuaded. He looked away, his gaze locking on one of the squirming, half reformed zombies on the ground.
"I suppose you're going to tell me that I've lost my mind too?" he spat bitterly, "That I'm a monster for what I've done?"
Roche's heart ached. "I'd be a hypocrite, if I did," she said, and Finn's eyes snapped up to hers with surprise, "Don't get me wrong, I'm furious with you. But I understand why you did it. Not a day goes by that I don't look at the king and wonder what this world would be like if he didn't have so much hatred within him."
Finn's brows came together. "Then why didn't you join me?"
"Because," Roche sighed, "I'm being patient. Tigris is changing. There's a right way and a wrong way to do things. Clearly this wasn't the right way, or else people wouldn't have died."
Finn took a step back, like the words were a punch to the chest. Remorse was written in the sorrowful twist of his lips.
"Those deaths... they weren't meant to happen," he admitted, biting his lip, "Neither was the order to kill Tigris. I don't hate her, I would never want her dead."
"I know," Roche replied, taking a careful step forward, "But the Council does."
Finn's lips immediately twisted with a sneer. "Don't be ridiculous. They just want the king dead. A desire I currently share."
"Believe me, you're not the first," Roche muttered, rolling her eyes, "But they don't just want him dead, Finn. They want power and revenge."
"Is that so wrong?"
"YES!" Roche shouted, "Are you listening to yourself right now? What will revenge achieve, Finn? This is what every story preaches, revenge does nothing but renew the cycle of hatred."
Finn scoffed. "Maybe in fairy tales, Roche. But this is real life. The king's death will bring closure for all who he's wronged. An inkblood on the throne will right his wrongs. Balance will be restored."
The words sounded like a twisted mockery of Circe's. Roche could feel the Finn she knew slipping away.
"Is that so?" she asked, as casually as she could, "How can you be so sure of the Council's intentions?"
Finn blinked at her like she was stupid. "Well, we've drafted an agreement. They will support my reign and provide me guidance and inkblood, as they've already done. In return, I will allow them to be my counsel and restore inkblood to the Faultless kingdom." He tilted his arms out slightly, revealing the swirled veins of ink carved into his skin. Roche felt her gorge rise at the sight.
"Right," she drawled, "And you trust that they'll do that? The same people who once tried to poison you?"
Finn's cheeks flushed a dark, indignant red. "I've seen them in my visions. I am destined to partner with them and to use ink!"
"You can't trust those visions, they don't tell you everything!" Roche replied. She instantly realised it was the wrong thing to say when Finn's eyes shuttered. He stepped back from her.
"What would you know about my visions?" Finn scoffed scornfully, "You who denied them once?"
The words stung. "I thought I was helping you."
"Well, clearly you weren't," Finn jeered, "You don't know the first thing about visions. Fortunately, the Council does."
"They're manipulating you!"
"No, they're trusting me!" Finn retorted scathingly, "They're trusting me in a way that you never did!"
Roche's cheek stung like he'd slapped her. Her inkblood frothed in her veins in response to the splintering of her heart.
"Finn," she breathed, "I-"
"It doesn't matter what you intended, Roche," Finn said evenly, lifting his chin. His tone brooked no room for disagreement. "The Council and I will bring change to this land. They trusted me and my visions when no one else did. They gave me inkblood and the power to forge my own future in a land that would see me dead. I trust them fully. You can either join us or stand to the side. In the name of the mercy you showed me, I'll give you one more chance. Will you join me?"
There was an eager, almost desperate light to his eyes that nearly made Roche sob. Finn watched her hungrily, holding out his hand. There was no doubt in his eyes, only fervent, desperate fire that was akin to hatred. There would be no more reasoning with him.
Roche had lost that right to him.
She'd lost his trust.
In that moment, Roche knew that there would be no getting Finn back on her side.
The thought was like the final twist of a blade sunk into a corpse. Roche lifted her head, stepped closer to Finn. Slowly, she reached out and grabbed his hand.
Finn smiled, his face blooming with relief as he tugged her closer. "I knew you'd under-"
He frowned, his inkblood spewing out of his hands and throwing Roche back.
The inkblood enchantment she'd made shattered as she slammed into a pile of rubble.
Pain shot up her back, but it was nothing compared to the agony that wrenched through her as Finn stared at her, his eyes wide with disbelief.
"You..." he sighed, trailing off wordlessly, "Gods, I was a fool to ever think you were worthy of my trust."
Roche struggled to her feet, blinking away the dark spots in her vision. "You keep saying that you're doing this for inkbloods like me," she said, sadness leeching into her words, "But I know the truth, Finn. You're doing this for you. You want the king dead. You want revenge. And you're willing to ruin your sister's destiny for that to happen."
Finn's chest heaved. He raised his hands, "Hyunid!"
"Hwonite!" Roche countered, blasting him back with a wave of inkblood that deflected his incantation. He skidded into a pile of rubble, shaking bits of dust out of his curls. Finn looked up at her, his breathing ragged.
"My sister has no destiny!" he bellowed, "I am the one who deserves the throne after all that has been done! Aukret!"
His inkblood slammed into her like a battering ram. Roche choked on it as she flew through the air.
"Stagnere!" her body froze in midair, and Finn gaped at her, mouthing the word in confusion. Roche held out her palms, still hovering, held between two crushing waves of ink. "Fyra!"
Flames roared to life, heating up the air in front of Roche's face. Finn's eyes widened and he dove to the side, screaming, "Duroa!" Water condensed in the air, smothering the flames. Roche dropped to the ground like a ragdoll, the impact shuddering up her limbs like forks of lightning. She couldn't hold back her gasp of pain.
Finn didn't even look back. He immediately began to scramble for the blocked exit. Roche wheezed, holding up her hand towards him.
"Reafnis!" Pain lanced through her head as a particularly large chunk of rock shot up into the air in front of Finn's face. He yelped, narrowly missing a direct blow to the head as the piece refitted itself to the ceiling. He spun around, his eyes lit with fury and hatred so potent that Roche faltered. He growled.
"Ocwelan!"
"Sefeoht!" Roche screamed as she felt the death curse hurtle towards her. Time slowed around her, thick and syrupy. She mustered every last ounce of her strength and rolled out of the way of Finn incantation, scrambling to her feet. Time sped up, and Finn registered her motion. He had the time to take all but one step back when Roche tackled him.
Roche didn't know much about fistfights or any fighting in general. Tigris had taught her the basics, but there was no way that she was a match for a prince who had been trained to kill since birth. Still, she fought like a rabid animal, rolling Finn away from the exit. He pinned her down, grappling her shoulders as he seated himself on her abdomen. A single drop of inkblood welled on his fingertip, sweat slicking his brow from the effort.
"Hyunid," he incanted almost pleadingly, begging her to give up as he tried to touch the sleep spell to her brow.
Tigris' bellow cut through the air, somewhere beyond the wall of rocks blocking the exit. Roche's breath evaporated at the sound.
She thrashed, unseating him enough to shoot forward and grab a fistful of his curls. She yanked hard, wrenching his head to the side. Finn howled, inkblood spewing out of him a wave that threw Roche back. She landed on her hands and knees as Finn seethed, his pale skin glistening with sweat and blood.
He raised his hands surely, his inkblood wrapping around Roche's lips, her arms, her legs before she could even fathom the idea of moving. He stalked towards him, an incantation bubbling on his lips.
There was no pity in his eyes, only calculated fury that burned Roche's skin. Somehow, Tigris' scream echoed past the caved in part of the tunnel, whiting out Roche's mind. Zombie growls echoed after her.
Finn didn't even notice. He didn't even care. The monsters tied to his lifeforce were killing his sister, and he wasn't even batting an eye. Roche's blood boiled, her vision turning red.
She gritted her teeth. It was Tigris' life or his. And she knew who she would pick every time.
He was only a few paces away from her, blood dripping onto his lips. He swiped away the scarlet with a quick flick of his tongue. He held out his hand towards her face, summoning the last of his strength for an incantation. He took his time now that Roche had been restrained. What was an inkblood without their words?
But Roche didn't need her lips to speak.
Ocwelan.
The blast of ink left her wracked with pain, but she forced herself to watch the invisible inkblood slice through the air. Finn's eyes widened as he sensed the blast, stumbling backwards. Roche hooked her inkblood around his ankles, holding him in place.
Finn's lips parted with disbelief and horror, his face screwed up as he prepared for Roche's death curse to nail him in the chest.
But then a figure popped into existence between them, surrounded by a flurry of dying inkblood. The Councilman turned to Finn with a broad smile, oblivious to the prince's distress.
"My lord, the warning bells have been-" he choked on the words as the death curse slammed into his back. Roche watched the impact spread up his back, leaving a crater of blood and bone. The Councilman gasped, collapsing onto his knees with a gurgle.
"No," Finn breathed, his eyes darting up to Roche, his restraints on her falling away with his horror. "What have you done?"
Roche watched with a disgusted kind of fascination as the death curse spread from the impact zone, turning visible. Dark, inky strands wrapped around the Councilman, coating his face and arms in a thin net. Each strand began to widen, spreading across his skin.
"No, no, no," Finn was chanting, desperately trying to smear away the inkblood. But it continued to wrap the Councilman, mummifying him alive. Roche's stomach flipped. Vomit rose in her throat, but she couldn't move to expel it from her system. She could only watch, damned to witness the death she'd wrought.
"My lord," the Councilman wheezed. Even while he was dying, a cunning light gleamed in his eyes, "You knew this would happen. The Council trusted your visions, sire. We knew... we believe in you. Don't let your family dissuade you from your destiny."
Finn was crying in earnest. "You trusted me," he whispered, clutching the man's hand, "You have my infinite gratitude. Tell me what I can do."
Roche's heart shattered as the Councilman grunted, her inkblood creeping up his face. It bled into his eyes, a horrible mockery of tears.
"Avenge me," the man whispered, damning the kingdom, "A Silvia is destined to take the throne. Find the Ala. Make it yours. Do... what your visions tell you. Do what needs to be done. Do not trust your family, they've only deceived you. From now on, they will only seek to kill you."
"LIAR!" Roche bellowed, feeling sick. Who would use their last moments to twist a mind?
Finn didn't seem to hear her. He nodded, clutching the Councilman's hand tightly. "You have my word."
The words felt like the thud of an executioner's blade. Roche went numb with horror.
The Councilman had the audacity to smile. He leaned his head back as Roche's inkblood filled his nostrils and mouth. He choked and spluttered, his blood mingling with her ink. And because Roche had cast the incantation, she felt the inkblood seeping into his lungs, hardening like rock, expanding them until his ribs cracked as his heart deflated like a balloon.
She felt the exact moment his breath stopped and his heart collapsed.
Before Finn could recover, she raised her hands, rallying her inkblood in palpable waves that even the prince could feel.
"Release the enchantment on the zombies" she ordered Finn hoarsely, "And you will leave with your life."
Finn stared at the limp hand that he held in disbelief. Slowly, too slowly, he lifted his gaze to Roche's. His eyes swam with tears and bitterness. She sensed him try to rally his inkblood, but he must have been running low because no incantation bubbled onto his lips. Instead, he wielded the weapon he's always had, the most dangerous weapon of them all: his words.
"You've made a grave mistake, Roche," he swore, his voice strangled with tears, "You will pay for your crimes."
He placed his hands against the ground, a garbled wail escaping him. Roche prepared herself for an attack, but no ink flowed from his fingertips. The zombies buried beneath the rubble went still, rivulets of ink pouring from them. More ink poured in from beneath the door, reabsorbing into Finn's fingertips.
Roche watched with nothing but dread as she watched him soak up all that ink like a sponge.
Finn had been given an insurmountable amount of inkblood. If this was him at his weakest, as an untrained inkblood, what would he be like after the Council's tutelage?
Roche stretched out her hands. "Finn-" she croaked, but he shot her a glare so full of hatred that it took her words away. He hauled himself up, clutching the inkblood encased body to his chest. He stared at her for a moment, his jaw working.
"I always wondered how you befriended a monster," he murmured, sounding so matter of fact and like his old self that Roche nearly wept. He tilted his head, nothing but hollowness in his gaze as he regarded her. "I understand now."
Without another word, he stomped his foot against the ground. The ground rumbled, and Roche threw up another shield around herself. Dust blinded her, and she cried out, shutting her eyes against the whirlwind. When she opened them again, Finn was gone, nothing but a puddle of inkblood in the place he'd stood.
A/N: Ta da! The confrontation we've all been waiting for :D I hope it lived up to the hype. We're coming to the end of this arc, but there's a lot more to come now that Finn has openly defected. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, let me know what you think of it.
As always, happy reading!