Chapter Text
A cell.
They’d stuck her in a cell, and she didn’t even fight them. Didn’t even bother to kick and scream. Not until hours later, when her voice was hoarse and tears long spent. It was then she pounded at the walls, rattling the bars until there was nothing left to do but cry. Nothing to do but slump against the wall, to pry at the silent stone and fight back the nausea rising in her throat. They wouldn’t kill her. They wouldn’t kill her, and yet–
“Hey.”
She jolted, eyes flickering to the bars as a figure approached. Light streamed through the window behind him, casting his face in a ghostly glow. She cleared her throat, a haughty sniff. “I’m not taking visitors.”
The guy stepped closer, his features now in view. “I figured.” His eyes gleamed bronze in the dim light, soft and solemn as he peered through the bars. It was hard to tell if he was Silver or Red. “But I think you’ll want to accept this one.”
Mare drew back, burying her head in her knees. “Yeah, right.” She shook, barely able to keep her voice in check. “Did Ada send you? Because I don’t need a lecture right now.”
He blinked, eyes darting away as he bit his lip. “No.” The words were careful, measured. “She doesn’t know I’m here at all.”
Her eyes flickered to his again, bright and burning, and almost drew back. Red, clearly, from the tint of his skin, though something about it seemed strangely unnatural. “Who did, then?” Air hissed between her teeth, but there was no bite to it. “Nanny? Elizabeth? Josephine Macc–” No.
That last one wasn’t possible.
“I’m here from an . . . organization. A rebellion, if you will.” The guy closed one hand on the bars, extending the other between them. “You’re part of one too, aren’t you?”
Her breath caught in her throat, more so when he reached into his pocket. “I’ve got the keys.” He smiled. “Unless you’re not–?”
She lurched to her feet, stumbling to the bars. “I am.” Her heart raced, reeling. “How’d you find me?”
“Command sent backup.” He rolled his shoulders, tucking a hair behind his ear. “You need it?”
She stared at him, unblinking. “You have the keys.”
“Yeah.” He scratched his head, sheepish. “Slipped them from a Lakeland guard when I pretended to bump into him.”
Relief rushed through her, potent as a balm, and her shoulders shook, almost breaking into a laugh. So this was it.
So this was how she became queen.
“We better hurry.” The guy shoved the keys in the lock, yanking it open with a loud creak. “They’ll be on us in a few minutes.”
She exhaled, barreling through the door and snatching the keys. She hadn’t spent much time in the dungeons, but she knew the layout well enough, enough to pull the boy along at a steady pace. “So–” Mare drew a breath. “What’s the plan?”
“I was hoping you’d have one, actually.” He grimaced. “Not the best knowledge of this court, I’m afraid.”
Mare paused, turning to face him. “What’s your name?” She cocked her head. “Or codename, if you must.”
He grinned, raking a hand through his hair. “Call me Cal.”
She shook her head, a sharp exhale. “Call me Mare, then.” Her eyes darted about the corridor, landing on a nearby Bruler guard. “How much do you know?”
“Enough.” Cal followed her gaze and smiled. “Say, think you can toss me a gun?”
She snorted. “What makes you think I have one?”
“Worth a shot.” His lips quirked. “At least for that pun.”
It took a second to register, a second for her to shake her head in exasperation. “Not the time.” She glanced up at the wall, at the clock already ticking down the minutes of their escape. “How long do we have?”
“Less than an hour, I imagine.” He sucked in a breath, shaky. “I hope you’ve been practicing.”
“Who are you, anyway?” Her eyes flickered to his wrists, to the black bands of metal that looked strangely like her trainer sparks. “Are you an electricon?”
“No.” He barely looked at her, halting in front of a servant’s passage. “I use sparks . . . differently.”
She frowned. “What does that mean?”
“You ever seen a pyro work with sparks?” He cocked his head, smiling. “Gets bigger flames than they can summon on their own.”
Her brow furrowed. “I see.” The words were careful, measured. “Is Nanny–” She swallowed. “Is she alive?”
“Not sure. But I imagine she’s quite hard to kill.” His lips quirked, empty. “You have quite hardy relatives, Mareena.”
Tears welled in her eyes, hot and bitter as her mind flashed to Gisa and the Barrows. To the relatives who’d borne more hurt than she ever could’ve imagined. To the people she was doing this for, even if they didn’t know it.
She shook her head. “Don’t call me that.”
“Right.” He bit his lip, eyes darting about the corridor. Around them, guards shuffled, strangely indifferent to their newfound escape. “The news hasn’t spread yet, but it will soon enough. If you want the throne, you’ll have to kill her before she does you.”
She halted, staggering against the wall. Cal cocked his head, reaching a trembling hand to hers. “Mareena.” His voice was low, a soft murmur as his fingers feathered her knuckles. “You do want this, right?”
She stilled. Around her, the clock ticked, the guards clearing out another shift as a bell clanged in the distance. She steeled herself. “Don’t call me that.”
“Sorry. I’m just–trying not to be too personal.” He scratched his head, sheepish. “The Bruler Guards are with me. Cole too.” He jerked his head in the direction of Maven’s chambers. “Far as the rest are concerned, I’m bringing you to be sentenced.”
Her hands shook, on the verge of collapse. Was this really how it ended? Was this really how it had to be?
It was. It wasn’t. But there was no turning back. If Ada had to die, so be it.
It was the only choice they had. The only choice that mattered. Mare reached for the door, trembling.
And then she burst inside with a sharp wail.
She didn’t know what she’d expected, or even hoped for, what the queen would want with Maven’s chambers so soon after Nanny. But she didn’t expect his coats to be torn to shreds, his cufflinks scattered on the marble, the chandelier twitching with broken bulbs, everything torn or thrown or shattered as if uprooted by a hurricane. In the corner, Ada stared, eyes dead, the light from the window behind her casting her silhouette in a ghostly glow.
And in her hands was a bloody, torn sleeve.
Don’t bleed, Mare. Maven’s voice drifted back to her, her hand burning with the memory of him wrapping the wound in his shirt. And if you do, don’t let them see it.
“Mareena.”
Mare flinched as Ada’s voice cut through the silence, as she took a step forward and crunched on broken glass. “That’s not my name.”
“I see.” Her eyes fluttered, dark and lidded. “I tried to understand it, you know. What that boy did to you.” Her grip tightened on the cloth. “Why you’ve been breaking so many rules to keep him.”
She jolted, stepping back, eyes flickering to Cal just outside the doorway. Ada stepped forward, heels crunching on the glass. “He corrupted you, didn’t he?” The words were dead, resigned to their fate. “Promised you something. Told you he loved you.”
“What are you–”
“I was young once, too, Mareena.” Ada looked her in the eye, solemn. “I know how it is to be reckless and dumb. I know how it is to think your future is someone else.” She looked down at the sleeve, a sharp exhale. “I know how it is to have someone fool you.”
Mare stared back, unmoving. “You think Maven made me do this?”
“We’ll blame it on him, and let him die in your stead.” She threw the sleeve at her, and she fumbled to catch it, panting as she clutched it to her chest. “You can come back from this, Mareena. I won’t let another child die.”
“You really think Maven made me do this?” She stared at her hands, at her own blood that had begun to flake onto them. “You really think Maven made me hate you?”
“I saw the tapes of you dancing together. I saw him seduce you into kissing him. I saw him tell you there was no other option but to kill me.” Ada raised a finger, shaky, voice lost to something more ruinous. “I saw him sneaking out to some theater with you. I saw him–”
“Enough!” Mare leapt towards her, head hung as she gripped her mother’s shoulders. “Do you really think it wasn’t you? That it wasn’t Shade, that it wasn’t court, that it wasn’t any of the Reds you never bothered to save?”
“I never should have let him live.” Ada stared at her, ragged. “I never should have let you convince me otherwise.”
Her fingers tightened, searching, trying not to die as she forced herself steady. Searching for a heartbeat, the brain, some electrical signal she could turn against her. But there was only the roar of her own ears, of her own blood, of her own fear rushing through her at lightning speed. Mare staggered against her, trying to summon a spark. But all she could do was claw at her skirts. All she could do was bleed tears in her periphery.
“Mare.”
She doubled over, sobbing, forcing out one final spark before collapsing onto the floor of broken shards. Collapsed against an Ada who’d swift stumbled back, clutching her heart as if she’d finally managed to shock her.
“Mare!”
“Cal.” The name choked her, blood trickling down her knuckles as she punched the floor again. “I need backup. I need–”
Ada whipped around, suddenly grabbing a gun at her torso. “Who are you?” Her eyes were wide, wild. “And why do you look like–” Her throat bobbed. “Like a Calore?”
“A–” Mare jolted upright, finally twisting to face him. Finally taking in the crease of his brow, the wave of his curls, the shape of his nose that’d seemed so familiar. Maven’s brow. Maven’s hair. Maven’s nose.
“Sonya!” He turned around, waving to one of the Cole guards. “You got the goods?”
They stepped forward, Cameron’s face catching the light as she drew something bulky out of her satchel. Something delicate, wrapped in cloth, metal gleaming from a sheath.
But this was not a sword or blade.
“I am from a rebellion.” He picked up the crown, turning it over in his hands before saluting Cameron–no, not Cameron. Sonya. “You didn’t ask which one.”
A beat passed.
Mare flicked her wrist, and sparks leapt from his bracelets, sizzling his hands as he leapt back. She lunged at him, forcing his hands together, forcing the sparks hot enough to weld them into cuffs. Maybe she couldn’t kill Ada. Maybe she couldn’t help the Scarlet Guard. But she’d be damned if she let another Calore back on the throne.
Sonya lunged past her, a rapier swishing from her side. Mare grabbed the blade, blood coating her hands as she forced sparks through to the handle. But she wouldn’t let go. Didn’t seem bothered at all. Almost as if the sparks weren’t reaching her.
“The hilt is rubber!” Ada’s voice cut through the chaos, a gunshot ringing inches past her head. “Hold her still, I’m gonna–”
Sonya jerked away, hurtling towards the window. Mare threw a bolt at her, panting, only for it to turn to flame midair. She whipped around, sending another, only for it to collapse into more flames, the clothes beneath her fueling it to spread around the room. Cal smiled at her, weak. “Sorry about this. Collateral damage and all that.”
She grabbed him by the wrist and yanked, one hand on his heart as she reached for the biggest spark she had. And then–
“Don’t.” Sonya’s voice cut through the noise, the sound of glass popping in the flames. “Kill him, and I slit her throat.”
Mare stilled. Cal’s fingers crept to graze her back and she jerked away, turning to find Ada dangling from Sonya’s blade. Somehow, Sonya had perched on the curtain rod, holding her mother with one hand and her blade in the other. Iral. She tutted, unlatching the window with her feet. “See you.” She grinned, dropping down to the windowsill. “Catch me if you can.”
And then she burst through the window, careening to the ground below.
Mare gasped, lunging to the ledge, kicking Cal back with one foot before she leapt after them. A four story drop. She’d survived worse.
“Mare!” Ada was screaming, her hand a blur as she reached to grasp it. As she clenched on nothing but air, nothing but a broken promise, nothing but an empty wish for something better, but could never be. Tears blurred her vision, blood seeping from a wound. So this was how she died.
“Mare.”
No.
Not Ada.
Hands wrapped around her shoulders and squeezed her tight, the world growing dark as she tried not to choke. Faintly, she registered a tendril of water, Sonya sliding down it as the world blinked out of existence. A familiar feeling. An old feeling. One she always knew, in her bones, would come back.
“Hey.” The ground was suddenly solid, the light more dim as Shade stepped back. He was just as she remembered him, just as real as he’d been in the safe house. His lips quirked, a crooked grin. “Did you miss me?”