Page 164 of Curse of Darkness
I open my eyes, forcing her to look at me. “And you dared to be angry when I looked for love in other places. Thiago found me. He fell in love with the pieces of me that no one else ever could. He gave me back my magic and stood by my side all these years, even when I couldn’t remember him. He swept me away to his kingdom and made me his queen—and not merely another version of you. He let me be who I was, and he loved me for it. You drove me into his arms, Mother, and then you punished me for it.”
“He stole you from me!” she shrieks, wrenching a stave from one of her soldiers and whipping it toward me.
“He gave me back myself,” I tell her, tearing my sword free of its sheath in order to meet her stave. Twisting, I force the razor-sharp end of the stave into the loam between our feet, coming face to face with her. “At every step of the way, you forced me down this track. You stripped me of allies, you took away every ounce of compassion and mercy I might have found hope within, and you forced me into his arms. You forged me into your doom. Your ruin.”
I slam my forehead into hers, and she staggers back.
My ears ring as I follow up, riposting into another flailing strike. The tip of my sword lashes across her chainmail and leaves a line of blood across her unguarded upper arm.
I see her as she staggers back, clutching at her arm in shock.
A queen standing alone.
A desperate woman, fueled by hate and vengeance.
Carved hollow by ambition and fear.
She’s always been the monster under my bed, an enormous force of rage and power who made me feel so small.
Even the simple sound of her voice in a distant room could make me flinch.
But as she recovers her balance, I finally see her.
Not so tall anymore. Not so powerful. Not so monstrous.
And my sword lowers as it dawns on me that she’s the desperate one now.
I have all the power.
I’ve always had the power. I just never dared claim it.
All my life I’ve been waiting for someone to rescue me from her. Waiting for some prince in shining armor—or in this case, a prince in black leather—to sweep me away from the ruins of my life where I could finally breathe freely.
And I had that.
Thiago gave me freedom. He gave me trust and love and he fought for me when I barely dared fight for myself.
But if there is one thing I’ve learned in the past month, it’s that I can’t keep waiting for someone to rescue me.
Youarethe one you’ve been waiting for.
Her lip starts to curl in a sneer, but that’s when I take the reins.
Foot by foot I drive her back, my sudden attack seeming to shock her.
She should have had all the advantages, but with every step I see fear light through her eyes.
She cannot beat me.
And we both know it.
“Surrender,” I whisper as she breaks away with a gasp. “It’s done, Mother. It’s done.”
All her warriors are fallen.
Thiago slowly withdraws the Sword of Oblivion from Halvor’s chest, and my tormentor falls to his knees and then lands, face-first, in the leafy loam. Theron stands at his side, his bonds cut open and his chest rising and falling. There’s not a single weapon in his hands, but I know he didn’t need one.
We stand alone in a circle of fallen oaks, and even the land has forsaken her.
