Iyana shrugged. “Honestly? I have dinner plans and don’t want to be late.”
Uther snarled, hurling more shadows towards her. She deflected them and jumped to the side, tucking into a roll. Briefly, Iyana wondered how much control the emperor had over those shadows, or if the magical heart was directing things. Was it possible that the will of the astmina was overpowering Uther? Maybe it was the relic wanting more power, and Uther was simply its puppet. She thought it was a question he probably wouldn’t take kindly to. So, of course, she had to ask.
“Tell me something, Uther,” she said, as they circled each other slowly. Each of them waiting for an opening, a tell, a weakness. “When did the astmina take over? I need to know how many of your accomplishments to actually attribute to you.”
The emperor frowned. “What are you talking about, you silly girl?”
It was a risky strategy, but if she could throw Uther off balance by making him furious, maybe he’d be more sloppy. Make more mistakes.
“You see, I figured it out. Twenty years ago, the stars lost sight of you, and it triggered their curiosity about what you were up to.”
Uther glanced at Altair, the star hacking at the dome with a sword.
“That was also around when you killed your wife, is it not? I’ve overheard Zane telling some stories about his childhood before Empress Selena died, and it sounded like it wasn’t completely terrible—only dealing with normal narcissistic daddy issues. Things only worsened once his mother was gone.” Uther opened his mouth, but she waved him off. “Yes, yes, I realize you killed my parents twenty-five years ago. I have an explanation for that as well.”
His eyes narrowed on her, but she had his attention. “I would love to hear what ridiculous notion you’ve come up with.” They continued circling around the dome, Iyana searching for any weak spots in the structure and finding none.
“Now, I think before all of this, before you killed your father, you took a little trip. To a certain library where a certain relic called to you. I’m sure you couldn’t help yourself, breaking open the glass case and stealing the astmina. You would tell yourself nobody would notice, nobody goes to the library anymore, and if they did, there was no reason to suspect you. But I don’t think you ventured there specificallyfor the astmina. No, I thinkitchoseyouand over time has corrupted you further.” Uther’s frown continued to deepen as she spoke, and Iyana thought she was on the right track. “I think it gave you the courage and motivation to murder your father and take his place as emperor. Then, once you had a wife and an heir, the temptation for power grew. You wore the astmina more and more, and its influence drove deeper within you over time. It wants Altair, and me, and the amulet, and it’s going to drive you crazy until you possess all three. And now, you’re nothing but a puppet for an inanimate piece of jewelry.”
Uther growled and charged towards her. She spun out of reach, turning to face him yet again. His eyes were red-rimmed, white hair disheveled, hands clenched into fists at his sides. Shadows writhed around his feet, oozing from the astmina to join the others.
“My shadows have tasted you once already, my dear. They’d love to devour you whole this time.” Hearing from Uther’s lips that the shadows had actually pierced her chest in Azazel’s chamber threatened to undo her. She wasn’t completely crazy—it wasn’t all a hallucination. Did that mean the shadows would track her like a hound on a scent? Iyana didn’t want to find out.
Her steps faltered as a sudden influx of magic threatened to flood her, causing her to overflow. A silver haze glowed at the edges of her vision. She hadn’t tapped into the amulet more than what was necessary, so where was… Emmeric.
He was sending magic, thinking it might help, but with the amulet, she didn’t need any extra. It was too much. The killing frenzy was stretching beneath her skin, some innermost part of her ready to break free and wreak havoc. But in that frame of mind she couldn’t recognize friend from foe, and this was a fight in which she needed all her wits about her. With tremendous effort, she tamped down the murderous goddess living within her and shoved the magic back to Emmeric. Daring a glance to the side, Emmeric’s vivid blue eyes gazed at her in fright, his palms flattened against the barrier. Iyana reinforced the wall between herself and the Kanaliza. He frowned, rubbing at his chest. She hated the absence of the bond as well, but it was necessary.
A shadow whipped out during her stupor, slashing into the meat of her arm. Iyana cried out in pain, warm blood running off her elbow in a river of scarlet. Pulling from the amulet, she mended the laceration, an echo of the painlingering. Iyana pushed magic into her legs, circling Uther in her super-sprint. Her dagger laid heavy in her palm, but she had it poised to cut the cape from his neck. As Iyana was about to slice through the cloth, her body slammed into a wall of darkness. She ricocheted backwards, nose broken and bleeding. Tipping over backwards, she flailed her arms for balance, but it was too late. If Uther got her on the ground, she was done for. A sudden puff of air lifted her back onto her feet. Iyana silently thanked all the gods that her magic was now coming to her instinctually. And she thanked Les for the amulet, because without it she’d already be dead.
“Neat trick,” Uther said. “Now watch this.”Gods, does this man ever shut the fuck up?Still regaining her balance, Iyana was unable to avoid two shadowy tendrils from wrapping around her arms, lifting her into the air. A shriek left her lungs. Doing the first thing she could think of, Iyana slashed at one of her shadow binds with the dagger. Something akin to a scream emanated from the shadow before it let her go, retreating into the astmina. But now she dangled high above the ground by only one arm, the tendons in her elbow and shoulder screaming for the pressure to be released before they tore. Reluctantly, she agreed with Emmeric—she really needed to start thinking things through before acting.
Fuck fuck fuck.
It wasn’t as though Uther was going to put her down gently, so she swiped the dagger through the other shadow. The same scream sounded, and then another from her own mouth as she plummeted towards the earth. Though she couldn’t hear it, Altair and Emmeric both yelled her name, and everyone else watching collectively gasped, which, Iyana noticed—time slowing as she fell towards her death—now included Uther’s men. They were all standing around, not fighting her friends, simply waiting to see how this battle ended. There was no way for them to come to Uther’s aid, and, if he lost, maybe they could curry some favor with Zane by not murdering them all where they stood.
Her arms thrashed about her as she fell, but as she extended her hands to break her fall—which would inevitably break some bones—a gust of air burst free, kicking up dust and slowing her descent. Iyana tumbled off the brick of air, still landing on her back with athud, knocking the wind out of her. But she was alive. Gasping, but alive.
Boots entered her line of sight. Iyana couldn’t roll away. Her ribs hurt, her lungs hurt. She’d hit her head at some point, and her arm continued to yell at her from being overly stretched. Delving into the amulet, she was surprised to find it was half-empty. Iyana didn’t recall using that much magic, or how she’d wielded it without noticing, but she spared some of what was remaining to heal her aching body. Only for one of those boots to crunch down on her hand.
Iyana screamed as multiple bones were crushed. Her other hand flew to Uther’s foot, trying to pry him off her. The emperor only ground his boot into her hand further. A whimper crawled up her throat, but she’d already screamed for the man; she wouldn’t do so again. Not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing her reaction, she thanked her lucky stars he was on her non-dominant side and bared her teeth at him.
Uther lorded over her, looking down his nose as if she were lower than dirt.Probably the way he actually views me, Iyana thought. A lowly healer from a miniscule village, given visions of grandeur because the gods had gifted her with some parlor tricks. Gods, she should have stayed in Imothia. Run when she had a chance—gone anywhere outside of Arinem with Altair at her side. Lived out their immortal lives in anonymity, not worrying about emperors, coups, stars, or gods. Why did she ever think she could win?
Uther crouched down, his boot still firmly on her hand. Iyana grit her molars together to keep from crying out. He glanced over towards where she knew her friends—herfamily—stood. She really, really did not want to see them die. Let alone at the hands of this man. How would her death affect the bond with Emmeric? She didn’t want to think about it.
“A shame I can’t kill them while you watch, since one of us has to perish to leave this barrier. I’m only sorry you didn’t see how much we might have accomplished together. You could have been an empress.” He stroked her face with his knuckles. It took everything in her not to shudder. Instead, Iyana laughed.
A frown formed between Uther’s brows. Once she began, Iyana found it hard to stop. She knew if she stopped, she’d cry, and that was a weakness she did not want to show the emperor. But empress? The very idea was ludicrous. A traitorous tear streaked down Iyana’s face, and she wiped it away, still giggling. “I’m sorry,” she said, trying to sober her mood, which only led to another peal of laughter. “It’sjust—you genuinely thought I’dmarryyou? And do what exactly? Pop out another heir to replace Zane? Or maybe you thought you could send me to do your magical dirty work.” Iyana shook her head, suddenly serious. “Uther, I’d rather you stab me through the heart than ever have to touch you.”
Uther’s scowl deepened. “That can be arranged.” He drew his sword from its scabbard, holding it poised over her throat with both hands on the hilt. “Any last words?”
“Actually, yeah.” Icy blue eyes locked with hers. “You shouldn’t have underestimated me.”
Iyana’s good arm, which had been concealing the dagger underneath her body, arced above her, slicing through Uther’s wrist, then his makeshift knot for his cape, knocking him off balance, and freeing her hand. The astmina landed with a heavy sound as Uther still tried to bring his sword down into her throat, his wrist gushing blood. Warm droplets splashed on her face. Iyana rolled free directly into Uther’s ankles, causing him to stumble further. She snagged the cape and bounced to her feet. Rushing behind the emperor, she threw the cape around his neck and yanked it taut, circling her wrists in the fabric so it wouldn’t slip easily from her grip. Her left hand was on fire, but she held her grip tightly even as Uther scrabbled at the noose with his fingernails. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she tightened the noose, directing strength into her arms. The level of power in the amulet continued to diminish. She’d been using too much, too fast, with no training. But she would finish this, and then she could finally rest.
Iyana only let go of the cape when blue-tipped fingers brushed the ground and Uther’s head lolled forward.
One hand on the impromptu noose, she watched Uther’s body slump to the ground. Iyana fell to her knees, barely registering the shock of pain on impact.I killed him.While she had prayed for this outcome and had realized it was inevitable one of them would die, a part of her was obviously still hoping he’d step down, crown Zane as emperor, and send himself into exile. But Uther didn’t operate that way, and once the dome had appeared, the ultimatum was set—kill or be killed. Now she’d ended two men’s lives, when her only ambition in life a few moons prior was to help everyone heal.
