Heartless

Chapter 16: Verdict

Sasha

Silently, I watched the screens, my hand clinging onto Eric's as if it was my lifeline, the crowd churned and bubbled behind me. I felt sick, overwhelmed, but I wasn't sure if it was to do with the people pressing into me or the sight of Marcus's verdict.

The outcomes clung to me uncomfortably.

Execution. Exoneration. Conviction.

Someone turned up the volume, so everyone could hear their voices. The voices themselves crackled and hissed, distorted by the microphones, but I instantly recognised Marcus's, and I wondered whether we would see his evilness, or his mask, either way I could almost predict his words before he spoke them.

"You took your time," he sneered. "Savoring the moment?"

I stiffened. This wasn't Marcus's mask. This was the Marcus I knew best. The sight of this Marcus fuelled me with fear, and I could feel myself beginning to tremble.

"Of course not, Marcus," Evelyn explained, her expression impassive, bordering on caring. "You have served this city well for many years. This is not a decision I, or any of my advisers, have taken lightly."

Marcus wasn't wearing his mask, but Evelyn was wearing hers; she sounded so genuine.

"I and the former representatives of the factions have had a lot to consider. Your years of service, the loyalty you have inspired among your faction members, my lingering feelings for you as my former husband."

I rolled my eyes, the only lingering feelings were ones of deep-set hatred

"I am still your husband," Marcus replied. "The Abnegation do not allow divorce."

"They do in cases of spousal abuse," Evelyn shot back, and I felt the weight, what she just told everyone made me feel trapped. All anyone would see is Marcus's victim.

I knew at that point, Marcus might as well be dead.

"The fact remains," Evelyn told him sweetly, "that you have committed egregious crimes against this city. You deceived innocent children into risking their lives for your purposes. Your refusal to follow the orders of myself and Tori Wu, the former leader of Dauntless, resulted in countless deaths in the Erudite attack. You betrayed your peers by failing to do as we agreed and by failing to fight against Jeanine Matthews. You betrayed your own faction by revealing what was supposed to be a guarded secret."

"I did not-"

"I am not finished. Given your record of service to this city, we have decided on an alternate solution. You will not, unlike the other former faction representatives, be forgiven and allowed to consult on issues regarding this city. Nor will you be executed as a traitor. Instead, you will be sent outside the fence, beyond the Amity compound, and you will not be allowed to return."

Marcus looked surprised. I don't blame him.

"Congratulations," Evelyn smiled. "You have the privilege of beginning again."

I turned away from the screens. I knew I was panicking. I knew I was overwhelmed with the need to be somewhere else.

So I walked out. Leaving my parents who were satisfied with ripping chunks out of each other and the city I once claimed as home behind me.