Wanting blood, she went to stand over Pip. “Now, if I were you standing over Darling after I’d paralyzed him, I’d be calling your beloved little sister a bitch, and I’d start bragging about how I shot that same defenseless young woman in the back and killed her while she was running away from me…’cause shooting a fleeing woman in the back is such a manly thing to do. Then, I’d strip you naked so that I could steal from you.”
She ground her teeth to staunch the bitter pain those words welled in her throat. With every syllable, she wanted vengeance for Lise and the agony that poor girl would have to cope with for the rest of her life because of Pip.
But most of all, it was Darling’s misery that drove her on. “And while you lay there helpless, staring at your sister, I’d cut your finger off and make you eat it. Then I’d put a torture device in your mouth and carve my name into your cheek.” She sneered at him. “You talk to me about your hatred. You don’t even know the meaning of that word. But I do. And I will not apologize for being on the right side of this fight. And to clarify that for you, the right side is not yours, Pip. At no time has the Resistance ever been about cruelty.”
She glanced around at the others on the ground. “This organization was founded to stop a tyrant from abusing his power. Now let me reiterate that last bit slowly so that you can understand it. The Resistance was founded to stop a tyrant from abusing his power. We weren’t founded to become the tyrant who abuses others. How dare you do such a thing in my name. You have dishonored my father, and you have awakened the ugly side of me. Do not mistake my kindness for weakness. I assure you, I don’t have a weakness.”
More soldiers came running, arms at ready.
As they neared her, they slowed, then stopped. The sight of their comrades on the ground while she and Ture stood over them, unarmed, confused them.
“Zarya?” Someone shouted her name in relief while others questioned her identity.
She focused her attention on the one who knew her… Titon. He’d been one of her younger members, and because of that, she’d doted on him.
“It’s me, sweetie,” she said with a calmness she didn’t feel. “I’m here to stop this madness before it’s too late.”
His face ashen, Titon shook his head. “It’s already too late.”
“What do you mean?”
Before anyone could answer, an explosion knocked all of them off their feet.
Sighing in irritation, Darling held another cloth to his nose while he listened to reports of Resistance rebellion as they set fire to more businesses. He’d been trying to negotiate with their current leadership, but none of them would talk to him.
This has to stop.
Maris had already warned him that the League was moving in at the request of the CDS. Stupid bastards… Once the League declared martial law, the Caronese were screwed. He didn’t even want to contemplate what it would take to get their empire back from Kyr.
How stupid could the gerents be?
Oh wait, he’d known many of them most of his life. That single question in and of itself was moronic.
See what happens when you hang out with them? They suck out your IQ and leave you stupid, too. Yeah, Giran alone could reduce his intelligence by thirty points in under two minutes.
“My lord?”
Lowering the cloth to hide how saturated it was in blood, Darling glanced over to the door of his office where Gera stood, fretting in the doorway.
He forced the irritation out of his voice and smiled at her. “Yes, Dame. What can I do for you?”
She hesitated before she entered the room. “I’m not sure if I should be mentioning this, but do you know where her ladyship is?”
Gods, what had the bitch done now? Did he even want to know? “My mother’s at—”
“Not the dowager, my lord,” Gera said, cutting him off. “Lady Starska.”
It took Darling a second to realize who Gera was talking about. How could he have forgotten Zarya’s title?
Because he didn’t think of her that way. She was much more intimate to him than her title made it sound. But then Gera was nothing if not formal.
Darling wiped at his nose to make sure it wasn’t bleeding anymore. “She said she wasn’t feeling well, and went to her room.”
Gera swallowed audibly. “She told me the same, but when I went to her room to check on her, she wasn’t there.”
That wasn’t unusual. Zarya didn’t like being alone. He suspected it was from the same kind of ghosts that haunted him—old memories that refused to let him rest. “She’s probably with Lord Maris.”
“I already asked him, Majesty, and he hasn’t seen her either.”
Okay, that concerned him. Zarya very seldom ventured away from both of them. “Did you check with her sister?”
“Yes, Majesty. Lady Sorche said that the last time she spoke to her was at dinner last night.”
His throat went dry as he noticed Gera nervously clutching something in her left palm. “What’s in your hand?”
Biting her lip, she approached him slowly. “I went to her room to see if maybe she was in her bathing chambers. While there, I started picking up a few things she had scattered about and…”
She placed her hand on his desk. “I found this in a drawer.”
Don’t panic.