When he reached me, I felt his touch on my cheek.
“Nik,leikavi, what have you done?” he rasped, his voice anguished, his mind on the verge of breaking.
I had used the heartstone. That same power had meant death for Lokkaru’s father…would it mean the same for me?
A price has to be paid.
Acceptance settled in my chest. At least Davik would be safe.
“It’s done now,” I murmured to him, my eyes filling with tears though I blinked them away. “Bring me Lozza.”
There must’ve beendarukkarsbehind me because Davik bit out an order to them. They streamed into the great hall and, a mere moment later, dragged the Ghertun king to my feet before they scurried away, as if afraid of me. Lozza’s side was bleeding in a steady flow, pooling on the floor. He would bleed out soon. He would die.
He was as frozen as the rest but I found his life source in my mind and I gave back his will.
“You will give me the cure forvovic,” I told him. “You will release your enslaved under the Dead Mountain and vow to me that you will never take another.”
He was staring up at me in fear, in bewilderment, and in pain.
As I looked down at him, I realized it would be so easy to end his life. Davik would do it for me gladly. This male had been the cause of so much pain and suffering within my own family, withinmany.
But as I looked at him, I also realized that if he died…another would take his place. Perhaps another even more terrible than him. The hatred in the Ghertun’s minds, after centuries of Dakkari oppression and rule, ran likevovicin their veins, poisonous and bitter. It would never end.
“Or else I will bring the Dead Mountain down on top of you,” I whispered. Light was coming from somewhere, blue light that illuminated Lozza’s face. Was it coming fromme?
Davik had spoken of a white-haired sorceress that had destroyed an entire horde?
Well,Iwould destroy an entire mountain if necessary.
TheDothikkarhad had every right to fear me when I turned up inDothik, I realized.
But my newfound power was already beginning to wane. I could feel its reaches begin to contract and pull back. We didn’t have much time.
Lozza stuttered, “In the cellars. The cure is there with the doses. I swear it. Take it. Take it all.”
Rath Kitala’s voice cut in, from somewhere behind me, words in Dakkari to thedarukkars, who sprinted from the great hall—no doubt to take every last item in the cellars.
“How do I know you speak the truth?” I asked, even as I delved deeper into his mind.Thispart of my gift felt familiar to me.
I was relieved when I found no deception, a weight seeming to lift off my shoulders.
“I swear it. T-take the slaves,” Lozza rasped. “Take them but spare me. Spare my kingdom. I will do whatever you wish.”
“Of course I will spare you,” I told him. Davik started at my side, a growl tearing from his throat. When I looked at myVorakkar, I nodded. He procured a silver disk from his pocket and I took it, flipping it open to see a dark blue salve inside.
“Kalles,” Rath Kitala cut in. “We should discuss this.”
“He lives,” I decided, leaning over the Ghertun king and applying the salve to his wound, since his limbs were still heavy. Relief relaxed his features. He looked up at me almost gratefully and I felt a sting of anger rise in my chest. It was a similar expression, no doubt, to how I’d looked at mysibiwhen they’d finally given me a dose ofvovic. “How else will he hold his promise to me?”
That grateful relief gave way to shuddered fear.
I wiped my fingers on his clothes and rose. As I did, my head was beginning to split and throb.
This is done.
I turned from Lozza, my legs feeling heavy and sluggish, like I was wading through water. Davik caught me in his arms, swooping me up against his chest.
“Hedna is here,” I whispered to Davik, starting to feel the strain of holding a thousand minds within my own. Davik was already running down the hallway leading from the great hall, back towards the main level and the staircase that led up to the entrance. Rath Kitala was at his heels. “I—I don’t think I can hold it for much longer, Davik.”
