The queen removes his crown and stands. “King Bandon Reve is dead. Long live King Ronan.”
Ronan inclines his head so the queen can replace his crown with the king’s.
The handful of people still in the square sob and wail as they slowly bow for their new king, none the wiser to the treachery that has taken place.
Ronan smiles at me, his too-white teeth gleaming in the waning sun. “I always get what I want.”
53
Everett
“Strength lies on the path to forgiveness.”
Author Unknown
No…
NO!
No matter how I fight, Maddox and Gryffin refuse to ease their grips on my arms, dragging me farther and farther from Kerris as the crackle of flames feasting on our bridge roars in my ears.
“Let me go, dammit!” When our boots meet solid ground, I finally wrench free. They block the path back to her, an impenetrable wall of muscle and flame as the rest of the Unseelie stumble for safety.
“What were you thinking? I could have saved her.”
“Are you fucking serious?” Gryffin waves his arms over his head, his jaw set. “We were outnumbered ten to one. You are no good to Kerris Dawn if you are dead.”
That may be true but, in this moment, I am no good to her alive, either. Not with flames engulfing the bridge, burning away the only way to reach the woman I love.
“They arrested her!” I can hardly bear to think about the consequences of her actions. How she defied the prince. There had been murder in his eyes, and without me there to suffer his wrath, he will turn that rage on her.
“Better her than you,” says Maddox, withdrawing something from his pocket. A key. Where did he get it?
“Kerris Dawn is Seelie,” he goes on. “Whatever crime they charge her with will be a slap on the wrist. She will be back at her house by nightfall.” He motions for me to hold out my bound hands and unlocks the manacles at my wrists.
I hope he is right.Please, let him be right.
“If they would have taken you, you would not have even seen a fucking trial,” Gryff adds, watching the flames with the rest of our people, each one wearing the same grim expression.
The bridge connecting our worlds still glows where it clings to the edge of the canyon, the planks falling one by one as the flames eat at the ropes holding them together. The wagons and mounts remain on the other side, along with all of our empty jugs.
Not only have I damned myself, but also I have damned everyone else as well.
Since we were children, we were taught that no good could possibly come from seeking the affections of a Seelie fae. Yet I chased one anyway.
I hunted her down and asked for things that I had no right to take. Her time. Her affection. Her heart.
There is no telling what the prince will do to her now, and she has no one to protect her.
* * *
I stay by the canyon until there is nothing but ash falling into the void, empty and without hope. A light rain begins to fall, extinguishing the few flickering flames that remain. For the first time in my life, I feel the cold. Its bitterness burrows deep into my bones, into my marrow, and not even the fire Gryffin has built back at our camp can stave its chill.
I have failed the woman I love.
I have failed the people who raised me.
I have failed myself.
