“Kol isn’t going to hurt me. Since we can communicate through our mental bond, he’ll be able to fight as an extension of myself. I don’t know what’s coming for us, or if I can convince the land to submit to me when it’s been owned by Irina for so long. If I can’t fight, Kol is faster than a human and—”
“This has nothing to do with the boy.” Gabril held up their joined hands, and his eyes glistened as he looked at Lorelai. “I can’t stop you from taking risks, and I don’t want to. This is what you’ve been working toward for years. But I’m not leaving your side, no matter what it costs me.”
You aren’t going to win this argument. Kol’s voice was steady, but she could see his fear of Irina’s tactics in the way his thoughts skipped from one awful possibility to the next.
I want him to be safe.
He’s your protector, and you’re his queen. You asked him to trust that you know what you’re capable of. Do you trust him the same way?
She did. This wasn’t about trusting Gabril—the man who’d sacrificed his time with his family, his leg, and his safety to protect the prince and princess. To raise them to be just, loyal, and able to fight for what was right. This was about doing everything she could to keep the last person she loved alive.
The ache of missing Leo became a sharp pain at the thought of losing Gabril as well. Her breath lodged in her chest like a stone, and a tremor shook her as she stared at the road before her and considered her choices.
She could walk away. She’d be safe, and so would Gabril. They could leave the country. Maybe go to Eldr and meet Brig. Stay at the castle with Kol. Forget Irina and all the pain that lay in the past like so much wreckage.
But if she did that, she condemned the people of Ravenspire to a terrible fate. She left Leo’s death, her father’s death, and Gabril’s sacrifice unanswered. And Kol would still be bound by a collar Lorelai couldn’t remove. He’d still be missing his human heart. And Lorelai would live the rest of her days knowing that Ravenspire’s pain, Kol’s pain, were a responsibility she’d left behind.
Slowly, Lorelai straightened her spine and squared her shoulders, tightening her muscles until she no longer trembled at the thought of moving forward.
She could choose a different fate for herself, but she couldn’t live with the consequences. She’d face Irina, no matter the sacrifice. She’d take the hit, fight the battle, and do her part to isolate and weaken the queen. And she’d do it even though it might cost her the last person she loved.
She was so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn’t been paying attention to Kol’s, and she jumped a little when he slid his hand into her free one and twined his fingers through hers.
Thank you, he said simply, but she could see behind the words. She could see the future he wanted for himself, the kind of king he wanted to become, and how none of it was possible if he was forever chained to Irina.
She squeezed his hand and let go. Turning to Gabril, she said, “No matter what happens next, you stay alive. I don’t care what you have to do to accomplish it, but you still stay alive. That’s an order from your queen.”
Without waiting for a reply, she knelt, pulling Gabril down with her, their hands still joined. “Ready?”
“Ready.” Gabril sounded confident.
Ready.
Lorelai’s magic burned against her palms, and she felt Gabril’s heart surge to meet it. “Nakhgor. Find the bone that broke and mended poorly. Kaz`prin. Heal the break and send the damage through me and into the ground.”
Instantly, Gabril’s heart submitted to hers. Her magic pierced him easily, flooding his body and racing through his veins with the barest push of effort from Lorelai. When it came to the swollen knot of bone on his left thigh, light surrounded his leg, and there was a sharp crack as the bone straightened. Gabril cried out and slumped forward, but the pain was already rushing out of him and into Lorelai.
She clenched her teeth as his agony exploded into her body. It was a sharp, searing pain that left her skin clammy and sent her stomach crawling up the back of her throat.
Let it out now, Lorelai. Kol’s voice was firm—a lifeline in the midst of the pain that was tearing into her. Gabril’s leg is fine. You did it. Put the wound into the ground.
She tore her hand from Gabril’s and slammed both of her palms onto the gritty surface of the road. The pain poured out of her and into the ground, and the stone beneath her hands cracked in two, revealing the ground beneath it. She pushed her hand into the crack, ignoring the sharp fragments of stone that scratched her skin, and pressed her palm against the dirt.
“Please lend me what strength you can,” she whispered as her magic sank into the ground and waited. Her throat tightened, and her chest ached as she silently pleaded with her kingdom to recognize its true queen. “I seek to stop the one who abuses you. Will you help me?”
The heart of Ravenspire’s ground reached for her, tangling with her magic, but there was a taint to it. A streak of resistance that felt less like the ground and more like . . .
“Irina,” she whispered as the threads of her power reached a web of magic that waited beneath the fallow ground.