Corveth sauntered forward, giving her a wide berth. He may be her brother, but even he knew not to touch her. Especially not right now, with the thrill of the hunt and victory coursing through her. Fleetingly, she wished she’d have Cethin to go to at the end of this to release all the energy, but she knew that would never happen again and there would never be another. He’d betrayed her too deeply, proving that letting people get too close only led to a different kind of torture.
Cethin tried to back away from Corveth, but he stumbled, dropping to his knees, as if the task of standing was suddenly too difficult.
Her brother laughed. A dark chuckle that echoed in the mountains while the dragon and thestryxstruggled with each other in the sky.
Kailia watched as Corveth crouched before the cursed king, pulling a dagger from his own ashes. Reaching for his arm, Cethin tried to pull it back, but Corveth easily snagged it, pinning his wrist to the ground.
“I’ve waited so very long to see one of his on their knees,” Corveth said casually, sliding his dagger across Cethin’s palm. Then Cethin barked a curse as Corveth dug the tip of the dagger in even deeper.
“Why?” Cethin asked, his voice a weak rasp as he lifted his head to meet her gaze.
He wasn’t asking Corveth.
He was asking her.
“Centuries ago, when the Reaper gave me freedom from the Cliffs, I made a promise to myself,” she answered, Corveth standing with his dagger in hand. Cethin’s blood glistened on the blade. “I vowed I would hunt down every single person who tortured me within those Cliffs, but more than that, I’d findanyone who had a hand in locking us away there. The Reaper found some of them before I had the chance. Others I’ve hunted down and taken my own vengeance.”
Corveth came to her side, sending her a questioning look. She nodded, and he reached for the crystal at her throat.
“I traveled across the continent trying to learn anything I could about the Cliffs, but no one knew of them. There were rumors, but nothing substantial. No one knew of the things happening on that island. No one knew of the colony hidden away, not for our own safety, but for the purposes of those in power,” she continued as Corveth used the tip of his dagger, covered in Cethin’s blood, to draw a Mark on the crystal.
It flared brightly when he finished, the leather cord at her throat snapping free. She caught the necklace as it slid from her neck. Summoning her ashes, they devoured, sinking into the crystal until it was nothing but the same in her palm. Opening her hand, she let the ashes float away, and then she moved.
Her soul sighed as she went weightless for the first time in months. Going whereshedirected, moving and twisting in a freedom she had thought she’d lost forever.
She reappeared behind Cethin, settling her hands on his upper arms as she rested her chin on his shoulder. “I learned little until I went to Baylorin, the capital city of Windonelle,” she said, her voice low as she murmured in Cethin’s ear. “And there? I found one who not only knew of the Cliffs, but knew so much more. I learned I had a brother who was trapped behind the Wards of your kingdom, but more than that, I learned that your beloved kingdom was the reason we were in the Cliffs to begin with. That a prince had been born, andhewas the reason those Cliffs had been created. That he’d convinced his parents that in order to free themselves from their exile, they needed stronger, more powerful beings.”
Cethin shook his head, the movement languid and slow. “That’s not…true.”
“No?” she asked, pushing back to her feet and moving around him. “Did you not tell me you would doanythingfor your people? Anything to free them of the Wards? Did you not force me into a bargain? Have you not been sacrificing your own people in your attempts to bring in ships that would carry those who survived the Cliffs? Luring in more Fae with promises of safety, only to present them with death?”
“Kailia, I didn’t…” He shook his head as if trying to clear his thoughts. “My parents would—Iwould never condone such a thing.”
“There’s no need to lie to me anymore,” she replied, striding to where his crown lay on the ground. She scooped it up, holding it between her hands. “I learned all of this, and then I learned there were those in Baylorin wanting to end the Avonleyan rule. A rule that had once been over the entire realm, but had slowly decreased to this continent. A plan was proposed to infiltrate the kingdom. We just needed a way in. Of course, it would be your carelessness that would provide an avenue. But while we waited and bided our time, I trained. Because like you, husband, I also keep my promises, particularly those I make to myself.
“It took time. So much godsdamn time. I couldn’t appear too eager. Not with you. I studied you from the ashes. A simpering female falling at your feet would never work. All the females here tripped over themselves at the mere idea of becoming your queen,” she scoffed. “You were bored and needed something more. Something to intrigue you. Something to obsess over. I may not have been educated in the art of reading people, but I could readyouso easily.”
Her ashes converged, winding around the king’s crown. They twisted and encased, seeping in behind the rubies and bendingthe spires. They tangled and maimed, ripping apart and tearing, until that crown became nothing but ashes she let fall at her feet.
“I swore I would find my brother. I swore I would find the cursed king, and then? I would take everything from him to save his people from the same fate I’d endured. I’d free them from the one who used them for his own gain,” she said, her smoke swirling and leaving her circlet on her brow. “You were the last one for me to find to complete my vengeance.”
She moved through her ashes, appearing directly in front of him. A king on his knees at her feet. She lowered to a crouch before him once more, using the tip of her finger to tip his face up, his head lolling and eyes drooping as though he was fighting sleep.
“I did what I had to do to get close enough to end you,” she whispered, cupping his jaw. “I told you you’d lost before we even began.”
“I know,” he rasped, and she could swear he was leaning into her touch.“I’ve known…since I learned…of you.” He sucked in a rattling breath. “Remember…I’ve been watching you…nearly as long…as you’ve been watching me.” The words were shallow. Breathy. “It was worth it,” he managed, slumping down on his side.
“None of it was real,” she retorted, needing him to know that before he crossed the Veil. But for some reason, she felt like she was trying to convince herself more than him.
“Treat them well…wife. They’re your people now…”
His eyes closed at those words.
It was worth it.
He couldn’t have meant that. He was confused as death came for him.
It didn’t matter anyway.
