Chapter 42
42
I stood in front of Tristen, Callum, and Rachelle. They wore iron chains as well as iron bands, and were secured to the chairs they were bound to, King West looming before them with shining eyes.
They had just been outside fighting. How had this happened?
“How are you here?” I asked King West, turning to him. He didn’t have a drop of water on him.
“My dear Saffron, I’m here to ensure the victory of my favored on a more… abbreviated schedule. Did you not think I would ensure my victor would fulfill her role in the prophecy?”
My stomach dropped as I realized what he meant. I took a step forward. “No.”
“No?” the King asked and withdrew a jewel-encrusted dagger that he flipped end-over-end. “So you would leave the world to an eternal battle and continue to let innocents die?”
“Why are you here?” I demanded.
“To protect you and our future,” King West said simply, and then turned and hurled the dagger?—
—where it embedded right in Rachelle’s heart.
No . Panic tore through my body.
I screamed, running to her. I yanked the dagger out, and she let out a choked sound from underneath her gag. Blood ran down her mouth and her head slumped over.
Dead. She was dead.
Anger flashed through me. I whirled on the King, but the dagger flew out of my hand and back to King West.
“Don’t you see? The island is trying to make you strong. It is you or them, and it has been the whole time.”
“It’s not,” I said, standing between King West and Callum and Tristen. “I won’t let you.”
King West just smirked at me. “It’s not your choice.”
I unsheathed my dagger and ran at King West, but he disappeared… and reappeared behind me.
“No!” I screamed, but two twin daggers appeared in his hands, and he stood above Callum and Tristen, poised to spear their hearts.
He quirked his head. “You seem to have an affinity for these two that goes beyond casual friendship. I’ll let one live if you choose which one to sentence to death.”
“I can’t choose,” I said, the horror flooding me as I realized this was the truth.
“Then you’ll lose them both.”
Before I could scream or rush at him, King West embedded his twin daggers into the hearts of Callum and Tristen.
A cold emptiness crushed me as I ran to them.
No no no no no no no.
Tears were falling down my face as I dropped to my knees in front of them just as King West disappeared and reappeared by his throne.
But as Tristen and Callum spluttered, their eyes fluttering closed in death, I felt my grief shudder through me.
How had this happened? They couldn’t be gone. Callum was my best friend. My only true tie to my past life, my childhood, my youth. And Tristen? He may have been… whatever he was, but I wouldn’t have been able to get this far without him. Without either of them. And Rachelle? She had done nothing but be the kind of friend I had hoped for. And her and her sister had looked out for me when I needed their help.
A sob escaped my lips, but I knew I couldn’t let myself unravel here. Not yet.
I forced myself to my feet, facing King West.
He held out a green velvet pillow. On it sat two items.
“It’s your choice, Saffron. Would you like a way out? Or would you like to help me end this needless suffering and put this war to rest once and for all?”
I took an uneven step toward him, staring at the pillow. I realized that the pillow held the suicide pill Callum had given me… and another unmarked box.
“What is that?” I asked, pointing to the white pill, my hands shaking.
King West grinned. “You always have a choice, Saffron.”
Emptiness howled in my heart at that. I was truly and utterly alone in the world now, with no one else to help me escape the prison I’d be in now that King West would wield me as his weapon. My far too brief memory flashed through all of the times Callum, Rachelle, and Tristen helped me. And then, I remembered Tristen’s words to me when he had thrown away the poison pill.
You do not choose death for yourself.
The words echoed in my mind. Even though I had lost him, lost Callum and Rachelle, my only allies—my only true friends—I wouldn’t choose death. They had fought too hard for me to be here. Fought too hard to try and help me. I wouldn’t let their sacrifices be in vain.
With a trembling hand, I picked up the box. It was just a small green box, but then a great green flash emitted from it, and I squeezed my eyes shut. Everything in the room disappeared. The bodies of my friends. King West. Gone. All of it.
I looked around, and saw that the box had been replaced in my hand—and instead was a shining pearl glowing green.
The magic pearl that the merman had requested. I found it.
Did that mean this had all been a part of the trial? A small glimmer of hope formed in my chest as I ran through the throne room, sprinting down the long hallway as I went to the door.
They might still be alive after all.