Aramaz arrived much sooner than I had expected, likely alerted by Elodia.
“You loved him more than you ever loved me, didn’t you?” His voice was calm, but the words sliced through me. “You always have.”
I turned to face him, taking in his gleaming white tunic and long golden hair, blowing in the breeze. The flawless Sky Lord. Only the scabbed claw marks on his cheek marred the illusion. He had not healed them. It made me grit my teeth as my gaze returned to the sea.
“Love is like freedom,” I replied, feeling the last warmth in my heart flicker out with the sun sinking toward the horizon in a glowing ball of red flame. “The moment you try to measure it, to put a limit on it, it starts to die.”
“I had no choice,” he said. “You know what he had become. You know he was no longer listening to reason. Would you have spared him, even if meant destroying the world?”
But I had seen it in his eyes when the Council pronounced Noctis’s sentence. There had been a choice. And he had made it without hesitation.
“It was my decision.” Aramaz’s voice hardened when I did not answer, when I refused to look at him, to grant him absolution. “As the leader of our people. As the King of Aron-Lyr.”
“Sometimes I wonder,” I said, my eyes fixed on the restless waves, red like blood in the light of sunset. “What if the Allfather had chosen me to lead us all? Would you have followed my decisions without question then?”
I would have bowed to you, my queen.A faint whisper in my mind.My brother would not.
“But he did not.” Aramaz’s expression was harsh and unyielding when I finally looked at him.
“No,” I answered softly, not surprised by his reaction. “He didnot.” My fingers clenched into a fist, the nails piercing the skin. “Did he say anything to you? At the end?”
My gaze remained fixed on my husband’s face. I knew I was tormenting us both, yet I couldn’t stop.
It was Aramaz’s turn to stare out at the sea, the blue of his eyes darkened by pain and regret. “He wanted you to remember him as he was in the beginning. When you both had a fleeting taste of happiness.”
I had braced myself for his answer, yet it nearly brought me to my knees. My power came to life around us, awakened by the force of my grief. “And when did you plan on telling me that?” I demanded, my voice laced with accusation.
“When you felt better.”
Something inside me recoiled at those words, something disbelieving and furious.
“Better?” I echoed, my voice rising with my agitation. “Better?” The laugh that hissed from my lips was so cold and bitter it seemed to freeze the air between us. “You mean when I conveniently forgot what happened? What you did?”
I spun around, my magic crackling in the air, unable to bear his presence any longer.
“Baradaz,” Aramaz called, chasing after me as I stormed along the cliff’s edge. “I know it’s hard,” he said, catching up to me, his voice pleading. “But it might help if you focus on those who need you, who need their queen. Focus on your duty.”
I was right. He wanted me to forget. To act as if nothing was wrong. To be the perfect queen by his side. I could hardly breathe.
“Like you always do?” I whispered, stopping abruptly. “But we both know I’m not as perfect as you.” My anger at his cursed indifference burned hotter with every passing moment. “Able to justsoldier on, no matter what happens. Able to put duty above everything else.”
I saw the pain in Aramaz’s eyes as I unleashed my anguish on him, but I felt no remorse. I couldn’t stop. In fact, a dark part of me reveled in it. Let him feel a fraction of the torment that was tearing me apart.
“Able to kill him to secure your bloody crown.”
At that final accusation, Aramaz broke. His blue eyes ignited with power, the wind blowing around us turning into a storm. My magic surged in response, roaring with pain and fury as it clashed with his. I should have been terrified of the foreboding expression on my husband’s face, but I wasn’t. I was relieved. Relieved that all the disappointment and rage between us was finally laid bare.
Yet Aramaz’s magic didn’t strike. He merely watched me, lightning flashing in his gaze, his voice rough with bitterness. “It was you,” he growled, all thunder and wrath, brought to his limit and beyond. “It was you who destroyed the Tree.”
My powers stilled instantly, paralyzed by shocked disbelief.
“No.” I stumbled backward, clutching my chest as if he had physically struck me. “I would never…”
Aramaz’s powers calmed at my reaction, though the fire in his eyes remained.
“The others do not know. But I saw it all,” he said. “Belekoroz. He manipulated you. That night, he forced you to make a decision. He fed you terrible lies to poison your mind against the Allfather and me.” His gaze locked onto mine, the distress on his face confirming the truth of his words. “You lost control. The Flame raged unchecked. And the Tree burned.”
No. It couldn’t be true. All my memories of the night Yggdrasil had been destroyed were lost in an impenetrable fog of horror and despair.
