Page 47 of Hearts on Fire
“Well, now that he knows I exist, he sure wouldn’t like to lose hispresent, would he?” Sarcasm saturated my every word. Bitterness at her betrayal burned through me like acid.
She went quiet for a moment.
“I had to tell him,” she said. “I’ve kept your secret for far too long.”
“Was it such a burden to keep it?” I clenched my fists, willing my voice not to shake.
She blew out a breath, taking a step in my direction.
“You don’t understand…”
I promptly moved back, keeping my distance.
“No, I don’t. Why would you tell him who I was? Whygiftme to him? Why hurt Zenada’s feelings? Why?”
Her shoulders rose defensively, her face pinched into a frown.
“The Sanctuary is accused of harboring a venomous one, which is a great offense to the crown. The king has every right to burn our Sanctuary to the ground, along with all its inhabitants…” Her breath hitched. She shut her eyes briefly, swallowing hard before looking at me again. “But he chose to be merciful.”
“Merciful? That’s him beingmerciful?” I gestured in the general direction of the Great Hall.
She planned it all along, I realized. She’d always kept me as a bargaining chip in her back pocket, “a gift” to please the king when all else failed. That was the reason she had told me not to use the cream that stopped the hair growth before we had left the Sanctuary. She knew that the king’s fascination with redheads would make her “present” to him more appealing if he could see my hair color.
“The only reason we live, Amber, is because I keep persuading the king that we’re worth more to the crown alive than dead. That is theonlyreason, my dear,” she said softly.
The sadness in her blue eyes made her look more vulnerable than I’d ever seen her before. She’d just shoved me into the lap of a man I loathed, and I couldn’t even be angry at her right now. All I felt was pity.
“Single and widowedsalamandraswithout a family to take care of them have no place in the kingdom,” Mother continued. “We are a burden. We own nothing. We have no means to support ourselves. We rely solely on the mercy of our monarch for our existence. And that’s what I have been doing most of my life—keeping the women of theSalamandraSanctuary alive.”
“By whoring them out to the king and his men.” I glared at her from under my brow.
“By any means necessary. We entertain the king. That’s our purpose. Zenada knew her time was limited—the king gets bored easily. She knew it when she won his attention from thesalamandrabefore her. Now, it’s your turn.”
“Oh, no.” I shook my head, backing away from her. “I’d rather die.”
“Then you will kill all of us with you. The king is ruthless in his retaliation. Is that what you want?”
I stumbled with the answer. Of course I didn’t want the women dead. But neither was I ready for the sacrifice demanded from me.
Either way, I got no chance to reply.
The sound of rapid footsteps rushed down the hall behind Mother. Then Iolena, one of thesalamandrasof the Sanctuary, turned around the corner and into the corridor where we stood. She was out of breath, her eyes flickering anxiously from me to Mother.
“They’re here, Mother…” she panted. “As you requested.”
The king’s guards stomped into the corridor after Iolena. Mother stepped out of their way as they rushed to me.
“Shit…” I spun on my heel and ran.
I didn’t make it far.
A guard grabbed my braid and yanked me backwards. I fell on the hard stone floor. Pain shot up my back from the impact, but I ignored it, trying to scramble to my feet. The guard lifted me under his arm, as if I were a misbehaving toddler.
“Take her to the water caves. On the king’s orders.” Mother went ahead of the guards, leading the way.
“Let me go!” I kicked at the guard’s shins.
Another guard calmly collected my legs and held my ankles as the two carried me down the corridor, up the tower stairs, and to the water caves.