Page 27 of Echoes of the Raven
Almost dizzy, I take several steps back, blinking, staring at the amulet, its pale opal appearing so inconsequential, belying the absolute power it channels.
I hear her voice as if through a tunnel. “Go ahead, Rífíor, destroy us.”
Drunk from the mixture of emotions assailing me, I glance up at Valeria. She has moved from the door and now stands next to her sister. They hold each other in solidarity, their twin brown gazes full of recrimination and rancor.
Valeria opens her mouth to speak once more, but Amira, the human queen, pulls her back and steps forward, taking control of the situation.
“You… have what you came for.” Her voice is weak at first, but it gains in strength with each word. “Perhaps you should leave now.” She raises a hand toward the door. “I will order them to let you go.”
Thoughts and emotions crash against me.
Incredulity, relief, righteousness, fury, and more. Thoughts for Tirnanog, the veilfallen, my family, all the years lost… the toxic mixture makes my ears ring and my heart ache and…
“You treated us like vermin,” I roar, remembering the humiliation, the hunger, the pain.
“Queen Amira, we’re coming in,” someone shouts from behind the closed door.
I hold the amulet high, a threat of destruction.
“No!” she cries at the door. “Remain outside.” Fear trembles in her voice and in her eyes. Turning in my direction and putting both hands up, she speaks calmly. “We can talk about this.”
“You sent your men to murder us,” I say, spittle flying from my mouth, my grip around The Eldrystone tightening. “Nearly half of the veilfallen are dead. My people have suffered for two decades.”
“Your people murdered my mother and my father,” she shouts, losing her temper. “You took my sister. I wasn’t going to let you kill her, too.”
My anger crashes against hers, but fury is all she has, while I hold real power in my hand.
All the pain I have felt since the last day I saw Tirnanog breaks through, and guided by hatred alone, I wish for the destruction of this godsforsaken realm.
As that familiar warmth spreads from my hand to the center of my very being, my gaze locks with Valeria’s. Her mouth opens in a silentno, but it’s too late.
Castella is doomed.
12
VALERIA
“I would take it from her, but it’s the only thing she has of her mother. No one will suspect what it really is if they think it’s a child’s toy.”
Rey Simón Plumanegra (Casa Plumanegra) - King of Castella - 9 AV
Asurge of panic shoots from the top of my spine and thunders its way down my body. I know something awful is about to happen, and there is nothing I can do to stop it. I reach for my sister’s hand and interlace my fingers with her as my gaze locks with Rífíor’s.
No, I mouth, uselessly begging him to spare my sister, to spare us all. I know I have no right—not when I wished for his own annihilation just moments ago.
What awful hatred festers between us.
Time slows, and a host of emotions play on Rífíor’s face. In the end, a glimmer of regret ignites in his eyes for a split second, then all the emotions are gone, and he falls to his knees, throwing his head back and laughing, laughing, laughing as if he has lost his mind.
Seconds tick by like hours, while Amira and I remain frozen, finding strength in each other. We watch Rífíor in utter confusion and terror. At last, moving as if through thick honey, we turn to exchange a glance.
Rífíor’s laugh slowly dies, and the raven dagger and the amulet slip from his fingers and clank to the floor.
Moving with the same agility she displays in the sparring courtyard, Amira swoops down and snatches The Eldrystone from the floor. Pivoting on one knee and bouncing back to her feet, she lands several feet away from Rífíor, who now sits on his haunches, staring blankly at the floor, looking numb.
I’m still trying to process what just happened when Amira yelps, dropping the amulet. She waves her hand about, then holds her wrist, clenching her teeth and hissing in pain. I peer closer to find the imprint of the amulet seared into her skin, raw blisters tracing the shape.
Without thinking, I pick up The Eldrystone.
