My Crown, His End: A Vengeful Heart

funeral that only I would attend. As I descended the grand, curving

ne, but her posture was defiant. With a deliberate, theatrical gesture, she pulled down the

, her eyes glittering with malice. "He

ial whisper. "You were just a placeholder, Adria. A convenient, cap

hat your baby is gone, what are you even stil

suddenly felt cold as ice. I turned my head slowly, meeting her gaze. My

ce a low, dangerous gro

e spat, her bravado returning. "

cane and lunged, not with a weapon, but with her hands clawed

from the top of the stairs. He was

cepted her clumsy attack, twisted her arm behind her back, and slammed her face-first against the wall. A small, gle

ned her there. He grabbed my ar

he said, his voice fla

ace pressed against the plaster. "Ask

y sign that this was all a lie. I found none. Only a flicker o

the confirmat

enched my arm free, snatched the dagger from the floor, and p

and piercing,

cked the dagger from my hand. He stood over me, his f

apers," he said, his voi

h. Yesterday, he'd said only death would part u

ew them at me. They fluttered down, landing on

. Staggering, clutching her bleeding shoulder, she walked over to the small table by the door where I had

r. The flame caught the e

d, his voice quiet, but car

er was. I tried to scramble forward, to save them, but a primal

-smeared face. "That fire ten years ago," she whispered, her

a cold, impassive mask, and watc

iful, washed over me. The pain, the grief, the betrayal-it all

w, unhinged sound that e

"Every last bit of it. You're going to know my pain." I pushed mys

end of the driveway slammed shut with a deafening clan

" he roared. "You want a divorce? You'll get it. You want me dead? Fine! But let her go!"

ed them to shreds. "You were right about one thing," I said, le

the half-dozen of his personal guards statione

They stood like statues

ston screamed, his fac

turned. The muzzles of their assault rifles swung

alm and steady. "Without the Youn

ered. "Young Miss? What the

for the crackling of the fire consu