“You were trying to save him?” My brother looked so betrayed. “Why? How could you, Ryiah?”
Ella’s eyes hadn’t left my face. “Darren finally believed you, didn’t he?”
My brother froze, his face going as white as a sheet.
I couldn’t speak; I just nodded.
Ella was still trying to piece together the events. “While the two of you were alone… you finally got through to him.”
Alex’s hand squeezed my wrist so hard I was surprised it didn’t break. I forced myself to use words. “N-not at first. I’m not sure w-what I did to convince him… But he saved my life near t-the end.”
My brother’s grip lessened, but only slightly.
“And that’s when you cast your last stand… to save him?”
I nodded; Ella took a shaky breath.
“Ryiah, if you didn’t do it and the rebels didn’t… that means it was him.”
“H-him?”
“We were wondering how you both lived.” She looked me in the eye. “You cast a last stand… That might explain why Darren is alive, but not you…” She sucked in a sharp breath. “There is only one explanation that makes any sense.”
The realization hit me like a rock.
Why hadn’t I thought of it before? The dagger in his chest.
“He cast a last stand.”
Darren tried to save me too.
“It’s how both of you survived.” Ella’s eyes were as wide as moons.
“Each casting… canceled the other’s price.” Alex’s voice was hoarse. He was struggling to process Darren’s benevolence with the violent villain of the past. “It’s never been done. Why nobody knew, not even the healers…”
It shouldn’t have worked.
But it did.
A last stand was a selfless magic. Perhaps it didn’t have to make sense.
Ella cleared her throat, and I caught her guarded look with my brother. “We need to tell her.”
I stared at the two of them, trying to decipher their glance. Then I remembered the guards from before. The prisoner.
“Darren’s in the dungeon, isn’t he?”
Ella flinched, and Alex wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“There’s more.” My friend swallowed. “Ry, when we found the two of you and you were still alive… The healers immediately saw to you, but Darren… We didn’t know he’d turned. He was alive, but barely.”
Alex lifted his chin. “The rest of our band helped carry him down to call off the Crown’s Army command… But when we were done, and Darren had somehow miraculously survived, which we know now was the effect of your casting, there was too much confusion. The people needed time to adjust.”
Fear cinched my throat. “W-what are you saying?”
“His execution is set a week from today. A day after the new ruler is crowned.”
For a moment, I couldn’t hear anything. Every part of me was ringing as I tried to calm down.
This isn’t the end. The new ruler doesn’t know. We can change this. I can explain.
“The declaration has already been made. Announcements were sent by envoy to every city in Jerar. The other kingdoms are already involved.”
“Who is it?” Whoever it was, I would see them at once, even if I had to have Alex and Ella carry me every step of the way.
“Priscilla.”
My jaw dropped. Her? Of all the potential rulers in Jerar?
“But she’s a mage!”
“So was Darren, and she has already renounced her robe for the Crown.”
Alex couldn’t look at me as he picked up where Ella left off. “The advisors needed someone to satisfy the rebel leaders and the influential families of court. She was the best choice.”
Priscilla belonged to the house with the greatest wealth. The most power. It was why Darren’s father had arranged a betrothal so many years before.
“But she served the Crown’s Army, why wouldn’t the rebels object?”
“Baron Langli passed away the week before Jerar went to war. Priscilla never got to fight.” Ella looked bitter. “Her hands are clean. She never took rebel lives. We have no other suitable candidates except you…”
And they would never agree to it. I may have fought for the rebels, but I’d betrayed their plans in the end. I was the wife of a traitor king.
And there it was. My nemesis, the girl who had always wanted the crown, was going to end up a queen.
I had never seen it coming.
“I need to talk to her now.” My jaw was hard. As soon as Priscilla heard my case, she would pardon Darren for his crimes. I’d make sure of it.
“You think she’ll listen to you?” Ella bit her lip. “Ryiah, she hates you. Perhaps we should—”
“She’s not who we thought.” I met my friend’s gaze confidently with my own. “Trust me, Priscilla will listen.”
The girl wasn’t a tyrant like Blayne. There were parts of her I admired.
“If that’s what you really want…”
I nodded and braced my palms against the bed, trying hard not to wince as pain shot up my arms like knives.
Alex made a sound in the back of his throat. “You’re not ready.”
“I don’t care.”
“We’ve got a week—”
“Alex.” Ella cut my brother off with a disapproving scowl. “Would you wait a week for me?”
My brother’s face fell. I knew he wanted me to rest, but he couldn’t argue with that.
And so we began our walk.