“For a long time, I was wrong about myself,” Tilla says. “And I think, Daytonales, you might know what I mean. You’ve changed as well.”
In parting, Tilla hands us a bag of supplies: rations, water skins, and a few daggers. We thank her and quietly pick a path away from the city wall, keeping to the treeline until finally the field of flowers comes into view. Wrenley insisted on coming with us instead of escaping with Tilla and the others.
The sun gleams off the seashells on Day’s neck. For a second, it’s almost like he hasn’t lost his token. “Can’t believe you managed to keep most of your necklace,” I say.
A flush colors his cheeks. “I can’t keep all of you, Fare, but I can keep this.”
My heart stutters. But what if I want to keep all of you?
“Do you think they’ve arrived yet?” Dayton asks, pulling Wrenley up a large boulder.
I reach deep within my bond, searching for Rosalina. She’s in Spring, but it leads backward, not forward. Earlier, I had felt huge flashes of her emotions. Fear. Sadness. Power. Everything in me screams to run to her, but that would only draw more attention to us when we need to escape. I must trust her other mates to return her to me. I shake my head. “Not yet, but Kel and Ezryn are with her. I can feel them.”
At the mention of Ezryn, Wrenley stiffens and quickly scampers forward. Strange.
Dayton hauls me up the last bit of the hill until the field lies before us.
“We made it,” Wrenley sighs, chestnut waves catching in the wind. “And the flowers are welcoming us. Look! It’s good luck to see the Lights of Fate.”
Far from us, floating among the blooms, are the tiny blue orbs of the will-o’-wisps. If one fell on Rosie’s breast now, she’d have three mate bonds: one to me, Kel, and Ezryn. My insides grow tight, and I avoid Dayton’s gaze.
“Come on,” Dayton says. “There’s cover by that cluster of trees over there. We can watch for their arrival.”
I nod and follow him.
A slicing pain cuts across my body, and I fall to my knees, a scream tearing from my throat. It feels like a fire is consuming me with desperation and loss. “Rosalina!”
Dayton is over me in a moment, hand on my back. “Fare? What’s wrong? What’s happening?”
I clutch at my heart as if it could keep it together in my chest. My gaze shoots toward Florendel. “It’s Rosie. She’s in pain. I can’t feel Kel and Ez anymore. She’s alone.”
107
Keldarion
Golden vines and roses flutter around me, and I land with a crash among the familiar briars of Castletree’s entrance hall. Caspian and Ezryn lie in a similar heap beside me, but I know instantly she’s not here.
Roaring, I launch toward Castletree’s door. Pressing in the knob, I switch the dial to that of Spring and pull.
The door doesn’t open.
But of course. The new High Prince has not connected to Castletree’s magic. The way is closed. I curse. Fine, I’ll figure out a different way— My thoughts trail off as a strange sensation prickles along the back of my neck, like shadows leaching over my body.
I whirl. Caspian kneels on the ground, barely able to hold himself up, black sludge dripping down his face. And Ezryn—Ezryn, my best friend, my brother—stands above him, sword poised to strike.
Time seems to slow. I meet Caspian’s gaze, and there is only surrender there. A goodbye.
An end to it all.
Dusky rays shine in from the open window. Funny how the briars all curve around the sill to let the sun in. A light that’s glinting off his dark eyes now.
I flick my fingers and a blade of ice forms in my palm, and it’s my own sort of surrender. A surrender to the choice I was always going to make.
108
Ezryn
This moment has played out in my mind a thousand times. At last, I will slice through the darkness and purge the rot from the ground. I didn't know which emotion would course through my veins when the time came, but with the Prince of Thorns helpless before me, there is a sense of pure freedom.
This is justice for his torment of Keldarion, his betrayal of the Vale and it will free Rosalina. It is a gift I will give all of us. He doesn’t move, but only closes his eyes as my sword arcs toward his neck.
Steel rings out across the castle, and a shudder ripples through my body as my blade clashes with another. Keldarion stands before me, white hair shrouding his face, but I see his eyes clear enough, full of wild desperation.
Snarling, I push on his blade of ice. “Let me do this for you, brother. Let me free you and our mate of your twisted bargain. Let me help you.” And with every ounce of strength I have, I push down harder and harder on the sword, willing it to break. Willing him to break.
He does not.
“No,” Keldarion says in a low growl. Feet braced on the ground as he pushes back against me with a power that would destroy any ordinary man.
But he doesn’t look behind, doesn’t see Caspian’s gaze cut into mine. A knowing, scheming smirk. Whatever surrender had been there was just another act. He knew Kel would save him.
Snarling, I sever the duel and stagger back. “Ignorant! You are willingly oblivious to his ways and his trickery as you ever were. Stand down, Keldarion. This needs to end.”
Keldarion shakes his head, a look of familiar sorrow and torment. “I can’t.”
“He killed my father. He laid siege on Autumn. And he holds your magic at bay. You can never truly be with Rosalina while blood still runs in his veins.” I pace, looking for an opening between him and Caspian. “You would have me carve a path through you to exact my vengeance?”
Keldarion looks down at his sword and then back at me. “You will do what you must, as will I.”
There has been so much fury in my blood, the feeling of deep sorrow is almost welcome. It clears my mind. Makes my objective clear. I had believed without my creed I would be lost.
But the opposite is true.
It has freed me to see the world as it truly is. To see people as they truly are.
And I will do whatever I need to in order to set her free.
I lower my sword. “Though there is no strike of a blade, you have cut through our brotherhood. It is no more.”
“Ezryn…” Keldarion steps toward me.
“You have made your choice, High Prince of Winter, and I have made mine.” I look past him to Caspian, withering on the floor. “And to you, Prince of Thorns, I leave you a promise. Your death is marked by me. I will claim it. Next time, I will not be merciful to whoever stands in my way.”
“Wait,” Keldarion calls. “What about Rosalina?”
“I will rescue her on my own.” I turn toward the main door, toward the Briar. “Goodbye, Keldarion. You will not see me at Castletree again.”
109
Keldarion
The slam of the door echoes through Castletree. Many times, I have watched Ezryn leave. Many times, I have wondered if he would ever return.
But he always came back.
This time he won’t.