His birthday.

He scheduled his brother's execution on his birthday.

"I didn't get you anything." I refuse to look at him, focusing on the clawed branches outside my window. "I thought it appropriate."

"Your affection knows no bounds." He's far too pleased with himself, spinning his bracelet around his wrist like a newly discovered toy.

"Yours does."

Maven has no response.

"Are you going to make me watch?" I squeeze a pillow, imagining it's his throat. "Because I'll cry. Do you want that? Do you want to broadcast me crying to millions of television screens? Does it get you off?"

The air grows too cold to breathe. "He can't live."

"You're delusional."

"So are you."

My hands reach for his neck, but he catches them. "You're worse than a monster. You're worse than a murderer. You're a parasite who feeds on bitterness and misery. You-"

"I would never make you watch." Maven moves from my wrist to my palms, intertwining our fingers. "I'm not that cruel."

The words squeeze my insides. "You are."

"I wouldn't."

"You would. If I pushed you."

Maven lets go. I trace my bracelet until my finger catches on a sharp edge, drawing blood. "Leave."

He obeys.

Let him obsess over my reaction. Let his gaze wander towards my chambers and away from Cal. Let his mind be consumed by plans to seduce me, little mind games to pull me back into his arms. Let him forget to take precautions.

Let him make a fatal mistake.

The Scarlet Guard will attempt a rescue. They have to. Cal divides the Silver Court, pitting house against house to seat him on the throne. He is our best chance to strike against them.

I slump against my window. I had begged Maven not to place me in the audience, but not seeing is somehow worse. The Bowl of Bones is not visible from my chambers, no matter how I squint.

Why am I so useless?

A bang pierces through the silence, the crumbling of stone. Screams clamor over each other in the distance. My window taunts me with its stillness, its tranquility.

I slam against it.

Clover hauls me backwards before my fists make contact. I thrash and twist and buckle, crying. I need to see him. I need to help him. I need to get out of this cage.

She pins me to the ground. "Shut up."

I scream.

Her hand clasps over my mouth, and I bite it. She curses, yanking at my hair and clawing my jaw. I will not let go. If I am a dog, then I will be one that yowls, claws and bites until it is set free.

I will never be docile.

"Bitch." She tears her hand away from me, my teeth tearing skin and flesh I spit onto the floor. "Tie her up."

I don't make it easy. Trio must place his foot on my back as Clover kneels on my legs. Each fumble for hands that pinch, bruise, dig, and twist. "Careful. Maven will be mad if you break me."

They leave me on the ground, tethered like a pig on a spit. They keep their distance. Good. Fear me.

It's all I have.

I gnash my teeth, twitching, seeing all the ways I can make them flinch. I can't reach Cal. I don't know what's happened. I don't know how he plans to escape, if he's made a plan at all.

Perhaps he is already dead.

Footsteps echo in the halls. Maven. He's finished overseeing the execution, and now he wants to nest inside my head.

He might enjoy seeing me tied up. He might be angry.

There's only one way to find out.

Trio slips outside, and for a second, I can hear two low, murmuring voices. Then a scuffle. He vanishes with a scream. The door rips from its hinges, melting into a puddle of steel and perfuming the air with ash. He is not Maven.

Maven was never this handsome.

Cal bursts into my chambers, fists aflame. Clover knows when she's outmatched, and retreats into the hallway. I'm glad Egg took the day off.

"Untie me."

The ropes clatter to the floor, and I stretch my aching muscles. He's real. He's real, and he's come to save me from this hell.

I love him.

Cal stares at me. I embrace him, relishing his warmth, his steadiness, his unerring strength. No one will hurt me. No one will cage me. I can light up the sky with my rage. And he can join me.

"Cal?"

"It's alright." His arms are so gentle, so delicate. He might disappear if I blinked too hard. "Your teeth. They're silver."

"I bite."

He glances down at the floor, eyes widening as he spies the chunks of silver flesh on the ground. "What has he done to you?"

"What hasn't he done to me?" Is he judging me? "I'm in a cage, Cal. I do whatever I need to, and if it's a little grotesque, so be it." I pound the window. "How do you break through diamondglass?"

He shakes his head. "We need to get you out of here."

"Did you kill Trio? The scarred one. He might know." I fumble with the edges, feeling for a hidden compartment. "Please tell me this is a special window that unlocks with a secret code or something."

Cal nudges me aside, opening it. "We need a rope. Start tearing sheets."

We weave in tense silence. I'll be free. Free to see Gisa, Mom, Bree, Tramy, Dad, Farley, Julian, Kilorn, Cameren, and so many others. Free to fight again, to . . .

What will I do? Maven has ruined me for propaganda. I haven't fought in months, muscles wasted to bones. He'll tear at the Guard with a renewed vengeance if they steal me, his tether to sanity, his sliver of happiness, his companion of tears.

I do more damage chained than free.

The realization cuts. It scrapes against my bone marrow, sending shock waves through my spine. I need to stay. I need to stay at his side, in his court, where I can sow discord, easier than ever if I prove I won't leave him.

It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

The rope lays finished at my feet, and I hand it to Cal. "You go first. I'll climb down after."

"No. What if the guards come back?" He shakes his head. "You're in no shape for fighting. I'll stand watch. Besides, that rope is more likely to support your weight than mine."

"Please go."

"Mare, it's fine. You don't need to be a hero."

"Go."

Cal tugs my hand. "Seriously, you don't need to do this. Don't make me carry you."

Maven's chest suffocates me again, and it takes all I have not to be lost in the memory. "I'm not leaving. Don't make me call the guards."

"What?" My hand grows cold. "That wasn't funny, Mare."

"It shouldn't be. I wasn't joking." I tap my wrist. "You have two minutes before I yell for Maven. Get a head start."

"What the hell." He's gonna make me call him, isn't he? "Mare. Is he drugging you? Did he get a whisper to-It doesn't matter." Cal hauls me into his arms, and I don't have the strength to fight him. "Let's get you out of here. I'll fix this, I promise."

He's not listening. "Maven! Help!"

Cal stills.

"Put me down." I push at his chest. "You can't carry me and climb at the same time, and you definitely can't before your brother gets here. I'm staying here. I don't have time to explain."

The air scalds, but a chill drifts from the doorway. He's here. He's here, and Cal is too stubborn to put me down. "Brother. Kindly extricate yourself from my associate. She doesn't appreciate the theatrics."

"You heard him."

Cal ignores me. "She's not your anything. I don't know what trick you've pulled to make her act this way, but I'm not buying it."

I sigh. "Congratulations. You broke the spell." My voice drips with sarcasm. "Can you put me down now?"

"Listen to Mare." Maven steps forward, hand extended. "Or do you intend to hold her against her will?"

Cal grips me harder, and I have no choice. His hand tastes like dirt, blood, and betrayal, uncurling in shock. Snarling, I tumble from his arms. "I warned you. I bite."

"I'm ashamed, Brother. Is this how low you've fallen?" Maven tuts. "Scuffling at my window. Brutalizing my guards. Kidnapping my lover. I thought you were a man of grace and dignity, but you've proven yourself a coward.

"Mare, darling." He helps me off the ground, bowing his head as though I were a lady. "What do we do with cowards?"

I scowl. "We let them go and never think of them again."

"I forgot you failed Protocol. Shame." Maven wraps an arm around my waist. "We give them a coward's death."

"Yes." I untangle from his grasp. "A coward's death. Safe. At home. Surrounded by guards."

"You're the only coward here." Don't. "Hiding behind a screen. Making your wife do your dirty work." A slap would only make things worse, but I'd feel better. "Seen Iris lately? You'd think she'd have stopped me." Cal doesn't blink. "Unless I killed her."

Maven halts.

Cal slams into him, rendering him unconscious with a blow to the jaw. Another hit might finish him. He rests his brother against the wall. "It's a three story drop. This rope better hold."

"Leave without me."

"We're not arguing about this."

"Correct. I'm telling you, and you will listen. I have my reasons." I shove the rope in his hands. "It'll make sense in the end, I promise."

"Do you pride yourself on being frustrating?"

"I pride myself on being useful. Trust me; I'll help you far more at his side than I ever could on the battlefield." I cup his cheeks, trembling. "Go. I'll aid you any way I can."

Something clicks. "I can't save you."

"You can't."

Cal pulls away, looking one last time before scaling down the window. I wait until he reaches the courtyard, then thrust my chambers open. "Help! The king is injured! He's not breathing! Help!"

It's enough of a distraction to let him slip away.

Maven stirs. I help him to his feet, cradling his head with one hand. "I said I didn't get you a present." I kiss him. "I lied."

He chuckles. "I would never expect anything less."