Shatter Like Glass-Cinderella Retold

Part Thirty-Three

Ashen trudged back towards the palace. She didn't know how far she was from the capital, or how long she'd been gone. Not much time seemed to have passed. The sun had barely risen. It had to be early in the morning. Was her brother still alright? Was her father? She had to find them, see them. Especially George. Ashen needed to find him, get him onto her ship, and get him and her crew far away from the Kingslayers.

She was read to collapse by the time she saw the docks. Praying it was the shore near the palace, Ashen walked towards it. Immediately, she realized something was wrong. There were guards everywhere. At least two were stationed at every market stand. The streets were crawling with patrols. They must have been looking for Kingslayers. Were any of the revolutionaries still in the kingdom, or had they all left with Smiegal? She remembered what Smiegal had said about having supporters in every kingdom. Likely, he would have instructed them to remain to ensure the reform they wanted was carried out.

Ashen tensed at the sound of shouting. Guards were hauling a young woman across the street. The girl thrashed about, screaming profanity in the Siennian language. Ashen winced in sympathy when another guard punched the girl in the face. Hearing a yelp of surprise from the other side of the road, Ashen turned in time to see a guard tackling a boy to the ground. A velvet coin purse fell from the boy's sleeve.

So, he's a thief, Ashen thought.

To her astonishment, the usually reserved and gentle guards yanked the boy up by his hair. Bystanders scampered out of the way as the guards dragged the two criminals away from the market. When the boy attempted to squirm free of their grip, one of the guards pressed hard against his neck. The thief fell silent immediately.

What has Smiegal done, Ashen wondered. The deaths of the king and queen had encouraged lawlessness in citizens and brutality in the guards. Ashen had a feeling the only thing preventing all out chaos was Jonian's and Selanca's survival. The soldiers had monarchs to rally behind and the common people who didn't want to rebel had someone to keep the government from falling apart.

"Kingslayer!" someone screamed. All heads jerked in the direction of the voice. Ashen didn't know who had yelled. Hands on the hilts of her sword, she glanced around. After a moment, she heard a woman shriek. The woman pointed at a girl sprawled on the ground. Ashen realized why the girl was under suspicion: she was a foreigner, with bright blue eyes and milky pale skin. Of course, the townspeople would be weary of her.

"I'm no rebel," the girl insisted, pushing herself onto her feet. Soldiers were rushing towards her already. One of them grabbed her wrist and pulled her in the direction they'd taken the other two prisoners.

"Tell that to his majesty," he said.

"She's lyin'!" the girl cried. "I never did nothing, I swear it!"

Ashen itched to pull out the sword and defend the girl—no one deserved to get dragged around like she was, especially if she really was innocent. But that was just it. Ashen didn't know whether she was innocent. If she was a Kingslayer and Ashen released her, Ashen would be condemning people like Natalya and the Carminian princesses to death.

Taking her hand off her hilt, Ashen turned away. She couldn't help the girl, but she wasn't about to watch the scene play out either. She had just started in the direction of the palace when someone called her name. Ashen whirled around. Jukes, Stark, and Cecco were running towards her. A grin spread across her face, the girl from before all but forgotten.

"Captain," Jukes said. He sounded relieved. "We've been searching for you. And George."

Ashen frowned. "George . . . you don't know where he is?'

Stark shook his head and replied, "Smiegal told us that he was going to get the two of you, then we'd be leaving, but he never showed. We've looked everywhere."