Aligning the Forgotten ✓

Chapter 54: Roux

Standing in one of the secure buildings in the village, Binx tosses a tunic, trousers, and undergarments into my hands. Surprisingly, with Tesha holding on so tightly to the chains in one hand and a dagger in the other, I manage to catch the fabrics.

"Here, change into this and clean yourself off," he orders.

I mumble an insult underneath my breath as he leaves, earn a warning glare from him but nothing more, and the door slams as he wills it. That leaves just the two of us, standing alone in what appears to be someone's living room. At least it was before the prince came in here and ruined everything.

Parts of the walls are burnt, the sofa is charred, but the rest of the home remains intact. Even the second floor, while others have collapsed in on themselves, is completely standing. Someone, an innocent witch, had to leave this home and try to find something else—if they're still alive. They killed so many that night, as many as they could, and my people didn't stand a chance.

It makes my stomach sick to think of the destruction that happened here. The innocent witches didn't receive a chance to survive after they'd done nothing wrong. All they wanted was a chance to escape the king's cruel reign, and by ending here, their doom was just the same as it would have been if they resided in the capital. We weren't able to do anything for them, all because of my useless power.

I'll never allow that guilt off my shoulders. It wasn't my parents' fault, or Celestine's, or Bren's. The blame belongs to me, and no one else. I was supposed to protect these people, and standing in this empty house reminds me I did no such thing. My parents told me to flee, to run, so the prince didn't catch me, but I still ended up in his grasp as if I was meant to be there. Even the ocean spit me back out to give my life away. Ever since that day, nothing has gone my way.

The prince is completely to blame for that.

"Are you going to get dressed or am I going to do it for you?" Tesha snaps. She yanks on the chains enough for the shackles to poke the sore flesh on the insides of my wrist and I snap back to attention to grip the clothes tighter in my hands.

She hands me over a bucket of warm water with a cloth to clean off everything I've gathered myself in over recent days. I strip down to my undergarments and clean myself off while Tesha still holds onto the chains, monitoring anything else in the room so she doesn't have to look at me.

"You're getting yourself into trouble, you know," I remind her.

"I don't need you to tell me what is right and what is wrong. The last time I checked, you were killing innocent humans for fun."

I had expected for word to get around by now about those human refugees attempting to escape the war. The same way Tesha had come, she was also in their shoes but had chosen a wiser path. No one dumb enough to come to the king, not noticing witches are stronger than them, has the right to live. It was coming from the moment they stepped inside the castle or pitched up their tents in the woods and made that land their home.

They were lying; about being here, about caring for witches, about fleeing the war. And they did so with a smile on their faces. I was more than ready to end them. They're one less flea on the king's back.

"The king will kill each and every last one of you," I say, tugging on the dark trousers. I keep a close eye on the dagger in her grasp. With each word I say, she tightens her grip. Her knuckles turn an angered shade of white, and I realize her rage will be what gets me out of here. "Once I get out of here, I'll warn him that a human, weak and frail, is invading his kingdom."

She clicks her tongue in disappointment. Damn. Nothing is getting through to her.

"He'll fillet you alive, and stake your heads on the gates so no one thinks of doing what you've tried, and failed to do." I shake my head in fake discontent. "It's a pity most humans have to die that way."