Chapter 54
“What are you talking about?” I say, jerking against the chains around my middle. Metal digs into the underside of my ribcage, and I wince as Gemma tightens the restraints.
Isolde crouches in front of me and curls a finger under my chin, tilting it up.
“Don’t you understand? You ruined everything for me.
I had an entire army waiting for my call to attack Sarenia and reclaim my throne.
In fact, I would have done it sooner.” Her upper lip curls away from her teeth, and a darkness sweeps over her eyes.
“But the woman I loved asked me to wait a few more days. She promised me she’d fight at my side.
That we could run off together and live in peace. ” She tightens her hold. “She lied.”
“You turned me in to Caelus,” I growl.
“You gave me no option.” There’s a cold bitterness to her voice, and she drops her hand from my chin. “I lost everything. My court, my power. My heart. I spent an entire decade as a shell of myself, clinging to whatever love you’d hand my way. And you took advantage of it.”
A weight settles over my chest, and I shake my head, fighting off the tears threatening to burst free. “I never meant to hurt you. Please, just let me go and we can talk about this.”
She yanks a short blade from the sheathe at her waist and slams it into my thigh.
I scream, doubling over. The chain bites into my stomach, and my chin presses against my chest as I grit my teeth against the pain.
“I’m done talking.” She jerks the blade free and watches as my blood drips from the sharp edge. Wiping the blood on my shoulder, she straightens and sheathes the blade.
Gemma steps beside her, and I narrow my eyes. “She killed Marianne. How could you?”
Isolde scoffs, shifting the book in the palm of her hand. She thumbs through the pages as Gemma steps closer, blocking my view.
“My sister was only in harm’s way because you put her there. You promised—” Her voice cracks as tears well in her eyes. “You promised me you’d keep her safe, but you lied. Isolde promised me she’d bring Marianne back to life if I helped her bind you.”
The words sink under my skin, and as blood pools beneath my leg, my breath hitches. “You told them about the emerald and note under my mattress, didn’t you? That’s why you so readily agreed to pretend to be me while I was gone.”
“Briar, everything was planned. Who do you think put a fake compass in Kressa’s washroom so you’d believe the lies Isolde told you about her?”
A ringing fills my ears, and my attention shifts between Gemma and Isolde. “But you told me she wants power, she—”
“Everyone wants power,” Isolde cuts in. “If you don’t, you’ll only get crushed under those who do.”
“If that compass was fake, then where’s the real one?”
Isolde dips her fingers into the pocket of her skirt, and I catch the glint of metal before she pulls it all the way out. My compass dangles from her outstretched fingers, swaying in the slight breeze.
My blood turns to ice, chest heaving as I shake my head. “Please, Isolde.”
Ignoring me, she shoves my compass back into her pocket and nods toward Gemma. “Did you get it?”
Gemma smiles and unclasps a small bag at her waist, pulling out a bundle of fabric. She unfurls it, and the emerald rests in the center of her palm. My eyes widen, and I jerk against the chains, but they don’t budge. Blood streams out faster from my leg, and my head grows light.
“Very good,” Isolde purrs, pinching it between her fingers. “This is the part Caelus got so painfully wrong when he planned to bind you to him. He didn’t take into account that separating power from the Goddess means taking it first. Sky, Sea, Earth. It’s all here.”
I rest my head back against the mast, my lids growing heavy. “They’ll stop you. Even if you bind to me, it doesn’t matter.”
“It doesn’t matter?” She scoffs. “What, Kressa hasn’t told you?”
I furrow my brow. “Told me what?”
“Why you had to wear the rhodium cuffs instead of her? The reason why you lost control of your fire in Sarenia when she made it out unscathed?” Isolde’s gaze holds mine. “You didn’t put it together?”
A lump forms in my throat, and my hands hang heavy against the deck—the rhodium thicker than it was moments ago. “I don’t understand.”
She tilts her head, studying me as if she’s never seen me before. As if we didn’t share a decade together. “Briar, you’re the heir to the Fire Court. Your grandmother was their last queen, and your mother conspired with Terra to become Queen of the Sea.”
The air sours in my lungs. Those are the very words Caelus muttered moments before his death—ones I didn’t believe. I force myself not to look at my hands, hiding the way my stomach churns.
I shake my head. “I’m the ruler of the sea.”
Isolde shrugs. “It doesn’t quite matter what you believe, does it? By binding to you, I’ll have a sliver of every power at my disposal—from the skies to the underworld. And anyone who doubted me—those who left my side or lied to me—they’ll find themselves on their knees.”
My exhale comes out on a shudder, and Isolde snaps the book shut. The fog surrounding us clears, and a small crew—no more than five, climbs out from the belly of the ship.
Isolde turns away from me and relays orders to the one closest to her. I narrow my eyes and study the planes of his face, and my teeth grind together. He’s from Cassio’s old crew.
His gaze locks with mine for a heartbeat, and the blood drains from his face.
Good.
But something within me crumples. There are only two outcomes before me. Either Isolde is successful at binding me to her, and I become a powerless puppet.
Or she fails, and I die.
The stars blink high in the sky, and through my blurring vision, I search for Aethra—a sign I’m not alone.
But as the anchor lifts and the sails snap open, a stone settles in my stomach. I can’t find her, or the tip of the arrow she has drawn back toward the heavens. If what Isolde says is true, and I’m the last heir to the Fire Court, Aethra was never mine to begin with.
And I’ve committed my court to death—both of them.
I drag the heel of my boot across a divot in the wood of my ship.
My ship.
She’ll be the only sliver of home to witness my death.