Page 195 of Where Darkness Falls

I stand up quickly, attempting to catch up to the strange boy. “Hey! Wait! What’s your name?” The boy doesn’t stop as he turns to the left, disappearing from view. “Do you know where my familyis?” I shout.

I gasp as I exit into the center of what appears to be a village square.

Frantically, I look for any sign of the boy, but he’s gone…

So, I slowly wander the streets of Aurelius alone.

Present Day…

I sink to my knees,feeling the full weight of my abilities snap back into place. The missing piece that I’ve been looking for has always been within my grasp. This whole time, I’ve been searching for the Na Fíréin, but the Galrosan rulers knew exactly who I was from the beginning.

I’ve merely been a pawn from the beginning.

The veins in my neck throb as I bury my fingers into the dense snow.

They killed my parents in front of me. They pretended not to know me… They played me like a fool. Though I never trusted the king, I trusted Emyr… I placed my faith in my feelings for him. I believed our friendship to be real, and hebetrayedme. The pain of such knowledge is so overwhelming, I feel as if I’ll burst under its weight.

My tears create divots as they fall into the white wasteland.

So many lies and secrets for the sake of “protecting” me—Siorai’s chosen one.

I release a guttural scream as all the forgotten grief mixes with the new. I allow the rage simmering beneath to burn out of me as my voice echoes across the expanse. I shout for every calculated plan that I never had a choice in. I ache from the wound that hurts worse than a thousand cuts. Not only have I lost those I love, but in a way, I lost my prince.

Emyr tried to tell me the truth this entire time, and I couldn’t see it.

“I’ve always loved you since…

There’s so much I can’t tell you…

You deserve better than me…

I’m a monster.”

I should’ve believed him.

I should’ve stayed away.

I should’ve ignored my heart instead of loving him a second time.

Opening my eyes, I see a tormented Emyr lying on the ground, stretching his arm out to me. “You killed them,” I seethe.

He drops his head, unable to look at me. “I did,” he murmurs. “I’m sorry.”

His regret tears a part of my soul, because deep down I know he didn’t have a choice. However, my father tried to give him a chance—another way—and he refused. In his love for me, he released me… only to return to his sire—pledging loyalty to the Demon King.“You really are a monster,”I whisper.

A strangled sound escapes Emyr’s lips, but it isn’t actual words.

Tiernan claps his hands, redirecting my attention. “Now, my darling, you finally see my son for what he truly is. After he allowed you and your wretched brother to escape, he came home telling me of howyoutricked him and allowed your brother to beat him to a pulp. I almost ran a blade through his chest for his disloyalty. But then, he begged on his knees for another chance to prove his loyalty to me. So I branded him with the ancient oath.”

The king grins maliciously as my entire body trembles. “I also forced him not to reveal anything about your life when we finally found you, because if you remembered everything too soon… you’d never retrieve that blood gem for me. I couldn’t risk you both rebelling against me, so I knew this was my chance… my shot to mold this realm into the glory that I know it can be, with your Eternity sent gifts as the weapon. Of course, my son has a way of mucking up my plans… which reminds me…” His eyes glow as he stands over his son, his onyx ring pointed at Emyr’s chest. “I almost forgot,” the king sneers. “You’ve proven that even in a loyalty oath that you’re, in fact, disloyal and unfit for my service. I should keep the brand on you, but truthfully, she’ll never desire you now, so why bother? You’re released from your loyalty oath, High General.”

Emyr screams as he claws at the branded L on his chest. Slowly, the blood-colored ink travels back into Tiernan’s ring until the mark is removed. Emyr gasps for air as the hold of the oath releases. Tiernan stoops down, eye-level with his son. “Look at the utter disappointment and betrayal on her face, Emyreus. I told you that if she saw what you really were, she’d turn on you—just as her parents turned on me when I needed them most.”

As Tiernan moves away from Emyr, the prince scrambles over to where I rest in the snow. With quivering hands, his palms caress my cheeks. “I wanted to tell you,” he cries. “I-I tried so many times. I’m so sorry, my Rosey.” His amber eyes plead for me to understand, and on some level, I do. Fifteen-year-old Maeva clung to the hope of her first love residing behind the wall of indifference, and it paid off when he released her. He was a child given the job of a man. Truthfully, I can’t fault Emyr for his vow to his father rather than facing death. Tiernan failed him in every capacity as a father and made his son into the monster he always desired. Yet, there are too many demons between us now… too many deaths at the hands of his father’s rule.

Slowly, I remove his fingers one by one. Emyr swallows thickly, his devastated gaze roaming my cold indifference. “Your Rosey died ten years ago when you drove a blade through my father’s heart,” I whisper.

Then, I drop his hands into the snow, standing to face the Demon King.

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