No one has ever been “punished” in public. It’s always a private, disgraced event. Micha knows she can’t kill me in front of all of them.
I wait for the guards to take me, still holding onto my dagger. I’m not going down without a fight. But when no one steps forward, I glance around at the still bodies. The guards are planted at the front of the crowd, and one nods to me.
I look at Micha. “I think it’s just you and me.”
She doesn’t reply, just stares at me, her jaw tight as she grits her teeth. Then we both lurch into action, coming for one another.
I lunge for her and she lands a punch in my stomach. Reflexively I lift my arm and our daggers slice the air. Hers swipes awkwardly and I block her arm with mine. Micha grabs the skirt of my dress and pushes off me with her foot, turning me sideways. The fabric tears as I struggle to get free. Damn dress.
I slash at the fabric and free myself of her grasp, but fall to the ground as I’m let loose. I land hard, my hand impaled by a sharp stick. She towers over me, her dagger aimed at my throat. I stare into her cold blue eyes as she bears down on me. Then at the last moment, I swing the stick, knocking her hand to the side, and sink my blade into her heart.
Her lips tremble as she drops her weapon and grabs mine, holding her hands to her chest. I’m frozen as I watch her drop to her knees. Her eyes are still locked on mine, then she tumbles to the ground. I back away from her.
My body shivers as my blood runs cold, wrapping me in ice sheets of panic. I killed Micha. The realization sucks the air from my lungs, and I gasp to fill them.
Then I feel a hand take mine. The person removes the stick from my hand, but I don’t feel the pain. I’m still staring at Micha’s limp body. They lift me to my feet. “You had to, Fallon,” the voice says. “She was going mad.”
I look at the person speaking. Silas. Micha’s guard. “She was the only—” I break off. It’s done, there’s no taking it back. “What do we do now?’
He steps over to her and kneels, then lifts her hand. He removes a silver band, twirling the ring between his fingers. The ring marks the leader. I assume he’s ready to accept that station, but then he stands and takes my hand, slipping the band onto my ring finger.
“Now,” he says. “You decide who’s your first in command.”
I search the trees, finding Xander. “Done.”
Chapter 5
Xander, Silas, and I stand around the dark mahogany desk, a map of the court laid out before us. I placed Silas in charge of battle strategy. And he points to a spot on the map.
“That’s the weakest area,” he says. “It has the fewest rounds. Guards only stationed for a couples hours at night, then two walk-bys. One at dusk, and then another in the early morning.”
I nod. “Then that’s where we need to get one of ours stationed,” I say. “They can grant us access to the castle when we need it.”
Xander clears his throat. “I think I might know of another entrance.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Do you? The anomaly knight had access to this kind of privileged information?” I tease.
He stares down at me. “Of course not. But you discover things when you have hours to roam, and no one thinks you’re a threat.” He reaches inside his pants pockets and brings out a key ring. “And, I still have these.” He jingles the keys.
Silas laughs. “Brilliant.” He claps Xander on his back.
Xander cocks his head, leveling a look at me. “Will this mission involve seeing our fearless leader in another dress?”
Silas covers his laugh with a cough. “Excuse me.” Then he looks back and forth between Xander and me. “I can see you two want to battle this out. Find me when you have an operative for us to send in.”
I’m lost in Xander’s eyes, wanting to kiss his soft lips as soon as Silas leaves the tent, but then a thought springs to mind. “Wait.” I glance at the map. “Don’t we have someone on the inside now?”
Silas shakes his head. “Larkin was our only plant.”
Xander speaks up. “No, Fallon said Micha mentioned two in court.”
“That’s right,” I say. “Silas.” I look at him. “Please bring our good friend Larkin here so we can question him.”
After I was made leader of the Rebels two nights ago, I had Larkin brought back to the camp and placed in the holding tent. He couldn’t go back in as a plant, his loyalties were questionable. For one, he was furious that I was made leader instead of him. And two, he was even more furious that Xander was my first in command. But I couldn’t kill Larkin. That was the first of Micha’s rules I threw out. However, I couldn’t let him loose to cause trouble for us, either.
Silas grunts. “I hate that guy.”
“Yes, but he knows who we still have in court,” I say. “And hopefully this person will be of greater use to us than Larkin.”