Everything she’d confessed was true. Every word she’d shouted had come from her heart. But truth wasn’t always one-dimensional. Hers was multifaceted.
She wished Mareleau had been cursed in her stead.
She was glad Mareleau hadn’t suffered the way she had.
She hated that she’d borne a punishment meant for someone else.
She wouldn’t wish the terrors of her past on anyone else, least of all Mareleau.
Yes, that darkness belonged to Cora, a small and vulnerable side of her that she’d tried to ignore. Tried to smother and bury. But that wasn’t all Cora possessed. There was a bigger, brighter part of her that could exist beside the darkness. A side that understood her tiny, scared, bitter counterpart for what it was. Not something to be ignored but to be held. Listened to. Freed. Only then could the brighter side truly shine.
Darius remained oblivious and continued to grin at her in triumph. “Now do you see—”
“I still need more time.” Her words came out calm. “I will not ally with you until you’ve proven your merit. That’s what you stand for, isn’t it? You’re asking me to compromise on my principles and allow you to take innocent lives—”
“One of those lives belongs to someone you resent. Taking it would save thousands more. It would end a war before it can begin.”
“Yet it’s a life nonetheless. I don’t take that lightly. Give me the full three weeks, and you’ll have your answer when we meet at the border. In the meantime, stay out of Khero, stay out of Ridine, and prove you’re someone worth trusting.”
Irritation flared in his eyes, but he made no argument. His fingers curled and uncurled at his sides until he released an aggrieved sigh. “As you wish. Just don’t forget what I told you. You will be outnumbered at the border, should you refuse to either surrender or ally with me.”
“I’ll have to take that risk.”
He extended a stiff hand. “Shall I escort you back—”
“There’s no need.” She took a step to the side, a vision of the moonlit forest just outside Ridine in her mind, and planted her feet on cold grass. Icy air filled her lungs where mild heat had been before. Darius’ palace was gone, replaced with dense forest and a glimpse of the castle walls just ahead.
She took a moment to breathe, to marvel at how easy it had been to worldwalk here compared to all her recent attempts. She hadn’t needed minutes to sink into her destination. Just a vision. Intent. A feeling. And here she was. She may not be as strong of a worldwalker as Darius was, but it was enough that her magic had grown.
Where the purgatory have you been?Valorre’s frantic voice filled her mind. He was close enough that she heard the pound of his hooves on the forest floor. In a matter of heartbeats, he reached her.You disappeared. You disappeared!
“I’m all right,” she assured him as she caressed his silky neck.
His panic lessened only the slightest bit.I kept my distance and gave you privacy while you were mashing bodies with Teryn, and then…and then you were gone. You were just gone.
If her poor familiar wasn’t so upset, she’d be more amused by hismashing bodiescomment. Or perhaps more embarrassed.
“I know. I’m sorry to have worried you. That’s why I came here first.”
Although Valorre’s worry was great, there was someone else who was probably equally as frantic.
Valorre’s emotions flared with jealousy, which he demonstrated by scraping his hoof in the soil. He nuzzled her shoulder several more times, a tad more aggressively than usual, before he finally relented.Go on, then. You should tell him you’re not dead. He…was doing something strange earlier.
She pulled back. “What do you mean something strange?”
Valorre gave the emotional equivalent of a shrug.Something with dead people.
That was enough to leave her equal parts perplexed and concerned. She gave Valorre a final conciliatory pat before worldwalking straight to her bedroom.
She caught Teryn pacing before their bed, his thumbnail between his teeth. He jumped upon seeing her, blinking several times as if he wasn’t sure she was real. His eyes were wild, his hair more mussed than before.
“I’m safe,” she said.
Her words broke the spell on his surprise, and his expression eased. He rushed to her and folded her against his chest. “Thank the gods. I was about six seconds away from waging war on Syrus myself.”
The comfort of his arms, the scent of his skin, the cadence of his heartbeat against her ear, soothed all the fraying edges of Cora’s anxiety. She wished the moment could last. Wished they didn’t have to talk about what had happened or what would come next.
But she couldn’t put it off.
