The Boon of Alon

CHAPTER FIFTY TWO

Suthi sees me only after the rebels around us start whispering. Her jaw drops. She may have lied about my death, but at least she doesn't have to pretend to be surprised to see me now.

The cold shock I feel, though, is quickly melting to the heat of anger. What kind of fucking power play is this? I already figured out that I'm not supposed to make it out of this alive, but to force Suthi to fight me? I rip my goggles off, thrust them at Jeddin, and march into the ring barefaced, so everyone can see who I am.

"I expected better of you," I say to Ven. "What purpose does this serve but cruelty?"

He crosses his arms. "Loyalty is—"

"Loyalty, when placed above all else, leads good people to ruin," I interrupt. "Do you actually want a better future for Pangessa? Or do you want to control it? Are you here because you suffered under the thumb of the king—or because you wanted to be the one pressing down?"

"Della?" Suthi whispers. I've made it to the center of the ring, which means she's right beside me. I want to reach out to her, to hold on, but I have to finish this first.

"Do your people believe in your cause?" I keep my eyes on Ven, ignoring the mutterings from the other rebels. "Do they even know what your cause is? Or do they follow you because you threatened them into it? Because make no mistake—this is a threat." I gesture at Suthi, around the both of us at the ring of people watching us. "This is a message that says, if you even appear to waver, you will lose everything."

Ven's eyes narrow. I don't expect him to answer my questions, but I also don't expect Suthi to speak up first.

"She's right," Suthi says loudly. If she isn't confident about it, she sure isn't showing it. "Loyalty is what the crown expected of me, too. We can all see where that's led." She gestures, too, at the rebels around us, the fires, the chaos. Dear gods, I'm so proud of her. "Besides, you aren't the only one in charge."

"Yeah!" Jeddin calls from somewhere behind me. "Where are Nelcie and Yier?"

"Come to think of it, we haven't seen them in a while, have we?" Suthi adds.

"They're elsewhere," Ven says gruffly. "This is exactly what I meant when I told you all that the riders turn our own against us. We stand on the cusp of victory and they only want to stop me!"

"Elsewhere?" Jeddin echoes, ignoring the rest. "But where exactly? I can go get them, you know, to witness our final triumph in person. I have a dragon—it'll only take a minute."

Keeping my eyes on Ven, I lean towards Suthi. "Nelcie and Yier?" I ask quietly while Ven scoffs and the rebels mutter. Looks like he doesn't have answers anyway.

"The other leaders," Suthi responds. "Della, what's your plan?"

"I don't have one," I admit. I didn't intend to be here—I don't know who's going to run Pangessa if I actually wreck the rebellion right here, right now. I can only do what seems like the right thing in the moment and hope that it leads to a better end. Suthi squeezes my shoulder in response—fortunately not the injured one.

"Where are they?" Jeddin asks again, and the mutters get louder and Ven shoves off someone who touches his arm.

Let's try a new tactic. "You wanted to be the new king, right?" I raise my voice again. "What do you plan to change?"

"What the hell are you on about," Ven growls. "You riders and your lies—"

"Obviously, the people are dissatisfied," I say, gesturing around us. "A rebellion is the final resort of people who can't change things any other way. A rebellion is hope for a better life, turned to action. It must have started for a reason, didn't it? So what were the reasons? What would you change?" I give him a moment but he just glares at me, so I continue. "You do want people to have a better life, don't you? Even if it's entirely selfish, at the very least you don't want all this to happen to you—so what will you change? Or is that what the threats are for?"