“Is this what pain is?” His voice is barely a whisper now. “No wonder you go to such lengths to avoid it. This is awful.”
I look up at the top of the tree. Its branches are swaying in thedriving storm. It’s a solid, sturdy thing, and if I hadn’t just seen it grow myself, I would have assumed it was hundreds of years old.
The realization strikes me that this is the land’s revenge upon Bram for killing their beloved queen. It’s never going to let him go.
I could leave him here, stuck and suffering for the rest of his eternal life, or I could put an end to this.
I look down at the silver blade of my sword, at the raindrops running down its sharp edge.
Cold iron.
We thought that meant unforged, but maybe we were wrong.
This sword has never had a drop of blood spilled upon it.
Bram’s eyes are fully closed now. His chest rises and falls with great effort as water runs down the delicate beading of his doublet. “I only wanted you to love me. Didn’t you love me, Ivy?”
I lean forward and press one final kiss to his cheek. “I hope this is a mercy,” I say, and then drive the sword into his chest. I don’t stop until the blade hits the solid trunk of the tree behind him and Bram goes limp.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
As quickly as it began, the rain ceases and the clouds part, revealing calm, sunny skies. It’s as if the air around us lets out a sigh of relief, leaving nothing but the green smell of fresh trees and a gentle breeze off the sea.
The vines stop moving, the trees go still, the brook slows from a roar to a gentle babble.
I slide my sword out of Bram’s body and fall to my knees, sobbing.
He picked the wrong girl to kill. If it had been me, nothing would have happened. The land wouldn’t have cared and he and Lydia could have both gone on living, but instead, they’ve left me here, alone, to deal with it all myself.
The bloodstained sword slips from my limp hand and falls to the ground with a clatter. I give one final look to the tree, where Bram is slumped. His eyes are closed, and his face is peaceful enough that he could be sleeping, if not for the tree branches holding his hands aloft, pinned above his head.
I don’t regret what I have done but I know I will also mourn Bram, the person I believed him to be and the person he could havebeen, for the rest of my days. I will also mourn the girl I was before our paths collided. He killed the version of Ivy who believed in magic and goodness just as surely as I killed him.
I then turn and trudge through the vines back to Lydia’s body and sink to my knees.
Duddon is there, standing guard, stroking her damp curls, and I hold her, not knowing what else to do.
Eventually I will have to rise and face the consequences of my actions, but then Lydia will have to be buried and that will really mean she’s gone and I can’t bear it yet. So, I steal these final moments with my sister.
Heavy footsteps crunch through the vines toward us. I look up, prepared to see Queen Mor in a rage, ready to kill me for what I did to her son, but instead I see Emmett, free of his binds, pushing through the dense greenery alongside Faith and Marion.
Emmett’s face crumples in relief upon seeing me, but when his eyes land on Lydia’s body he releases a bloodcurdling howl of pain and falls to his knees beside me.
I feel so stupid for all the time I spent being jealous of the relationship he had with Lydia; now, I’m just grateful to hold her with someone who loved her, too.
“Oh, Lydia,” he weeps. “Lydia, no.”
Rhion follows closely behind him, and collapses, weeping into her hair. “I’m sorry,” he cries in a voice that’s just for my sister. “I failed you.”
His bloodshot eyes meet mine. “I never even told her that I loved her.”
“She knew.”
Faith and Marion make their way through the crowd soon afterand silently sink to the ground next to me, laying their hands on my shoulders. Tears stream down both of their faces.
“Emmett?” a voice calls, but Emmett can’t manage to answer. Seconds later, Nan bursts through the trees, Fennick at her heels.
Eloree appears next, tears in her eyes. Then others I recognize vaguely from the castle, staff and courtiers.
