Chapter 12 #4
“I would,” she all but growled. “I’m doing it right now, believing that you have a shred of honour even though you’ve betrayed me twice over.
Even though you accuse me of losing my mind, even though you humiliated me in front of your whole court.
I sit here broken-hearted and furious because I hope there’s some tiny fragment of you that wants to do the right thing! ”
He grabbed her hand and pressed it to his heart.
“I am trying to do the right thing! Fate bound us and Passion dyed our thread. Such things happen for a reason. I care for you, Aurora, deeply. Which is why I will do all in my power to heal your mind—never mind that no healer has ever succeeded. I will not fail you.”
She tore her hand away.
No one would ever know just how much willpower it took her not to throw the punch he so richly deserved.
To swallow the scream she so desperately wanted to unleash.
Did he truly care for her as he said, or was this all some twisted ruse to make her doubt her own sanity?
She wouldn’t think him capable of such abject cruelty, but she’d been wrong about him before.
Her breath hissed out between clenched teeth.
No, if there were a slim chance he was sincere, she needed to act on that—even though reaching for optimism felt like swallowing broken glass.
If this were what he wanted to believe, it seemed there was no swaying him.
It was she who would need to bend—or at least appear to.
“If you truly believe we were bound for a reason, then kill Drakon. Kill every beast that could become like him. Then, and only then, will I consider allowing you to tamper with my mind,” she lied with as much calm as she could muster.
Once the beasts were slain, she would leave. Her mission would be complete. There was no point in staying here with a husband who was either convinced her mind had shattered or was insidious enough to know better and try to break her.
“I vowed I would and I will, but it will take time.”
“Take time? This is your kingdom. All you need to do is give the order and it will be done!” she scoffed, gesturing to the very palace that surrounded them.
“It’s not that simple.”
“Yes, it is. If you…” she swallowed. “If you care about me at all, you would do it now.”
Merciful Triad, she’d never stooped so low before in her life, but this was too important to hold on to principles or pride for.
“Aurora…”
“Don’t you care about me, Theron?”
Theron sighed.
“I should have confided my position to you before now, but my court has a long history of attempting to usurp me. I have not had to execute anyone for some time, but with the blight and sickness from the spire infecting my lands, my grip on them has loosened. And when you come into my court and demand I destroy military assets, it weakens me further in their minds. They are jackals, waiting for a single moment of weakness to strike.” He cupped her cheek, the sincerity in his gaze only salting her wounds.
“When I tell you it will take time, what I mean is that I must secure my throne before I can risk weakening myself. Because Aurora? When I am targeted, it is your security which is threatened as well. And with Flora determined to take the Dragon’s Flank, you are endangered twice over.
” He pulled away, his patient tone hardening along with his expression.
Here was the king, his command brooking no argument.
“I will have the beasts killed, but I can’t risk it yet.
You must ask my permission for drastic actions, privately and in advance.
If you attempt another ambush like today’s, I will bar you from entering my throne room—for your safety and mine.
In the meantime, for your sake, I hope you keep mention of your visions and travelling through time to yourself. ”
He wanted her to shut up. To stop causing him trouble. To put politics and comfort above what was right—what was necessary. No matter whether he was sincere or merely manipulative, he was wrong, and she couldn’t allow his errors to impede her.
“Every day you delay is another day that Drakon gets closer to being the monster I showed you,” Aurora replied.
“Did you not hear a single thing I said?” Theron asked, frustrated.
“I did. And I understand how important you believe all those things are. But I hope you believe me when I say that none of it will matter when Drakon turns the cycle of chaos into a cycle of calamity. It doesn’t matter whose corpse wears the crown when a kingdom is reduced to ashes.”
“Aurora, you—”
“No, Your Majesty. I have nothing more to say to you tonight. I’ll take my leave. I’m not interested in speaking with you again until Drakon and the beasts are slain.”
“As you wish,” he said, resigned, motioning for her to leave.
Aurora stood and marched towards the exit. If she had to kill the beasts herself, as it appeared she would, then this would be the last real conversation they ever had. Once her mission was complete, any time she remained in the ancient past would be spent figuring out how she was to return home.
“Goodbye, Theron.”
“Sleep well,” he replied.
Oh, there was no chance of that. But in three days’ time, when the Viridians helped her kill Batea’s serpents, then she would sleep well, knowing she’d changed history for the better.
Fae, I’ll be home soon.
The thought had never felt so bittersweet.