Chapter 12

  If He Does Such Things

  When Phoenix finally lets me stand, I draw in a heaving breath, dragging air into my lungs until the edges of my vision clear.

  I stand, and my legs buckle, sending me stumbling and swaying as I struggle to remain upright.

  The snake pushes forward. Spiraling horns press against the delicate skin of my forehead, and I feel the pressure on the underside of my flesh. One breaks through, and droplets of blood drip down into my eyebrow and along my eyelid. Ebony veins splinter across my cheeks. A few of my fingernails begin to sharpen into vicious claws. Dust swirls around my ankles as the snake turns its attention onto the Phoenix.

  I take a step toward him, curling my fingers to command my magic. The snake tells me to force the dust to obey.

  “There you are,” Phoenix purrs with an easy smile. His eyes twinkle. He's expectant, I realize; he was waiting for this. “I told you that you’d never change.”

  But Pisces reacts faster than the snake can adjust. The fish send a tidal wave of magic through my body, full of starry nights and clouding cosmos. The snake writhes and rankles as Pisces drowns it out in a river of galaxies and endless midnights.

  I drop to my knees and internally shudder at the feeling.

  Listen to the Midnight Wolf, Pisces says.

  I know, I murmur back. You have said that enough times; I understand.

  I want to scream, but I cannot. Even if I could, I know that the consequences wouldn't be good.

  Alex tilts her head, watching the two sides battle within my body.

  The horns disappear, followed by the veins and claws. The dust settles, and the Dust Devil retreats back to the shadows as the snake slithers back into the depths of my mind, amethyst eyes flashing with rage and frustration.

  I hold my arms close to my chest, fingers lacing together into something adjacent to a prayer, but who I pray to, I do not know. The Midnight Wolf is the one I hurt. Lucius could’ve taken me but never did, and Erebus holds me in their realm.

  Who will listen? Who would listen to me?

  xxxx

  Jabez is the next one I see.

  We’re in the Sea, having walked the distance from the outskirts of the ruined city into somewhere near the center.

  He stands tall and skinny, and he holds himself gently, as if every little movement causes pain. His pale blue eyes hold an eternity of stories, and as tears drip without sound down his cheeks, my stomach twists at the thought of hearing them all. He runs his tongue over the canines sticking out from beneath his lips, indicating his crooked jaw. The ice shards on the end of his tail stir the dirt as his paws drag across the ground, steps slow and stiff.

  This is the Jabez who was once Ice. This is the Jabez who was best friend of Bryant but betrayed him.

  Yes, the snake tells me.

  Is that the true story? Pisces asks.

  What is even true any more?

  What did Jabez do to the King? What did the King do to Jabez? Did Bryant tell the whole story?

  “What are you doing here?” Jabez asks.

  “I’m here because I… I need to-to be held accountable. I killed the Dove. I killed Grey. I sent him to Lucius. I—.”

  “You have to stay away from Astra. You cannot be near her.”

  I nod. “Ok.”

  I have heard of Astra, from the King, from Bryant. Stories of how Jabez and his lover, Freedom, tried to keep Astra away from Bryant as Jabez betrayed his former best friend. I heard about the trial Bryant ordered when he believed Jabez and his lover were abusing their daughter, and how the Judge and the Justice had ruled in the King’s favor to keep the child safe. But I heard about how Brook took Astra away and out of range of Bryant after he ordered that Astra’s care be transferred to her.

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  Yet I have met Brook, and the character Bryant painted does not line up with the being I see.

  Confusion curls in my gut. Neither Brook nor Jabez seem to be the creature Bryant described them as.

  xxxx

  “You murdered Grey. You cannot take that back.” It’s a statement, Jabez’s words, not a question.

  I nod. “Yes.”

  “You will help us take down the King.”

  “That cannot be done,” I say immediately, instinctually.

  He’s Bryant. He cannot be taken down. He sits on the Amethyst Throne.

  Phoenix lunges, flames bursting from his body in thick, angry waves. His paws land heavy and hard on the ground, leaving deep imprints.

  “Fuckin’—. Seriously? You literally just said you were gonna be different, Righthand Man! Now this? The cream puff is gonna fall. There ain’t no way around that. He’s gonna fall, even if I have to do it from within Lucius’s claim. I’m gonna haunt his ass until he fucks off from Erebus’s realm into Lucius’s. He doesn’t get to get away with anything. Everything comes back sooner or later, with mighty sharp teeth to start biting, ‘cus it’ll all come callin’ for ya.”

  “He has the Amethyst Throne,” I whisper. “He has his Guard and Soldiers. The Generals. They listen to him. The Judge and Justice always rule in his favor.”

  “So?” Phoenix presses.

  “He has the power.”

  “So?” Phoenix pushes, pinning his ears. His bright flames cast harsh beams of light on the collapsed tents around us. “He’s had the power since the second he sat down on the Amethyst Throne. Doesn’t mean shit. No one sits on top forever. Every throne will fall. Every monster can be defeated.”

  “He will not go down easily,” Jabez says. His pale eyes flicker, and I wonder if he is remembering the trial Bryant told us his own side of.

  Brook nods along a group of people who have slowed at Phoenix’s expression of anger. Her tail swishes against her hind legs, and one of the ribbons within her mane catches on a patch of fur. Light catches on the deep scar over her eye

  “I never said he would,” Phoenix shoots back with a hiss. “But the cream puff can be defeated.”

  “How?” I ask. “He has everything. What can we do against him?”

  Phoenix bares his teeth with a snarl. Flames leap from his body. When thick tarp catches fire beside him, he immediately brings the flames back to his body without looking, leaving behind little more than a singed ring of darkened fabric.

  “We can do everything,” Phoenix spits. “He holds the cards because he is the monster. And he deserves to feel every fucking bit of fear we have all felt. But he doesn’t hold every card.

  “The cream puff gave the order to kill me on sight when I was ten. Apparently when I killed Guard and Soldiers after they killed my parents and infant sister, that was enough. What sane person would tell another to murder a ten year old? He must be afraid if he’s doing such things. Think about what he taught you. I hold no mercy toward you, Righthand Man, or any of your companions. I hold no compassion, but what fair leader would teach you to listen without hesitation and without question? He doesn’t want you to think, because if you knew how to, you would see the absolute insanity in what he is doing. The cream puff knows that.”

  “The Amethyst Throne—.”

  “The Amethyst Throne helped to create much of what the King… Bryant has done,” Jabez says, “but he is responsible. He could have said no and he did not.”

  I run a hand over my face. My head hurts, and a looming headache beats in time with my heart as my ankle pulses with a steady thrum of pain. I shift in my armor, wincing as the dent presses against my ribcage. I want to take it off, but it’s a physical sort of shield, something that feels right to keep on, even with the discomfort it now carries. Whether that discomfort is the damage Phoenix inflicted upon the metal or something else, I don’t want to dig into that. I can almost see the creatures lurking within that box. It feels safer to keep the top sealed shut.

  The Amethyst Throne gave me the power of the Dust Devil.

  Did the Amethyst Throne decide that on its own? Pisces asks gently.

  I exhale, turning my attention to the ground. I scuff my boot on the dirt and twist a stick against a rock.

  No, I realize. The Amethyst Throne wouldn’t have done that on its own. It needs a vessel. It needs Bryant.

  That could be you, I hear the snake chitter from the depths of my mind. You could one day inherit the power of the Amethyst Throne. You could become King, Dust Devil. Imagine what you could achieve, your reign as the next King of Ragdon. King Garonda XV, or the name you shall choose. The rules of the world will bend at your word, you would only have to speak it.

  But my immediate response is resistance, the deep, instinctual knowledge that I don’t want that.

  “You murdered my brother, Scorn. You murdered Grey and took away his choice, everything he may have decided to do in the future. You sent him to Lucius,” Alex says, voice flat with grief. “You are going to help us take down Bryant. You will stop the future actions of what you were a part of that caused such harm to Grey.”

  I take a deep breath.

  I push down the knee-jerk response that defeating the King of Ragdon is impossible. That he’s too strong. That he holds the power.

  I look between Jabez and Brook and Alex and Phoenix.

  Jabez stands taller than Phoenix but looks far smaller. Brook looms, presence intimidating both in size and in energy. Alex is shorter than me but feels bigger, grief and frustration rippling from her. Phoenix stands with his head level with his back, a predator ready for the hunt as his flames crackle.

  Maybe.

  They certainly have the motivation and the dedication.

  I took Grey’s life.

  I cannot bring him back like Lucius did Freedom in exchange for Arcane’s life, but perhaps this is some small way to find some way to even begin to put something right.

  I don’t know if Bryant can fall, but what he has done… he would kill for less.

  “Ok.” I take a breath. “I will help you defeat the King of Ragdon.”

  Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter of The King's Remorse! There's still a ways to go in Luke's Reform section, but the story is moving toward the end, and I hope you've enjoyed the journey thus far! Please comment your thoughts and consider a favorite/follow!

  Up top is Jabez. I realized I haven't drawn a picture of him for a chapter in a while, and I felt it was about time. He has a unique perspective on this situation, since he knows the King personally, yet also knew Grey, too

  Luke has heard of Jabez and knew of him, but he has not ever met Jabez directly. But how will they get along with each of their own respective experiences with Bryant?

  Will Luke be able to help the group defeat the King?

  How would one even approach something like defeating the King?

  I hope you're having a nice day, but if not, I hope tomorrow brings something nice your way

  -Werewolf14- :)