Page 177 of Her Dark Promise

I tried to stand, to run back into the castle and search for him, but my legs gave out.

Emilia turned to me and whispered, her voice strained, “Don’t move, your majesty.”

I ignored her and tried to stand again, and this time, my legs held. I lifted my hands and pulled for my magic, but there wasnothing there. That wasn’t right. I pulled for it again, and there was nothing.

“The blade,” Emilia interjected.

I wasn’t sure if my powers were gone because of the blade or if they…were just gone. I growled at how irritated I was for not being able to search for Soren.

I coughed and cupped my hands around my mouth, “Soren!”

I started to move forward when Bastian stopped me. “Wait here. I’ll go find him.”

I pushed his hand away and took slow steps forward, calling his name. I could hear Bastian curse under his breath, and then he ordered Emilia to stay by me as he ran toward the castle. Emilia wrapped an arm around my shoulders to help stabilize me when I almost tripped over a piece of stone.

We walked back toward the ballroom to see if he was trapped somewhere or unconscious. At that thought, I hurried my steps and continued calling out for him. Emilia even tried to yell as loudly as she could.

We heard someone coughing over to our left near the greenhouse, and out came Soren, holding something in his hands.

“Soren!” I screamed. “Bastian, Soren’s here!” I broke free from Emilia, and ran toward him, tripping over my feet as I tried to sprint. He sighed a breath of relief as he set down whatever was in his hands and spread his arms wide for me. I jumped onto him, flinging my arms around his neck. He tightened his embrace around me, one hand around the back of my head and the other around my lower back.

After a moment, he pulled me back at arm's length and looked over every inch of me. “I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. There is no scientifically sound reason on how you could be alive right now.”

“Everything is alright.” I tried my best to reassure him.

“Youdied!” He said incredulously, and I flinched at the truth in his words. He was right; I had died.

I didn’t have time to think more about it when Bastian came running from wherever he was and barreled into Soren, knocking them both to the ground. “What the hell were you thinking?”

The breath was knocked out of him, so he pointed behind him to the item on the ground. I walked over to get a better look and saw what he carefully placed on the ground. I gasped, as the realization of everything that had transpired tonight seeped in. It was all real.

My portrait from Callum. Soren risked his life to save this.

I was kneeling next to it, too nervous to touch it. I looked over to Soren sitting on the grass next to Bastian. He ran a hand through his hair, “I tried to save him. I tried to get Callum out, but…” A hollow look entered his eyes. “I was too late. I was about to leave, but then that caught my eye, and I thought—I just thought you would want something to remember him.”

I blinked back the tears and nodded.

The weight of all that happened had finally broken the piece of me that had been holding everything together. And I, like my home, crumbled. I sat on the ground and wailed into the night. Crying for the loss of such a sweet soul. Crying for the loss of my home. Crying for my past. Crying for a future without Callum.

Mourning my loved ones and the people of my kingdom. To be the sacrifice to spark my curse—the torment and loneliness that I had endured over the past centuries. I let it all out. I didn’t care that they were watching. I knew they were grieving just as hard as I was.

When the tears had dried and my body had stopped shaking, Emilia said, “It is all my fault. I didn’t know. I just—I didn’t know.”

I looked up at her and saw that her eyes were rimmed in red, and she was shaking, her arms wrapped around her middle. Her head was bowed, hair falling in front of her face. She was filled with shame, that much was evident.

I stood up, walked to Emilia, and fell to my knees, wrapping my arms around her in a tight embrace. She was shaking her head back and forth and trying to pull away from me. I just held her tighter.

“You didnothingwrong. Do. You. Hear. Me. You did nothing wrong.”

We were both deceived by Circe, and it almost destroyed us. I wouldn’t allow Circe to tear us apart any longer.

When her tears had subsided, I took a breath and sat back, needing to know what happened. Nothing made sense. Soren was right; I shouldn’t be here right now.

“Tell me everything.” I looked at all of them expectantly.

They all looked at each other, and I waited for them to collect their thoughts.

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