Page 118 of Crown of Light and Ashes
Ancient power flows through me now—shadow magic I have always resisted, always feared. No longer. No more resistance. No more restraint.
"This is grief talking, not reason," Emir ventures hesitantly, risking my wrath to step closer. "Nesilhan would not want—"
"NESILHAN IS DEAD!" I roar, the words echoing through the crumbling shrine with such force that the remaining pillars crack. Dark energy explodes outward, engulfing the chamber in darkness so complete it seems to devour reality itself. "SHE IS DEAD BECAUSESHE BELIEVED I WOULD HARM HER! DEAD BECAUSE OF LIES AND MANIPULATIONS!"
The marble floor beneath us splits, a chasm opening that threatens to swallow the entire structure. Emir stumbles back, genuine terror in his eyes for the first time in lifetimes.
"She has died believing I was a monster," I continue, my voice becoming razor-sharp and more terrifying than my shouts. "So a monster I shall become."
Shadowfire coalesces around me, forming a living armor of darkness that pulses with each shattered beat of my heart. The air itself turns liquid with cold, frost forming on the stone, on Emir's beard, on the hilts of the guards' swords.
"With her dies any chance of peace between our realms," I say, each word like a nail in the coffin of my former self. "Now there will only be darkness. Only vengeance."
My gaze shifts to the eastern horizon, where dawn will soon break. Where her people wait, unaware that their princess's death has sealed their fate.
"I am my father's son after all," I say, mounting my shadow steed with fluid grace. "And it is time the Light Court remembered exactly what that means."
As we are riding away from the crumbling shrine, I do not look back. I cannot bear to witness the collapse of the place where I lost everything for the second time in my immortal existence.
This time, there will be no recovery. No slow healing. No redemption.
Only darkness remains. Only vengeance.
And for the Shadow Lord of the Twilight Mountains, vengeance will be absolute.
The ancient structure collapses behind us, eons of history reducedto rubble in moments. Like my heart. Like my future. Like the last fragment of humanity I had dared to nurture.
All gone now.
All that remains is the darkness—and the promise of blood to come.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Ashes of the Bond
Nesilhan
A few hours earlier
THE BOUNDARY FOREST looms before me, a tangled mass of ancient trees marking the periphery of Kaan's influence.
I enter the forest on foot, pushing through dense undergrowth until exhaustion forces me to rest. A small glade opens before me, moss-covered stones arranged in a circle as if waiting for my arrival. Dawn breaks in pale fingers through the canopy as I collapse against one of the ancient stones, my legs finally giving out beneath me.
Hours pass, perhaps. I drift in and out of consciousness, the emotional and physical toll of my escape catching up at last. When I fully wake, the sun has climbed higher, dappling the glade with golden light. I reach into my pocket, fingers closing around the crystal vial that represents my only hope of true freedom.
Aslan's potion catches the sunlight, its iridescent purple contentsswirling like a miniature storm. So small a thing to hold such terrible power. So small a thing to determine my fate—and that of the child growing within me.
I uncork the vial, my hand trembling so violently that a drop of the iridescent liquid spills onto the moss, instantly withering it to ash. The scent that rises is sharp and metallic, like lightning and copper. My stomach turns, but I steel myself.
I think of Mother Wren, the boundary witch I encountered in the village tavern. Her warnings echo in my mind: "The price is high, child. Higher than you can imagine."
Her ancient eyes had held such knowledge, such warning as she spoke of the elixir's power. "Pain beyond measure. Agony that will tear through body and soul alike. Few survive such a severing intact."
But I'd left her warnings behind in that tavern, choosing this path despite her cautions. Despite the price she said I would pay.
"Pain is temporary," I whisper to the silent forest. "Survival is what matters now."
My thoughts race with everything that has led me to this moment. I think of Kaan's fury when he discovers my absence. Of the child now growing in my womb. Of all the lies I've been told about him. Of all the truths that came too late.
