She did know. She could almost see it now, the action that had caused all of this death—the uncontrollable power she had unleashed to save Grim, killing her in the process.
He had brought her back, by binding his life to hers, but it was just a temporary solution. Only Lightlark’s portal to another world with infinite power offered a permanent one.
“You could have told me. We could have talked about it. We could have told Oro—”
“Oro will die if we use the portal. He wouldn’t have agreed to it.” He was quiet for a moment. Then, “You wouldn’t have agreed to it.”
Of course, she wouldn’t have. Lightlark’s portal was built into the island’s foundation. Using it would mean the death of Lightlark and Oro, who was bound to it as king.
She shook her head, wincing at the death around her. “You really would have let Lightlark fall? You would have doomed the rest of the realms while leading yours into a world we know nothing about? For one woman?” It didn’t make sense.
Grim frowned. “Not for one woman,” he spat, like the words insulted him. He stepped toward her. “For my wife.”
Wife. The word unlocked a thousand memories of them, a year before the Centennial. Fighting. Falling in love. Marrying. All moments she hadn’t remembered, up until recently. She squeezed her eyes shut in frustration. “You know what I mean. One life to risk thousands. That is criminal. Selfish. Monstrous.”
Isla could feel Grim getting closer. When she opened her eyes, he was right in front of her. “Heart,” he said steadily. The spikes on his shoulders made him look like a demon. His blood-slicked armor glimmered in the moonlight. “If waging a war for one woman is a crime, then please do consider me a criminal.” Closer. “If killing thousands to keep you alive is wrong, then consider me a villain.” She now had to tilt her head to see him clearly. He leaned down. His breath was hot against her mouth. “If loving you this much is my downfall...then consider me already on my knees.”
Her voice shook. “That’s disgusting. You—you’re a monster.” She said the words and knew it made her a hypocrite. The ground they stood on now, the hundreds of deaths around them...she had done it for him. To save him.
We are monsters, Hearteater, Grim had said to her, back during the Centennial. He had been right.
But that didn’t mean she couldn’t change.
Grim had promised to end the battle, if she returned with him. Too many lives had already been lost. Lightlark had been losing. “Call back all your warriors and dreks. Immediately.”
“It’s already done.” In his hand, the sword that controlled the winged beasts appeared. “It’s over.”
It was the same sword they had searched for, in the past. The one she herself had unlocked for him to use.
This was all her fault.
The dreks had killed so many. She had led her friends into bloodshed. Her own husband’s forces had cut them down.
The survivors must think her a traitor. They must think she had been lying to them this entire time. That fact killed her, but her feelings didn’t matter if going with Grim guaranteed their safety. “Command all the dreks to remain underground and put the sword back in the thief’s lair. Swear you will never use it again.”
She expected Grim to put up more of a fight, but the words fell easily from his mouth: “I swear it.”
She pushed her luck. “Swear you won’t try to use the portal again.”
This time, he said nothing.
“Swear it.”
“If I do, you will die here,” Grim said. “We all will.”
Grim’s life was tied to all of his subjects’. Now, all their fates were tied to hers. She looked around, at the bodies. The lives she had already taken. “You shouldn’t have bound yourself to me.” She closed her eyes again and tears swept down her face.
Grim’s thumb traced her jawline, smearing the tears away. “I would do it again,” he said, his voice a deep rasp against her ear. “I would do it a thousand times over, heart; you should know that. I will choose you over the world every single time.”
Which meant it was up to her to save it.
THRONE
Isla could have locked herself in her room for months, she could have drowned in regret and grief. She had in the past, the first time she discovered what she had done.
But her tears wouldn’t keep Grim from using the portal on Lightlark. They wouldn’t help her understand the oracle’s deadly prophecy. They wouldn’t ensure her death didn’t doom thousands. Only action would.
So she buried her feelings down as deep as they would go and decided the only way to ensure Grim didn’t plan behind her back again was to be part of every meeting. Every event. Play the part of his wife, because it would gain her access.
