‘You’re not alone in your struggle, Minder,’ he said. A lifetime of invocations granted … and yet this is all I have left. Every time I try … I think of how I couldn’t save her. How I wasn’t good enough, strong enough, devoted enough to?—’
‘Arawn,’ she said, loud enough that his eyes slid to hers. She dared step closer, until their chests were nearly touching again. She felt her fingertips graze his, a spark of desire surging through her. ‘You aremorethan enough.’
He inhaled at her touch. The flame in his hand suddenly surged.
His eyes met hers.
‘The gods failed you,’ Ezer dared to say. ‘Like they failed my mother and father. Like they failed Ervos. It’s okay to admit that.’
Like they have failed me, countless times.
Like they failed Zey.
She had fallen asleep clutching the Eagleminder’s book last night, replaying every interaction. Replaying how pained Zey was. It was obvious now, in hindsight. And no one had tried to help her, except by making her pay penance.
What if someone had dared to try something different? Something that wasn’t within the confines of the Five?
What she was saying …
It was dangerous.
And yet she could not stop herself from speaking truth to this prince.
‘The gods cannot fail, Minder,’ he said. ‘Sometimes things don’t work out the way we wish.’
‘Maybe not in your mind,’ she answered. The dancers began toswim before her, the colors melding into one shade. Her dress was suddenly too warm. The room, too stuffy. She longed for the darkness of night, the cold kiss of the wind, instead of all this …
This singular brightness.
This one day that would still end in another death-filled night. Absolution was all the Sacred had, a little tease of what life could be. Like giving a dog a bone, but onlyafterhe obeyed first. She suddenly hated it. ‘I’ve seen the way the laws hold you back,’ Ezer said. ‘Perhaps … there are ways around them.’
‘There aren’t,’ Arawn said.
And he sounded so sure, so certain, that even with the winterwine fueling her bravery …
She let it go.
‘Perhaps …’ His eyes glanced past her nervously. ‘Perhaps the gods will be merciful.’
She raised a brow.
‘My father’s time is short. His end is near. Perhaps … you may not have to make the Descent at all. If the gods call him home. Soon.If,’ he whispered, and his smile fell. ‘I would pardon you from your duty … if I were already King in his place.’
A month ago she would have wept at the thought of such mercy.
But now?
Now she caught a glimpse of Kinlear as he danced past, and he was laughing, so full of life it pained her. It made her remember, in a flash, every moment they had ever shared together, training Six.
‘No,’ she said softly, and shook her head. ‘I think … I would still make the Descent. I’m fated for Six. Fated forthis. I’ll get her to fly. I just have to figure outwhatis holding her back.’
To walk away now …
It would leave her feeling like she’d denied the greatest part of herself.
The only gift, perhaps, the gods had ever given, and it came hand in hand with Kinlear and Six.
‘I figured you’d say that.’ Arawn frowned, following her gaze towhere Kinlear spun away. ‘Which is why I’d like to show you something. Would you care to talk a walk with me?’
