Maren straightened, her voice rising with conviction. “That she’s a traitor. She had us prepare for war...against a side she was already on. Then she stayed there. They say...they say she’s hiswife.”
Every time Oro heard that word, a part of his soul fucking died. And though anger blazed through his veins at the Starling’s words, he could not fault Maren for her assessment.
“Am I wrong?” she asked, almost hopefully.
“No,” he said. “But things are more complicated than you realize.”
She scoffed. “What’s complicated about being married to your supposed enemy?”
“She is two people. The person I met during the Centennial...and the one from the past who married Grim. Who...died.” He took a deep breath. “It would be enough to drive anyone to madness.”
Maren considered that. “And is she? Mad?”
“No,” he said.Not yet, were the treacherous words that entered his mind. Because who wouldn’t be on the road to that fate, with this sort of split life? With this much pressure on all her choices?
“You once tried to recruit her to your cause,” Oro said. “To kill me.”
Maren didn’t deny it. She shrugged a shoulder. “To end nexus. Can you blame me?”
Strangely...he couldn’t. Nexus was the curse that bound him to the island. That bound rulers to all their people, so a ruler’s death would kill their entire realm. It was cruel.
“I know you don’t want to help. And trust me, I hate asking. But war is coming.” If Cinder could feel people beyond this world, perhaps she had already sensed what Cleo had told them was imminent. “I’m guessing Cinder has told you as much?” Maren was quiet, and Oro continued. “In a war between worlds, we need Isla here. This might be the only way to save us all.”
Maren looked over her shoulder at the door behind her. When she faced him again, her eyes were fierce. “What do you need?”
ISLA
Isla visited the silver pool in her mind for the next few days while Cronan tried to break her. And each time she plunged into the cool waters, she lived thousands of possibilities.
If she had never accidentally killed her parents with her first breath and got to be brought up by them. If she had never found her starstick and portaled to Grim’s room, or to Celeste’s. If she had never fallen off that balcony at the start of the Centennial to be saved by Oro.
And though the pool did not offer information on how to defeat Cronan, the woman was right. It did provide clarity.
Because with every change in decision, even small ones, the outcomes were transformed. And Isla saw that in most circumstances...her mistakes had actually avoided even greater bloodshed.
There was one mistake in particular that she was desperate to examine.What if I had never saved Grim from the dreks?she asked the pool.If I had never destroyed that village?
Isla saw it play out in her head. She watched Grim die, unable to fight back against so many beasts. And Nightshade did not crumble—they hadn’t known Cronan was still alive, still anchoring his bloodline.
But the dreks...without Isla breaking the curse on the sword, the dreks weren’t stopped, and they infiltrated Nightshade. The fate Grim had always feared came true as they destroyed everything and everyone. All those people in the village she had killed...they were torn to pieces just moments later.
And they weren’t the only victims. The dreks slaughtered thousands,everyonethey could find—before moving on to the rest of the realms.
She watched as Azul tried to fight them—and was slain, plummeting from the sky. His entire people died with him.
Cleo attempted to flee—but her ships could not outsail these winged creatures. In a last resort, she and her people escaped below the sea. But not before many Moonlings were killed.
Wildlings were next. Bonded creatures tried their best to protect their people....but couldn’t. Most of her people didn’t survive.
When the Centennial started, Lightlark was next.
They were unprepared. Most people hid inside, but the dreks waited them out. It took a while, and everyone fought fiercely, but eventually...
Oro was killed—and the island fell.
Isla gasped as she fought her way to the surface of the pool. She was panting, her heart racing.
The woman was waiting for her. “Now you see,” she said. “You have saved more than you have destroyed.” Oro had said something similar.
