Death was inthis room.
Could Vivienne feel it from her position a few feet from him?
Seconds ticked by, each one agonizingly longer than the last. Minutes passed before footsteps echoed through the throne room.
Marius didn’t look up.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” The king spoke slowly, enunciating each word with deadly precision. Every syllable boomed.
Marius swallowed and wiped sweaty palms across his thighs. He’d never felt more like a child in the king’s presence than he did at that moment. “I?—”
“You will not speak yet.” Sebastian’s voice rippled with power, and Marius clamped his mouth shut.
Luna softly said, “Sebastian, maybe?—”
“No, love.” The king’s voice was stern, and shadows swept across the stones. “He needs to understand what his leaving did to you.”
Marius flinched at the reminder that he’d hurt his sister. He lifted his chin, meeting the queen’s gaze.
“Lulu, I’m so sorry.” The words were inadequate, but he couldn’t keep them inside, even though they disobeyed the king’s command. “I just wanted to stop the First. I didn’t think?—”
“No, you didn’t. That much is abundantly clear.” The king snarled, and the sound was a predator’s last warning to its prey. “We aren’t discussing the First right now. That can wait. Right now, we’re talking aboutyou.”
Marius’s shoulders came together, and he sucked in a sharp breath.
The king’s wings flared. “Your sister has doneeverythingfor you. She went to tremendous lengths to save you all those years ago. Everyone else thought you’d die from the Wasting Illness. And this is how you repay her?”
Marius’s head pounded, and he gripped the stones beneath him, refusing to give into his body’s urge to sway from hunger and weakness.At least now that he was out of the cold, his cough didn’t seem as bad as earlier. The silver lining was minuscule, and it did little to help his mood.
Nothing could.
The king was right. Luna had saved his life and taken him in, and he’d thrown that back in her face. And for what?
Failure.
There weren’t enough apologies in the world that could adequately convey how deeply sorry he was. No words that could repair the damage he’d done.
But he had to try—for Luna.
“I was trying to help.” Marius met the king’s furious gaze and somehow managed not to flinch. “I thought if I did this… if I came back victorious, you’d let me have the adventures I’ve always dreamed of.”
It sounded so stupid now. So reckless and idiotic, just like Vivienne had said. And he hadnothingto show for his efforts.
He’d failed spectacularly, and his chance to experience the world outside these frigid stone walls, purple lights, and constant surveillance had slipped through his fingers.
“Your sister wept.” The three words, whispered by Sebastian, slammed into Marius like thousand-ton bricks. “My wife was in agony because of you.”
Marius dragged his gaze to Luna, who was staring at him with wide eyes. Even now, the remnants of pain, grief, and sorrow were etched onto her face.
He’d done that.
“She sobbed for days because of your foolish decision.” Sebastian balled his fists, shadows flitting through his eyes. “Did you even think about the pain that your disappearance would cause? You’re her only remaining family, and youlefther.”
The king wielded his words like knives, twisting them deeper and deeper into Marius’s heart.
Sebastian seethed, “You abandoned her without so much as a word.”
“I left a note,” Marius said weakly.
