“You’re a disease, infecting every last inch of this realm, and yet you never respected the lands you’ve been feeding from for too long.”
“You’re lying,” Gravelock hissed, but fear was painted in his gaze, in the way his eyes darted wildly to the dragon, the castle, to my pale-faced sister, leaning over the parapet, a blanket wrapped around her thin shoulders, searching for an ally to save him.
“Don’t look at me, you sick fuck,” Ariel called, and I swallowed, my throat clogged with tears.
Her blue eyes looked…clear.
“Kill him,” Ariel called, her voice faint and thready, an echo of the sister I’d once known. “He used to tell me howhe murdered your father, how he longed to take your place. But I found the Triune many years ago, and he’s so very afraid of your magic.”
Gravelock stared up at Ariel, baring his teeth in rage when Rooke unleashed another powerful surge of black, glittering with gold. Those protective shadows gathered around the Butcher splintered, the clean winter wind carrying away the dark corruption until he was completely exposed, stripped of everything except that thin veneer of arrogance.
I stepped forward, sword in hand, my heart beating steadily. Ryland was right beside me, then Varian appeared beside us on the shoreline, grim-faced as he surveyed the dead guards, then me, gaze widening at my bloodstained clothes.
I’m okay,I tried to tell him, with a shake of my head.
“Any last words, Venmir?” Kaden asked. “After enduring your speeches for decades, I can’t say I’m looking forward to another, but I’ll offer you what you denied my father. A chance to be heard.”
His lip curled. “Your father was a…”
Kaden Rooke drove the end of the staff straight through Gravelock’s chest, the point punching out through his spine in a shower of blood and a burst of golden light. Instead of a scream, shadows poured out of his open mouth as his face slowly…melted.
I blinked, trying to process what I was seeing.
Flesh turned into honey, sharpened cheeks softening, body liquefying like watching a candle slowly burn down to a misshapen stub.
“Holy gods, it’s like the guard at Gravespire,” Varian shuddered. “Horrible.”
Horrible, yes, and as a rule, I didn’t enjoy death, but this…this one I savored.
He had caused untold suffering, nearly exterminated an entire realm, and if given the chance, would have consumed Valarian. He was as bad as the Old Gods, and even worse than the two kings—who had only wanted to destroy each other, not the world.
Gravelock didn’t make a sound as his body dissolved, flesh and bone turning to gelatinous muck, washed over by the mists that rolled in off the frozen lake. As if the last of his foul magic died with him, the darkest clouds parted, leaving a pale, watery outline of the sun overhead.
For a moment, there was only silence.
“Let’s all pretend I gave him a chance to speak,” Rooke muttered. “I don’t often lose my temper, but…I couldn’t stand to hear another word come out of his mouth, especially about my father.”
“I, for one, am glad I’d heard enough. I’m glad you cut him off,” I whispered, the weight of the moment settling over me.
He was gone, which meant Kaden was finally…free.
Except…he didn’t look at all happy.
My eyes stung as I gazed at the Crown, the way the magic spilled from him in an endless wave of shadow and gilded smoke, like looking at the night sky speckled with shooting stars, leaving their arcing trails behind.
“Assholes like him…he deserved to die, don’t you ever doubt that, Kaden.” Because I recognized that tormented look on his face. The guilt, the self-doubt, wondering if he’d done the right thing.
Despite the haze of power hanging around him like a mantle, Rooke was exhausted, and as much as I wanted to go to him—brace him up like I would any fellow soldierwho’d endured too much for one day—something told me Kaden needed space right now.
So I winked. “And besides, now you have a fancy crown to go with your fancy title and your fancy castle. Look at you, allfancy.”
Ryland smirked, leaning on his blade, his arms and face covered in small cuts. “Who wanted to hear anything that shriveled-up old bastard had to say?”
Varian’s lips quirked. “Not me.”
“Me either.” I added, knocking my shoulder against Ryland’s.
Kaden took one long look at the three of us and turned, stalked back into his castle without a word.
