Chapter 28 · First Move

"Kneel, Princess. Or you want the crowd to see you beg standing up?"

Thorne's boot slammed into the back of my calf. My knees cracked against jagged stone. Cold shot through my dress and the taste of old blood and ozone hit my nose.

The whole plaza screamed. Ten thousand throats, tiers packed shoulder to shoulder. They didn't want a trial. They wanted blood.

"Get up."

Kael's voice, right behind me. Low. Furious. His heat hit my back before he even touched me.

"I'm fine," I hissed, palms flat in grit. "Don't—"

"You're shaking," he snapped. He stepped in, his thigh brushed my shoulder. One second of contact and my skin lit up. Not from the cold. "Don't give them that. Don't crawl for them."

"I'm not crawling," I breathed. "I'm counting."

Up on the balcony Augustus lounged on black glass like he owned the air. White silk. Thin smile. Not angry. Bored. Like I was a bug he hadn't decided to squash yet.

"Enough!" His voice ripped through the frequency crystal, too loud, too clean. "The exiled Princess returns! No army. No crown. Just a list of traitors. How... desperate."

Boos crashed down.