Corrupt

Chapter 26

It takes a few days for the cruel agony of reality to set in. I don't eat. I hardly drink. I don't know if I sleep; I'm simply drifting through life: half-ghost, half-woman. The world around me seems monochrome, a broken record, repeating and repeating a cycle of pain. I have no energy left to wipe my constant tears. In fact, it is only when I arrive at the funeral and my eyes fall on her casket that I snap out of my numbness. 

She's really gone.

A tidal wave of grief slams into me, and in my mind, I scream. I keep screaming, even as it pulls me under, the water rushing into my lungs, the world darkening around me. I scream until I can't, until all the breath has left my body. I let the water drag me down-

"Lynny." 

Warm arms wrap around me, tugging me from the depths. 

"Els." I hug her back, squeezing my eyes shut. "I can't believe it." 

"I know. I know." She's lost her happiness, leaving only a husk of the woman she used to be. She hasn't been the same. None of us have. "At least today we can... Pay our respects. Find out what really happened to her." 

The details of her death have been kept hushed while the investigation pursued. But today, that will change.

Was it him? Nikolas? She knew too much. Please, please don't let this be my fault. I couldn't bear it. 

Eloise keeps one arm wrapped around me as Nikolas steps up to the courtyard's stage.

"Carcaseau." Utter silence, in place of Drea's usual whispering. A zephyr softly ruffles my hair, and I strain my ears for her voice, but even the wind can't find her. 

"We are gathered here today," the King continues, "To mourn the loss of our beloved Andrea Kitsi. Though she perhaps wasn't known across the castle, those who knew her loved her dearly, and with good reason. She was kind, happy, and clever." She knew. "However, this was clearly irrelevant to her murderers." 

A shocked gasp ripples through the courtyard. Murderers. It wasn't him. Unless this is another of his lies. 

"We have been reluctant to accuse anyone of such a violent crime. However, we have investigated, and now there is only one conclusion. I'm sorry to tell you that this was the rebels' doing." 

My head reels, and I clamp my hands over my mouth. No. He must be lying. They wouldn't...

"I don't want people to be killed, Lynette. Not innocent people." 

They wouldn't. They wouldn't. 

"Andrea was outside the castle. Her reasoning remains unclear. But the guards eventually noticed her figure slumped on the grass nearby, close to the castle walls. She'd clearly been stabbed, and potentially beaten." He lets the words settle in. I feel faint. "We couldn't find anybody in the area, but the wounds were precise. Clearly this is a criminal who knows their way around a knife," he continues grimly. 

Nyx, Quinn, even Daeva - they may have seemed controlled, but they knew their way around knives. 

A thought suddenly appears in my mind, and my heart crumples like an injured songbird.

Daeva knew. 

"You can't just go around fucking telling everyone-"

And they were...

"That's another person that could ruin everything."

Angry.

Surely they wouldn't kill her for it... 

But the uncertainty isn't reassuring.

"This is the doing of the rebels. Our defence must be increased. Rest assured we are doing everything in our power to take down these brutal villains."

I stifle a sob escaping my throat. Perhaps Daeva's been lying this whole time. Perhaps they've been the one killing Katie, Esther, Drea. Who'll die next? 

I need to talk to someone, but Drea was the only one I could go to. And now...

"At times like these, we have no words. So I'll leave you to grieve. But in your grief, remember that Andrea will be avenged." With that, he leaves.

Around me, the world fades into mist. 

I carefully take a flower from a nearby bouquet, and walk to Drea for the last time, placing it gently atop the coffin, allowing my fingers to rest on the smooth wood.

"You are my sunshine... My only sunshine..." The song seems to fall from my mouth, the sweet words mixing with the salty tears trailing across my lips. My voice trembles, but I sing. My last song for Drea. "Please don't take my sunshine... Away."