31 Enjoy This (1/2)
”Get her out of the shot,” Pharaoh says, jerking his thumb toward me. ”Don't want them seeing her. They'll go into a frenzy.”
Mattias and Elias pull me back a few steps, then turn the machines on that will broadcast the mercenaries all over the city.
”Why are the people rioting?” I whisper the question to Mattias.
”The sheriff was evil, but he held the factions in check. They were too afraid to fight one another. Now they are not. Now order will have to be restored again. More bloodshed. More lives lost.”
And it's all your fault...
He doesn't say that out loud, but I can hear it anyway.
”They liked him?”
”Crowds like men, even evil men, who keep them safe,” he explains as gently as he can. He told me that the sheriff's death would not solve my problems, and it seems he was right. I killed one man, and now thousands cry out for justice. If they get into this place, we will be overrun. Even the most skilled mercenaries can't slaughter a thousand people—or can they? And what if they do? How much blood will be spilled in the wake of my actions?
I suddenly feel nervous and guilty. This is my fault. This crowd is here because of me. I don't regret what I did. The sheriff deserved to die. But I wish these weren't the consequences of my actions.
”Greetings!” Tore booms the word across the raging crowd. Speakers echo it across the open space where they have gathered, and beyond. When the sheriff spoke, he made sure everyone listened. Now Tore has the ear of the city.
”Your sheriff is dead!”
After the brief moment of silence, a howl of furious rage rises. That is not the news they wanted to hear. He may have been a brutal dictator, but he had plenty of support from the populace.
”There will be justice! We stood witness to his death at the hands of a woman.”
The screams continue as my blood runs cold. I thought they were supposed to protect me, but Tore just told thousands of furious men that this is my fault.
”Yes, yes!” Tore's deep voice booms, the sun glinting off his dashing pale hair. ”He was struck down by one wild little wench, a girl who has never in all her life been tamed.”
”What the...” I look around at the others, my face a mask of pure betrayal.
”Don't worry,” Mattias murmurs. ”He's doing the right thing.”
He is absolutely not doing the right thing.
”He died, because he forgot the one thing you and I never would: women cannot be trusted!”
With that, the crowd breaks into cheers. My eyes narrow, my heart pounds angrily in my chest. How dare he? I was protecting myself! I was trying to live the same kind of life any of the rest of them get to live without being worried that they're going to be captured and put into a breeding program.
”She has been caught. She will be brought to justice—and each and every one of you will see it this very day!”
What the hell is going on?
He turns his head, his eyes meet mine, and he booms dark words into the microphone. ”Bring me the woman who took the sheriff's life! That little hussy who deserves to be punished for her crimes!”