Chapter 79 Keldarion
Keldarion
Kill me if you ever loved me.
His words carve through my chest, leaving a raw, gaping wound. Before I can fathom a response, Caspian steps away. My feet feel rooted beneath me, my limbs heavy and useless as I watch him—no, I let him—stride toward Sira.
Her black gaze devours him as though she’s been waiting for this moment for centuries. For so long, Caspian has defied her. For us. For me.
Caspian halts before her, his shoulders squared, jaw tight. Even now, he looks untouchable, a prince forged of thorns and blood. My friend. My enemy.
My love.
He clasps her hand, and Sira smiles as shadows unfurl around her. The air crackles with the scent of ash and decay, a magic so dark it suffocates the very breath from my lungs.
“Cas—” The word claws from my throat, a desperate plea. He doesn’t look back.
The shadows surge, sinking into his skin and coiling through his veins. His sharp cry echoes in the frozen silence, and I take a half step forward, my heart screaming at me to stop this, to save him, but my body betrays me.
Wrenley’s scream cuts through the air.
Faustrius’s blade clangs against the floor as she falls to her knees, freed from Sira’s grip. But there’s no relief, no victory. My gaze snaps back to Caspian as he collapses, limp in a swirl of shadows.
Rosie cries out, desperate pleas echoing through our bond. What’s his plan? What’s his plan? This can’t be his plan!
His plan…
I am his plan.
A blade of ice forms in my hand.
Sira turns, her laughter sharp and venomous. “The heir of the Green Flame is mine to command! My beautiful son, my legacy!”
Caspian rises to his hands and knees, breath heaving, then looks at me. Do you love me, Kel?
I–I…
Of course I do. I always have.
“My first command, beloved son, is this: Embrace the Green Flame that burns within you. Stop resisting who you were born to be,” Sira says.
Cas keeps his eyes locked on me. Now, Kel, pl—
His head snaps back. His eyes shift to an unnatural phantasmal green as his body slams against the ground. A scream tears from his throat as flames flicker to life, crawling across his skin.
“Caspian!” Rosalina screams.
“Grab her,” I command.
Dayton does, bringing her to his chest as they both stare with horror at Caspian writhing as if caught in a seizure.
“We need to do something,” she cries.
She’s right. I need to do something. But I can’t move. I can’t breathe.
It’s like I’m back in Castletree for all those years, fear keeping me locked within the icy confines of the Winter wing.
Kill me if you ever loved me.
This is what he wanted. What he asked of me.
But how? How can I do this? My fingers tighten around the frozen blade in my hand.
“No,” Faustrius growls. His blade scrapes against the ground as he picks it up. “This is evil, Sira. Controlling one’s will with magic—it’s monstrous. And to both your children?”
Sira doesn’t so much as glance at him. “Spare me your righteous drivel, Faustrius. You of all people should know what it means to wield power. My son was born for this.”
The underfae’s red gaze gleams, but he says no more.
The flames burn brighter around Caspian, spiraling higher with every second. His screams claw through the icy air.
“No!” Wrenley’s voice is desperate and trembling. She’s still on her knees, her wide eyes flickering between Caspian, Sira, and Kairyn as if searching for salvation in any of us. “He always feared this. Do something! He’s—he’s burning! I can’t touch these flames.”
“Caspian!” I step forward.
This cursed hex fire engulfs him. His hands claw at the ground, the ice beneath melting into steaming puddles.
Sira turns to me, her dark smile triumphant.
“What’s the matter, Keldarion? Finally realize who my son truly is?
You can put a little sapphire crown on his head, but he will always belong to this, to the Green Flame.
To me. Ridiculous to think you could ever love such a beast. Your realm knew it, and you shall too. ”
Love? But I did love him. I do.
“He thought I could save him,” I whisper.
A hero for a dark prince.
I just didn’t realize saving him would come at the cost of my own heart.
But I know him, though at times, I let fear cloud my mind. He never wanted to be under her control, his father’s control. He would hate to hurt any of us.
Only I can stop him from that fate. And he knew it.
I’m his final plan.
“Caspian!” My voice is raw now, chest heaving.
His head jerks up, his ghostly eyes meeting mine, wild and tortured.
He trusted me to do this. He trusted me to end him before he becomes Sira’s puppet.
I raise my ice blade.
“Forgive me,” I whisper, my vision blurring.
Then I strike.
Sira’s scream shatters the air. She lunges forward, her hands outstretched, but she’s too slow.
My sword arcs down.
A golden briar shoots up between my blade and Caspian’s chest. The impact jars through me as my sword plunges into the thick tangle, stopping dead.
“No!” A cry rings out, furious and commanding.
Rosalina steps into view, rising from the swirl of golden briars and flames. The edges of her dress catch fire.
Her eyes blaze as they meet mine. She’s beautiful, powerful—and mad. “What are you doing?” she snarls.
“I’m his plan.” My voice breaks under the weight of the words. “Caspian asked this of me.”
Her expression falters, her lips parting in understanding. “No, I won’t allow that.”
There’s no time to argue. Caspian’s screams pierce through the chaos, the flames surging higher, hungrier, devouring everything in their path. This is for her as much as Caspian.
I shove her aside with a sweep of my arm and yank my blade out of the briars, striking it toward Caspian. “I love you,” I rasp.
Spectral flame explodes outward in a great eruption of power. The force slams into me like a tidal wave, hurling me backward.
The world spins in a blur of green and gold. I’m weightless, suspended in the blast’s aftermath.
Rosalina!
I twist in the air, reaching for her. My hand finds hers, and I pull her close, shielding her as we crash to the ground together. The tiles crack, the impact jarring every bone in my body.
We tumble in a heap, sliding to a stop against a wall. My arms stay locked around Rosalina, her breath ragged against my chest. Through blurry vision, I see Dayton and Farron rushing toward us.
Slowly, I sit up, ears ringing, and look to the swirl of flame before the dais.
Caspian rises from the bonfire. Briars wreathed in flame lift him above the throne as he observes us. His dark hair whips around his face, eyes like chips of malachite.
His lips curl into a cruel smile as he meets my gaze, voice mocking. “Was that blade meant for me, Keldarion? You missed.”
My guards charge him, frost-tipped spears gleaming.
“No!” I scream. “Stand down!”
But it’s too late.
The first guard lunges, his spear aimed for Caspian’s heart.
But before the weapon can connect, a swirl of green flame bursts to life, coiling like a serpent around the guard’s body.
He screams, his armor melting and fusing to his flesh in an instant, before he crumbles to the ground in a pile of dust.
The others falter for only a heartbeat, but it’s all the time Caspian needs. He moves like liquid fire. The flames lash out, hungry and unrelenting, devouring one guard after another.
In mere moments, the hall is silent again, save for the crackle of flame and the sound of ash settling to the floor. My guards are gone.
Caspian stands in the center of the destruction, untouched by the carnage. This isn’t the Caspian I know. And yet even in this horrifying moment, he is achingly beautiful, a vision of fire and ruin.
I swallow hard, my throat dry. “We’re too late. He’s gone.”
Sira steps forward. “Bring Keep Wolfhelm down,” she commands, her smile widening in satisfaction. “And—”
Her words falter as Caspian shifts, dropping off his briars to stand before her. He levels her with a menacing glare. She hesitates, as though even she feels the shift within him.
“Winter belongs to the Green Flame now,” he declares.
“Very well, my love,” she says, shadows spiraling around her. “I’ll await you in the Below.”
She extends her hand to Faustrius.
His gaze lingers on Kairyn. “You are one of us,” Faustrius says. “Come home.”
Kairyn looks at Wrenley, then to Ezryn. “No. This is my place.”
“I have had enough of your insolence,” Sira snarls. “Stay and burn with the rest of them!”
Shadows lash out, wrapping around Kairyn, then Wrenley.
“Let him go!” Faustrius calls, but it’s no use.
Sira doesn’t obey anyone. The shadows whip Kairyn and Wrenley through the air before throwing them across the dais.
Wrenley lets out a high-pitched scream before she smashes into the ground and her voice silences.
Kairyn follows after her, hitting the wall, his body’s force enough to send rocks skittering from the ceiling.
Sira’s laughter and Faustrius’s cry drift away as shadows devour them, and we are left alone.
I rise to my feet, bringing Rosalina up beside me. Ezryn’s already up, sprinting toward his brother. He touches Kairyn’s neck, then Wrenley’s. “They’re both unconscious, but their pulses are steady.”
“To my side,” I say lowly. Ezryn casts one more look at his brother, then obeys my command just as Caspian places his hands in his pockets and saunters toward us.
My heart feels as if it’s shattering with each beat.
My family knows what must be done. Dayton and Farron both call forth their divine weapons, and Ezryn clutches his hammer, looking to Rosalina. “What’s your order, my queen?”
Rosalina trembles, her gaze drifting from Wrenley to fix on Caspian. “Th-that was his plan? To die? To leave me?”
I step in front of her, ice blade held tight. “You will not take Winter, Prince of Thorns.”
Caspian arches a brow, gaze raking over us, then sighs. “So many against little old me,” he says with a pout. “Let’s even the odds, shall we?”
He raises his palms. Dayton and Farron both gasp, bodies stiffening, then slowly, they turn to us, eyes completely green.
No…no…
“Kill the metal one,” Caspian says. “The Winter Prince is mine.”
Dayton and Farron, divine weapons raised, rush Ezryn, green flames licking at their feet.
I stare at the man across from me. Once, I hated him with a ferocity that consumed me. But now when I look at him, all I feel is love.
My ice blade extends to a great sword, and I grip it with both hands. “I will free you from this nightmare, my love,” I vow and swing, a ruinous scream tearing through my throat.
A golden briar rises from the ground, knocking my sword away so it shatters on the ground. Rosalina appears between us. “Then you’ll have to get through me first.”
A cruel laugh echoes from Caspian’s chest. “Well, this is going to be fun.”