Ropes of green fire stretch out from his wrists and ankles. All the magic Sira siphoned from Aurelia has given this pool enough power to gift the Baron some corporality here, yet it’s not strong enough to step through.
But that doesn’t mean he can’t still break me.
“I knew you would come back to me, son. The water speaks to me. I feel it in each ripple. I hear it in the tremor of your heart. You seek a gift. I will bestow one.” His voice sounds like a thousand men speaking all around me, screams and cries lacing behind the authority in his words.
My knees buckle at the sound, but I hold myself upright. Gritting my teeth, I stare into his empty gaze. “I seek nothing from you.”
“You seek everything.”
His voice assaults me like a wind, and I scream, my own sound lost in the torrent. I dig my fingernails into my palms, feeling that bite of pain again to keep me here, keep me grounded.
“You have shattered my crystals, son. Did you think that would stop me?”
“I thought it might shut you up,” I grit out.
“Every time you come before me and refuse to step into the pool, you break your mother’s heart.”
“Ah, so you don’t know everything,” I say, trying to affect an air of confidence. “My mother doesn’t have a heart.”
The Baron sighs, his breath creating a wind that blows backmy hair. “Come, Caspian, my son. It is time. I will gift you everything. Every wish that has ever lain within your heart can come true. All you must do is join me in the pool. Step into the water. Accept your fate.”
“No.” This is what my mother has always wanted. The reason why my faedom has been a death sentence not only for me, but for all of the Vale. I know what happens when I step into that pool.
“I have seen it in the water,” the Baron says. “It is your destiny.”
“Fuck destiny.” I turn away from him. I need to find Farron and get out of here. We’ve destroyed the crystals. It’s up to Kel now.
Shoots of green flame erupt around me, caging me in on all sides. I stagger, searching for a way past.
“Caspian,” the Baron says in a near sing-song voice, “you have come to me for a reason.”
“Yes. To stop you.” I turn in a circle, looking for a way through the flames. The only path leads back to him. Back to the pool.
“I can free you of her.”
I snap my head to the Baron. “Free me of whom?”
“Your mother.” His skull-white lips curl into a smile. “She haunts you. You feel the whip of her lash each time she looks at you. Though, there’s someone else, isn’t there, son? A girl.”
“Silence,” I growl.
“Sister,” he hisses. “You worry for the one you’ve chosen as sister. Your mother will kill her, won’t she? One day? You know this to be true. But you need not fear, son. Come. I shall show you all the paths of your life in which you can destroy your mother forever.”
I take a shaky step toward him. “My mother brought you to this realm. She bore your child. Everything she does, she does for you, and you would have me destroy her?”
My father’s milky gaze drifts over me. “I would have you, son. There are a great many wonders in this universe. Worlds upon worlds upon worlds. My own heart beats for another realm. But this one … oh, this one is so beautiful, isn’t it? How sweet it will be to walk in its ashes. You must do this for me, son.”
“No,” I whisper.
He takes a step across the pool toward the edge. “Long have I searched for a vessel strong enough to bear my power. Sira was a mighty vessel for my heir, but you are the treasure. I will giftyou power enough to make the very cosmos bend to your will. I will gift you this world, son. Take it for me. Sink your teeth into its skin. You will find one is not enough.” He reaches out his hands. “There’s so many of them, dangling across the universe like ripe fruit. One by one, I shall have them all.”
I fall to my knees at the edge of the pool, my very skin feeling as if it wants to rip off and belong to him. “I do not wish for this power.”
The Baron steps forward and bends down before me. His ghostly hand strokes my head then my cheek. His words are almost tender. “You do not get to choose. This path has been chosen for you. I have seen it and so shall you.”
Fingers like claws dig into the back of my skull and drive my head down over the water. I scream and thrash against his pull, but I can’t tear away.
The void looks at me, and I have to look back.
