CHAPTER 35
“The stones that are spread across the Realms hold powers deep within. They are portals. They hold memories. They are the hearts of the Realms and can only be touched by a Royal, or if one holds the pendant.” - Book of Azure
ALICE. IS. DEAD.
I can see Koen’s lips moving, but his words are a blur, lost in the fog of my mind. Florian is screaming, his hands waving in the air at Koen, but his attention is focused on me.
The life around me seizes. Everything freezes.
Silence floods my ears as all I now hear is my heart rapidly beating.
“What did you just say?” I hiss, letting the fire flicker from my hand as I step forward towards him. Koen catches the sight of it, closing his eyes for a split moment.
“Alice is dead, Serene,” he breathes out. “Let me—”
“For how long? How do you know this?” Tears burn my eyes, everything blurs as I try and keep them away. “How do you know this!” I scream, my throat burning.
“The day I met you.” His jaw ticks as he avoids my gaze once again.
I panic. My palms sweat by the heat of the flames blaring against my fingers. I heave, blackness creeping at the edges of my eyes.
“Serene, I can explain—” Koen sighs, pulling in his lips as he goes to reach out towards me.
“No!” I cut him off, fire flickering towards him as he yanks away. “Did you kill her!” The rage in my voice echoes in the Pyre, catching the attention of the rest of those who are here.
“Ohhhhh.” I can hear Lykia’s boots digging into the gravel behind me, walking beside me. She scans my body, slowly, from head to toe. Her eyes light up in realization. “Is this the woman from the field of ash?”
My heart plummets, rage piercing every single sensation in my body as I go to scream. “She was with you that day?”
Koen takes both of his hands, nervously running them through his hair and over his face. “She was, but—”
“No buts, Koen.” Lykia strides towards him, letting her arm rest on his shoulder as she stares at me. “This is her… isn’t it? I thought you took her to the dungeons as we did the other?”
My stomach tightens, my eyes burning as if they caught on fire.
One. I want to take that arm of hers and break it in half now that she has touched him again.
Two. I want to scorch the very place of his shoulder that has been touched by her.
Three. I’m going to kill them both if Alice is truly dead.
“Where is Alice!” My throat stings, my voice cracking with every word I say. “Take me to her!”
“She’s been dead for…” Lykia looks towards Koen, “weeks now, right?”
Koen’s eyes shut, swallowing tightly as his nostrils flare by Lykia’s words. “We didn’t know you knew her.”
“What the hell did you do, Koen!” I stride towards them both, my finger aggressively pointing towards them. “I swear to the God of Fire I will scorch you both to your death if you don’t take me to her!”
“She’s buried in the ground. We can take you there?” Lykia shrugs. I swear she has no soul.
“You are lying! Tell me you are lying, Koen!” A tear escapes, even though I did everything in my power to keep them in, the pain is too much.
“We aren’t.” He looks away, ashamed for what he has done. “Serene, I had no idea who she was. We thought she was—”
“A damn shifter?” I hiss, my voice dropping to the most disgusted growl possible. “How dare you.”
“You told me she died too?” Lykia points her slender finger directly towards me. Her eyes narrow, disbelief etched across her soft features. “I can't believe I didn't recognize her. Why the hell did you keep her alive?”
Koen's jaw visibly tightens, a muscle twitches beneath his sun-kissed skin.
I remember snuggling up to that exact spot, my nose brushing against his neck and chin with his arms around me as we laid in the field of flowers.
How the hell did we end up here, so distant from one another, when we used to never want to be apart?
He rubs his lips carefully, pulling them between his teeth. With aggression, he pushes her arm off his shoulder. “You have no right to know why.”
“She can’t be the reason you left Eekatia?” Lykia’s arm cross, gazing between the two of us. “Is this why you broke our vow?”
“I’m not,” I hiss, wielding fire in my hands. “Don’t worry, I am no threat to your damn relationship with him.”
“Oh, I see you as no threat.” Lykia’s brow lifts. “I pity you.”
Fire heats in my palms by her words. Her face.
“Oh, wait. Is your friend alive?” Lykia teases me and enjoys every minute of it as her lips curl into a wicked sneer. “Maybe I have her confused with another I took there.”
She’s dead.
I lunge. Kaine tries to stop me, placing his hands upward so his skin doesn’t touch me.
“Stay away, Kaine!” I bellow from the pits of my soul.
“There is no way she survived.” The muscles in Koen’s jaw tick, eyes widening in disbelief. “You told me that you saw her die. Did you lie?”
“Is she alive, Lykia!” Heat runs up my throat, beating against my head as I scream. “Tell me right now, or else!”
“Or else what?” Her voice drops to a sinister growl “You’ll scorch me?” she scuffs, tossing her chin up. “I doubt that. Knowing I am the only one who knows for certain if she is or not.”
“Take me to her.” My eyes narrow, the fire in my palms bright, whipping in the subtle breeze.
“I can do some digging,” she taps his finger on her chin, “to see if she has survived. But, I need something in return.”
Koen steps in front of me. “Do not trust her.”
My head slowly shakes, eyes locking onto his that fill with tears. “You have no say in what I should do. Ever again.” I take a fierce step around him. “What do you want?”
“Serene, I’m serious.” Koen shifts in front of me. “Look at me, not her. Believe me when I say I had no idea who you were. Everything I have done has been for you.”
Lykia gasps, covering her mouth as she lets an amused, wicked chuckle escape. “Wait. No.” She pauses, crossing her arms as her body shifts to the side. “Is this the one you need to take back to the Darklands to save your mother?”
Koen’s fists clench at his sides, veins swelling against them. “Enough before I slit your damn throat!”
My eyes fill with tears, everything has been nothing but a lie. “But, she’s right.” I suck in a deep breath. “I heard it with my own ears, and you know it.”
“So this is her?” Lykia gasps. “Do the Darklands know you have her yet haven’t kept your promise?”
“Lykia, I swear to the Gods I am about to rip out your damn tongue,” Koen snarls, gripping his dagger as blood still trickles from his cracked lip.
Florian’s eyes widen in disbelief. “Did you make a deal with the darklings?” His voice shakes, breaking as he takes a step backwards.
“I didn’t know who she was!” Koen growls. “You have no idea what I have been through, Prince.”
“There it is.” Florian sneers. “The damn jealousy.”
“I’ll never be jealous of you.” Koen spits on the ground.
“I’ll never forgive you,” I say under my breath as I storm past him, purposefully ramming my shoulder into his with a force that sends a jolt through us both.
“You can come after me, but coming after the people I care about…” I hold my tongue, feeling an undeniable force of pure rage prickling at my fingers.
He should count himself lucky that my suit shields that shoulder from my skin.
“What do you want?” I raise my chin, standing directly in front of Lykia. “I need to know if my friend is alive. Nothing else matters.”
“Koen.” Her eyes glance from mine to him without hesitation. I notice the subtle movement of his head falling back as I glance over my shoulder, closing his eyes as he deeply breathes. “Never come around him again after today, or you shall die.”
“He isn’t some propert—” I go to speak, but my throat tightens. Air vanishes from my lungs within a split moment.
My stones brighten then dull, as if the dragons are trying to free themselves, yet can’t.
I gasp desperately, my chest heaving as I struggle to inhale any bit of air, but it's no use.
I fall to my knees while my hands clap around my throat.
Lykia hovers over me, a sinister sneer forming along her thin lips.
The world around me feels muffled. Koen's frantic shouts at Lykia are lost in the deafening, high-pitched ringing that blares in my ears.
Her hands flicker upward, her eyes locking onto mine with a violent, deadly glare that sends a shiver down my spine.
What the hell is she?
As Florian charges towards her, she swiftly extends her palm. In an instant, he collapses to his knees. His fingers claw desperately at his throat, as if trying to rip away an unseen grip that suffocates him. I feel that same pain.
Any second, it feels as if my eyes could bulge from my face, and my soul will leave this world for good this time.
Dark shadows creep around the edges of the walls and swiftly move along the surface of the white dirt. They wrap around Lykia’s body, circling her in before reaching for her throat.
“You can’t use dark magic here!” Ivker bellows, hustling up to us as the metal in his arm scrapes against itself. “The Gods can rain fire on us all for this!”
Within seconds, the shadows weep away, fading back to light, and I can hear Kaine screaming at her and Koen.
Her eyes lock onto Kaine’s, a wicked grin forming along her lips. “Your shadows can’t stop this sort of power, dear Kaine. How cute it is that you thought it could!”
But then, I breathe in, my hands falling to the ground as I gag. My hand frantically goes to my chest, feeling my heart beat, telling myself that I am alive.
I will not meet our Gods today.
Florian coughs, his head hanging low as his shoulders rise and fall.
“You messed with the wrong Royal,” Lykia hisses as she walks towards me.
Koen darts in front of her. “You made your point!” His arms hold her back as her boots dig in the dirt to come at me. “Lykia, enough!”
She shoves his hands down, leaning towards his face. “You vowed to me. Not her. You will honor that vow, do you understand me? Or she dies.”