I run to him, placing my hand on his shoulder, but he jerks away, then looks up at me with tear-laden eyes.
The look of confusion he wears clears up one thing, at least; he had not known what Lavinia was up to. His confusion morphs into disbelief, and he fumbles between trying to reach me and clinging to his mother’s body.
“Let me. Please?” I ask, hands out, hoping I'm not too late.
“She’s gone, love,” he whispers. The words are too soft. Too final. “I stabbed her thinking you were gone. There was no other choice. I thought I lost you both.”
“I have to try!” I drop to my knees next to him, and put my hands on Queen Daphne. There is nothing for my magic to grab onto, and my throat burns as I scream from the effort.
Raiden puts a comforting hand on mine. “There are others who need you more.” He turns his gaze down the stairs, and I follow it to a body slumped at the bottom, unmoving.
I fly down the steps to where Lavinia lies. She has blood dripping from her open mouth, and there’s a bruise on her head that’s a dark, angry purple.
“You stupid, stupid girl,” I cry. “Why did you do this?”
She groans, but looks up at me with a small smile, showing me her blood-stained teeth.
“Isn’t that what friends do?” she asks, reaching for my hand. “Besides, I couldn't let him lose you.” Her words are weak.
The room around us is slowly coming to life. Stone melts from bodies, and the soldiers stretch and groan as they test out their limbs.
I reach for my magic again, and it’s already a deep, flowing well that should allow me to heal Liv, at the very least.
“Do you mind if I return the favor?” I ask her, hovering both my hands over her body.
“Please.”
I can sense her wounds beneath the skin, and I start with those. I stop the bleeding in her internal organs, sealing off blood vessels and guiding the blood she’s lost back through her body.
Her heart is impenetrable, however, and if there is something wrong with it, I cannot tell.
She seems better, regardless, and I move on to her more visible wounds. The bruises mend easily, and it takes very little effort to have her looking as though nothing had happened at all.
“There,” I breathe, looking up from my work to find a crowd gathered and Raiden at my side.
Raiden
After giving her days to recover and dealing with the logistics that come with becoming the ruler of a realm, It’s finally time for me to speak with Lavinia.
“What in the godsdamned realms were you thinking?” I storm into the room we’ve put the shape-shifter in, but I’m surprised to find she’s not alone.
Anyx, my half-brother, is draped in a chair near the fireplace, flipping through a book. We found many of them hidden in different rooms, and are doing what we can to copy the important ones and disperse them throughout the kingdom. With a heavy focus on historical texts to help the people reconnect to their roots.
“I was thinking I had nothing to lose. And you both were risking everything!” Liv matches my volume and tone. “I am never going to be free to love who I want, and my mother will never allow me to rule Clestraya. With father gone, I’d rather die than be forced to marry someone I don’t love.” She doesn’t hesitate in her response, but she does exchange an odd look with the male who only grins up at her.
Though I understand her reasoning, I can’t help the sense of betrayal I feel.
“It was not your choice to make! You could have died!” I want to shake her. As relieved as I am that Arina did not die, Lavinia made a decision that may have cost my mother’s life. I can’t help wondering what might have happened if Arina had been there instead.
I don’t say it out loud, not wanting to make her feel responsible for something I risked all on my own. But the thought festers.
“Raiden, you have sacrificed so much, and I couldn’t watch you lose your kingdom or your love. I know you would have done the same for me.” She reaches out to touch my arm, and I put one hand on top of hers.
“That doesn’t make it right,” I say, finally lowering my voice to its normal level.
She smirks at me. “You’re right, but what’s done is done.”
I swallow the knot in my throat that continues to creep its way up each time I think of Gideon and his sacrifice.
