Page 48 of The Princesses of Ruin (The Princesses of Ruin #5)

Chapter forty-four

Jasper

S now gathers on the shoulders of the children before me. I grab another wrapped package of fish and seaweed and hand it off to the oldest. She has dirty cheeks, fiery eyes, and two little boys hanging off her sides.

“Your brothers?” I ask.

She nods, reaching up for the pack of goods. I grab a bundle of simple clothes and a blanket, then tuck another package of fish into it with a quick “shush” motion. The girl’s eyes gleam with hunger as she accepts the extra gift.

“Make sure you eat the heads,” I say. “They’re good for you.”

“We wouldn’t waste, my lord,” the girl says.

“What wrong with your words?” asks one of the young boys.

I chuckle. “I’m not from here.”

“You’re the sea man, aren’t you?”

Lily snorts and covers her mouth beside me. Reina is trying not to laugh, too.

“I’m a selkie,” I say as I grab a satchel of basic first aid.

I give it to the young boy and he examines my hand as he takes the bag.

“You look normal,” he says .

I give him a partial shift, showing my claws. He gasps and pulls away.

I smile kindly, keeping my hand extended. “I’m different, but you have nothing to fear. These claws are for killing our enemies.”

The two boys lean in to inspect me closer, touching my velvety skin and tracing my talons with their delicate little fingers.

“Line’s long enough already,” a man a few people back says.

He’s right, and these people are hungry. I drop my shift and wave goodbye to the boys, then reach for the next package.

“You can come by the Nest later and talk to me more if you like,” I say as the children start to leave.

The oldest girl looks wary, but the young boys, twins maybe, are elated. “We will, my lord,” they say together as they run off with their goods.

The girl follows and I watch them go. I remember being that young on the streets. They weren’t kind…

And neither was I.

I step out from behind the crates of goods and call to the girl. She stops, glancing over her shoulder with veiled distrust. I bend down so we’re eye to eye and pull my dagger from my boot.

“We’re trying to fix things, but there may still be people who will try to take your things. I give you permission to use this to protect yourself and your brothers.” I hold the simple blade out to her.

She looks from my hand to my face as she lifts the side of her dirty shirt. There sits her own dagger held to her side by a strip of cloth. The blade is stained with ruddy brown specks. I grit my teeth and nod.

“We’re going to fix this kingdom.”

“When will that be, my lord?” Her voice is too old for a child who couldn’t be more than twelve .

“When we’ve handled the queen, it’ll be our main goal to get this kingdom safe for everyone.”

“Clara!” one of the boys calls for his sister.

She turns, looking at them, and I notice she catches the gaze of a man in line. His gaze lingers on her too long, and then he turns to look at the boys. I catch his eyes a second later and he snaps his attention forward.

Alyse…

I feel her taking up space in my mind, a pressure ache forming at the forefront.

“He’s thinking of following them and stealing their food. I’ll fix it.”

No, I’ll handle it.

I sheathe my blade in my boot and stand. “Come with me.”

Clara doesn’t argue, following me to the man in line who had been watching her and her little brothers. He’s nothing of note: around my age, sandy brown hair, unremarkable eyes. He looks better fed than everyone else, better clothed. Frost glitters like stars on his lashes as our gazes connect.

He opens his mouth to address me, and I cut him off, grabbing him by the lapels. “I see you, scumbag.” I have much more colorful words I’d like to use, but I’m trying to keep my language calmer for the present company.

“Your enterprising days of stealing from children will end now, or your life will.”

“M’lord, I don’t know what you mean.”

“ We hear you ,” Alyse says and I know she’s spoken to all the people in the area. They turn their heads left and right, searching for the source. “We hear the evil born from scarcity. We sympathize with your fear, but we will not condone the depravity.”

I couldn’t have said it better. “Show him your blade, Clara. ”

She lifts her shirt. The crowd around us shuffles uncomfortably.

“Look at it,” I say, shaking him.

He glances down, his nostrils flared as he breathes deeply.

“I’m not above forcing your good behavior through fear. I don’t think Princess Reina is, either.” I lean in, letting my wolf shift dominate my facial features. “Death from her will not be as swift as mine, and she’ll find you faster.”

Black wraps my elongating maw and my gums ache as teeth push through. “Understand?”

He screams, groping at my hands to wrench himself free.

He runs from the line and takes off into the snowy alleys of the Underbelly.

I force my wolf back down and look at Clara.

She’s not horrified, or even afraid. The scowl that had seemed to be a permanent feature on her face has softened. She’s hopeful.

“Go with your brothers, and be well,” I say to Clara.

She nods, tucking the package of goods to her chest tighter, and turns to collect her little family.

Reina stands taller, her eyes locked on me. I feel there’s more to be done, and it’s exactly why we came out to do this. This is a moment of change, where we can show them that we are not like the queen. We will not allow the city to fall into disarray like it was.

I turn to face the lines of people begging for the princesses’ generosity, surviving on the backs of their hard work.

Some are too old or too young to provide for themselves.

Some of them are nomaj, having no place in a war against a goddess.

But several of them are able-bodied magi that have absconded from recruitment, and yet still suckle at the teat of charity.

“Do not mistake our kindness for weakness. We will not tolerate the brand of evil that subsisted here unchecked. ”

I make eye contact with individuals in the crowd as I speak. Some of them look none-too-pleased, or cynically checked out, but the majority are hopeful.

“Leadership won’t be like it used to be. We care about you. We want to see you thriving, and happy. We want to hear your children’s full-bellied laughter through the streets. We want to see you succeeding in your crafts, excelling in your trades, making the world better with your work.”

What am I even saying? I’m offering hollow words to a hollow crowd, broken from centuries of promise after promise, never any change.

I look at my fingerless gloves and consider my aching belly. I’ve been awake for a day and eaten once in that time. Reina’s slept less, but had one more meal only because I shoved it down her throat when her stomach groaned so loud, I thought it would open up and swallow the world.

It would be easy to stop, to hoard the food for ourselves and let the people starve or freeze while we consider the battle ahead. This is hard, but all things worth doing are.

I look up and find all eyes on me, the lines stilled.

“We will all have to be a little hungry. A little cold. A little dirty. But we will not always be. Your princesses are working hard to bring this time to an end and usher in a new era of peace and plenty. Work with them. Help them…”

I check in with Reina and she nods. I never know if I’m doing this right.

“If we’re going to change the kingdom, we need you to change, too.

Don’t accept the ways of old. Don’t stand by watching Clara and her little brothers have their food stolen while you worry after yours.

Demand better from your fellow citizens, and tell us.

Come to us to fix these problems. We want to hear from you. We want to make your lives better.

“And to everyone who would look at Clara like a prey animal prime for hunting: don’t.”

I grit my teeth, wishing I’d at least drawn blood from the man to make him remember.

“Do not make yourself a problem for us to handle, because we will make an example of you, and there will be no apology strong enough, no begging desperate enough, to stop us from making every flayed part of your body sing with agony before you pass on.”

My words hang in the air for a quiet moment. I break my stare and move to the crates to continue distributing goods. The crowds pick back up into light chatter as they move.

“Nice work, Prince Jasper. You have horrified everyone,” Lily says.

“That was somewhat of the intent,” I say, my eyes hunting the crowd for ne’er-do-wells.

“I think it was perfectly reasonable,” Reina says. “Now we just need to reform the entire governing structure to allow for urgent requests to reach us faster and start delegating power to the Spiders to take action on lower-severity issues without our explicit direction.”

“What a mess I’ve made for us,” I muse.

She chuckles. “An important mess. We need to be able to serve these people if we’re to earn the right to govern them.”

“Sagely, princess.”

She snorts. “Stop making fun of me.”

I hand out my last package of fish and turn to her. I grasp her hands in mine, kissing her gloved knuckles gently. “I’m not.”

“The goddess calls us.” Alyse speaks quietly into my mind. “I’ve sent replacements for you. ”

Reina’s eyes round for a moment before she schools her expression. “Let’s finish what we can.”

I nod, helping to open the next crate of goods to be distributed. I only hand out five more bundles before Gareth appears with Cecillia, holding hands.

“I guess we’re taking over for a bit,” he says before splitting into ten versions of himself.

Cecillia giggles as each copy of him gives her a kiss—some on the cheek, some just managing to get to her shoulder—before going on to take their places by the crates.

“Jasper just gave them a grievous reprimand,” Reina says as she threads her arm through mine. “If you spy any ill intent or thievery among them, report it to Alyse, please.”

Most of the Spiders know Alyse’s power. The more she uses it like this, the more others are going to know exactly what she’s capable of.

Maybe it’s a good thing, but maybe it makes us dependent on her for justice.

Either way, we need to be vigilant at all times if we’re going to guide this society to where it needs to be.

The easiest time to cause the most change is at the beginning of a regime change… or so I hear from Vek’ihr.

We gather in the war room as demanded by the goddess Zephrom.

Once we’re all present, she materializes in the room in dramatic fashion, assuming the spot farthest from the door.

She casts her gaze all the way around the room, lingering on Alyse for a fraction longer before moving on and finally speaking.

“You’ve finished your task,” she says, looking at Zane. “As promised, I will reveal the next step.”

She pauses for effect and I nearly roll my eyes. The gods of Men are so moody .

“The potion you have created will thin the veil into the nine hells and set Ashai free.”

Silence hangs in the room like a storm cloud begging to unleash a deluge.

“What the fuck,” Lily exclaims.

“No!” Reina slaps her hand down on the table. “You told us it would defeat her!”

I tense, my body preparing for a fight as my wolf shift comes close to the surface.

Zephrom shakes her head in a patronizing way. “I said it was necessary. You cannot defeat a goddess who keeps one foot securely in a realm of safety.”

Her eyes dart to Alyse again and I look, too. She’s grinning so overwide it seems unnatural. The goddess’s lip twitches, and she returns her attention to Reina at my side.

“You must pull her into this realm if you will truly end her reign. She will never be vulnerable until she’s exposed all her power to you.”

“And just how the fuck are we supposed to kill an immortal origin?” Scarlett asks.

Zephrom’s eyes dart to Scarlett as she gestures to Reina. “Her antithesis.”

My blood hums in my ears, and I squeeze Reina’s hand. “You mean to say Reina’s power will kill her.”

“You’ve already seen it in action,” Zephrom says. “And you’ve taken part in its process.”

The goddess moves through the table and materializes beside me. She grabs our joined hands and traces our matching scars .

“You gave her your energy, your very life essence,” Zephrom says in a whisper. “You four have been designed for this fight. Cultivated over generations to be able to defeat her.

“And you four,” she says, looking at the men in the room, “were designed to be everything they needed to come to this exact moment in time.”

“The threads of the future don’t weave at your behest,” Alyse says, her voice twisted with emotion. “But the fates dance like marionettes on pulled strings.”

I don’t understand what she means, and it feels as though I’m not meant to.

“We couldn’t leave something like this to chance,” Zephrom says. “You were chosen to carry out our gravest task. Be grateful.”

“You’re scared of her,” Scarlett says.

Zephrom releases my arm and produces a sheaf of parchment from thin air. She sets it down on the table. “Perform the ritual and live, or don’t and die. Your people’s fate is in your hands.”

The air around the goddess collapses and she disappears, leaving us stunned and questioning everything.

“Fucking gods,” Lily spits.

“Corrupt, the lot of them,” Kazimir agrees.

We stare at the parchment, none of us daring to touch it. If we don’t touch it, we don’t have to know what comes next—what sacrifices we must endure.

Scarlett’s spindle snatches it from the table. She unfolds it, and whatever the message is must be short because she almost immediately crumples the page. It ignites in her hand, turning to ash before us.

We stand with mouths agape .

“It said ‘Fight hard’ and…” Scarlett scoffs, a bitter smirk curling her lip. “‘Good luck.’”