Chapter 217 The price of mercy
Chapter 217: The Price of Mercy
Milo's POV
The doors to the throne room opened with a resounding sound.
Millen sat on her throne at the far end of the room, backlit by torches that made her look like a demon queen from ancient nightmares. But she was not alone.
Guards lined every wall, at least two dozen of them. Council members filled the gallery, their faces hungry for whatever entertainment was about to unfold. And standing directly beside Millen's throne, wearing a smile that made my cold blood run even colder, was Caroline.
"There you are," Millen said pleasantly, as if we were meeting for afternoon tea. "We have been waiting for you, little brother. Come closer. Let us discuss your attempted escape."
My legs refused to move. Aldrich had to drag me forward, my chains scraping across marble as I fought uselessly against his grip.
"You see, everyone," Millen addressed the room, rising from her throne with theatrical grace, "my brother thought he could deceive me. Thought he could sneak away in the night like the coward he has always been."
"I was not…" I started desperately.
"SILENCE!" Her voice cracked like a whip, echoing off stone walls. The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees. "You do not speak unless I give you permission."
She descended the throne steps slowly, deliberately, her eyes never leaving mine. When she reached me, she grabbed my chin roughly, forcing me to look at her.
"Did you really think I would not know?" she asked softly, almost tenderly. "Did you really think I would leave you unguarded, unwatched? Every breath you take, I know about. Every thought in your traitorous head, I can predict. Just like everyone else in this room.
I felt the crowd stir,but that was it. Nobody refuted her claim.
Her grip tightened painfully. "The mysterious figure in the garden. The convenient sleeping guard. The conveniently broken chains." She leaned closer, her breath hot against my face. "All of it was orchestrated. All of it was a test."
Horror washed over me in waves. "No..."
"Oh yes." She released me with a shove. "I needed to know if you could still be trusted. If you would stay here willingly, or if you would try to run back to your precious Alpha at the first opportunity." Her smile was poison and broken glass. "Now I have my answer."
She turned to address the assembled crowd. "My brother has betrayed this family once again. He has attempted to escape his lawful imprisonment. He has conspired with enemies of the crown."
"That is not true!" I shouted, finding my voice. "I have conspired with no one!"
"Then explain this." Caroline stepped forward confidently, she gave a subtle signal to one of the guards at the door.
My breath caught in my throat as they dragged someone from the shadows… a small struggling figure, that had tears and blood.streaking down her face.
Ella!!
"No," I breathed. The world tilted beneath my feet. "No, she has nothing to do with this…"
Caroline's smile widened like a cat that had cornered its prey. "Oh, but she does. This little maid has been quite busy. Helping prisoners. Passing messages. Even"...she paused dramatically…"meeting with a mysterious figure in the garden who just happened to show up the same night our dear Milo tried to escape."
"That is a lie!" Ella screamed, finding her voice. "I never… I only brought him back to his cell! I convinced him not to escape!"
"How convenient," Millen said coldly. She studied Ella with the detached interest of a scientist examining an insect. "Tell me, girl. Did you think your loyalty to my brother would earn you mercy?"
"I have no loyalty to anyone but you, Your Majesty," Ella sobbed. "Please, I only did what I thought was right…"
"What you thought was right," Millen repeated, her voice dripping with contempt. "And that is the problem, is it not? Servants who think. Maids who make decisions above their station. Wolves who believe their feelings matter more than their duty."
She circled Ella slowly, like a predator sizing up prey. "This is what happens when we show weakness. When we allow compassion to cloud our judgment. When we forget that order must be maintained at any cost."
"Your Majesty," one of the council members with white hair spoke up hesitantly. "Perhaps interrogation would be more useful. If she truly conspired with…"
"I have all the information I need," Millen cut him off. She turned to address the full room, her voice carrying to every corner. "Let this be a lesson to anyone who thinks they can defy me. To anyone who believes mercy is a sign of strength rather than weakness."
She snapped her fingers once. "Bring the execution blade."
"NO!" I lunged forward with every ounce of strength I had. The chains held, but I kept fighting, kept pulling, felt my wrists bleeding where the iron cut into flesh. "Please! Kill me instead! Take whatever you want from me, just let her go!"
Laughter erupted through the throne room. Not just Caroline this time, but gathered Alphas, the council members, even some of the guards. They laughed at my desperation, obviously enjoying the show.
"Look at him," one of the Alphas wheezed. "The omega thinks his life is worth trading. As if anyone would accept such a worthless exchange!"
"Weak," another spat. "Emotional. This is why omegas can never lead."
A warrior entered carrying a massive sword, its blade stained with what might have been rust or might have been dried blood. He handed it to a large male with dead eyes… an executioner who had clearly done this numerous times.
Ella's terror was palpable, rolling off her in waves that made my wolf whimper in sympathetic agony. But when she looked at me, something hardened in her expression. Something almost like peace.
"I believe in them," she said, her voice surprisingly steady despite her trembling. "I believe in the alliance. I believe in Alpha Damon. I believe you will fall, Your Majesty. I believe the prophecy will come to pass, no matter how many of us you kill."
"Prophecy," Millen sneered. "There is no prophecy. Only power and those too weak to wield it." She nodded to the executioner. "Proceed."
"Wait…please…" My voice broke into animal sounds, desperate and keening.
The executioner raised his blade. Torchlight caught the steel, making it gleam like captured starlight.
"Ella!" I screamed her name like it was a prayer, like it could somehow stop what was about to happen.
Her eyes met mine one last time. And she smiled… actually smiled… like she knew something the rest of us did not. Like she could see beyond this moment to something better, something worth dying for.
Something I never saw.
The sword fell.
“Nooooo ooooo”
It was quick and clean. Blood sprayed across marble like fountains. The soft thud of her body hitting the ground continued to echo deep inside me over and over again.
Silence.
Complete, absolute silence.
I could not breathe. Could not think. Could only stare at what remained of someone who had shown me kindness. Someone who had tried to help. Someone who had died because of me.
"Take him back to his cell," Millen said, her voice utterly devoid of emotion, not the least resembling the sister I had grown up with. "Double the chains. Triple the guard. No food or water until I decide otherwise."
Her eyes met mine, and what I saw there turned my bones to ice.
But I was too weak to argue, too weak to put up a fight even as Aldrich dragged me out of the hall. I could not stop looking at her body, could not process what had just happened.
She was dead. Dead because of me. Dead because she had shown kindness to me.
But before they could pull me through the throne room doors, another set of doors burst open with explosive force.
A messenger staggered in, his uniform torn and bloody, his face pale with terror and exertion. He collapsed to one knee, gasping for breath like a man at the verge of taking his last breath.
"Your Majesty," he wheezed, each word seeming to cost him. "Urgent news…one of your commanders…"
Millen's hand shot up, the gesture sharp and absolute. The guards holding me froze. The entire particle in the room seemed to freeze.
The messenger's eyes darted around the room as if looking for an escape route that did not exist. “She betrayed you…”
"WHICH COMMANDER?" The words exploded from Millen with such force that windows rattled in their frames. Power radiated from her in visible waves, pressing down on everyone in the room like a physical weight.
"Commander Selene," the messenger gasped out.