Page 28 of Renegade Kings

“That doesn’t sound too terrible,” Maddox said carefully.

“Fizzle,” Rhidian warned.

I didn’t even look at him this time. I couldn’t take my gaze away from Fizzle. It felt important that I could see his face while he broke the news of my fate, like it would only be real if I did.

“And the world will know when the danger has passed because there will be no more kings and queens in the courts. Their blood will soak into the depths of Nymeria, and from it, we will be gifted a second chance.”

The room fell quiet.

What was left to say?

Not only was I condemned, but I’d dragged Tank into this with me.

“No,” Dean eventually growled, storming forward and grabbing Fizzle by the scruff of the neck as he hauled him up to eye level. “You let her come back here. The two of you marched her right up the damn doors to start this. You could have stopped this. You knew what was going to happen. So… you get to fix it now. You all die before I let anyone harm a hair on her head. If you value your life, you find a way out of this.”

The growl that rumbled out of Dean was accompanied by a flash of grey fur that rolled down his arms before disappearing. He was close to shifting. Closer than he should have been.

Fizzle didn’t fight back. He didn’t even say a word. It was how I knew there was no getting around this.

I felt so betrayed. Who wouldn’t? Rhidian might not have known back when we were kids, but he knew when he had his men disarm us and then escorted straight to the door. He knew when he stood there, happy that I was confirmed as the queen of the Spring Court. Even when he knew it was a death sentence.

“Why make her the queen?” Maddox asked, stepping forward like he was ready to help Dean tear Fizzle apart. “There’s nothing in your prophecy that says she had to be the queen. You could have let her fight, let her win this battle you think is coming and never risk herself.”

“Because without her, there isn’t anyone to take the throne in the Spring Court,” Rhidian added. I could see the guilt on his face, but I was finding it hard to care. He should feel guilty.

“You already had your spilt blood. Alyssa’s parents lost their lives here, and it should have been enough. Haven’t you taken enough?” Maddox roared. His eyes flashed with his lion before he shook his head and took a step back.

I could see his struggle. I could see all of them struggling. The tremor that ran through Tank’s hands as they clenched my shoulders was evidence enough of that.

“Get out,” Tank growled.

Rhidian didn’t move. He still stood at the window, staring at me with pleading eyes.

“Is there more?” I asked Fizzle. I needed it all out here in the open before I could even process what they were trying to say. “This is your last chance, Fizzle. Is this everything?”

Dean reluctantly let go of the owl gryphon, turning on the spot and storming to the other side of the room. The need for violence practically vibrated from him, and I couldn’t say he was alone in that. I could feel it building inside myself. I didn’t recognise the two in front of me that I’d once called friends. Clearly, the feelings had never been reciprocated, because they wouldn’t have done this to me if they had.

I’d known coming back to Nymeria would mean death for me. I guess I just hadn’t seen it happening like this.

“There’s nothing else. There’s no other way. I looked… I looked for so long, but this is the only way to save them all.” I heard the hitch in his voice. The sadness but also the resignation. And I knew he was telling me the truth. There was no getting out of this.

So, I had a choice to make.

I’d run once and regretted it ever since. The people here, this world, it had paid a price for me leaving.

Now it was time to repay them.

Rhidian left without a word. Fizzle gave me one last pleading look and then spread his wings and soaring out the door.

I couldn’t move. It felt like I’d fracture into a million pieces if I did.

It was one thing to accept that it was time to lay your life on the line and something completely different to know what to do next.

Chapter 12

Tank

She took it all in with more grace than anyone could ever expect. I knew her well enough to feel her anger in her tense shoulders, and it pulled my bear so close to the surface that it was hard to tell where his emotions started and mine ended.