His eyes flit to Marina at my side, snagging on the scarlet droplets speckled over her cheeks. “Rina,” he breathes, half-warning, half-plead. “What the hell is going on?”
To Marina’s credit, she doesn’t go for a weapon. She only stares sullenly up at Tiernan, the soft drip of Willa’s blood echoing in the silence between us.
Tiernan lets out a growl of frustration, and shoves the blade more firmly beneath my chin. “I swear to the star above,someonebetter tell me what’s going on right fucking now, or I will gut you both,” he snarls. “I don’t care if your blasted ribbons take me down in the process.”
Tiernan has been by my side for the past two centuries, and though he is capable of finding humor in almost everything, I know better than to assume he’s joking. I’ve seen what the boy is capable of on a battle field, the way he drinks in the chaos like it will soothe that rage that’s burned beneath his skin for centuries.
“Tiernan—” I cut myself off with a muttered curse, for how do I explain I feel Willa’s pain as acutely as if I were the one stabbed? I can hardly think around her hurt, let alone put into words why it was necessary.
I take a leveling breath, holding Willa tighter to my chest. Her heartbeat has slowed to a faint patter, and though I know she cannot die by Marina’s hand, it teases the panic in my chest higher nonetheless. She would hate being defenseless like this; hate the loss of control.
“What have you done to her?!” Tiernan shouts, black blood beginning to bead at the tip of his blade as his eyes volley wildly between us.
We slit her throat,Marina signs so bluntly, my eyes roll to the ceiling. She motions haphazardly to Willa.Was that much not obvious?
Tiernan’s face goes feral, and he plants his feet, readying himself for an attack.
“By the star, Rina,” I hiss, reaching for a patience I’ve never once possessed.
You ask stupid questions, you get stupid answers,she replies with a blithe shrug.Now, move, boy. You’re wasting precious time.
Tiernan does nothing of the sort, no matter the terrifying glint of Marina’s gaze. Instead, he turns back to me. Though time has always worked differently in Letum, so slow as to be nearly imperceptible, something in Tiernan feels older than it did when I left. He always bowed though I never asked it of him, always kneeled to power greater than his.
He does not kneel now. He raises his chin. And when he speaks, his words do not waver.
“You found me silenced and alone…choking on my own blood and wishing to die. And I have been loyal every moment since.” Tiernan’s gaze is lined with steel as he continues, “But my loyalty has never been to your throne, Niko.”
My death goes still. Tiernan’s gaze drops to where Willa lies unconscious in my arms.
“It is to your heart… the heart that took me in and gave me a voice. That taught me how to be a man even though no one had ever taught you. The heart that bled for your friends and your people without ever expecting the same in return.”
Tiernan readjusts his grip. “My loyalty to your heart did not waver with your death. And it will not waver now.”
My eyes sting and my throat is impossibly tight as Tiernan’s words humble me in a way I rarely am. He will impale me on his blade without hesitation, not only because of his loyalty to Willa…but because of his love forme.
“Tiernan?” My voice is fractured.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
There is so much more I could say: thank you for understanding my heart before I understood it myself; thankyou for defending what it beats for without me ever having to ask.
Tiernan swallows hard, giving me a curt nod.
I swallow too, measuring my words.“We always knew Letum wouldn’t survive being anchored to death, knew that it needed life to thrive…but I didn’t—I didn’t understand what that truly meant.” My voice crack beneath the weight of my guilt, and my eyes drifting back to Willa, lifeless in my arms. “The island is siphoning the humanity from her. I’m—I’m trying to make it right.”
I think I’ll need to explain more, but Tiernan’s eyes immediately widen. He cocks his head, thoughts racing over his face. “Her shadow,” he guesses to my relief. “I told Sam…Iknewsomething was off. I felt it, but I couldn’t explain it—”
She can’t even explain it,Marina signs.She believes the evil belongs to her. That she deserves it.
Silence stretches between us, weighted with the familiarity of Willa’s predicament. Because haven’t we all thought the worst of ourselves? Haven’t we all sabotaged something beautiful because we believed we only deserved the lash of punishment for how we’ve failed?
Tiernan releases me from the tip of his sword, stowing the blade at his hip. “How, exactly, does stabbing her do anything but royally piss her off?”
“When have I ever cared about pissing her off?” I laugh darkly, as I have never feared Willa’s rage; I’ve only ever reveled in it. “Willa can hate me for eternity if she wishes, so long as there’s something left of her to hate me with. Since the moment she dropped into my life, I’ve never held hope of this ending with anythingbuthatred. My only hope was that I’d be able to give her something beautiful to go along with it. Something that would last her an eternity.”
Her blood drips over my knuckles. “I thought my kingdom would be the gift of power she spent her life searching for. I was…” I clear my throat against the sudden deluge of emotion. “I was misled in my arrogance, and now, I have to take back the burden I forced upon her.”
