Page 117 of Clash of Storms
"You want to know why it had to be you?" She circled him slowly. "It took months of careful manipulation. You were resistant. Stubborn. But you were the only one who could get near Reynar without rousing his alarm. He could see the struggle within you, and knew—just as I did—a single pull in the right direction might sway you. It appealed to him more than you could know. I could see it. He wanted to save you from the fate your father and I wove for you. And it was what got him killed."
This couldn't be true.
A choked sound echoed in his throat as the world threatened to vanish beneath his feet.
"You didn't want to remember. It made it easy to bury it in your subconscious." For a second she looked faintly hesitant. "I had thought it would make your choice easier, but you rebelled. It made your father unhappy and he never could truly trust you again. I have tried to weld the two of you together, to repair—"
"Repair?" he breathed in horror. "To repair what?"
They'd never had a relationship. He saw that now.
Stellan and the queen could only trust each other, and woe befall any who sought to stand between them.
Sirius laughed bitterly, the sound echoing hollowly through the empty throne room. "You're going to fall. Do you realize that? You and father only ever had faith in each other. All you cared for was each other. You used both Magnus and I like puppets and now you've lost us both. You turned against your children, and yet you have the audacity to look at them and wonder how they could have turned their backs on you. You have no allies. No friends. And Rurik will come for you with the hopes of the entire court riding upon his back. You know he'll come one day."
"They're coming now," she snarled.
"Are they?" He laughed. "Then this shall be your last sunset."
The queen paled.
"You're afraid, aren't you? Árdís can wield Chaos magic. It's the one advantage you had, but now another shares it. And Rurik is more than a match for father. If they face each other again, the prince will kill him. I wonder.... The pair of you shared a womb. You share your thoughts. A soul. Will you feel it when Rurik rips Stellan's heart from his chest?"
She lifted her arm. The blow rocked him, the slap echoing in the empty room. The queen's shoulders rose and fell, her breath seething through her lungs as Sirius licked the blood from the newly opened slit in his lip.
He slowly turned his face back to hers.
"If you give me your word to stand against Rurik," she whispered, "then I will set you free. I shall set Andri free."
He couldn't help laughing.Thiswas why she'd spared his life. This was why she'd come here now.
Stellan couldn't match the prince. Rurik could breathe fire. He had his father's strength and power. He was enormous in hisdrekiform; virtually unstoppable. It was why they'd sent both Magnus and Andri to assassinate the prince all those months ago.
Leaning forward, Sirius looked her in the eye and whispered the most freeing word in the world, "No."
It was the only means he had to fight back.
Even if it cost him his life.
Or Andri his.
He would not be bound by her strings anymore.
"If I get free of these chains I will kill you myself," he swore. "Goddess mark my words."
Thunder rumbled in the distance, and three mighty claps of it rolled through the skies far above them, but he could feel the tremor of it, even here.
The queen's eyes widened as she heard the Goddess accept his vow. In them, he saw his own death painted, but he didn't care.
Amadea's eyes narrowed and he saw her excise him from his life, a pity, but an acceptable loss if need be.
"You won't live long enough to try," she snapped, turning toward the doors. "Before I go to greet my son and daughter, the court will be shown what happens to traitors. Goodbye, Sirius. Make your peace with the world."
* * *
The queen strodefrom the throne room, the doors banging shut behind her with a ringing slam. Two enormousdrekiguards fell into place behind her, but one remained behind to guard the throne room.
Malin ducked back around the hallway corner, her heart pounding in her chest.
