CHAPTER 15 #2
“Don’t–” The word was only a breath now, his eyelids heavy.
“I’m so sorry,” she choked out.
The hope in his eyes faded to nothing as they closed. She laid his head gently on the stone floor, her magic pulsing, still wrapped around him like ropes. Its work was done.
He was under.
Bound in the enchanted sleep they’d demanded of her. She kept her hand on his cheek longer than necessary, but she couldn’t bring herself to pull away. As she looked at his sleeping face, something inside her shattered.
Not because she’d failed.
But because she’d succeeded.
What the hells have I done?
She tried to wipe the tears away, but they kept falling even as Henry’s footsteps crunched behind her. His magic hadn’t been needed in the end; Kara had been dangerous enough alone. He knelt beside her.
“You did well, Kara,” Henry said, clearly surprised at how easily she had done it. “He never saw it coming.”
Kara didn’t answer. The words lanced through her.
He never saw it coming.
Henry looked down at Sebastian, unconscious and unmoving. Then back at her – saw the way her shoulders shook, the tears still slipping down her cheeks.
“...Kara?”
She still didn’t speak. He didn’t understand.
Henry placed a gentle hand on her arm. “Why are you crying?”
Kara couldn’t look at him. Her eyes stayed fixed on Sebastian’s face.
It was tense even asleep – as if he might wake at any moment and demand to know why she betrayed him.
She’d exploited the trust Sebastian rarely gave anyone.
But how could she say that to Henry? To him, Sebastian was a traitor, nothing more.
She swallowed, her throat tight. “I’m not meant to use my magic like this.”
“You did what the Council asked. You protected Vallenna, saved lives. You should be proud.”
“Proud?” Kara echoed, her voice hollow.
She watched her magic hum, poisoned with darkness, corrupted by her intent. Sebastian bound with it – like a criminal at her feet. The sight of it made her feel physically ill.
She hated herself. What she’d done.
Henry pulled the satchel roughly from Sebastian’s shoulder and checked inside it. His expression was both awestruck and disgusted.
“All three Shards are here.”
“Good,” she replied.
“We should take them all back to the Council. I don’t know how he got through the protections,” Henry placed his palm against the dark ruby shield. It was unyielding – like stone under his hand. “But I certainly can’t. Fatàn will have to do it.”
Kara just nodded.
Henry sighed and rose, brushing the dust from his knees. “Let’s take him to camp for the night,” he said, voice practical, business-like. “Tomorrow, we ride back to the City.”
Kara glanced up. “Right.”
“He will see justice.”
Justice. You mean death.
The thought made her chest physically hurt.
No. Gods, no.
She’d led him here. With her voice, her hands, her magic. Step by step to his execution. When she stood, the world spun, off-balance, nausea rising fast. She stumbled to the cliff’s edge, retching violently into the wind.
“Kara!” Henry was at her side in an instant, one hand on her back, the other pulling her braid away from her face.
“I’m fine. I’m fine,” she panted, straightening and shaking him off. She wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve, unable to stop her hands from trembling.
“Can you walk?” he asked.
Kara nodded, refusing to look directly at him. She didn’t want to answer any more questions – couldn’t trust herself. She needed movement. She crouched down by Sebastian and slid her hands under his shoulders, then paused to look at the unconscious Thorne guards.
“Wait, what about them?”
Henry spared them a single glance. “They’re breathing.” His tone made it clear that was all they’d get from him.
“They won’t thank you for healing them, Kara,” he said when she hesitated. “Best to leave them to wake where they are. They’ll be fine.”
With that, Henry bent and grabbed Sebastian’s feet roughly.
She didn’t think, just moved, lifting him with care.
He was heavier than she’d expected – dead weight in her arms – but she held on.
His head lolled against her, and she noticed the small scar beneath his eye – the one he’d gotten shielding their team during the Earth Trial.
He’d been all fire, all fight then; the stillness of him now was unbearable. What had she reduced him to?
“Careful,” she murmured before she could stop herself.
Henry shot her a disapproving look. “He’s fine. Let’s go.”
So she moved with him, the two of them hauling Sebastian between them down the steep steps towards their waiting valmares. The mountain, the wind, the Shard – all of it blurred into nothing.
“Had to be the top of a mountain, didn’t it?” Henry said to himself, his breath coming hard.
Whisper nickered softly at their approach, but Henry moved past her to his own mount.
“I can take him,” Kara offered quickly, shifting her grip under Sebastian’s shoulders. “Whisper is steadier–”
“No,” Henry cut her off, firm. “He rides with me.”
She didn’t argue – she didn’t trust herself to speak.
They lifted him together, her arms burning now.
Kara guided his upper body, easing his head so it wouldn’t bump the saddle.
Henry hauled his legs and swung them up with far less care, tossing them across his valmare’s side so the whole weight of him jolted hard against the creature’s back.
A faint, involuntary sound, half-groan, half-breath, escaped Sebastian.
Kara flinched. It was the same sound he’d made after the Fire Trial, as she’d healed his burnt hands.
Only this time, she wasn’t helping. She was the one who’d put him there.
“Henry – don’t hurt him.”
Henry’s eyes flicked to her – a quick, unbothered glance – before he bent to his work.
“I’m not,” he muttered, already looping rope around Sebastian’s middle and the saddle, until the knot bit into the fabric of his tunic.
Kara kept one hand on Sebastian’s shoulder to steady him whilst Henry jerked the rope taut.
When he was done, she adjusted him without thinking – eased his cheek away from the saddle, brushed hair from his face. Then she realised what she was doing.
Henry eyed her hand, unimpressed. “You don’t need to handle him like he’s worth saving.”
Tears threatened again and she dropped her hand and stepped back before Henry could see her face.
She picked up Sebastian’s pack from the ground, attached it to Whisper, and mounted with shaky legs.
She told herself to keep riding, keep following orders.
For now. Because if she stopped, even for a second, she might turn around and undo everything.
Exactly like Sienna had feared, like she had warned her.
What if you let him go?
She should have listened to her friend – she never should have come here. But a thought was forming as she urged Whisper forward, gaze locked on Sebastian’s limp form ahead.
Tonight, she would get her answers.
Or she’d never forgive herself.
They made camp quickly. Henry dropped Sebastian from the valmare beneath a tree with needless force. She made to say something, but knew there was little point. Instead, she covered Sebastian gently with a blanket, earning her another disapproving look from Henry.
“We don’t need to be cruel,” she said hotly.
Henry just shook his head and busied himself with the valmares.
Kara lingered where she was at Sebastian’s side, unable to tear her gaze away.
The way he’d looked at her as he’d fallen under her power would haunt her until her dying day.
She’d thought of nothing else the whole ride. She had to know.
Why he’d done it. Why they were here.
There was only one way. She would wait until Henry drifted to sleep – or left to gather firewood – and then she would try again.
Caldris magic. It had to be easier when he was asleep, when his defences were down.
She could go all the way in and find out what she needed.
It was delicate magic. Henry had warned her how dangerous it was.
It wasn’t meant to be used on someone unconscious.
And certainly not by someone with as little training as her.
It was a terrible plan. She’d already tried once.
But she was going to do it anyway. And her opportunity came sooner than she expected.
“There’s a village nearby,” Henry said as he stood up. “I’m going to see if I can get some proper food for us.”
Kara looked up from where she sat beside Sebastian, careful to keep her face neutral. “Alright.”
Henry paused, gaze flicking between her and Sebastian’s still form. “Will it hold?”
Kara hesitated. “I’m... not sure. I’ve never held it like this before. I’ve recast once, and was going to every hour. Just in case.”
Henry frowned. “We should tie him up as well. To be safe.”
Her heart lurched. “No. I’ve got this–”
But Henry wasn’t listening. He reached into his pack and pulled out a length of dark, silk rope. Kara recognised it immediately.
Nightshade.
She had to look away as he bound Sebastian, she couldn’t bear to watch.
Coward. You put him there.
When Kara turned back, he’d lashed Sebastian’s wrists to the tree, the knots digging into his skin, merciless and unyielding.
They’ll do worse to him back in the City.
Her hands trembled violently at the thought.
“He wasn’t going anywhere, Henry.”
Henry stood, shaking the numbing feeling of nightshade from his own hands. “He’s a traitor, and a murderer. I won’t risk him waking up and killing us where we stand.”
He didn’t say it cruelly – just plainly. Like it was an undeniable truth. She gave a small nod, trying to ignore the revulsion crawling over her skin.
“I won’t be long,” he said. “Stay alert.”
He turned towards the path and Kara stayed still until his footsteps faded and the only sound left was Sebastian’s steady breathing.
This was her chance.