"Crowns topple easily. Thrones crumble like dust. Hearts cease to beat. Thorns draw blood."
In a country torn into two, there should have been no room for mistakes. Especially not at the very core of the royal family. That was what she was. Yes, a...
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"No."
How such a single word broke such booming silence, she did not know. Honestly, at this point, Irina thought herself lucky to not have been hearing the others call for her head. The surprising thing was that such a refusal came from the last man she had thought to fight for her.
Her eyes continued to gaze into his compelling quartz eyes. Truthfully, she did not even know how she was meant to feel now that he came to her defense. Sure, she had felt a bit of gratitude that he refused to give her up but she did not know if it was sheer stubbornness that made him step up or if it was guilt for making her lose everything.
Not that one was better than the other. Both reasons were selfish after all. It seems to her that nothing much had changed.
"Aleksander-" Baghra spoke up, clearly oblivious to the growing tension and tempest inside the tent.
Irina was not blind to the fact that all eyes had turned to her and in each one, she could sense the denial. Their hearts began to beat faster and their eyes shifted left to right as they gauged the reaction of the person beside them.
It was obvious that some of them were considering giving her up to her brother. After all, they owed her no allegiance. At the end of the day, she was only Grisha like them.
"No. We will not give up one life, not a single Grisha's life." Aleksander decreed, his tone leaving no room for disagreements or any arguments.
Baghra scoffed, rolling her eyes at her son. "One life for the sake of all. I think that's more than a fair bargain."
Aleksander retorted, breaking their gaze to turn his fury upon his mother. "As we have said before, you are a fool for thinking that he is telling the truth. Oleg has no excuse for killing Grisha. If he was killing them to find his sister, why not ask around?"
"Asking around does not give you answers." The old woman deadpanned, waving her cane around the tent as half of the Grisha nodded along with her.
"Neither does massacring hundreds of Grisha. Don't tell me you have all forgotten your fallen brothers and sisters, burnt at the stake at the whim of the king whose sole excuse was that he was trying to find his sister, who is also Grisha." Aleksander reminded them, his voice capturing the attention of everyone like a preacher speaking words of wisdom.
It was still impressive how he was able to command the attention of everyone in the room whenever he was in it. He was meant to rule, she knew that. He most probably knew it too.
"That's not the same thing." Baghra shook her head.
Aleksander claimed, his gaze meeting that of everyone except for her. As if he was hypnotizing each and every one into agreeing with his point. "It could be any one of you. If you were born with the name and into the family. Put yourself in that position."
