“You blew up the dais,” I said.“Why?”
The chancellor glanced at the door as if expecting company.Had he wanted Valeris to become king so he could kill him and assume the throne?
“Ezrielle.”Realization filled Valeris’s voice.“That’s why she wasn’t on the dais.You planned this with her.She wanted to be the only successor.She wanted to be queen.”
“And she will be,” the chancellor smiled.“She’s made plans with people far more powerful than you could imagine, Valeris.”
A dagger.
I had a dagger in my hand.
I should kill him.
But I couldn’t move.
Five years.
I’d trained five years for this only to be speared by shock.
A dark form darted through the balcony doors and tackled the chancellor to the ground.They grappled on the floor, both fighting for dominance as blows fell.The chancellor rolled away, grasping for King Zaricor again, slashing at his leg, but the shadow yanked him to his feet and shoved him against the wall, arm locking across his throat and not allowing him to move.
Wylan Athello.
King Zaricor crawled to the queen.The queen who had murdered my family.Who had destroyed my entire kingdom—but it had been on her husband’s orders.I lifted the dagger without thinking.
“Analleia, no,” Valeris pleaded.
I let out a shuddering breath, unable to look at him.
He’d watched his mother die.Would I force him to watch his father die as well?
Five years.Five years of hating this man only to find out he wasn’t the culprit behind all of this.The real accuser hung dead in his arms, my vengeance bleeding out like her blood on the rug.
King Zaricor looked up at me, saw the weapon in my hands.
“I’m not going to kill you,” I said, stepping away from them.An unnamable burden lifted from my shoulders.He wasn’t the mastermind behind my family’s downfall.He was simply the head sergeant.The executioner.
What had all of it been for?
Do not let this destroy you.
My mother’s words from the night our kingdom was attacked echoed through me, but let it destroy me, I had.
Disappointment and failure enveloped me in their cold embrace.
Blinding light flashed through the dim room.Stars exploded across my vision, and I shielded my eyes, turning away.After a moment, I lowered my arm, squinting to find the Enchantress standing in the midst of us, hovering over a foot above the ground and shaking her head.
“Two simple tasks, Analleia Kallistar.”She glared at me.“Bring me the ring and kill the king.That’s all I asked of you in exchange for my help and you couldn’t even completeoneof them.”
She lifted her right hand, and a burst of swirling light shot from her palm, striking King Zaricor in the chest.He gasped, falling to the floor, eyes lifeless.Dead.My mouth hung open, unable to believe my eyes.
Valeris collapsed to his knees, staring at the bodies of his parents.
No.
“Now,” the Enchantress continued like she’d done nothing more than eliminate an annoying insect.“Richard Wylan Athello, you will remove the ring from your finger and slide it across the floor to me.”
He shook his head, shoving the chancellor to the side.“You know I would never do that.”
