Bridging the Ancient ✓

Chapter 59

Renit whirls his stare, a flame rising in his eyes. He hasn't displayed that look with me in months; it's a silent signal telling me to stop speaking—right now. But he cannot speak, for his father won't allow it. He's said his piece and Renit's words, no matter how fruitful, are done.

Upon hearing my voice, Akeno manages the strength to look over at me, past his hunched shoulder. He's still shaking, blood dribbling from his lips along with any spit he doesn't have the strength to swallow. It's likely they choked the air out of his lungs and damaged the airways in his throat, rendering him unable to complete the simple act of swallowing.

Instead of giving the king another reason to believe we were part of this plan, I don't meet Akeno's eye and stare straight ahead, even as all attention turns to me. Renit's cold determination doesn't leave his eyes when he looks at me, silently ordering to return to my post next to Silas and Hallie. But I will not rescind my offer; I want to be the one the king uses.

He looks me up and down like I'm nothing more than a useless child. To him, I might as well be. I don't carry the same strength or bulk as Renit and I definitely haven't trained to fight the deadliest targets in the kingdom as the prince has. We are two different sides to the coin but if the king wants someone who will not fight the potion; I am his best bet.

That's what he's considering as he doesn't speak. He knows more than anyone that his son will fight this but with the look I give him, a silent promise to bend the knee, he has a better option with finding a warrior somewhere inside my heart.

"For amusement purposes, why would I choose a weak girl over my own son?" The king asks. His dark eyes rove over my face and search deep into my soul. I shiver against their attention.

"Because I was the one that constructed the plan. I was the one that orchestrated it with the rebels because I wanted a different leader on the throne. Renit was a ploy—he did nothing wrong," I explain quickly.

"Roux," Renit growls. He stares at the floor in defeat. "If you don't stop speaking—"

"Is that true?" The king asks Akeno.

The rebel looks up at the both of us, panting. One of his eyes is swollen shut, and the other is bloodshot, red leaking into the whites against his dark brown eyes. They once held such innocence and care for the people around him and now, he's as good as a ghost if the king has anything to say about it. Akeno won't be leaving this throne room; that I know.

Akeno, swallowing down his pain, nods with a quick dip of his chin. Even underneath the influence of titanium, his power doesn't want to lie. He's been born not to lie so under any circumstance does he avoid it.

"That still doesn't give me a solid reason why I should use you instead. You're weak, young, and hardly a threat compared to my son. I trained him to be the monster he is today." The king puffs out his chest in pride. But pride is not love, neither is the training Renit received. He is not a monster and he never will be. In his father's eyes, Renit puts up that shield and wears that mask to make himself appear ordinary underneath royalty standards.

There's so much more in his heart I want to learn. So much more the world needs to know, and the king, to understand his son. It's not fair. Renit's life was never fair.

Standing up straighter, I dig my nails into my palms and relish in the pain. This is nothing compared to what is coming. "I won't fight the potion. Renit will. Use me instead and you might get the warrior you're looking for."

Breaking from the scared trance the king has put him in, Renit whirls around and grips my shoulders. Hard. To my surprise, my hands move on their own accord and shove against his chest. The prince, startled, stumbles back and doesn't attempt to come at me once more. The look in my eye is enough for him to back down, no matter how much it kills him to do so. His nostrils flare in silent challenge, whether against his father or me, I'll never receive that answer. If these are our final moments...it breaks my heart to think I'm behaving this way towards him.