The cave towered. Layers and layers of thick ice and black rock stood out like a palace of crystalline shards. It was so large I couldn’t see where it ended, only the beginning. The frozen stream ran along its entrance.
Darren might not be here. But a part of me knew he would. If the overlook was as impressive as Quinn claimed, the king would be nowhere else. Were our roles reversed, it was the place I would pick.
Bits of broken granite and ice littered the ground. My footsteps echoed along the tunnel as bits of wind whistled through sculptures of ice.
Everywhere I looked, all I saw was blue, shades of the most brilliant hue. Icicles hung down from the granite and snow, drops of frozen rain paralyzing in their effect.
An ocean of indigo water, suspended and hung, glistened like translucent oil under a fallen sky. All of it was so fragile and haunting. In all my life, I had never seen anything so achingly beautiful.
Small bolts of the night sky peaked through little holes in the ceiling. Bits of moonlight and twinkling stars. Other parts of the cave were dark; I had to trace my hand along the icy walls.
Eventually, I came across three twisting passages. Each time I let my compass lead the way. The overlook was east. It was the only reassurance I had.
And, finally, I found my way to the brightest part of the cave.
My heart caught in my chest.
He was standing there, dressed in the black ceremonial robe and a crown, staring out at something beyond the ledge, his shoulders lit up by stars.
He didn’t turn around.
A fire crackled to his right, heating the outer ledge.
The icicles near the entrance of the cave’s overlook dripped.
Drip. Drip. Tiny raindrops of water hit the ground and the sound traveled back to me.
I took a step forward, cringing as my leather boots scraped against stone.
He still didn’t turn.
But there was a sudden intake of breath. I wasn’t sure how I heard it. My pulse was now strangling my lungs.
“I would have given you the world.” Darren’s back was still to me as he spoke. “And instead you took mine and destroyed it.”
His words echoed along the walls, sending splinters of ice right into my chest.
“So tell me, love…”
The mage king turned around and his garnet eyes flashed as he took me in. They were burning with hate.
“Tell me, my wife,” he said, “why I shouldn’t destroy yours?”
18
I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t breathe. All I could do was stand there and stare.
Darren had been waiting for me all along, and I had walked right into his trap.
“You’ve always wanted to save the world.” The king laughed darkly and motioned for me to come forward with the casual flick of his hand. The black hematite crown gleamed as he turned toward the valley below. “Why don’t you come and see what you’ve wrought.”
I knew what he was about to show me.
And, for some reason, I still walked. My footsteps echoed along the cave as I approached the lookout and peered out over its ledge.
Down below were hundreds of flickering flames. Torches and little bits of shadow raced in patterns, no bigger than ants. Thousands of men and women dressed in uniforms, battling late into the night. There were large catapults filled with fire and the clash of shields. The wind carried the sound of each cry to the precipice.
And their screams as each one fell to the blade of a Crown’s Army knight.
“Commander Nyx is dead.” I didn’t even have a chance to react before Darren continued. “She was one of the first when I dispatched my army.” He laughed. “Didn’t take much to figure out who your leader was after we found the keep empty.”
All of the emotions I’d worked so hard to hide surged to the surface; my fingernails cut into flesh.
“I told them your brother should be next.” He was still watching the crowd below. “They haven’t located Alex yet, but it’s only a matter of time.”
“D-don’t.” The word came out a broken whisper.
“Why?” He turned, and there was an inferno in his eyes. “You killed mine.”
Darren took a step forward, and I instinctively took a step back. “Even after I spared Derrick.”
“Darren—”
“You could have run away and never looked back.” Disbelief and hatred were etched into every line of his face. “You could have spared Blayne—for me, Ryiah. For all that we were, all that you claimed to feel, you could have given me that. Even if you believed in their rebel lies.”
I tried. I opened my mouth, but Darren wasn’t listening. The wind howled on the ledge and his rage built with every word.
“I betrayed the one person I swore my whole life to protect for the one person that betrayed me.” He took another step and the flames lit half his face, the other shrouded in shadow.
“I never t-told you because I… I didn’t want you to choose between us.” My voice was hoarse, and I could hear the desperation in my words. “I was trying to protect you.”
“Protect me?” Darren’s sneer was cold. “The only one I needed protection from was you.”
Inadvertently, I had let him lead me to the ledge. My back was to the drop. I swallowed, doing my best to hold still.