Page 96 of Shattered Crown

“And leave you here alone?” Agnes's voice cracked. “To face Sebastian's army by yourself?”

“I won't be alone.” Thorne touched his chest, where the bond with Silas lived like a second heartbeat. “I never really am. I just... forget sometimes. When the weight gets too heavy.”

Agnes gathered her artifacts with shaking hands, each movement speaking of reluctance and grief. “This isn't your failure, Thorne. This is Sebastian's crime. Elder Willow's sacrifice. The council's fear. But not your failure.”

“History won't see it that way.”

“Then we'll have to survive to write a different history.” She pressed Elder Willow's crystal back into his hands. “She didn't choose you because you were perfect. She chose you because you could bear imperfection and keep fighting anyway.”

After Agnes departed with her volunteers, Thorne remained in the heart grove as true night fell. Briar curled against his side, their small form the only warmth in a world growing cold. Through the failing network, he felt Sebastian's forces massing, felt groves dying like stars winking out one by one.

His bond with Silas flickered like a candle in wind, but it held. Somewhere beyond the forest's borders, his love fought his own battles, faced his own impossible choices. They were apart yet together, each carrying half of a burden that threatened to crush them both.

“I'm sorry,” Thorne whispered to the empty grove, to Elder Willow's memory, to all he had failed to protect. “I'm so sorry.”

The forest bled. The guardians scattered. The darkness grew.

But in the deepest part of night, as despair threatened to consume him completely, Thorne felt Silas reaching through their bond. Not with words, but with pure emotion: love, faith, stubborn refusal to surrender.

He wasn't alone. He never had been. He'd just forgotten how to feel it through the overwhelming tide of cosmic awareness.

22

REUNION

Silas dropped the stack of guard reports he'd been reviewing, clutching his chest as Thorne's grief flooded through their connection. The agony wasn't physical, but it might as well have been, stealing his breath and blurring his vision.

“Silas?” Diana's hand gripped his shoulder. “What's wrong?”

“Thorne,” he gasped, steadying himself against the table. “Something's happened. Something terrible.”

Diana's expression hardened with understanding. “I'll ready an escort.”

“We need to leave now.” Silas was already moving, his mind racing. “Elder Willow's gone. I can feel it.”

He burst into Nathaniel's chambers without knocking. His uncle looked up from ancient texts, immediately reading the urgency in Silas's face.

“The Eldergrove?” Nathaniel asked, already rising.

“Elder Willow's dead.” Silas's voice cracked. “Thorne's... he's transforming. I can feel it through our bond. He's drowning in it.”

Nathaniel moved with surprising speed for someone recently recovered. “The fastest route would be horseback, but with the forest's instability...”

“We'll manage. I need to get there.”

They found Kai in the training yard, sparring with palace guards. One look at Silas's face and he dropped his practice sword.

“What's happened?” Kai demanded, falling into step beside them.

“Elder Willow's dead. Thorne's taken her power.” Silas's voice shook. “He needs us.”

“Fuck.” Kai grabbed his gear without hesitation. “Let's go.”

Diana intercepted them at the palace gates. “You're not going without protection.”

“Diana, there's no time?—”

“Make time.” Her tone brooked no argument. “At least take a small guard unit. The Eldergrove's destabilized. You don't know what you're walking into.”

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