Destined for Greatness ✔️

Chapter 2

Right at the heart of the castle, as though the rest of the structure was built around it, was the courtyard. It wasn't a very inviting space. It was all dreary stone, with racks of weapons lining the walls. It was where the castle guards trained. It was also where Ryleigh was going to breathe her last.

As with her trial, many people had come to bear witness. Jade wondered what it was about public executions that had people so enthralled. Nothing seemed to bring people together like the promise of bloodshed. Most of the audience consisted of Royal Wolves, but some had come from further. Austin, Julie, Sky, and Ellis were present, but Jade didn't go speak with them. She had nothing to say that would make anything better.

The audience was gathered on one side of the yard, some seated on long, wooden benches set up along the walls, and others – those who had come too late to claim a seat – were standing. The royals and Jade were standing on the other side of the yard, sheltered by their protection detail. Even without a throne or raised platform, there could be no doubt as to who they were. Their guards, their clothes, even their postures – the royals radiated power without even trying to.

Jade wished she could go stand with the Midnight Mooners. She felt out of place, and, worse than that, she felt like she was standing among the enemy. These were the people who were going to execute her sister, and she was expected to stand beside them and let it happen.

Aaron placed a hand on her lower back, but she moved away from him, shaking her head. She needed clarity. She needed to witness every second of it, register every mind, every hostile thought. Whether it was caution or mere self-punishment, she couldn't say.

"Are you alright?" Aaron asked, leaning in slightly. His scent crawled around her, giving some comfort. She wished it wouldn't. She didn't deserve comfort.

"I know you mean well, but that's a stupid question." She didn't look at him. Seeing his face would ease her mind, but only for a second. Then she'd remember who he was, and she would see that same hardness in his gaze that she saw in his father's.

"Right. Apologies."

She hardly heard him speak. Her eyes had latched onto the wooden pole jutting upwards in the middle of the courtyard. It was maybe six feet tall, and chains dangled down from it – chains that would soon hold Ryleigh. Opposite it, along yet another wall, stood five archers holding loaded crossbows.

Austin's mind buzzed. Jade didn't need to look for it to pick it up – she didn't look for it, didn't want to look for it. It stood out on its own, because his mind was the only one that slightly mirrored her own grief. He hadn't loved Ryleigh as much as Jade did, no one possibly could, but he had loved her. Despite asking Ryleigh to reject him, despite letting her go, despite everything, he had loved her. And he still did.

Like Jade, he was filled with regret. Like Jade, he wondered if there was anything he could have done to prevent this from happening. Could he have changed her mind? Was it because of some lack of effort on his part that she hadn't been able to move past vengeance? Was there any amount of pleading that would have changed anything? Perhaps he had given up too soon.

Jade wanted to tell him that it wasn't his fault. She considered slipping into his mind and telling him as much in his head, but it would freak him out and she didn't have the heart to carry a conversation anyway. Like her, he would need to find a way to live with his actions.

A door creaked open and two guards entered the yard. The audience hushed into a loaded silence. Anticipation rose from the crowd like smoke from a dying fire. The guards moved forward, and Ryleigh appeared behind them. Two more guards followed on her heels.

There were cuffs around her wrists, with chains attached to them that draped down to her feet and locked with the shackles around her ankles. Another long chain was drawn across her middle, and more chains hung off these, the ends of which were in the hands of her guards.