Something hot flared in my chest, fueling the words that followed.
“You never really believed in me, did you?” I asked, turning to face him fully. Though emotions flooded my system, my heart beat in a steady surety. I was done wilting beneath his flames—beneath his doubt.
He blinked, cocking his head to the side as his brows narrowed. “That’s not true,” he finally said, “but I question some of your recent choices.”
Choices.
The heat in my chest flared as the word left his mouth.
“You want to talk about choices?” I asked, my brows hiking to the sky.
White flames burned in Bayne’s eyes at the question, his defenses rising, yet they flared without heat as if fueled by an icy resentment. Any warmth left between us seemed to vanish. His shoulders sagged, and he blew out a tight breath, the inevitability of this conversation nearing us like the storm on the horizon.
“If you came here thinking you needed to end our relationship, don’t bother,” he said, waving his hand. “Things ended between us when you went after a Marisarma pirate and left your family and friends behind… Left us behind immediately after our realm was attacked.”
It hit like a slap in the face. The sting ripped along the skin of my heart.I had left them all behind.
But I didn’t regret going after Kellan… Not for a single second. Bayne opened his mouth to say more, but words spilled from my lips in a hot rush.
“Things ended between us long before that, Bayne. You want to talk about choices? If our relationship hadn’t ended when youmarriedQueen Antares, it certainly ended when youbound your soulto hers. When you stopped believing in me. When you stopped having faith in who I was, who I am meant to be. What I could do, what I couldfixwith these powers,” I replied, holding my hands out between us. “I’ve made my choices, and I wouldn’t take them back even if I could. Don’t talk to me about my choices when you can barely face your own.”
Silence cleaved the air between us as I let my arms fall to my sides. This wasn’t how I had meant for this conversation to go. I hadn’t meant for all of it to come out… I had planned a mature, level-headed discussion about how we had grown apart and changed. But the truth had been scraping to get out for months now, and it had just clawed its way free from my heart.
A muscle in Bayne’s jaw ticked as his eyes scanned mine, and I thought he might say more. He ran a hand over his face, finally pulling his gaze away as he gave a rough jerk of his head and turned away from me.
Shit.
“The Realm of Vael needs us,” I called to his back. “This world needs all of the Bellators to be on the same team. Things have changed, but I’m still on yours, Bayne. Be on mine. Fight for the realm.”
Bayne’s shoulders went rigid, and he turned slowly to face me.
“What do you think it is I’m doing?” he asked, his eyes wide. He made a long sweep of his arms, gesturing to the root gardens in need of more life.
I swallowed, nodding. He sighed, his shoulders sagging.
I tugged on the chain around my neck, pulling the oval, amber pendant out from under my jacket and over my head.
“Here,” I murmured, holding out the elaborately carved amplifier Bayne had made for me last year for the Awakening.
Vines of nyxteria blossoms covered the pendant, twining with ferns and rays of sunshine, the etched patterns becoming increasingly elaborate each time I used the amplifier. A phantom pain burned at the center of my chest where it usually hung, the scar of that burn, of Bayne’s lingering power.
His eyes traced the soft glow of the pendant. The amber was bright against the white castle looming behind us, like a sad little sun in the clouds. I held onto the chain as I let the pendant slip down, its clasp falling open and showcasing the small, fossilized creature inside. His jaw unclenched as he blinked, and for a glimpsing moment, I thought I caught a glimmer of sincerity before his words wiped it away.
“I’ve no need of an amplifier. I’ve had decades of practice with my power,” he replied, a trace of condescension riding his tone. “Keep it. You may need it at the Arx.”
I placed the open pendant on my palm. Bayne turned back to the gardens, putting space between us as I gently folded my fingers over the amplifier. Its clasp snapped closed with a softclick, the sound permanent.Final.
I let the amplifier sink into my pocket with a softthunkand heaved a sigh as I turned away from the king of Lotrennia. The approaching clouds gave a soft, almost comforting rumble in the distance, and the breeze coming from the west blew a strand of hair from my face. I felt lighter as I stepped away, the weight of our relationship, our history, now reduced to the light stone in my pocket.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
DRYSTAN
We’ve been unable to identify the priest who attacked our men, but his power was unmatched.
– Correspondence from Stynguard forces to Lord Pavel.
Drystan – Western Sultira
