Page 70 of Cages and Crowns
“No, you offered me chains!” I yell back, my fists tightening. “You want to take the one thing that belongs to me and then force me to marry your son. You want my bloodline and my power; you don’t care about anything else.”
“Dav.” Kassius says a hint of warning in his tone. “You can’t take it. Don’t you understand how Amaya got her gifts? How her parents got theirs? Balance. If you take her aether by force, you will be encouraging the fates to do something much worse.”
“I want to win a war. I want to decimate the child sitting on the Noterran throne and I will do so by any means.” He snaps.
“No, you won’t. Did you think we would all standby while you rippedaway her magic? Do you think we would all standby and watch you destroy her?”
“What does she matter. She is a child—”
“She is ourqueen!” Kass responds. Davenport’s eyes widen. “She is our queen, not some child or princess.Sheis the reason the armies are gathering.Notyou.” My heart is pounding in my chest, my eyes glazing over.
This is too much. I don’t want this. I don’t want to be their queen or their reason for fighting.
I don’t want any of this.
“I am the reason you are all here. I am the reason this so-called rebellion is still standing. My money, my men, my country. It’s allmine.”
“My country is gone.” I whisper, my voice cracking. “My people. My friends. My parents. Everyone I ever knew and loved is gone. I have no desire to start a war with Tobias. Do you understand what he is going to do if he finds out what is really happening over here? Do you know what he is probably doing to my uncle right now? We will not win. Not against him.”
Quiet spreads as the three of them stare at me. A snort leaves Davenport’s throat as he shakes his head.
“That is the person you are rallying for. She will lead you into ruin.” He turns, heading back up the beach.
“Elaenor, we can win.”
“No, we can’t.” I turn and look at Enzo. “Before you got there, before you saved me, I stabbed him. I shoved a scalpel through his throat, and do you know what happened? His skin knit itself back together and reabsorbed the blood as if it was never shed. The blood that wasblack. He told me that I couldn’t kill what was already gone. Hecannotbe killed. What do you expect to happen if we destroy his armies? Do you think we will just walk up and end him? No. We won’t. He will burn us to the ground, and I won’t let you all die in my name.”
“Where were you going?” Kassius responds, ignoring everything I just said.
“Home.” I whisper before following the king back to the palace.
I don’t sleep. I consider the sleeping draft sitting in the medical bag by the door. I consider a lot of things, but my eyes are fixed on the open windows. The sun rises, but I still sit here, watching it grow higher and higher.
My stomach cramps, my hand resting on it. Hunger settles deep in my belly, but I ignore it. I ignore the wave of nausea and the pain that follows. Weak. That’s what I am. The king knows it. He’s right, and he’s correct in saying they are rallying behind the wrong person. Maybe he would be better suited for this, better suited to take over.
I can leave, go to Labisa. A country I never believed I would see. He could handle the war and the armies and Tobias.
I could be free, or as close as I can be.
But what is the cost? Giving him the starlight that burns through my veins? Giving him the only defense I have ever had? That is the cost? Would I even miss it? It may have always been there, but it has only been present for days.
I could go back to normal. I couldbenormal for once.
I take a slow deep breath, putting the pain radiating in my pelvis behind. I lift my hand, staring at my palm. It only takes a second before a spark appears. Then another.
It forms a ball in my hand, and I finally take the chance to inspect it. It sparkles as if it’s filled with glitter, but the more I look, the more I see the individual stars. Each streak of lightning, each spark, is just a tight-knit line of stars.
My free hand lifts and I thread my fingers in between the lines of light. It tingles as it brushes my skin, and a smile passes over my lips.
It’s beautiful. So damn beautiful.
Can I give this up?
I watch the stars dance around my palm, tears lining my eyes.
I jump when it sputters. The light winks out before coming back. I sit up, my eyes widening. It sputters again and I flinch.
I see it then.
