He’d left Merrick instructions. Just in case.
Because deep down, heknewwhat Varyth was. What Varyth might become. What would happen if he got her back in his territory. Isara would fight it. But eventually, she’d need a way out.
So, he’d made sure Merrick would know to get her out. To protect her. Gods, Merrick and Isara in the same room, he could already picture it. Chaos incarnate. The two of them would burn half the court down to prove a point.
And the bastard would probably end up marrying her.
That thought brought him unexpected comfort.
She’d be able to bring her children here. Build a life here. Live out her immortal existence in peace, without fear, without chains.
His hand drifted to the stone bench beside him, fingers brushing the empty space.
For a breath, he let himself remember.
His family.
They’d be pissed as hell at him. Maybe forever. But they’d move on. They’d have no choice. And without Xyliria, maybe—just maybe—they’d heal. Maybe this court could be what it was supposed to be again.
His throat tightened. He let the thoughts go.
He was stalling.
Heknewhe was stalling. Letting his thoughts wander, spiral into impossible futures that wouldn’t help him now.
With a slow breath, he sank down onto the grass beneath the tree.
The silver bark at his back. The wind in his hair. The sky stretching endless and clear above him.
He angled the blade at his heart.
He could do this.
For his family, for his court, for everything.
He poised the blade over his chest, its tip angled with precise finality toward his heart.
One breath in.
Another out.
His thumb grazed the hilt. The metal felt warm now. Ready.
He pressed the blade just enough to feel skin give.
A heartbeat.
A blink.
A final prayer that he couldn’t remember the words to.
He closed his eyes.
The wind caught the hem of his tunic, lifting it like a farewell. A little harder and?—
The world erupted.
Shadows exploded outward, blades of darkness flung from the earth, from the stone, fromhim. Their silence shattered by a sound that wasn’t a sound. And yet it struck like a symphony tearing open the sky.
