Chapter 115
CHAPTER 115
Rosalina
I plunge down the pit, roaring water swallowing me like the maw of an ancient beast. The world turns into a blur of white foam as I freefall. My stomach leaps into my throat. I don’t have a moment to scream before I land in the water. Panic clenches my chest as water encapsulates me on all sides. There’s nothing but darkness, no way to know up from down.
The deafening roar fades as I kick my legs furiously. There’s a glimmer of light above me. My heart pounds in my ears until I break the surface, gasping in air.
This pit below the arena is vast and cavernous, the only light coming from the hole where the water surges through. Remnants of the arena bob around me: pillars, wooden benches from the stands, and even gladiator shields. Chunks of the stone structure still rise out of the water, forming islands.
I swim over to a raised pile of stone and pull myself up. Ancient faces peer back at me, and I realize this was once a mural. A flame sparks on my palm, illuminating the area around me. “Wrenley? Wrenley!”
I catch sight of her bobbing in the water. She’s face up, but her eyes are closed, limbs spread around her. My flame whooshes out as I leap into the water and swim over to her. “Hold on.” I wrap my arms under hers and use my feet to kick us back to the stone island. With a grunt, I haul her out of the water and lay her flat upon the rock.
Ear to her chest, I count her heartbeats. She’s passed out, but her heart rate is steady and she’s breathing. There’s a gash over her eyebrow that drips blood down the curve of her jaw, but otherwise she seems okay.
I breathe a sigh of relief. “I’m going to keep you safe.” She looks so innocent, her cheeks full, lashes long. In another universe, I would have gazed upon this face all my life. What would it have been like growing up with a sister? Would we have fought over the bathroom? Gone to movies together? Cried about boys? It all seems so … ordinary. “I would have liked some ordinary moments with you,” I whisper.
I have to get her out of here. The water level is rising fast. I stand and look around. Going through the pit we came through won’t work: the water’s coming down too strong. Another glint of light catches my eye. Another part of the colosseum has collapsed, revealing a hole in the ceiling of this cavern. The brilliant Summer sky shines through the gap. That’s my way out of here. Standing on my tiptoes, I catch a glimpse of a flat rooftop: part of the Serenus Dusk Chambers, I think. Looks stable enough. We’ll be safe from the water there.
A wheeze echoes through the cavern. I spin in a circle, trying to locate the sound. Another gagging cough follows, and my gaze catches on a heap of piled stone about twenty feet away from us. A pillar has fallen on top of it and smashed in two. Lying beneath one of the pieces is …
Kairyn.
He makes another horrid sound. I turn away from him, concentrating on Wrenley.
“R-Rosalina.” His voice echoes through the cavern.
I should pretend I never heard him, spirit Wrenley away and leave him here in the dark alone—
“Rosalina, please. I need to speak with you.”
I squeeze my eyes shut and ball my hands into fists, cursing myself. Then, I look down at Wrenley. “I’ll be right back.”
I cross the distance between us in only moments, my body used to swimming now, and pull myself up on the rock platform. My breath catches in my throat as I look down at him. The giant pillar, still shimmering white, lies right over his chest. One of his arms is completely pinned, and the other is limp beside him.
His helm, that formidable owl’s visage, is dented and scratched.
I kneel beside him. “You’re hurt. Why would you want to see me?”
“My helm. Remove it. Please .”
A part of me begins to protest, but then I look at his body, completely broken beneath the pillar, and do as he asks. I remove it carefully, guiding the dented helm over his jaw and ears, before it comes fully free. I set it to the side.
Kairyn’s dark eyes shine in the dim light, struggling to find my own. My throat tightens. He is just a boy, the same as I thought when I first saw his face without a helm. A man brand-new. I hate how much of Ezryn I see in him, not just in the features, but in the memories I envision of his life.
“Why did you want to speak with me?” I whisper.
He swallows. “Save her. Please. Please, don’t let her die here in the dark.”
He’s talking about Wrenley , I realize.
“She hates the dark. Take her to the sunshine. Please, Rosalina. Don’t leave her alone.”
He doesn’t know that’s why I came here—to bring my sister back from the dark. I steady my breath. Maybe there’s a chance here.
“Why should I save her?” I ask.
“Please! She’s … your family.”
“What do you know about family? You tried to kill your own brother.”
“Yet, after everything I’ve done, he spared my life.” Kairyn closes his eyes, and a tear squeezes out and drips down his face. “I wanted him to see me for who I truly was. In the end, he still hasn’t. He would have murdered me if he had.”
“Or maybe he sees something in you that you don’t yet,” I say quietly. I place a hand on his forehead.
He opens his eyes, blinks becoming slow and distant. “Will you do it, Golden Rose? Will you save her?”
“Yes.” I wipe the tear off his cheek. “She will be safe.”
He lets out a sigh and smiles. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen it. It’s different than Ezryn’s, but beautiful in its own way, crooked and … soft. The one soft thing about him.
His movements are shaky as he reaches his one free hand to mine and lifts it onto his chest, over his heart. “Tell Ezryn … tell Ezryn I only ever wanted to make him proud.”
He’s dying. The thought comes to me all at once. I knew it in my heart, but now my mind has words for it. This boy is dying.
Spring will be without a High Ruler.
“Kairyn, what of your Blessing?”
His breath only wheezes now, his face drained of color. “I have no blood-heir. I must choose …”
A pit opens in my stomach. What will become of the Blessing? Of the people of Spring? Will Kairyn pass it to one of his minions who will rule with a tighter fist than he has? Or is the magic destined to vanish from the realms forever—
Kairyn offers me that smile again, and his eyes find mine. A warm glow trickles over my skin, the feeling of standing under a spring rain.
Where my hand touches his chest, a golden glow erupts forth.
Magic blooms within my heart. Whispers of Spring sparkle through my body. All at once, I am a cherry blossom unfurling under an azure sky, a blade of grass fighting for sunlight through the fresh earth. A sense of renewal sweeps through me, a caress that eases winter’s icy grip and makes way for summer.
Every bud that blooms, every bird that sings, does so in a language older than words, and I know it all. Like a storm that makes way for new life, I feel the power of rejuvenation flow through me.
I am Kairyn. I am Ezryn. I am Isidora, and all the High Rulers of Spring that have come before.
I clutch my heart and gasp. “You … you gave me the Blessing of Spring.”
Kairyn closes his eyes. “Find someone who will do better with the Blessing than I did.”
I stagger to my feet and stumble a few feet away from him. I turn inward, as if speaking to this new magic. I will keep you safe, I promise. Keep you safe until I find a heart worthy of wielding you.
I leave Kairyn as his breathing slows to a near inaudible level and swim back to my sister. I have to get her to safety.
My magic feels strong and powerful, infused with Spring’s Blessing. My vines find root within the rock and burst forth, glowing like shards of sunlight. Delicately, they cradle my sister and weave up through the cavern until they reach the flat roof beyond the small hole I saw earlier. I guide them to set her down safely.
Then, I place a hand on my vine, ready for it to pull me up. I look back over to the pillar, where Kairyn lies pinned.
I’d told Ezryn I fell in love with him because of his gentle heart. That gentle heart has carried him out of his malice. He found his way back to me by choosing mercy. My gaze drifts upward. My thick vines block Wrenley from my view, but I know she’s lying there. I have to believe there’s good in her. Just as Ezryn has to believe there’s good in Kairyn.
I don’t think. I run, leaping over the water, my vines carrying me across the distance. Then, with a roar, I erupt another huge patch of briars. They wrap around the pillar, the strength of root and rock singing through my blood. The pillar lifts off of Kairyn, and my vines chuck it into the water.
I sink to my knees behind him and place my hands on either side of his head. Just through touch, I feel his body like a network of roots stretching out through the soil. His heartbeat is so weak …
I focus, channeling my newfound magic into him. A soft, golden glow emanates from my palms. My magic flows through that incorporeal root system I’d felt earlier, mending bones, restoring breath. With each passing moment, I sense the pain leaving his body.
His heartbeat strengthens and his breath regulates. His eyes do not open again, but I feel strength flow through him. I let go of his face, panting. Spring’s Blessing is not just healing or renewal.
Like the first flower fighting against a frost, Spring is hope.
That is what I give to Ezryn. To Kairyn. And hopefully, to Wrenley.
Gently, I slide Kairyn’s helmet over his face. I lace my arms under the unconscious former High Prince of Spring and pull him tight to my chest. Then my vines wrap around us and carry us into the light.