Chapter 42

Riley's eyes scanned over the crowd in front of her. She felt uneasy standing beside her mother. It didn't feel right, but she wanted to help. Riley was the only person that could, and she promised Tobias. The trails were starting, and Max was first.

Tobias was standing on Evelyn's other side. Johanna stood among the leaders, and Riley was grateful for that. "We find ourselves on new ground," Jack Kang spoke to the audience. "I have dedicated myself to seeking the truth. Under Jeanine it passed me by, and I apologize for that." Everyone began clapping, but Riley was still unsure about a public trial. It felt easily influential. Riley glanced at her brother, but he wouldn't look back. "My personal failure has reinforced my resolve to make things right. The Faction of Candor no longer exists, but I will never stop leading the pursuit to honesty as we rebuild our society."

The cheering started again, and she felt a sense of hope that they could do this. They could have a fair trial. "Let the trails begin. Justice will be served!"

A man named Lyle shoved the needle into Max's neck and injected him with truth serum. "May the truth set you free." Riley watched as Max grunted in pain. The serum had started to set in. "Max, there is no doubt that you help aid Jeanine in taking over Chicago and exert brutal control over its citizens. My only question to you is, did you feel justified murdering people in support of her regime?"

There was a pause, "absolutely." Everyone gasped at his words, realizing he had to remorse. "People are sheep. They need someone to guide them—a shepherd. When they resist, they're slaughtered."

Murmurs broke out over the crowd, "we should slaughter you!"

"Kill him," everyone began chanting. Riley studied the crowd, watching as they became angrier and angrier. "Kill him!"

"Let him live!"

"Kill him!" Riley glanced at Tobias, who was already looking at her. They both knew where this was headed. A public trial was a bad idea, and if Evelyn gave into the crowd, there was no hope for her. She was truly lost.

Johanna spoke first, "Jeanine is dead!" That caused everyone to go silent. "Let's not keep her spirit alive."

The chanting began again, and Edgar stepped back onto the platform. "What do we do," Jack asked Evelyn. "They need an answer."

Evelyn glanced at Tobias and then at Riley. A sign her mind was made long before this moment. "This is an execution."

"No, it's a trial."

"Evelyn," Riley spoke only to her. "You do not have to do this."

Evelyn moved away from her, "I yield to the wishes of the people! We will break free from our past." The cheering began, and Edgar handed the gun to Tobias, but he didn't take it. Riley knew it was the right choice.

Max seemed to know what was coming and took a deep breath. Edgar approached him, placing the gun against the back of his head. "I don't want to die," Max spoke terrified.

"Neither did you sheep."

With that, a gunshot rang out, and Max fell to the ground. Riley looked away, feeling nauseous at the sight. Two men picked up his body and began dragging it away. Her eyes followed them for a moment, but they ventured to Eric. He watched as they dragged Max's body away. "There's a time I would have said I leave you in love, not malice. That time has passed." Johanna walked away, and several of her followers trailed after her. Uriah was one for them. Under different circumstances, Riley would have walked with them. What they did to Max was wrong. They were not judge, jury, and executioner. This was wrong, and Riley wasn't the only person who knew that.

Riley slipped off the stage and quickly moved through the crowd before anyone noticed. It was clear the trials would only result in one thing, death. Which meant her father would be killed during his trial. He was a horrible person, and Riley knew she should not care about what happened to him. However, she did. She hated herself for it, but Riley needed to talk to him. It would be her last chance.

"Hey," a voice spoke. It was Peter. "Where are you going?" Only two people noticed her leave the stage. One of them was Peter. The other was Eric.

"None of your business."

Peter smirked, grabbing her arm and pushing her behind a wall. "So you're not going up those stairs to speak with Marcus Eaton?"

She glared at him, "how did you even know I was going to do that?"

"Because," he shrugged. "You have something called a heart. You're the only Eaton that has one." Riley punched him in the chest, "ow. I take it back. You're heartless."

"Will you shut up and leave me alone?"

"No."

She clenched her fist, "you're annoying. What do you want?"

"What makes you think I want something?" Her silence let Peter know she wasn't joking. "Okay, I want something."

"Obviously."

"I don't want to be left out." That confused her, "we both know Tobias is planning something after that stunt. I want to be a part of it."

"Tobias isn't planning anything-"

"Not yet."

Riley rolled her eyes, "you helped us, Peter. We wouldn't leave you behind regardless."

"You wouldn't," he placed a hand on her shoulder. "But Four would. He would happily leave me behind."

He had a point, "okay. But you have to help me get upstairs."

"Deal."

"Great," she smiled. "How are we going to do that?" Peter winked at her and marched towards the guard. Riley watched from around the corner as he pretended to run into the guard. It took seconds for a fight to break out, and others rushed over to help stop it. Riley laughed to herself as she flipped over the railing and ran up the stairs.

Once at the top, Riley began searching for her father. She needed to talk to him. To make sure when he died that she wasn't holding anything back. It didn't take long to find him. His cell was at the end. Nobody was around for him to talk to. It was a perfect way for Evelyn to punish him. Anyone that knew Marcus knew he loved to talk. "Riley," he noticed her. The man pushed up from his place on the bench and grabbed the metal bars. "My beautiful Riley."

She ignored his words, "hi, Marcus."

"Marcus," he repeated his name. "I suppose I'll never be a father to you?"

Riley noticed that his nose had recently been broken. "What happened to your nose?"

Marcus looked away, "that day at the dome, one of the Dauntless soldiers hit me."

Riley remembered him being knocked to the ground, but it wasn't hard enough to break his nose. "Why? It wasn't from trying to help us."

"No, it wasn't. I was already on the ground when Eric walked by me. When he saw me, he stopped and stood above me. Whispered something about-" he paused. Riley noticed his hesitation. "Doesn't matter now."

She nodded but caught a name. Marcus had said it was Eric. "Eric hit you? You know him?"

"Of course, he was of Jeanine's best recruits." Riley processed his words, a smile finding its way onto her face. "If you're looking for him. He's probably dead."

"I don't think so," Riley crossed her arms. "But that's not why I'm here."

Marcus smiled at her, "are you here to get me out?"

"No." He huffed, "and I'm not going to. Your trial is in a few days."

"Trial," Marcus snapped. "Evelyn isn't conducting trials. Those are executions! I'm your father. I deserve better than that."

"You are not my father," Riley argued with him.

"Riley," he whispered. "You have to help me get out of here. They're going to kill me." She shook her head, "I am your father! If you leave me here, she will kill me!"

"You are counting on me to care about what happens to you." There was a silence that followed, "but I don't. I don't care what Evelyn does to you. Because what happened to her was worse than anything that happened to me. And it was all because of you."

"Then why are you here?"

Riley had so much she wanted to tell him. She wanted to say that he ruined her life. That he was responsible for all the years of self-doubt and self-hatred. It was his fault she fled Abnegation and his fault that Evelyn left in the first place. He took everyone from her. Everything was his fault. "Did you ever love us?"

Marcus held the metal bars. "I'm your father."

"That's not what I asked." Riley stepped closer, "why did you hurt us? Why?" Marcus didn't say anything and most likely never would. She knew there was a chance that Marcus didn't even know why he did what he did.

Slowly, she began stepping away from the door. "Riley, wait! She's going to kill me."

"Yeah," Riley whispered. "I know." With that, she walked down the hallway and back towards the stairs. To her her surprise, nobody was standing at the bottom. She swung her legs over the side and landed on the ground.

Her eyes found the guard quickly. He had been a few feet to the side. Riley slowly stepped back, careful not to draw attention to herself. That didn't seem to work. Suddenly, a hand cupped her mouth, and another wrapped around her waist. She was yanked back just as the guard turned around.

Her back was forced against the wall, and she gasped. Eric stood in front of her, his eyes studying the look on her face. "Eric-" Riley was cut off by his lips being pressed against hers. She was taken back by the action and never had a chance to respond.

"What are you-" the guard stopped when he saw the scene in front of him.

"Hey," Eric snapped at him. "Can I help you?"

"No," the man stuttered. "No, sorry." He stumbled over his feet before disappearing around the corner.

Riley stood completely still, eyes only on Eric. He waited until the man was gone before turning back to her. "What?"

"Me what? What was that?"

"You were going to get caught. Was it really worth it?"

She stared at him, "why do you care if I get caught?"

Eric rolled his eyes, "I thought we were past this?" Riley was still unsure what was going on between them. "Why were you talking to him?" It was clear who he was talking about.

"How do you know who I was talking to?"

"Because I know you."

"I needed to talk to him," Riley whispered.

He sighed, "why?" She stared at him, not sure of the answer. "Ril-"

"Why did you break his nose?"

Eric's body tensed at the mention, "does it matter?"

"Yeah, actually," Riley stared into his eyes.

There was something about his expression, the uneasiness in his eyes that made her nervous. "I remember the scars on your stomach. I know how you got them." She stared at him, lips parted. "And I remember watching your fear landscapes."

"So, you broke his nose because he was an abusive father?"

"Well, I was going to kill him, but Max got in the way." Riley raised an eyebrow. There were no words to describe what was going on inside her head. "And I won't apologize for it."

"I wasn't asking you too."

Eric smiled faintly, "why were you talking to him?"

Riley hesitated, "Evelyn's going to kill him after his trial."

"Most likely."

"I just," she shook her head. "I had to talk to him. I needed to see if-" it sounded stupid when she said it out loud.

Eric waited for her to continue, but she didn't. "See what?"

She looked away from him, unable to meet his gaze. Riley knew he would judge her. "I just wanted to know why he did what he did." She spent years as a child pondering that question. Why? Why did he do what he did? Was it her fault? Could she have done more to stop him? The truth was, there was nothing she could have done. People who hurt other people were evil inside. It didn't matter if Riley was perfect. Marcus was rotten on the inside, but accepting that was a challenge. "I know what you're thinking-"

"I highly doubt that," he cut her off. "Did he say why?"

"No, but I wasn't expecting him to." Riley blinked a few times, her eyes burning. She couldn't cry. Not in front of Eric. "Thanks for helping with the guard. I need to go find Tobias."

The red-haired girl went to move past him, but he stopped her. "Riley-" he knew something was wrong. He could see the tears in her eyes.

"I have to go." Before he could stop her, she was rushing away from him.