Vaddon shook himself free of the nightmares with rapid efficiency as I ran. He moved faster now, though still working to remain steady on his feet. Each step brought him closer to Hart.
Though Vaddon’s sword raised, Hart made no move to defend himself. His shouts had stopped, but he had yet to recover from the nightmare magic.
Break the curse. Free Hart from the game.
Free Hart from the game.
I had been looking at this wrong. It wasn’t that I wantedHart to choose not to be Themis’s Champion. I wanted him to have never had to make that choice to begin with. I wanted the goddesses to leave us to our fates.
I wanted the game not to exist in Kavios at all.
Black flashed in my periphery as the adamas of the dragon’s eye finally came to life.
I didn’t hesitate. “I choose to end the game. I choose no Champions in Kavios. No influence of the goddesses will drive this kingdom. Each citizen will choose their own fate.”
Darkness so black I couldn’t see my own hand in front of me coated the throne room. My only reassurance was Charon’s voice in my head.“Yes, Ember. Keep going.”
It was the first time he hadn’t called me Champion.
I imagined Charon behind me and the throne ahead. My sprint would have put me equidistant between the two representations of power. While I wasn’t next to Hart, I felt our connection as strongly as if I held his hand now. I repeated the words louder into the darkness.
“I choose to end the game. I choose no Champions in Kavios. No influence of the goddesses will drive this kingdom. Each citizen will choose their own fate.”
Though Hart didn’t move, I tasted the fruity flavor of his joy. He might not be able to speak, but I knew he was with me. I hoped that was enough for the trial.
Power shifted in the throne room, and I was confident that Hart’s joy was evidence enough. If I could see the pendant, it would have glowed black instead of flashing. The magic that surged in me wasn’t only one emotion. It was all of them. Anger, sadness, joy, lust, envy, and fear rolled through me. I was alight with them, each reminding me of how Hart had broken down my walls and made me stronger for it.
Then the darkness lifted.
Steps still separated me from Hart. I didn’t waste timechecking the pendant. Hart was on his knees, seeming to have recovered from the nightmare magic but not ready to defend. His mouth moved slowly, as if he mumbled his reinforcement of the choice I’d made on our behalf. He must have done so even through his nightmares. It was such a typical Hart thing to do—support me against all odds. It unfortunately meant that his sword was on the ground at his side.
Vaddon was too close, and he was poised to strike.
Nothing in life was guaranteed. That was part of how I’d found joy. Time with Hart had never been a given. That was what made each and every moment of it precious. As he’d pointed out, we were fated to be opponents in a game of goddesses. We should never have become allies, let alone lovers.
That had been our choice. With the odds stacked against us, we’d chosen each other. He’d chosen me over his Feared. He’d chosen me over his plans. He’d chosen me over and over again when I couldn’t see my own path.
I’d chosen him, too.
And if we had the power to break this game of goddesses, if I had the power to free Kavios from Rodric’s oppressive rule, I certainly wasn’t going to let Vaddon fucking Camm take Hart from me.
Vaddon lifted the sword higher, his strike aimed to sever Hart’s head from his neck. There had to be limits to the healing magic of the adamas gem. I wasn’t willing to test them.
Vaddon swung.
I lunged, throwing myself between Vaddon and Hart with only a dagger to defend us.
The steel of Vaddon’s sword clanged against the short length of my blade. But I couldn’t hold it in place. No amount of training with Alaric could make such a small weapon defend against such an attack. I screamed as Vaddon’s blade knockedmy dagger from my hand and cut a diagonal line of fire blazing across my shoulder and chest.
I fell to the cold marble floor. Pain surged through me. Searing agony flared with every slowing beat of my heart.
Vaddon’s face appeared above me. The oily slick of his hair was the absolute last thing I wanted to see at the moment.
“I knew I should have taken care of you myself,” he mumbled.
Charon roared from across the room. He’d listened to me and saved Alysa, but that meant Vaddon had an opening to strike me down. The advisor gripped his sword with both hands and drove it down toward my chest.
Every part of me wanted to reject this ending for me and Hart. It was too much like my parents’—finding each other only to have Mother go somewhere Father couldn’t follow. I thought of Hart. Freed from Themis, he was the leader this kingdom needed. He could give the humans here a good life. My lips twitched ever so slightly into a smile as I thought of the words he’d said in the dingy hallway of my apartment building when I’d told him that a love like my parents’ was dangerous.
