“You seem so intent on dying.”
“You don’t understand. My magic mustnotfall into his hands. Idowant to live. I crave life, love, joy.” He shuts his eyes tight. “It’s what hurts the most. But I’m also a weapon. Without freedom, what’s the point?”
His anguish sounds real enough for me to take him seriously, so I sit by him again and place the head on the ground behind me. “Bonds can be broken.”
For the first time, his face relaxes. “Can you break it?”
“Perhaps. But it would require going to the Shadow Lands, and right now…” I bite my lip, thinking about the Amethyst Palace and the heart that let me control all the magic in the continent, wondering what will happen if the Witch King finds it, all the horror he could unleash.
The thought makes my breath still, while a cold dread settles in my chest and runs through my spine.
Azur narrows his eyes. “What?”
“We need to stop the Witch King.”
He rolls his eyes. “You don’t say.”
Maybe I should have accepted his suggestion to kill him. “Why are you so rude? I saved you.”
His eyebrow is raised in a haughty expression. “I saved you too, and I’m not repeating it every second. Also, I told you to sneak out.”
“I wasn’t going to leave you there to die.”
He narrows his eyes. “Why do you even care?”
“For you? I don’t, actually.”
He grimaces. “Then why did you save me?”
“You told us to stick together, and that’s what you do for your teammate. Now, if I had realized your plan was that asinine, I would have found a better way to escape.” At least that’s what I hope.
The truth is that I’m not sure I’d be able to drink the Witch King’s blood if I wasn’t in such a desperate plight. It’s as if the urgency of it pushed me to my limit, pushed me to overcome my revulsion. Now my revulsion is slowly returning, and I think I’m going to puke at any moment.
“Perhaps I should have been clearer.” He pauses. “I never meant to offend you. You’re right that I’ve tested Marlak by saying offensive words to him, and the truth is that I don’t like him. But I respect you. And maybe… Maybe this is for the best. But I must stay away from the Witch King, no matter what happens. I can’t risk being in his vicinity. He’s still gaining power. There’s magic from the giants and old magic in the Shadow Lands. Even through the cave, he can absorb it, and he’ll be able to escape soon.”
I grimace. “Without a head?”
“Withoutthathead. He’ll grow another one or find another body, I don’t even know, but he’s about to escape that prison.”
Escape and probably find the Amethyst Palace and the heart that controls all magic. Terror seizes my body, but I focus on something else instead.
“If he’s going to escape anyway, what was the point in your sacrifice?”
He inhales a sharp breath. “There’s a difference, you see? One thing is him escaping his prison and advancing to fae lands on foot or something. It’s bad, sure. Now, being able to transcend anywhere he wants… That’s terrifying. And I don’t want to be his pawn, don’t want to risk being his puppet, risk killing the people I love.”
Azur doesn’t strike me as someone who loves anyone, but it’s possible I’m wrong. There is one thing in his words that worries me. “You said you’re bound to him. How come? Will any fae who comes near him suffer the same fate?”
His chuckle is bitter. “No. It’s not…” He closes his eyes, clearly in pain, and yet I don’t know if it’s physical or emotional.
“You don’t have to say it.”
“No. I do. I was born bound to him, just like my father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and so on. Of course, I never thought it would matter. The Witch King was dead, right? Long gone. And yet family bonds remain. It was my ancestor, King Faliel, who not only pledged his own fealty, but pledged the fealty of all his male descendants.”
“I’m sorry for that.”
Azur snorts and shakes his head. “You know why he did it? Forlove. Love for his wife and daughter. When given the choice, he preferred to align with a villain than condemn his loved ones to death. He thought he was smart, too; he had no male children. Except that, unbeknownst to him, his wife was pregnant. King Faliel died, like most of the Witch King supporters, and so did the Witch King, or at least that was what we believed. Faliel’s choice guaranteed the survival of his family line, and yet his actions were the excuse used by the newly formed Crystal Court to shun us. Regardless, when I look back at Faliel, I see a coward. Love. He shouldfightevil for love, not align with it. It’s why Itold myself I’d never let love make me a villain. And yet if he finds me, I’ll be forced to do his bidding. And if he gets near me, he’ll have access to my magic.”
“We’ll hide you, Azur. Make sure he never finds you.”
