“No, like have you actually lost your shit?” I bellow from the pits of my stomach. My voice drops to the lowest, violent growl possible. “Or are you purposely trying to get me killed?”
“Why are you even afraid of her?” His shoulders shrug as his fingers curl around the edges of the wall, inches away from my thigh. He shouldn’t be this close. He shouldn’t be next to me.
I let out a loud breath. “That’s a joke, right?” My eyes are wide, staring at his perfectly sharp jaw where a few curls have fallen loose from his bun and gently sway in the breeze against his neck.
“No jokes here.” He shifts his head, staring directly towards me.My heart sinks.“You know that I know who you are. I remember most of our life together. And that means, I know what you are capable of. You could kill her in seconds if you wanted to.”
“That’s the thing, Koen,” I hiss, pulling my body towards him. “I am not a killer. This is going against everything the Royals have sworn to do.”
“You have been gone for a very long time, Spark. I can’t help you remember the gift the Gods chose for you, but I need you to.” His jaw clenches, gripping the edge of the wall tightly. “So much has changed, and sooner or later, the darkness will take over. There will be no return.”
“Seems as if more than just the Realms have changed.” I side-eye him, feeling the knot inside my throat grow by the second.
He clears his throat, head hanging low before his shoulders sag. “Maybe I had to change in order to bring out who you are meant to be. What if this was the whole reason I have existed, was only to fuel that fire inside of you? I am the only one that knows why the Darklands are trying to stop you.”
“I have a hard time believing that.”
“Think about it, Serene, I know why they are trying to kill you. I am the only Royal besides the Queen to ever step foot into the Darklands and not be consumed by the dark magic. The Gods must be protecting me for a reason.”
“They have a sick way of showing their protection.” I shift back, rolling my shoulders as my body aches from the failed ride.
“How else do you explain to me surviving after the night I gave you the embers of my heart?”
My eyes water, reliving the moment Tilly pierced the dagger in my heart. I can still hear the cries of Koen in the distance, running up the hill we were supposed to meet to run away together. He’s right, the pain is torturing. As if it's slowly killing me all over again in order to remember.
“I’m unsure.” My eyes lock outward, staring at the audience who waits for the next competitor.
“You know once the light inside of our hearts darkens, we die.” I hear him take a deep breath, inhaling before his eyes close. “Iwonder if somewhere deep inside me, there is a flicker of light I am holding onto just to be here to help you.”
“You know the Book of Azure has never talked about the light inside of us.”
“No I don’t…” He drops his head back, tilting his chin high as his knee bounces. “Only those with the Deskyiara bloodline can read that book. Don’t you remember that?”
My gaze whips towards him, recalling the book lighting up once my palms touched it. The words rewrote themselves on the pages. It all makes sense as to why the Queen couldn’t find what she was looking for.
“Serene.” His voice drops to a sudden whisper, sucking in a deep breath. I can feel his intense stare towards me. “I believe you are the only thing that is able to stop all the curses and kill them all. You are a threat to them and to your sister. They are coming. Florian and I will never be able to protect you from it, only fight by your side.”
I bite my lip, eyes never lingering from his. “Unless the flame controls you and you try to kill me again.”
“If I ever do that, slice my throat. Kill me right then and there.”
My brows cave. “Absolutely not. You have gone mad.”
“If she makes me shift again,” he chokes on his words, “one day I will not be able to return from it.”
My heart sinks, my breath hitching. “I’ll kill her. Don’t worry.”
“I never worry when it comes to you.”
My shoulders relax, eyes closing for a split moment.
“I have told Florian you have never needed our protection. You are the deadliest Royal ever to have been born. The God of Fire scorched you, marking your destiny in front of the Kingdom. The Fire God has never given a Royal more than one power. Yet, you received more. The Gods chose you to rule. Yet, you hide from it.” The rocks underneath his palms shift as heleans closer. “You need to realize you can never run from this. The Gods have laid out our lives like a map, directing us since the moment our eyes opened and we took our first breath. You cannot prevent the war that is coming. You cannot hide from who you were born to be.”
I meet his eyes, almost getting lost in the beauty of them. “The war started because of us.”
I whip my gaze away, staring at the man in the pit running for dear life away from the Ice Horse. The horse is violently bucking, hooves lifting off the ground as it chases the man. The air around them begins to frost, and I catch the smallest ice particles beginning to freeze along his dark hair.
The Ice Horse is using its power from the God of Ice. It does not want to bond to this man.Poor guy.
