I blinked at her. “How do you know this isn’t it?”
“Because this,” she hissed, rising to her feet, “is adead chair.”
“Fascinating,” I murmured. “Perhaps it simply doesn’t like you.”
She shot to her feet.
Her power flared again, wild and biting, shards of ice cracking through the floor and up the columns. The palace groaned under the weight of her fury. “Tell me what you’ve done with its power.”
“I’ve done nothing,” I said.
The air around us shimmered with frost as she stalked toward me. The crown on the table froze solid. “You will tell me, or you will die.”
“If I die, then you’ll never know,” I said.
Frost slithered up the walls behind her, leaving hairline cracks in its wake. Behind me, the door banged open as two guards rushed in.
“Your Majesty, are you?—”
Ice shards flew like spears, embedding deep in their chests. Both guards staggered and fell. More would come. It was only a matter of time before Lemuel sent for an entire legion. And Heliconia would fell them all.
I had to stop this.
I softened my tone, taking a careful step toward her. “Darling.”
She turned, eyes bright as broken stars.
“Rulewithme,” I said. “We can still have peace. No more ice. No more blood. Just… two thrones, side by side.”
For a heartbeat, her fury flickered. Her head tilted as I leaned closer.
My voice dropped, low and coaxing. “You don’t have to destroy everything in order to win.”
Her expression shifted, her breath catching just slightly as I closed the distance. Slowly, I reached out. The heat of my skin met the cold of hers. She didn’t pull away.
I brushed my thumb along her cheekbone, felt the shiver that might have been pleasure. “You’re tired of fighting,” I murmured. “I can give you something better. Stay.”
The warmth of my persuasion unfurled between us—soft, honeyed threads of power sinking into her skin. I felt it take hold, that subtle give as her mind leaned toward mine. Her lashes lowered. Her lips parted.
Then she laughed.
The sound was wrong. Beautiful, yes, but hollow.
She leaned in, her lips near my ear. “How adorable,” she whispered.
The charm shattered like glass.
I staggered back a step, breath catching. “You?—”
“I am immune to mortal persuasion,” she said lightly. “Did I forget to mention that? A pity. You might have saved us both some time.”
My pulse roared in my ears. The only weapon I had and it was useless. So, I did what I had not done seven years ago. I stood and defied her. “I’ll never give you this throne.”
She shrugged. “Then you and your people will die.”
The silence stretched. Farther out, I could hear shouts sounding. Soldiers would come. They would fight for me. And they would die. And Heliconia would still walk out of here, undeterred. And someday, no matter how long it took, she would find the throne I’d hidden in the bowels of this castle.
It would all be for nothing; the lives lost. The soldiers who fought.
