Page 58 of Merciless Is My Crown

“Loyalty is even stronger than blood, Mother. True loyalty can last forever.”

I sensed Tristan behind me, closing ranks against the unspoken threat my mother represented. If Adele so much as touched me, he was there, ready to jump between us.

“I don’t expect you to understand. But we are bound together by more than you will ever know. We belong together,” I told her softly. “We were always meant to find each other, and now that we have, we have sworn to protect each other.”

Her eyes narrowed down to slits beneath the hood of her cloak.

And gods help me, but I wasn’t ready to give up on her.

“You can still be part of this, Adele,” I said, Tristan’s brow wrinkling in displeasure.

“I want you to be part of our family, but we have to be able to trust you. No more scheming behind our backs, no more plotting. Power will not heal your scars. But with trust, we could build a life where you can be happy.”

“Happiness.” She scoffed. “Do you even know what that is? Did you ever know happiness as a slave? Or while you were in Tempeste or Blackcastle? Happiness is a myth we tell ourselves to fool us into believing there is something better out there. There isn’t.”

“Happiness is having people I love and trust around me.” I met Tristan’s steady gaze. “Happiness is knowing this world is alive once more and will remain so for another thousand years. I’ve found joy in quiet corners and the laughter of my friends, and I will continue to do so until the day I die.”

“Something a fool would say.”

A smile bloomed on my mouth but anger raged in my heart, threatening to consume what little love I had left for her. “Someone else said that to me once. You’re starting to sound more like her every day.” I raked my eyes down my mother’s fragile body. “I hope, for your sake, you do not end up like her.”

I couldn’t look at Adele for another moment, couldn’t stand to hear her vileness. I kicked my horse and trotted away, ignoring Dane’s hissed warning to stop, Tristan right beside me.

It wasn’t until later, when we’d left her far behind, that Tristan finally asked, “Who called you a fool, Anaria?”

“The Oracle. She said I was foolish and idealistic to believe I could change the world.”

He stayed quiet for a long time, gazing out over the endless sprawl of white. “I don’t think you’re foolish,” Tristan said softly, snow falling so thickly we could barely see five feet in front of us. The entire world grew hushed, cocooning us in silence.

“Well, that makes one person.” I could hardly muster a smile. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“I think your dreams frighten the Oracle.”

I shook my head, sending snow flying. “Nothing frightens her, Tristan, much less my dreams.”

“Your dreams are bigger than yourself, Anaria. You don’t desire power for power’s sake. You want to change the world. Having dreams,” he explained quietly, “makes you less likely to fall under her control. There is nothing she can offer you to entice you to give up your dreams, and she knows that. And that’s what scares her because she will never be able to control you.”

22

TRISTAN DEVAYNE

We rode out of the mountains and straight into a brutal frozen landscape that made the ruination of Caladrius seem like a lush garden in summer.

Spikey gray stones jutted up from a flat, desolate plain, the wind blowing so hard the snow had drifted into every crevice, making our progress impossibly dangerous as we carefully picked our way across the tundra.

“The ward protecting this place is as ancient as any I’ve ever encountered,” Dane warned, his eyes fixed on the line of cliffs above us.

“I can pass through because my blood has been keyed to the magic. Anaria can pass because she bears the scion mark. Adele has witch blood. The rest of you…” Dane looked uncomfortable as his eyes met mine. “Let’s hope the magic recognizes you and Tavion as Anaria’s court.”

“What creatures does the ward keep out?” I asked quietly, urging my horse forward.

“Everything that’s not invited,” he said tightly.

“Well, then.” I forced my frozen lips into a grin. “It would seem that?—”

I never got the rest out because with my very next step I was fighting for breath, trapped within the choking ward as foul, hideous magic strangled the life out of me.

Horrendous.

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