Page 47 of Beauty

“You should call me by my rightful name, you ungratefulbitch.”

Why won’t he go away? Shouldn’t the hours before myinevitably horrific death be quiet and peaceful? I might try to go to sleep andsee Shim and Lach again. Maybe, if there’s a place beyond this one, maybe theywill be real.

Selfish. So selfish. You want to die so you don’t have tofight.

The voice inside my head is getting obnoxious. Well, thevoice that seems steeped in guilt. I apparently have a whole bunch of voicesinside my head. “If you aren’t going to tell me what you want, then feel freeto go away.”

“I want you to tell me where your bitch sister went to.”

That has me sitting up and fast. I’m definitely stillcapable of feeling something. Goddess, the last thing I want is to get Gilliankilled. “She doesn’t have anything to do with this.”

His eyes narrow to slits, making his irises look likeendless dark. “I doubt that. She’s already managed to kill three of my bestguards.”

Gillian? “I don’t believe it.”

“It was her or her friends. Tell me where she is and I’llmake your death painless. I can have the healer brew a tea to ease the way. Youwon’t feel the fire. You won’t feel anything. All you have to do is tell mewhere Gillian is. Isolde, you don’t want more deaths, do you?”

I don’t want them, but they will come. They will comewhether I stand up or not. They will come if I escape. They will come if Iburn. I spent thirteen years believing that staying alive is all that’simportant. But aren’t some things worth dying over?

I think about the note Gillian sent through Niall. I knowexactly what Gillian will want to do. If she can save me, she’ll want us torun. I’m not sure how she convinced the guard to help us, but Gillian willsacrifice anyone she has to in order to ensure my continued existence. Gillianwill save me and move on to the next far-off province, hiding and concealingour identities.

She will want us to wait. And for what? For my brothers toreturn? For me to grow up? I’m twenty-seven. I won’t get any more ready tobecome the focus of a revolution.

“I’m not telling you where she is. I won’t say a word. Notabout my sister.”

A plan is ruminating, forming in my brain. A really badplan, probably, but a plan. I waited long enough. It’s time I give to thecause. Gillian seems to think that I am the cause, but I know differently.

Ove was the cause. Everyone hurt by the pretender is thecause. I’m merely a pawn, and it’s time to make my move. The pawn can take theking if it’s played correctly.

“You’re stupid, Isolde.”

“I’m not Isolde.” I get up and walk to the door. My feetfelt a bit unsteady, but I catch my balance.

“What are you trying to say?”

I give him a feral grin. “Figure it out, Micha. Think for aminute, and it’ll come to you.”

He stares at me, his face a blank. “Isolde, tell me whereyour sister is. The fire will make you scream.”

Will it? I am fire. It leaps from my fingertips. Itholds a place in my heart. “I’ll take that chance.”

“Isolde…”

“Don’t call me that.” I can’t stand it. It isn’t my damnname. It isn’t my place. “Call me by my name. Call me Bronwyn.”

He takes a quick step back, a gasp on his lips. “You’relying.”

“I’m not.” I won’t go down quietly. Whether Niall saves meor I die in the fire, it doesn’t matter. I need to have my name. There’s powerin my name. “Call me by my name. Call me Bronwyn Finn.”

His head shakes. “You’ll burn then, dumb bitch. If you thinkfor a second I’ll tell anyone what you’ve said, you’re wrong. I wouldn’t letanyone know I planned to marry someone who is utterly insane. You’re a stupidgirl. You’re not a princess. And if you think that this ploy will buy you time,you’re wrong. I stood up in front of a crowd and said I wanted to marry you.Too many people know. I won’t go down with you. No. You’ll burn before you caneven open your mouth and spout such vicious lies.”

I stare at Micha through the window, its bars mocking me.I’m in a cage, but then I’ve been here for thirteen years.

What can I do? I was quiet for so long. I hid my existence.The silence kept me alive, but now I see a distinct problem with it. No onewill believe me. I was a child when I went on the run. I’m a woman now, and noone with the exception of Gillian watched me grow. I look like my father.Gillian says it, but does anyone remember? The knife. It has the Finn crest onit. Does it prove a damn thing? There are only two weapons made with that crest—thesun and the moon. Beck has the sword. I’m sure of it. He wouldn’t have leftwithout our father’s sword.

The knife was used on me. I pulled it from my body. Torintook it from my father’s body. He gave it to his assassin to kill me. My ownfather’s knife. It’s my only proof beyond my face. It’s still in its hidingplace in the tower. “I am Bronwyn Finn. I was born in the White Palace and Idied there. I was given a second life. I am my father’s daughter.”

A huffy laugh comes through the window. “Those can be yourlast words, though no one will believe it. Good luck, Isolde. When you’renothing but ashes, your sister will run. You’re nothing. Nothing at all.”