“It should have never happened.”
“Why did it, Gabriel?” I ask, my words breaking me apart. “Is it because she’s an outsider? Or is there something more? Perhaps, something you haven’t told me?”
“There was a lot of anger aimed toward Luc’s desire to marry Kassandra. Not only because she was an outsider, but because of who her father was.”
“A Kyanite?” I ask bitterly.
“Yes, but not only that. He hurt Kassandra’s mother and used her badly. It put a stain on her entire family.”
I think of Averill. How kind she is. How accepting.
She didn’t deserve someone using her badly.
“And that’s it? Kassandra was an outsider. The daughter of a Kyanite. So, it’s all right to murder her?”
Gabriel takes my hand and places it against his chest, to the even pounding of his heart. Maybe he did it to calm me. “It’s not.”
“Then do something about it.” Anger fuels me as I lash out. “Burn the city.”
His brow lifts. “You want me to burn an entire city?”
“No.” I choke back the torrid of emotions boiling inside me. There are still good people here. Like Everly, Leah, Praxis and Luc. I could never wish death to innocent people. I just need to see justice. “I need you to avenge Kassandra.”
“And I shall,” Gabriel says with determination.
“How?”
“I will question the woman I believe is responsible. If I discover she’s guilty, she’ll be executed.”
Surprise crashes over me. “You know who’s responsible?”
“I believe the woman was one of Kassandra’s high paying clients. The same one who threw rotten food at her and encouraged her friends to join her.”
“Deborah?” Sourness swells against my tongue as I voice the name. I had followed the woman enough to know how haughty she could be.
But violent? I should have guessed.
“Yes.”
Kassandra was young and kind. She deserved a long, thriving life.
Not this. Not death at the hands of cruel people.
I bury my face against Gabriel’s chest and will the pain to cease.
If only it were that simple. If only life were that simple.
But it’s not.
It’s cruel. Dark. Unforgiving.
And it doesn’t care who it casts its shadow of death on.
Any of us could be next.
Two days later, we’re ordered to the same clearing where the Bloodstones murdered the Kyanites. Luc positions himself near the front with Alden, Cenric, Aston, Gray, and five more men I don’t recognize.
The torches lighting the square cast shadows over Luc’s haggard features. Those features I cannot look away from. He looks more haunted than before.
