Chapter 132 Hidden Truth
I tightened my grip on the dagger again. My blood dripped down the gold wire, falling in thick, crimson drops to land directly on Klaus’s bare chest.
The hot blood hit his cold skin with a soft, wet sound.
Klaus flinched.
It was a tiny, microscopic twitch of his muscles, but I saw it. He slowly opened his eyes, lifting his heavy lashes to look at the crimson drops staining his pale, scarred flesh.
He traced the trajectory of the blood upward, past the sharp point of the black glass, past the heavy iron chain connecting my wrists, until his clouded sapphire eyes met mine.
My breath caught in my throat.
The devastation in his gaze had settled into a hollow, bottomless void. He was starving, the feral hunger clawing at the edges of his sanity, but his human mind was still fighting to stay present for his own execution. He looked at my hands, seeing the blood pouring from my ruined palms, and a deep, agonizing sorrow rippled across his face.
Even now, chained to a rock and waiting for me to kill him, he was grieving that I was in pain.
He took a slow, ragged breath, the iron collar hissing violently against his throat. He shifted his weight on his bruised, bloody knees. He pushed his chest upward, pressing the dark, necrotic veins closer to the tip of my dagger.
He was offering himself to the blade.
He thought my hands were shaking because I was afraid of the blood. He thought I was hesitating because I was too weak to push the glass through his ribs. He was deliberately making himself an easier target so I wouldn't fail, so the Emperor wouldn't punish me for missing the mark.
A sharp, violent tremor wracked my entire body. I had to lock my knees to keep from collapsing onto the marble.
"Do not weep for him, Arch-Duchess," the Emperor mocked, noticing the violent shaking of my shoulders. He stepped up right beside me, close enough that the dark crimson velvet of his robes brushed against the heavy black silk of my skirt. "He chose this path centuries ago. He chose to lie to his Emperor. You are simply delivering the consequence."
I didn't look at the Emperor. I kept my eyes locked with Klaus’s.
"I am not weeping," I said. My voice was a cold, scraping rasp that sounded entirely alien to my own ears. It lacked all emotion, dead and flat. "I am simply finding the angle."
Lady Vespera laughed from the gallery, a sharp, delighted sound that cut through the heavy silence. "Aim for the black veins, little fish. Unless you want to hack through his breastbone first."
Thorne chuckled, a low, grating sound behind his steel visor. He shifted his weight, pulling the iron leash a fraction tighter, forcing Klaus’s head back a centimeter more.
"Hold him still, Commander," the Emperor ordered, his tone suddenly shifting from theatrical mockery to cold, absolute authority.
"He is secure, my Emperor," Thorne replied, wrapping the leash one final time around his gauntlet, locking his elbow against his side to anchor the chain.
The Emperor turned slightly, facing the silent, watching court. He raised his skeletal arms, the heavy crimson sleeves falling back to reveal his pale, bony wrists.
"Let the court bear witness," the Emperor declared, his voice booming like a death knell across the cavernous Throne Room. "Let it be known that treason, no matter how deeply buried, will always be rooted out. Let it be known that the Empire controls the sea, and the crown controls the monsters that dwell within it."
He lowered his arms, turning his blind, milky eyes back toward me.
"The ocean waits, Siren," the Emperor whispered, his voice vibrating with a dark, sadistic hunger. "Break the Anchor. Purge the rot."
I stood perfectly still.
The heavy iron chains on my wrists felt like lead. The stiff, structured boning of the black corset dug mercilessly into my ribs, restricting my breath to a shallow, rapid pant. My bare feet, clad only in soft leather slippers, were planted firmly on the slick, blood-stained marble.
I stared down at Klaus’s chest. The dark veins pulsed, a slow, toxic rhythm waiting to be severed.
I looked up, meeting his clouded sapphire eyes one last time.
I didn't smile. I didn't soften my expression. I let the cold, dead emptiness remain perfectly intact on my face, securing the lie.
"For the Kingdom," I said aloud, my voice carrying clearly across the silent hall.
Klaus closed his eyes. He stopped fighting the upward pull of Thorne’s leash. He let out a long, ragged exhale, relaxing every muscle in his massive body, completely surrendering his heart to the blade.
The Emperor smiled, taking a single, expectant step backward to avoid the blood splatter.
I tightened my grip on the gold hilt until the wire cut entirely through the scabs on my palms. I locked my elbows. I felt the exact traction of the marble beneath my feet, calculating the pivot, the distance, and the terrifying, split-second timing required to execute the maneuver.
I raised the obsidian dagger another inch into the air, drawing the final breath of my submission, and prepared to strike.