A battle dawns.”
A tear slipped down my cheek as I mumbled the words. The anthem was so powerful and strong. It was everything I felt like I wasn’t, and could never be again.
There was aclickas the door opened, and I hastily wiped my tears away. Odette, Kiara, and Delmare stepped in. Odette was holding a cup of coffee, while Delmare had come to return a book. Kiara was following them, though she didn’t seem to have a reason to be here.
Odette said something. I recognized her voice, but didn’t truly hear her words.
Whenever someone spoke to me now, there was always static. A buzzing accompanied their words that made everything so hard to understand.
“Sorry, can you repeat that?” I felt stupid. I didn’t comprehend what she’d said. I set the book aside and looked up at her.
Odette clutched her coffee mug, and her fingers turned white. In a small voice, Odette said, “I hate you.”
“What?” I blinked. I must’ve misheard again.
“She doesn’t mean that,” Delmare rushed to say, giving a harsh glance at Odette.
I hadn’t spoken much to my friends since we’d gotten here. I’d spent so much time in recovery I didn’t have much energy left for conversation. “I don’t—”
“This is all your fault!” Odette stamped her foot. “We shouldn’t be here. Not in this country, not in this place— Dolinska isgone, and you ruined it, Emma!”
“She’s just upset,” Kiara added. “We hadn’t seen pictures of what was left of the city yet, but they were on the supernatural news today, and—”
So they’d been confronted with the terrible truth. Here in Ireland, so far away from Malovia, they could continue to pretend that the news they’d been given was all a bad dream. Confronted with footage of what the city looked like, they were no longer able to ignore reality.
My mouth flattened. “I’m sorry. I knew you’d have to see it someday.”
“It never should’ve happened at all,” Odette hissed. “I’m sofuriousthat you allowed Gabby to take your blood and raise Droga from the dead!”
She wasn’t the only one. I was pissed off about how dumb I’d been and how my reckless decisions had destroyed lives.
“It wasn’t like I had a choice,” I growled.
“Bullshit. Youknewit was going to happen! You had forewarning, and a prophecy, but you did what you wanted anyway!” Odette snapped.
“Did what I wanted?” I repeated. “Nothing that went down that day was easy!”
“You could’vemadeit easy if you’d just stayed behind, like we told you!” Tears were brimming in Odette’s eyes now. “We were so devoted to you and were willing to doeverythingto make sure you didn’t put yourself in danger, but you didn’t care about that. You didn’t think about your friends, only what you felt like you had to do.”
“Guys,” Delmare said, trying to break us up, but her cry fell flat. In her tone, I noticed something.
Deep sadness. A part of her, even small, blamed me for what I’d done, just like Odette did.
“I was a queen. I made a decision that I felt was best for my nation,” I said, seething. Accompanied by the pain now was anger, and it was so overwhelming it wanted to burst out of me and consume everything in this room.
“If you hadn’t snuck off, Droga wouldn’t have destroyed Dolinska! Lady Magdalina would still be alive!” Odette cried.
A pang ran through me at the mention of her name.
Her face… I couldn’t get it out of my head.
“You think I don’tknowthat?” I screamed. “Don’t you think I’vepaidfor what I’ve done?”
“Girls—” Kiara said, attempting to calm us.
“Fuck you, Emma!” Odette threw the cup at me, and it shattered against the wall next to my armchair. She slammed the door as she ran out.
I wanted to follow her, but there was no way in hell I was getting my ass out of this chair. It’d taken me all morning to prepare for the journey down here, so it’d take all afternoon to get back to my quarters. I leaned forward over my knees and huffed, pissed off I couldn’t do so much as storm out. I had no control over my body or how I felt.
