Queen Damascena paces between my chair and the one positioned opposite. “She’s guilty of two crimes that warrant a death penalty. And I have witnesses and evidence to prove her treasonous acts.”
A door creaks open, and my gaze rises to the wall behind the other chair, where General Ridgeback steps into the room, holding a metallic leash. Behind him is Ryce.
My heart jumps into my throat, and all the blood drains from my face. If Ryce knows I accepted Prince Kevon’s proposal of marriage, he will strike out with the truth.
The queen steps in the space between our chairs as the general secures Ryce to the seat. “This is the fugitive Vitelotte Solar implicated in her confession, Ryce Wintergreen.”
Chatter spreads across the room, and a smirk of triumph spreads across the queen’s face.
I gulp. What’s Berta’s father doing here? I thought he worked in the aerodrome.
As Queen Damascena tells the ministers that we became childhood sweethearts when I witnessed a guard killing Ryce’s father, footage of my nine-year-old self plays on the wall screen on our right. It’s from the day after the murder when Dad took me to Fort Meeman-Shelby to give my witness statement.
A lump forms in my throat, and shallow breaths slip in and out of my lungs. I can’t believe I used to be so small and thin. My skin looks pallid in contrast to my mahogany pigtails, and dark circles ring my eyes.
Ryce stares at the screen, his eyes glossy with unshed tears. They must have starved him, too, because his cheekbones protrude more than usual, and the neck of his yellowing Harvester shirt hangs at an awkward angle.
My heart aches for Mr. Wintergreen, who lost his life for protecting an innocent young woman, for the nine-year-old girl who saw too much at a tender age, for the younger version of Ryce, who lost his father, but I feel nothing for the man Ryce has become.
“Together, they formed a group called the Red Runners.” Queen Damascena turns to Ryce. “Isn’t that correct?”
“Yes,” he says through clenched teeth.
“What is the purpose of this group?” she asks.
Ryce’s jaw tenses, and his chest rises and falls with rapid breaths. Beads of sweat form on his brow. He’s fighting something internal, but the general punches the back of his head and the answer spills from Ryce’s lips.
“To destroy the Echelon system,” he says with a groan. “To overthrow the Nobles and share Phangloria’s resources equally among its citizens.”
Queen Damascena cups a hand behind her ear. “Does that sound familiar?”
Our spectators nod and mutter their agreement. They’re probably thinking about how Prince Kevon abandoned his hanging gardens project to increase Harvester water rations.
“Your Majesty.” The Minister of Justice leans forward and steeples her fingers. “Are you suggesting that Miss Calico joined the Princess Trials to corrupt Prince Kevon?”
The queen pulls her shoulders back and stands taller. They’re finally taking her seriously. “Why don’t you ask Mr. Wintergreen why Miss Calico joined the Princess Trials?”
Boulders of dread grind through my belly like stones. I plead for Ryce to lie, to agree with the Minister of Justice and tell everyone that I came to influence the prince because the truth will be disastrous for both of us.
When the Minister of Justice poses the question to Ryce, he answers, “Zea was supposed to infiltrate the palace and find hidden entrances.”
“To what end?” asks the minister.
“So Red Runners could storm the palace and kill the Royals.”
Disgruntled mutters spread across the room, and my heart plummets. I glance around the rows of seats, trying to force my mouth to open to scream a denial, but I still can’t move. Finding the entrances might have been my original intention, but then I fell in love with Prince Kevon.
The ministers fire question after question about the Red Runners. They want to know their names, numbers, strength, allies. They speak over each other, overwhelming Ryce until he squeezes his eyes shut and screams.
Nausea ripples through my insides. They’ve done something to him, but what?
Queen Damascena doesn’t give Ryce the opportunity to reply. She stands in front of him and holds up her palms in a motion to stop. I’m guessing she doesn’t want to distract the ministers from condemning me.
“Mr. Wintergreen’s truth serum won’t last much longer,” she shouts. “We’ve already dosed him with enough to rupture his aorta. General Ridgeback was generous enough to record his earlier interrogations, which we will make available to you after you have found Miss Calico guilty.”
My gaze slides back to Ryce, whose eyes seem to plead for understanding. I glance away. Nobody could blame him for blurting the truth under the influence of multiple doses of serum.
It rankles that he and his mother sent me on a dangerous mission on a whim, but I despise him for being no better than the guards who harass Harvester girls. How much further would he have gone at the farmer’s market without the fear of getting caught?
Queen Damascena turns to Ryce. “Describe Miss Calico’s feelings toward you.”
I glare at her back, wishing I could kick her to the floor.
“She’s been obsessed with me for years,” he replies.
“What does that mean?” asks one of the ministers.
“She used to stare at me from across the dome, and everywhere else I went,” Ryce answers. “She even joined the Red Runners to be close to me.”
“I take it you didn’t share her feelings?” asks Montana.
“Not at first.” Ryce dips his head. “But she’s so brave and beautiful and committed to our cause. It’s hard not to fall for a girl like Zea.”
Despair washes through my veins like sour vinegar. I make a noise of protest in the back of my throat, which everyone ignores. He makes me sound like I’m still carrying out my mission. I want to scream my innocence, but my muscles won’t move.
The queen glances at me over her shoulder and smirks. Part of her must know that I changed my mind. If she interrogated Ryce under truth serum, she would have discovered that I didn’t report the location of the underground river or anything that would compromise the palace’s security.
New images appear on the screen. Ryce and I run hand-in-hand through the Rugosa Streets on the evening I was selected to go to the Princess Trials. Next is another one of us standing within the crowd, but it’s hard to tell that it’s us.
The door on the far left of the chamber slams open, and Prince Kevon stumbles inside. His eyes are wild, his hair disheveled and his white-and-silver jacket undone.
My breath quickens. I don’t know if I’m happy to see him or horrified. He’s my only chance of escaping, but if he hesitates for a moment, Queen Damascena will spill her poison into his ear.
A guard at the door touches the prince’s shoulder, but Garrett appears behind the man and punches the guard to the ground.
Prince Kevon bares his teeth. “What is the meaning of—”
He freezes at something on the screen.
It’s me with Ryce at the farmer’s market. He cups my face with his hands and smiles. We’re so close that it looks like we’re lovers. The camera closes in as he strokes my cheekbone and moves in for the kiss.
Queen Damascena points a remote at the screen. “You should be resting.”
Prince Kevon’s gaze flicks from me, to Ryce, to the footage of us frozen on screen with our lips pressed together. “Mother, what are you doing?”
“I didn’t want to hurt you, son.” She shakes her head and sighs. “Miss Calico only sees you as a means for benefitting her Echelon. She’s really in love with Ryce Wintergreen.”
His features turn slack. Garrett grips his arm and whispers something, but Prince Kevon doesn’t react.
“Zea?” The prince’s gaze sweeps down my form.
I can’t even shake my head to deny the accusations.
“What’s wrong with her?” Prince Kevon continues down the steps, past the gapin
g ministers, and stops at my side. “Why can’t she speak? Why did you drug us?”
Tears roll down my cheek, and the tension around my chest compresses my lungs to the size of my fist. Queen Damascena has enough evidence to turn his concern to contempt.
“Zea.” He hooks an arm beneath my leg and another around my back. “I keep failing to protect you. Now my mother is attempting to slander you with salacious lies.”
“I love you, Zea-Mays Calico,” says onscreen Ryce as he holds me to his chest. “You’re the bravest, most interesting girl I’ve ever met.”
Prince Kevon’s head snaps to the screen, and I squeeze my eyes shut. This is the most damning evidence of all.
“You’ll have to try better than that, Mother,” says the prince. “You were probably also behind the other digital fabrication to discredit Zea.”
“This one is real,” the queen says.
I open my eyes, wishing I could twist around to see Prince Kevon’s expression. He sighs and carries me up the steps. Garrett offers to take me, but the prince refuses. My heart fills with gratitude within a chest tightening with guilt. For once, the allegations Queen Damascena hurls at me are true.
As we progress up the stairs toward the back door, Ministers stare at us with varying degrees of disapproval. Even if they don’t believe in the footage shown on the screen, they can’t deny that I have changed Prince Kevon.
The young man I met had been reluctant to wield the power he held in our society and had believed in the half-truths its leaders told to maintain order. Now, he wants to act against the inequalities, and that makes him dangerous.
“Kevon,” the queen snaps. “The girl you’re whisking away is the leader of a rebel group called the Red Runners.”
He pauses at the door and addresses a pair of guards. “Arrest my mother and confine her to my study.”
The guard’s face drops, but Prince Kevon adds, “I promise you, with the Chamber of Ministers as my witnesses, that no repercussions will fall upon you or your colleagues for following my order.”
With a nod, the guard progresses down the stairs.
“Wait,” the queen screeches. “You can’t marry a girl who came to the palace to destroy it.”
I lean into Prince Kevon’s side, silently urging him to leave before somebody in that room changes his mind. Instead, he turns toward his mother and sighs again.
“Zea saved my life and wants the best for the country,” he replies. “I love her.”
A crack forms in my heart. Prince Kevon didn’t tell his mother that I loved him back because I never said the words.
“She’s taking advantage of you,” the queen snaps.
A recording of Prince Kevon’s voice fills the room. He turns to face the screen. We’re sitting in the front seats of his car, and I’m saying that I don’t love him. The next is a clip from my room, where I’m telling Prince Kevon we can only be friends.
My throat thickens. He can’t deny these events ever happened.
“You threatened her parents’ lives,” he says. “Of course, Zea would say these words under duress.”
The guards reach the bottom of the stairs. Queen Damascena raises her palms and backs toward General Ridgeback, who steps in front of her.
“Is this true?” asks the Minister of Justice.
Queen Damascena shakes her head. “He’s in denial—”
“Tell the truth,” Prince Kevon barks.
The room falls silent, but some of the ministers exchange nervous glances. Prince Kevon steps back into the room, holding me to his chest. “I apologize for the outburst, ministers. My mother is clearly distraught and clinging onto her dwindling power. I found Mr. and Mrs. Calico, along with their twin sons, detained in Fort Meeman-Shelby.”
That was on Lady Circi’s orders, as she was trying to keep them safe from any uprising following the awful things Queen Damascena ordered me to say to Rugosa.
The guards attempt to walk around the general, but he pulls out a baton that glows with blue power.
“I can prove that Zea-Mays Calico killed your father.” Queen Damascena backs toward the door.
Everybody stiffens, including Prince Kevon. A breath catches in the back of my throat. I’ve only seen the king alive once, and that was in the hospital infirmary with Prince Kevon when the older man was already on the brink of death.
“Mother.” Prince Kevon’s voice is breathy with exasperation. “Of all the outrageous accusations—”
“Arias liked to disguise himself as a guard to roam Phangloria.” The words spill from her lips faster than I have ever heard her speak. “He was the guard who slew the father of Ryce Wintergreen. Miss Calico was the witness.”
The guards march Queen Damascena toward a side exit, but General Ridgeback blocks the doorway.
“Wait.” The Minister of Justice rises from her seat. “I wish to hear this theory.”
“As you wish, but our future queen seeks medical attention.” Prince Kevon continues out of the room into a vast entrance hall.
Morning sunlight streams in through glass windows located close to the ceiling of a four-stories-tall lobby that takes up more floor space than four Harvester homes and their gardens.
On our left, marble floors and stone walls lead to a huge archway where guards in black armor man the entrances and hold scanners to the Nobles’ Amstraad ear cuffs.
The Nobles passing us bow to Prince Kevon, and a few furrow their brows.
“Your Highness.” A woman wearing the white coat of a doctor appears from our right, holding a remote. “Please return to the observation room.”
Prince Kevon walks past her without a word, so I don’t get to see her face. Garrett walks at his side, and I let my eyelids flutter closed. I’m safe for now, but Prince Kevon will discover the truth, and I don’t know how he will react.
His pulse calms, making me also relax. The worst outcome would be a life in the Barrens, just as he banished Vitelotte for stabbing him through the heart, but I’ve hurt him so many times that he might not show me mercy.
“I’m sorry, Zea.” Prince Kevon gives my shoulder a gentle squeeze. “If you can persevere for three more days, the Hierophant will perform the wedding and elevate you above—”
His body goes rigid, and the arm hooked under my hamstrings goes slack, and my feet hit the hard floor. He bends over double and groans, balancing my upper body on his arm.
My breath quickens, and I swallow several times in quick succession. What’s happening?
“Your Majesty.” The doctor lowers herself to eye level and stares at us through gray-blue eyes set within delicate features. It’s Berta’s mother, Dr. Ridgeback, and she has the same ash-blonde hair as her daughter. “Please return to the observation room at once.”
He raises his head. “Take Zea away.”
Garrett pulls me into his arms.
My gaze darts to the doctor, who keeps a hand in the deep pocket of her white coat. Her fingers move, making Prince Kevon groan even louder and fall to the marble floor. She’s doing this. I want to scream at Garrett, at the guards to go after Dr. Ridgeback, to notice what she’s doing and snatch the remote from her fingers, but they gather around Prince Kevon.
Bullets ring through the air, and each of the guards surrounding the prince fall. Garrett spins around. A group of masked women in black rush toward us, each pointing machine guns. They drag Prince Kevon back into the room.
My stomach heaves. They look just like the assassins that visited my home.
One of them points her gun at Garrett. “Get inside and bring the girl.”
“Sorry, Zea,” Garrett mutters and walks back into the room.
Someone else slumps in my former seat, but his head is bowed and I only catch a glimpse of his features as one of the women forces Garrett to sit at a seat in the back row next to Prince Kevon.
“Welcome back,” says Queen Damascena. “You’re in time to hear from our next witness. This is Tauric Krim, Miss Calico’s supervisor in the tomato fiel
ds.”
My heart races. I don’t know if Krim is a Red Runner, but he knows all about that guard I attacked.
The queen turns to the ministers and beams. “The second time Miss Calico met King Arias, he visited her tomato field and tried to abduct her friend.”
A breath hisses through my teeth. She’s lying. That guard I poisoned couldn’t have been the king. Krim would have noticed. Forelle would have mentioned something. The guards would never have wasted time on arresting illegal brewers of alcohol if a Harvester had hurt King Arias. Queen Damascena is patching together snippets of truth to create a lie because she can’t prove I leaked information about palace security.
Prince Kevon groans, and Garrett shifts in his seat to check on his cousin. I finally get to see the prince, who slumps on a chair, still clutching his chest. Huge beads of sweat cling to his brow, and his breaths quicken.
“Prince Kevon needs help,” Garrett shouts.
A few of the ministers sitting in the seats in front glare at Garrett over their shoulders, but they don’t raise the alarm. My heart shatters. Maybe they think he’s better off dead. At least I now understand why Queen Damascena permitted the surgeon to graft synthetic fibers into his heart. They’re a means for controlling him.
The queen turns to Krim and asks a series of questions about what happened on the day he was arrested. At first, he doesn’t answer, but General Ridgeback grabs his black hair and yanks up his head, revealing a face swollen with bruises.
Pain lances through my chest. Did they torture him this entire time? Krim answers the questions in a monotone and gives an accurate account of what happened on the day that changed my life. The guard tried to drag another apprentice into his pickup truck, I left my weeding to climb the persimmon tree, then I shot the guard with a poisoned dart.
“Can you identify this guard?” Queen Damascena asks.
“King Arias.”
Shouts erupt around the room. Ryce jerks his head in my direction and stares at me with wide eyes, while Garrett spins toward Prince Kevon. The noose around my neck tightens. They must have tortured Krim for ages to make him identify the guard I attacked as the king.
Queen Damascena raises her hands. “Please be silent.” Glee fills her voice, making her sound like a child who just received an undeserved treat. “It took a team of forensic scientists weeks to sift through the footage of Zea-Mays using my naive, besotted son to sabotage our way of life, but I have more evidence that proves her guilty of regicide.”
The Princess Games: A young adult dystopian romance (The Princess Trials Book 2) Page 29