Heartless Heirs

by MarcyKate Connolly

  “Good. Because I’m not about to let you kill her after all we just went through,” I say. Vivienne stares at us wide-eyed. “Don’t worry, we’re not going to hurt you. But we will have to keep you in our home base until we can trust you.”

  Vivienne straightens her spine. “You’re Magi. So was Paul. I didn’t know, but I still loved him. The queen tortured me because of it. I owe the royals nothing.” She practically spits the last word. “If you’re working against them, I’m in. One hundred percent.”

  I’m taken aback by her forceful words. Vivienne was always a good little Techno. But then again, Zandria and I were too, as far as our classmates knew. You never know what bravery might be simmering underneath a placid exterior.

  “Then you should earn our trust quickly,” I say. “But we need to leave here before anyone discovers us.”

  With Vivienne between Zandria and me, we retrace our steps back through the tunnels, silent as mice. Vivienne appears lost in her own head; I’m not about to question her yet. It will be a different story, though, when we reach our hideout.

  The going is quicker now that we know the route, and it isn’t long before we’re back in front of the strange black, shimmering door. Vivienne gawks at it, tentatively placing a hand on the stone.

  “I’ve never seen anything like this,” she says.

  “Neither had we when we first saw it,” I say. “In a lot of ways, it represents our goals.”

  She raises an eyebrow at me, and Zandria hisses in a warning tone, “Aissa . . .”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t tell her everything yet,” I say. Vivienne’s less nervous now. In fact, she seems to grow stronger with every step we take away from those dungeons.

  I unlock the door, and we enter the old library. Now that it’s been cleaned up—the boys have been busy while we’ve been away—we could almost make a home here. For a while, anyway.

  Remy is the first to greet us. “Who’s this?” he asks, eying Vivienne.

  Zandria brushes by him. “A new prisoner.” He frowns, and I shake my head.

  “She isn’t a prisoner. Not really. But she is a Technocrat. She was being tortured by the queen.”

  “So why did you rescue her?” Remy asks, and I can see the irritation building inside him. “And why did you bring her here?”

  “Her name is Vivienne,” she says while holding a hand out to Remy. He regards it as if she were handing him a block of cheese filled with maggots. But Vivienne stands there, determined.

  Remy does his best to ignore her.

  I sigh. “She was held in one of the Magi suits. We didn’t know who it was until it was too late.” Vivienne folds her arms across her chest as she takes in the dusty, ruined majesty of the library. “She was arrested and tortured because she fell in love with a Magi and defended him when he was captured.”

  Understanding lights Remy’s face. “Wait a minute. Is she the girl you saw that day in the Palace?”

  Aro appears at my elbow, surprise crossing his face when he recognizes Vivienne. “Yes, she is,” he answers for me. “I remember her. You were upset she’d been caught up too.”

  I nod curtly, a strange hollowness expanding in my chest at the memory of that day. It was then that I learned exactly what the Technocrats do to the Magi they capture. And the full width of the gap between Aro and me. Yet somehow, we managed to bridge it.

  “I should’ve come with you tonight,” Aro says.

  Remy rolls his eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous. You would’ve just gotten in the way.”

  I cringe, though he’s not wrong. I place a hand on Aro’s arm. “It’s better that you didn’t.”

  “Yeah, we saw your mom tonight, Aro,” Zandria says snidely from the other side of the room. “I’m sure she would’ve loved to see you.”

  “Which is another reason I’m glad you didn’t come with us,” I say.

  “She almost took a piece out of Aissa here too.” Zandria laughs, but it has an odd ring to it. Sometimes it feels like the old Zandy, who could laugh and find amusement in anything, is channeling that mirth into her rage.

  “What? Are you all right?”

  I brush off his concern but kiss his cheek. “I’m fine.” I show him my cloak. “My cloak, however, has seen better days.” In addition to the missing corner, a jagged slash rips down the back of it.

  Aro frowns at my cloak while Zandria smirks and walks over to where we’re keeping our food stores. Remy and Owen set up cold spells last night to keep things preserved longer.

  Vivienne approaches me, Remy, and Aro at the same time Owen joins us. “I won’t be your prisoner,” she says defiantly. “But I will be your ally. Give me a chance to prove myself.”

  Remy scoffs. “You’re a Techno. What can you do for us?”

  Aro frowns deeper. “I am too. And I’ve managed to help.”

  Vivienne smiles slightly. “I know people. You want to overthrow the king and queen, yes?”

  “Something like that,” I say, not yet ready to share all the details of our plans.

  “Then you need the people of the city on your side; otherwise, you’ll have an all-out revolt on your hands.”

  “That’s a good point,” Owen admits. I agree—it’s the same logic we were both in favor of days earlier.

  “I can help you get the people on your side.” Vivienne inches closer to our circle. “We just have to expose the royals for the awful despots they are, and the people will join you.”

  “Why should we trust you?” Remy says.

  “Because I hate them with every fiber of my being,” Vivienne says. She quivers with pent-up rage.

  I place a hand on her shoulder. “I know the queen tortured you. They thought you had information about the Magi because of your involvement with Paul.”

  Vivienne looks at me, somewhat surprised. “Yes, but you have no idea what they did. The lengths the king and queen will go to . . . the atrocities they’ll commit . . .” Her chest heaves, but she swallows down the emotion threatening to overwhelm her. “Their depravity knows no bounds. They must be stopped. Their reign must end.”

  Aro winces, but Remy eyes her appraisingly. “What could they have done to you that’s so terrible? You’re a Technocrat. Do you have any idea what they’ve done to the Magi? What they do when they capture them?”

  Vivienne’s eyes burn daggers into Remy. “Yes,” she hisses. “I had to suffer just like a Magi would. That was my punishment for loving one, for defending one. But that was only the beginning.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “The queen took particular delight in torturing me personally. Every day for the last . . . well, I don’t know how long. Few weeks? Few years? It felt endless. Interminable. Thank you for getting me out of there. If nothing else, my gratitude for that alone binds me to your cause.”

  “I’m glad to have you on our side,” I say.

  “But that doesn’t change anything,” Remy says. “Not yet. You can’t leave here until all of us trust you.”

  “I don’t want to leave,” Vivienne says. “I want to help.”

  Owen speaks up. “You said the queen’s torture was just the beginning. What do you mean?” His expression is inscrutable. I haven’t been able to get a full read on him yet. It’s hard to tell what he’s thinking on matters of importance. He may be a Magi, but his point of view is often more innocent than ours.

  They study each other for a moment. “Their cruelty . . . they revel in it.” Vivienne shudders and stares at her feet.

  Owen steps closer. “What did they do?” Her eyes lift to meet his, then her expression hardens.

  “One night, they brought me outside onto the Palace grounds. A park I’d never seen before. There was only a small audience—the king and queen, a few of the highest-born courtiers, and a few others I didn’t recognize. They dragged me there in that awful metal suit. I couldn’t move or see what was happening until they removed the helmet. There were two other captives in metal suits. One was standing to the side, and the other was held up b
etween two guards. The king and queen sat on a dais and the guests formed a semicircle around me, the two captives, and a bonfire. I was terrified but also a little relieved. It’s so cold in those dungeons, and this was the first hint of warmth I’d felt in weeks.”

  An awful feeling shivers in my gut. I’m not sure where this is headed, but I’m willing to bet that fire wasn’t there to keep anyone warm.

  “I was dragged right in front of the royals, and then the queen began asking me—for the millionth time—to confess what I knew about the Magi.”

  Zandria interrupts her. “What did she want to know, exactly?”

  Vivienne waves a hand. “How many are left. Where they hide. Who else is a pretender here in Palinor. That sort of thing.”

  My heart sinks. “The sort of thing you know nothing about.”

  “Exactly,” Vivienne says. “But the king and queen didn’t believe me. Not the first time I swore to it, and not any of the many, many other times since. Especially not that night.” She swallows hard and her eyes glisten. “I pleaded with them to believe me. But they called me a liar. A traitor. Then they took the helmet off of one of the other captives. The one who was standing. It was Paul’s father. He was terrified. They asked the same questions of him. Then they announced that this was the last chance for us to come clean or we’d suffer the consequences.” She wraps her arms around her middle protectively. “I was sure they were going to kill me, both of us, really. But it was far worse.”

  Aro grips my hand. As hard as this is for Vivienne, I know it’s hard for Aro too. Confronting the atrocities his family has carried out and the real impact that has had on people isn’t something he’s dealt with until recently. He spent his life obsessed with trying to buy more time for himself and the other Heartless destined to die young. In the process, he overlooked other people who needed saving.

  “What did they do?” Aro asks Vivienne, and she glances up as if realizing for the first time he’s there. Aro’s voice is thick with regret.

  “I didn’t realize until it was too late, but the suit of the third captive, the one who was standing with only the help of two guards, was attached to a pulley. When the royals issued their decree, the king pulled a lever and the captive was hoisted up . . .” Her voice chokes off. Her hands clench and unclench at her sides, and her skin turns a blotchy red.

  No one says a word. I want to ask what happened, but I’m too terrified to know the truth.

  Vivienne finds her voice again. “He was hoisted up and over the fire. And then dropped into it.”

  My entire body turns to ice.

  “By the Anvil,” Zandria whispers. I didn’t even notice she’d drawn near again while Vivienne told her story. Remy and Owen look like they’re going to be ill, and Aro clenches my hands tightly.

  “He . . . he must’ve been unconscious before. That’s why the guards were holding him up. It wasn’t long before he woke. The fire . . . with heat like that . . . there was no way he couldn’t have.” She takes a deep breath to compose herself. “He began screaming. I begged them to stop but . . . but . . . the queen just smiled and told me this was a mercy and I should be grateful for it.” She gags. “That sound . . . his screams . . . and the . . . the smell . . . They will haunt me forever.”

  Tears burn my eyes. “It was Paul in that suit, wasn’t it?”

  Vivienne can only nod.

  A deafening silence descends on us all. This is what we’re up against. Cruelty that knows no bounds.

  I glance up at Aro. His cheeks are wet. The stark reality of his parents’ reign is almost too much for him to comprehend.

  The flesh-and-blood stakes stand in front of us. There’s no doubt in any of our minds: this must end.

  “I’m so sorry, Vivienne,” I say, taking her hands in mine. “I believe you’ll make an excellent addition to our rebellion.”

  A wicked gleam shines through the tears in her eyes. “I can’t wait to tear that Palace down and destroy them. Promise me something, Aissa.”

  “What is it?”

  “When we destroy everything they love, I want to be there. I want to see the look on their faces.”

  “You will be. I promise.” We shake on it. “Now, let’s show you our base of operations.”

  CHAPTER 25

  “I AM NOT ALLOWING YOU TO GO OUT THERE alone with her!” Zandria throws her hands up as she paces the area we’ve designated the war room. We’ve transformed a large piece of wood that was once part of the walls into a long, makeshift table that we can use to plan and plot against the Technocrats, and right now it acts as a barrier between us.

  “You don’t get a choice,” I say, hands on my hips. While I appreciate Zandria watching out for me, I’m not the one who’s prone to taking foolish risks. And Vivienne is not a risk. She’s scarred by her time in the dungeons. She won’t betray us.

  But Zandria isn’t convinced.

  “Vivienne wants to help. This is a test to see if she really can. Of course I’m going with her, Zandria.” I put a hand on my sister’s arm. “It’ll be fine, I promise.”

  “It will be fine,” Remy says as he enters the room. “Because I’m coming with you.”

  I sigh. “I think we’ve proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that I don’t need you to be my babysitter. I’m more than equipped to handle myself and any obstacles we encounter up there.”

  Remy sits at the table and bites into an apple he took from the cold storage. “You don’t know what we’ll encounter up there. But you do need someone to cover your back. And it isn’t going to be that Technocrat girl.”

  Zandria has a pained expression on her face. “I should be the one to go with you,” she says.

  “No, you shouldn’t. We agreed after last night: we won’t go to the surface at the same time. It’s too risky. If one of us gets caught, we need the other to be free to get us out again.”

  Our agreement was purely logical. We’re the only Magi like us, who can use our magic on the machines.

  We’re going to need it if we want to win this war.

  One of us at a time topside, and always with our appearance at least slightly altered by a spell. I can’t deny, though, it’s strange to see Zandria in her disguise. She may be my twin, but we’ve grown to be so different that we don’t even wear the same face anymore when we’re out in the city. It makes the distance between us feel greater than ever.

  “It’s too risky for you to go anywhere with her,” she tosses back.

  Remy steps between us. “I’ll be there with Aissa, all right? She may tell a good story, but I don’t trust this Vivienne any more than you do. Probably less.” He incinerates the apple core in his palm with a quick spell, then shakes the ash away. “If the Techno girl tries anything suspicious, I’ll kill her. Plain and simple.”

  Fantastic. Now I’ve got Remy to contend with too. All just to keep our first real ally alive.

  “I won’t do anything suspicious, I can promise you that,” Vivienne says from the doorway, causing us all to turn around. I wince.

  “Sorry, Vivienne,” I say, but she waves me off. We raided a clothing shop early this morning before it opened, since we’ve all been traveling and wearing the same few changes of clothes for far too long. Vivienne’s clothes were in even worse condition. But now, free of the dungeons, after a Magi-made bath, in clothes that aren’t bloody, and rested, she’s almost back to the girl I remember. But with a sharper edge.

  “I spent weeks in the Technocrats’ dungeon; believe me when I say I understand your caution, Remy. If I were you, I wouldn’t trust me yet either.” She moves into the room. “But know this: I’m in your debt, Aissa, Zandria. I swear, I won’t betray you. I feel greater allegiance to you than I ever did to the royals. We have the same goals.”

  Something swells in my chest I don’t think I’ve ever felt toward Vivienne before: respect. I underestimated her. In school, I wrote her off as another foolish, shallow Techno girl. But she has hidden depths.

  “See?” I say to Zand
ria and Remy. “I’ll be perfectly safe.”

  “She can’t even fight,” Remy says.

  Vivienne steps right up to Remy. “Then teach me. I want to learn. There’s nothing I want more than to know how to fight.”

  Remy is taken aback. “You want to fight?” he scoffs. “You don’t look like you’ve ever even held a sword.”

  She shrugs. “I haven’t. But that doesn’t mean I can’t.”

  I can’t hold back my smile. One even cracks Zandria’s lips. “All right,” I say. “We’ll teach you. We only have a handful of weapons, but after our raid tonight, we’ll have more to practice with.”

  A new light shines in Vivienne’s eyes. “I can’t wait.”

  “Then let’s start now,” Remy says. “Come on.” He motions for her to follow him, and I trail him too, curious.

  “Well, this I have to see,” Zandria says.

  He leads her out to the main part of the library under the dome and hands her a long pole that strongly resembles a staff, taking up another one for himself. She accepts it without batting an eye. This attracts Aro’s and Owen’s attention as well. Soon Aro’s arm wraps around my waist, his breath whispering over my ear. Sometimes, I swear I can feel his presence before I see him. I wonder if that’s an effect of the Binding rite too.

  “They aren’t going to hurt each other, are they?” I hear the frown in his voice.

  “No. Vivienne wants to learn how to defend herself and to fight. Remy has offered to show her.”

  “Right now?” Aro lifts his brows in surprise. “Aren’t you going out for a raid in a couple hours?”

  “Hopefully she’ll still be coming with me.”

  “If not, I could—”

  “Absolutely not,” I say, more sternly than I intend. “Someone might recognize you. Vivienne is only well known by her friends. The queen may know her face, but she rarely leaves the Palace, so that’s not a big concern. We can’t risk losing you.”

  He hears the words left unsaid. Our lives are inextricably intertwined, for better or worse.

  He places a hand on my cheek and draws me in for a brief kiss that sends magic tiptoeing up my spine. Zandria groans from a few feet away.