Thorne, I realize.
“Fight each other, traitors. Let us see you bleed.” Arion’s voice pierces me straight to the heart. Dozens of bodies lay around us, beast and being alike.
Thorne looks up, smiling through bloody teeth.
Vann tightens his grip and starts forward.
“Wait,” I say. “Are you really going to kill him?”
Vann turns around, looking at me, confused. “It’s us or him, Arlet.”
I understand the logic, but it seems wrong to just slaughter him. I think of his confession about his sister—of seeing him in my room to give me those herbs.
The weeks in Arion’s court changed me, but my compassion still exists somewhere. Faintly, but it’s still there.
Then Cursed One speaks.I cannot hurt him,she says.
Because he worked with Arion, right? Wouldn’t the king know that?
“Arlet, we need to move before Arion decides we are taking too long.”
“Wait, Vann. Please,” I beg.
And then Thorne begins to stand.
Ask better questions, Arlet.
And I ask,Why can’t you hurt him?
Because…
Why?
Because he is my kin.
My eyes go wide,and facts begin to spin through my mind.
Thorne had a sister. She was Arion’s last wife. She was talented in magic.
She was executed for not producing a child. And then…
The presence in the back of my mind stirs.
“Spill blood, my bride. We are waiting,” Arion’s voice taunts.
Does Thorne know she is with me? He did everything for her memory. To make a better world.
“Vann, we cannot kill him,” I say with finality. Not before he knows the truth.
Vann looks back at me, confused. I wish that I still had my Fuegorra so our matehood would let us speak to each other’s minds.
How can I explain to him what I know? Is there any way he knows too?
All you have seen him accomplish and risk for me was for you—for those like you,I think.
Cursed One doesn’t respond.
Instead, something shifts over us. A massive cloud, fanning the fire and blowing heat over my face. I look up just in time to see vast golden wings flapping overhead.