Fearless (The Powerless Trilogy, #3)

by Lauren Roberts

This king does not care wholly for a united Ilya, only that this kingdom remains by whatever means necessary.

this is a start.

Kitt has every right to hate me after I killed his tyrant of a fat...

It’s odd, how the man I once knew was merely a thread in the tangle of truth I’m only now beginning to unravel.

Until recently, Adam Gray was simply a father, a Healer who taught me how to survive with tedious observance and training. Then I watched him die.

My father was the leader of the Resistance. Except, according to his journal, he wasn’t really my father at all.

“I thought I’d be dead long before this moment,” I cut in evenly. “Thought I’d be skewered with a sword in that throne room. But I’m not, and I intend to find out exactly why.”

“I may not have much life left to live, so I won’t spend it resting.”

My entire existence has been reduced to appearances.

It will be a relief to scrub away every remnant of the traitor running for her life. Every drop of blood, sweat, and tears shed on the treacherous journey.

“I promised to avenge Adena.” Another shove, this one weaker. “So let me inside this damn room, Lenny.”

tore a branch through Adena’s chest during that final Trial.” My voice is distant, as though the words are falling from someone else’s lips. “And I’m going to kill her for it.”

“I get it. Trust me, I do.” He sighs through his nose. “But you can’t kill her on my watch. And Kitt knows you won’t kill me to get to her. At least,” he adds skeptically, “I would hope not.”

“You can’t be her shield forever.” “And when I’m not,” he says slowly, “you can do with her as you please.

“The thought of killing her is all that’s kept me going. I’ve given my decision plenty of thought, I assure you.”

“You can’t just… go around killing people anymore.”

“Anymore?” This time, he’s the one wincing at the quiet hurt in my voice. “I never wanted to kill anyone. I’ve only ever defended myself. But her…” I jab a finger toward the door beside us. “She is to blame for what I’ve become.”

“I’m scared, Lenny,”

Omg everything is so sad

“I know this is hard. But we are so close, P. So close to finally getting the freedom that the Resistance has fought so fiercely for, even if it is in a roundabout way. And I know that a marriage is not what you wanted. Hell, even becoming a queen. But…” He swallows. “You’re alive, Paedyn. And I didn’t know if I’d make it back in time to ever see you again.”

“I thought I’d never get to see you again either.”

“I can’t seem to die, can I?” I wipe a loose tear from my eye. “What was it you called me?” I can see the exact moment recognition lights his face. “A cockroach,” he chuckles, head shaking. “You’re a damn cockroach, Princess.”

I’m not sure what to think after Kitt’s dooming declaration in the throne room.

I stare at my Enforcer’s ring and the large crest atop it. Two lions frame a bannered A, our family seal and sign of strength. I wish that is all I see when looking at it. No, I see every horrific thing I, and all the Enforcers before me, have done in the name of that crest. Every drop of blood spilled to secure our family’s power.

“You brought her to me, didn’t you?” “I did.” And I regret it more than anything.

I’m no longer sure if it is my brother speaking, or the king he’s become.

“I don’t think you’re insane.”

“You’re the king!” This time, I do yell. “You will always have another option. Always have a way out, unlike the rest of us.”

“If I don’t marry her,” Kitt breathes, begging me to understand, “I have no choice but to kill her.

“This is a mutually beneficial agreement. I would protect her. Twist the truth about what happened between Father and her. And in return, she would be my symbol of peace to the other kingdoms.”

“Everything changed. I was a son mourning the man I thought I loved.

I was bitter, vengeful, unsteady without him here to guide me.”

you’re right. I’m not the crazed boy you lef...

“What happened to the son who would do anything to please his father?

pride swells in my chest, not for this king, but for the boy who dreamed only of approval. Now he wears Father’s crown and forsakes the infatuation tethered to it.

Thoughts of Father are dangerous. They tend to lead me to her.

again. Paedyn is not a right or a wrong, not something as simple as a yes or a no. She is confusion itself, a feeling unplaced, a color between black and white. Hell, she is my Silver Savior. And hating her is not as simple as it may seem.

for me, it is not loving her that has proven to be difficult.

Maybe I’m even jealous of the ring. Jealous of the way it clings to her skin,

Because that should be me.

Adena. I’d watched that branch tear through every muscle and tendon in her chest. Watched Paedyn crumble in that sandy Pit, cry over the bloody body, and scream when it shuddered its last breath.

When my eyes slowly climb back to Paedyn’s, it’s revenge that reflects in them. And I have a feeling that Blair’s blood will be the only she enjoys on her hands.

“Do you not hate me? After everything I’ve done?”

It’s about what is best. And I cannot rule a kingdom that has fallen.”

He came at me, and I barely made it out of that fight alive.”

“I’m sorry that I killed your father. But I will never apologize for killing a tyrant.”

I may have grown to despise my father in recent weeks, but that does not mean I wish to tarnish our family’s name.”

“He was destroying this kingdom for a futile cause. It was greatness he craved, and instead, he accomplished mediocrity.”

“Why obey a man when I can be a far greater one?

Kitt has finally broken free from Father’s choking grip.

“I have dreamt of a free, united Ilya all my life, and if this is the only way to achieve that, then so be