stage.
Fragg!
“What are you doing?” The blond-haired Tracker narrows his green eyes at her.
“I want to look that race traitor in the eye, if that’s all right with you, Sebastian,” she says.
Sebastian. So that’s his name.
He stands aside, and she leans over Tom.
“Your kind makes me sick,” she says, and slaps Tom across the face, managing to slip the pill into his mouth as she does so. The sleight of hand is so good, no one would’ve noticed unless they were looking real close. Tom’s eyes widen for a fraction of a second before understanding crosses his face.
She helped him. She bloody well helped him! I struggle to process this thought as Beetle and Roach join me.
The crowd starts to jeer, getting bored.
“Kill the race traitors! Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!” they chant.
Sebastian clears his throat, steps forward and reads aloud from a scroll.
“For the crime of racial defilement, for having indecent relations with a Darkling, I sentence Thomas Shreve to death by crucifixion.”
There are cheers from the crowd.
“For the crime of racial defilement, for having indecent relations with a human, I sentence Jana Marwick to death by crucifixion.”
There are angry howls from the Legion guards, the sound like baying wolves. Sigur raises a hand, silencing them immediately.
Jana Marwick? Is she related to Sigur? I didn’t realize he had any family left. I thought they’d all been executed at the start of the war.
“For the crime of harboring two fugitives of the United Sentry States, I sentence Frank Shreve to death by crucifixion.”
Movement on the wall draws my attention. There’s a shift in the atmosphere, a sudden stillness in the air as scores of Legion guards in black flowing robes appear on the wall, their dark eyes glittering in the dusky sunlight, capturing everyone’s attention. One by one, the Legion guards turn their backs to us.
“What are they doing?” Beetle whispers.
“I think it’s a protest. They’re refusing to watch the execution,” I say. Purian Rose may have the power to execute us, but he doesn’t have the power to make us watch. That’s the one small freedom we’ve got left.
The three crosses are winched upright and screams fill the air. Tom’s grandfather is mercifully already unconscious from shock, but the other two are still alert as they stare out across the crowd. Blood seeps down Tom’s body from the nails in his wrists, while Jana’s sensitive flesh begins to crackle and sizzle as she finally succumbs to the toxic effects of the acacia wood. Flames start to lick out of her broken skin, crawling up her legs.
“Demon!” someone yells at her. I think it might be Gregory.
I can’t imagine being on that cross, staring out at a sea of sneering faces as you slowly suffocate, all alone . . .
The fire rapidly spreads up Jana’s body, but she doesn’t scream, she doesn’t make a sound. She simply turns to look at Tom as her body is consumed by flames. He holds her gaze for as long as he can before swallowing the pill. It’s not a moment too soon, as the fire spreads to his cross and sets him ablaze.
The crowds cheer as the lovers burn.
“One race under His Mighty!” they chant.
From across the stage, Natalie’s eyes meet mine as red flames and black smoke billow behind her.
Sebastian leads Natalie off the stage and hands her over to another guard, a brawny black man who has a broken nose and three savage claw marks down his neck. She’s ushered down City End away from the mob. Day chases after Natalie.
Roach turns to us. “Get out of here, kids.”
We don’t need to be told twice—we slip through the crowd and out onto City End. I immediately spark up a cigarette and pass it to Beetle.
“I’m sorry about Tom,” I say.
Beetle takes a puff of the cigarette. There’s a fierce look in his eyes that I only see when he’s off on one of his rants. “All Purian Rose has done is given us a martyr. Tom’s death won’t be in
Fragg!
“What are you doing?” The blond-haired Tracker narrows his green eyes at her.
“I want to look that race traitor in the eye, if that’s all right with you, Sebastian,” she says.
Sebastian. So that’s his name.
He stands aside, and she leans over Tom.
“Your kind makes me sick,” she says, and slaps Tom across the face, managing to slip the pill into his mouth as she does so. The sleight of hand is so good, no one would’ve noticed unless they were looking real close. Tom’s eyes widen for a fraction of a second before understanding crosses his face.
She helped him. She bloody well helped him! I struggle to process this thought as Beetle and Roach join me.
The crowd starts to jeer, getting bored.
“Kill the race traitors! Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!” they chant.
Sebastian clears his throat, steps forward and reads aloud from a scroll.
“For the crime of racial defilement, for having indecent relations with a Darkling, I sentence Thomas Shreve to death by crucifixion.”
There are cheers from the crowd.
“For the crime of racial defilement, for having indecent relations with a human, I sentence Jana Marwick to death by crucifixion.”
There are angry howls from the Legion guards, the sound like baying wolves. Sigur raises a hand, silencing them immediately.
Jana Marwick? Is she related to Sigur? I didn’t realize he had any family left. I thought they’d all been executed at the start of the war.
“For the crime of harboring two fugitives of the United Sentry States, I sentence Frank Shreve to death by crucifixion.”
Movement on the wall draws my attention. There’s a shift in the atmosphere, a sudden stillness in the air as scores of Legion guards in black flowing robes appear on the wall, their dark eyes glittering in the dusky sunlight, capturing everyone’s attention. One by one, the Legion guards turn their backs to us.
“What are they doing?” Beetle whispers.
“I think it’s a protest. They’re refusing to watch the execution,” I say. Purian Rose may have the power to execute us, but he doesn’t have the power to make us watch. That’s the one small freedom we’ve got left.
The three crosses are winched upright and screams fill the air. Tom’s grandfather is mercifully already unconscious from shock, but the other two are still alert as they stare out across the crowd. Blood seeps down Tom’s body from the nails in his wrists, while Jana’s sensitive flesh begins to crackle and sizzle as she finally succumbs to the toxic effects of the acacia wood. Flames start to lick out of her broken skin, crawling up her legs.
“Demon!” someone yells at her. I think it might be Gregory.
I can’t imagine being on that cross, staring out at a sea of sneering faces as you slowly suffocate, all alone . . .
The fire rapidly spreads up Jana’s body, but she doesn’t scream, she doesn’t make a sound. She simply turns to look at Tom as her body is consumed by flames. He holds her gaze for as long as he can before swallowing the pill. It’s not a moment too soon, as the fire spreads to his cross and sets him ablaze.
The crowds cheer as the lovers burn.
“One race under His Mighty!” they chant.
From across the stage, Natalie’s eyes meet mine as red flames and black smoke billow behind her.
Sebastian leads Natalie off the stage and hands her over to another guard, a brawny black man who has a broken nose and three savage claw marks down his neck. She’s ushered down City End away from the mob. Day chases after Natalie.
Roach turns to us. “Get out of here, kids.”
We don’t need to be told twice—we slip through the crowd and out onto City End. I immediately spark up a cigarette and pass it to Beetle.
“I’m sorry about Tom,” I say.
Beetle takes a puff of the cigarette. There’s a fierce look in his eyes that I only see when he’s off on one of his rants. “All Purian Rose has done is given us a martyr. Tom’s death won’t be in
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