I understand now. This is fate. Everything between me and the Prince of Thorns has led to this moment. Everything I have learned from giving up my Blessing, from losing Florendel, and from traveling through the desert … it has led to this.
I feel the weight and strength of my blade. It is my duty to protect my family. To protect those I love.
And Caspian has always been a threat to that.
The son of Sira killed my father. He torments my mate. He destroyed the life of my best friend. Now, he helps his mother take over a city and slaughter innocents.
I will do what I must.
My feet have wings as I surge toward him.
Caspian turns and catches sight of me. His lavender eyes shimmer with mirth. “Ah, Ezryn! What a sight for sore eyes. Still gracing us with the helmet-less look, I see, and how fine it is! Now, it appears I’ve missed something important. Turning all of Hadria’s citizens into sirens is certainly a bold move, but what else could I expect fro—”
I don’t let him finish. The moment I reach him, I swing mysword down in a cleaving arc. He ducks out of the way with the agility of a cat.
He stumbles out of the alley to the open street. “Not exactly the greeting I was hoping for.”
A growl sounds in my throat. “I told you that the next time I saw you, I would kill you. For all my evils, I do not break promises.”
Caspian ducks under my next swing and smiles up at me with that smarmy grin. “I don’t suppose you want to hear my side of things?”
I respond by slashing at him again.
He leans back so far, my blade skims over his chest. “I’ll take that as a no.”
I punctuate each word with a swing of my sword: “You. Killed. My. Father!”
Caspian lets loose a sigh, one of his thorns erupting out of the ground to whip him over my head and away from my attack. “I know, Ez, but trust me, it was the merciful choice. He’d been poisoned for months! Another moment and he’d have been one of Perth Quellos’s monsters. Would it have been better if you’d killed him yourself?”
Rosalina told me the same thing. But she has yet to realize every word from the Prince of Thorns’ forked tongue is twisted. “Liar.”
Caspian lands and dusts off the shoulders of his coat. “I saved you from the fate of murdering both your parents.”
The icy frost taming my rage begins to melt. An inhuman sound erupts from my throat, and I charge at him, sending Caspian skittering back and falling across the sandstone. Water splashes up around him, and only now do I realize this street is beginning to flood.
“It’s the truth,” Cas spits, touching a scrape along his cheek. “I did it, so you wouldn’t have to.”
My mind races. “And who poisoned him in the first place? One of your minions? The acolyte who pretended to serve him?”
If I didn’t know better, I would say a look of remorse crosses his face. “I am genuinely sorry for your loss, and what my sister helped do to your people.”
My shadow spills over Caspian. He still hasn’t stood. Instead, he’s crouched on all fours, water sloshing at his boots.
“I will kill you for everything you’ve done to me and those I love,” I say and place the point of my sword at his neck.
Caspian rolls his eyes. “Really, Ezryn? Kairyn takes over two realms, banished and mutilated you, and you find forgiveness for him, but for me? Nothing?”
“I do not forgive Kairyn,” I snarl. “I spared his life because he is my brother!” I whip my sword up in the air, preparing to strike.
Caspian gives a weak smile. “Weren’t we also, Ez? Once upon a time?”
I freeze. No, no, it was never like that between us. I loved Kel, and because of that, I tolerated Caspian. But I always knew, in the depths of my heart, there was something wicked inside of him. “Never. I always knew you would betray Keldarion.”
I swing my sword down. In a single movement, Caspian stands, drawing up a thick briar to block my attack. I growl and push harder, my blade slowly cutting through the wood.
“Kel betrayed me first,” Caspian hisses. “He brought his army to Cryptgarden. He rampaged my city. His soldiers hurt people I cared about. I may have stabbed him in the back, but he drew the blade.”
I push harder until Caspian’s face is right in front of mine, only a breath away. In a moment, my sword will cleave through this briar and take his head from his shoulders. As he is to die, I tell him the truth. “It was never Kel.Iordered the attack on Cryptgarden.”
