The Young Elites (The Young Elites #1)(9)
Author: Marie Lu

Shaking, I do as he says. I grasp the butterfly’s lone wing between two fingers and lift it into the air. The glittering dust smears on my skin. Its legs scramble, still fighting. My father smiles. Tears shine in Violetta’s eyes. She had not intended this. She never intends anything.

“Good,” he says. “Rip off the wing.”

“Don’t, Father,” Violetta protests. She puts her arms around him, trying to win him over. But he ignores her.

I try not to cry. “I don’t want to,” I whisper, but my words fade away at the look in my father’s eyes. I take the butterfly’s wing between my fingers, then rip it from its body, my own heart tearing as I go. Its naked, pitiful form crawls in my palm. Something about it stirs a darkness within me.

“Kill it.”

In a daze, I crush the creature under my thumb. Its broken carcass twitches slowly against my skin, before finally growing still.

Violetta cries.

“Very good, Adelina. I like it when you embrace your true self.” He takes one of my hands in his. “Did you enjoy that?”

I start to shake my head, but his eyes make me freeze. He wants something out of me that I don’t know how to give. My shake changes to a nod. Yes, I enjoyed that. I loved it. I will say anything to make you happy, just please don’t hurt me.

Nothing happens, and my father’s scowl deepens. “There must be something more inside you, Adelina.” He picks out my ring finger, then runs one hand along it. My breaths quicken. “Tell me I’ve at least been given a malfetto daughter of some use.”

I’m confused. I don’t know how to answer. “I’m sorry,” I finally manage to utter. “I didn’t mean to upset her. I just—”

“No, no. You can’t help yourself.” He glances over his shoulder at my sister. “Violetta,” he says gently, nodding for her to come close. She inches forward. “Come. Let’s see if your sister has any value.” Let’s see if she has any powers.

“No, Father, don’t—please—” Violetta begs, then tugs at his arm. “She didn’t do anything. We were just playing.” My heartbeat quickens to a frenzied pace. We exchange a frantic look. Save me, Violetta.

My father shakes her off, then turns his attention back to me and tightens his grip around my ring finger. “Are you worthless like that butterfly, Adelina?”

I shake my head in panic. No. Please. Give me a chance.

“So show me. Show me what you can do.”

Then he breaks my finger at the joint.

I bolt awake, a silent scream on my tongue. My crooked finger throbs, as if it’d been broken only a moment ago instead of six years earlier, and I rub it instinctively, trying as always to straighten it out. Dark tides churn in my stomach, the familiar ugliness that my father liked to nurture.

Then I squint in the light. Where am I? Sunlight slants into my unfamiliar bedchamber from arched windows, filling the space with a cream-colored haze, and gossamer curtains ripple in the breeze. On a nearby table, an open book lies beside a quill and inkwell. Plates of jasmine blossoms sit on dressers and balcony ledges. Their sweet scent was probably the reason why I dreamed of my sister and me in our garden. I shift gingerly, then realize I’m lying in a bed piled high with blankets and embroidered pillows. I blink, disoriented for a moment.

Perhaps I died. This room doesn’t really look like the waters of the Underworld, though. What had happened at the burning? I remember the Inquisitors lined up on the platform, and my hands struggling against iron shackles. I look down at my hands—white bandages cover both of my wrists, and when I move them, I can feel the burn of chafed skin underneath. My torn, dirty clothes are gone now, replaced by a clean silk robe of blue and white. Who cleaned and changed me? I touch my head, then wince. Someone also wrapped a cloth tightly around my head, right where my father had pulled at my hair, and when I gingerly comb a hand through my hair, I realize that it’s been scrubbed clean of its filth. I frown, trying to remember more.

Teren, the Lead Inquisitor. A beautiful, blue day. There were the iron stake, the soldiers, and the lit torch. They had thrown the torch onto the pile of wood at my feet.

And then I turned the sky black. My eye widens as the memory comes rushing back.

A knock at my chamber door startles me. “Come in,” I call out, surprised at the sound of my voice. It feels strange to give orders in a bedchamber that isn’t my own. I brush locks of my hair over the left side of my face, hiding my scar.

The door opens. A young maid peers inside. When she sees me, she brightens and comes bustling in, holding a tray laden with food and a glass of sparkling cordial. Flaky rose bread, still giving off warm clouds of steam; a thick stew swimming with golden chunks of meat and potatoes; iced fruit; fat tarts of raspberry and egg. The rich smell of butter and spices sends my head spinning—I haven’t eaten real food in weeks. I must look amazed at the slices of fresh peaches, because she smiles at me.

“One of our traders connects us with the finest fruit trees in the Golden Valley,” she explains. She sets the tray on the dresser next to my bed and checks my bandages. I find myself admiring her robe, like the merchant’s daughter that I am. It’s made out of a shimmering satin trimmed with gold thread, very fine for a servant. This is not coarse cloth you buy for a handful of copper lunes. This is material worth real gold talents, imported straight from the Sunlands.

“I’ll send word that you’re awake,” she says as she carefully unwinds the bandage on my head. “You look much better after a few days’ rest.”

Everything she says confuses me. “Send word to whom? How long have I been asleep?”

The servant blushes. When she touches her face with her hands, I notice how impeccably polished her nails are, her skin pampered and shiny from scented oils. What place is this? I can’t be in an ordinary household if the servants look as impressive as she does. “I’m sorry, Mistress Amouteru,” she replies. So. She also knows my name. “I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to tell you. You’re safe, rest assured, and he should be here shortly to explain everything to you.” She pauses to reach toward the tray. “Have a bite, young mistress. You must be starving.”

Hungry as I am, I hesitate to eat her offering. The fact that she seems to be treating my injuries doesn’t explain what she’s healing me for. I think back to the woman who took me in after that night, how I thought she would help me. How she threw me instead to the Inquisition. Who knows what poisons might be in this food? “I’m not hungry,” I lie with a polite smile. “I’m sure I’ll feel up to it soon.”