The Way We Fall

Chapter 141 (Roche)

Roche found herself on the other side of solitary, cursing when only a dark stretch of empty cells greeted her. She shut the tunnel with a quick bolt of inkblood and raced down the corridors. She was sprinting, her feet barely touching the ground, chanting Tigris' name like a prayer. She was so focused that she nearly didn't notice the figure locked in one of the cells.

Roche nearly tripped as she gaped at the figure, locked in the middle of the maze of cells. The king was a shadow of his former glory. His eyes were shadowed and haunted, a thick stubble protruding from his chin. His lips trembled, actually trembled, as Roche's shadow crossed over him. She knelt in front of him on the other side of the bars, and his eyes barely focused on her.

"King Romulus," she murmured sadly, "What happened?"

The king's eyes moved towards hers slowly. Roche's heart shattered as she noted the broken look in his ice blue eyes.

"I've no one left," he whispered, his voice hollow and thin.

Roche swallowed down a swell of emotion. For so long, she had feared this man. If he knew who she was, he would burn her, just as he'd burned thousands of others. But Roche remembered how he'd wept over his wife's corpse, how he'd struggled under the bloated weight of her dead body.

And though Roche hated him for the bitterness he'd let twist his heart, she couldn't muster anything but pity for him, more for Tigris' sake than anything. What would she feel, after all the revelations she'd had yesterday, seeing this echo of her father cowering in this cell?

As if the thought of the princess' name was a cue, the ground began to tremble. Roche felt the inkblood in the tremor, and her blood turned to ice.

"My children," the king mumbled morosely, his eyes staring vacantly at Roche, "They're all gone. He's killed them all."

A chill went up Roche's spine. She was running before she could register that her feet were moving, the halls blurring around her.

Tigris, Tigris, Tigris.

Firelight flickered up ahead, the glow of torches. Too many torches. Roche's heart lodged in her throat. She reached for her inkblood wrapping shadows around her as she skidded to a stop before a crowd of bodies.

"Is that why you betrayed me?" Finn's voice rang out across the crowd. Roche bit back a curse. She needed to get to the front of the crowd. There were zombies packed between her and Finn and Tigris.

"Excuse me!" Roche hissed to the zombies closest to her. They turned, their rotted eyes swivelling around in confusion when they saw only the shadows wrapped around her. Roche registered the hum of Kai's voice replying to Finn, but she was too busy diving into the fray of zombies. The undead warriors glanced amongst each other in confusion as Roche jostled them, the concealment enchantment making it seem like nothing but air was shoving them around.

They chattered in confusion, jabbing each other accusingly with their desiccated limbs as Roche wove to the front of the crowd. Her heart pounded in her ears as she burst through the front line of the zombies, their torches crackling in her ears.

Her heart lurched to a stop as she observed the scene before her. Kai was standing a hair's breadth away from Finn, caressing his face tenderly. He leaned closer, his broad lips curving with damning words.

"I choose her. I choose Tigris."

Finn stumbled back like he'd been slapped, his features mottled red with fury. Roche edged closer, trying to stay quiet as she scanned the space behind Kai. Where the hell was Tigris?

"So be it."

Roche sensed him gathering his inkblood. She saw Tigris, tucked in the hallway on the other side, hands wrapped around her as she fought to get to Kai's side. And then there was a whistle of air, and Finn was stabbing his inkblood blade towards Kai.