I shook my head. “How did you know where to find me?”
I grew up in this palace, I know it well. Once I realized the direction you were going, his destination was obvious.
“You saved me.”
He smiled again. I told you I would.
I gave a shaky laugh that cut off abruptly as his eyes fluttered closed. “No. Dominic, no!” I gripped his jacket as best I could and shook him. He didn’t respond although I could still hear his labored breaths.
I dropped my forehead down onto his chest. “I will not lose you now. Your kingdom needs you. I need you.”
He seemed too weak to speak, but I refused to let him go. If he could not speak, allowing me to hear him as I did the servants, then I needed to connect directly with his mind. I needed to communicate with him as I did with Lily. I had no idea if such a thing were even possible, but I was determined to succeed.
I closed my eyes, and concentrated my mind. I could feel how much my powers of mental communication had grown in the last months, honed and strengthened by my time at the castle. I shaped my thoughts as I would do to send them to Lily, but instead of sending them out to her, I focused all my attention on Dominic. I breathed in the smell of him and felt his warmth beneath my hands and head. I thought of how he made me feel—infuriated and exhilarated, cherished and so alive. I reached into my dress and pulled out the rose he had given me. Somehow it had survived being stored in two different dresses now. It hadn’t even wilted—the last piece of our enchanted life at the castle, the deep color and the pure white of the spirals in the rose garden combined into a single blossom. I pressed it against his chest and sent my thoughts flying in his direction.
I felt my mind connect with the essence of him, so like to what I had always done with Lily, and yet so unlike at the same time. Her mind felt safe and familiar, at times like an extension of my own. His felt wild and barely tamed, full of pain and grief.
Dominic, I projected. I will not let you die.
Dimly I heard the arrival of Lily and Jon, and part of my mind knew they had pulled up my hands and were cutting the cord from my wrists. But I ignored them, too focused on my new connection with Dominic.
One of his hands twitched, and for a moment I thought his eyes would open, but he did not seem to have the strength.
How…how are you here, in my mind? he asked.
This is the connection I have with Lily, have always had with her. This is how I learned to hear you and the servants at the castle. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I was cut off from her at the castle, and it made me angry and afraid.
No, Sophie. You have no need to apologize to me. We have both of us had our secrets. He paused. I know that you could never forgive me for mine. Could never…love me. But I want you to know that you have taught me so much. You have shown me what it is to love. And even if there was never hope for me to be freed from my curse, you have freed my kingdom, and that is enough.
The tears continued to pour down my cheeks as I stared at his still face. Saved your kingdom? What do you mean?
Somehow our connection seemed to give him a small burst of strength. He opened his eyes, the bright blue that had always captivated me, capturing me once again. He smiled. Didn’t you notice the snow melting? Or the wolves disappearing? Or all those guards I had with me?
I gasped. The people have returned?
They have returned–thanks to you.
But…I don’t understand. I was never able to figure out how to save them.
I already told you. You taught me to love. The people of Palinar were moved to a place of protection until their ruler could learn the true meaning of love. He paused as he drew a particularly labored breath. I did not understand self-sacrifice, or how to value myself last. And then you came. I should never have forced you to come as I did, and yet how could I regret it?
I felt his emotions wash over me, a wave of love so strong I could barely breathe. For a moment, I choked on my tears.
So, I was right. It was a protection not a curse on the people.
He grimaced. It was only the royal family who were cursed. Twice cursed in my case. But now you have freed my people from my curse. No one could have freed me, however. I see that now.
No! I projected, my hands clasping at his jacket. I cannot accept that. There must be a way to free you.
You must find my sister. She has been missing for more than three years now, but I cannot believe she is dead. Find her, and help her claim the throne. She has a good heart, like yours. She will make an excellent queen.
I shook him. And what of your heart?
It is yours. And you shall have to keep it safe for me when I am gone.
I don’t want you to leave, I sobbed.
He went so still that I feared he had died, but then he breathed again, and me along with him. You would not feel that way if you could see what I have done. And you should see it, it is only right.
I felt his mind wrap itself around mine in a way I had never experienced before. And then in my mind’s eye I could see a series of memories, as vividly as if they were my own. I saw King Nicolas, exactly as his portrait had shown him, strike down villager after villager.
I whimpered at the sight. So, Dominic had been there. I wanted to cover my eyes, but the images were in my mind, and I could not turn them off. Thankfully Dominic had looked away after a few moments, but his feelings from the time continued to assail me.
Shock at his father’s actions, anger that he would attack unarmed people in such a way, and underneath it, fear at where his father’s rage might be directed next. And over all of it, confusion. It didn’t seem just, what his father was doing. But wasn’t it a ruler’s right to do with his people what he willed? They all of them lived to serve him, did they not?
I could feel his revulsion, his urge to intervene, and his shame that he did not. And then Dominic spoke over the top of the memory. I was there, Sophie. I stood by and let him kill all those people, even the babies. I said nothing. I did nothing.
I remained silent, too overwhelmed to speak.
It gets worse, he projected. I wish I did not have to show you, but it is the only way for you to understand.
The memories shifted, and I saw the palace as it had been more than three years ago, shining and full of people. The servants scattered before the king as he strode through the corridors, and I knew—as seventeen-year-old Dominic had known—that news of the king’s massacre had preceded them to the palace. By the time they approached the royal wing, not a single servant was anywhere to be seen or heard.