"Let go, Callian."
My voice came out too calm. That scared me more than the shaking in my hands.
His fingers were still wrapped around my wrist. Tight. Possessive. Like he thought he could still control how this ended.
"Apostle," he said sharply. "Enough."
Enough.
That word snapped something ugly in me.
I released Beatrice.
Her body hit the ground with a dull, ugly sound. I didn't even watch her fall. She stopped existing the moment my sword slid into my hand.
Steel kissed Callian's throat.
One inch.
One stupid, fragile inch keeping him alive.
"You," I said, teeth clenched so hard my jaw hurt, "forced a child to kneel. You didn't even give him a choice. You turned your own son into a doll for your god."
His eyes hardened. "What are you talking about?"
That calm again. That emperor calm. The kind that decides things for other people and sleeps well at night.
"Don't lie to me," I growled. "Or don't tell me you haven't even checked on your son."
That landed.
