Ivar had been crowned.
But the gods had chosen me.
As though shackles had been around my wrists, a great weight fell away from my body, the powers my father had restricted in me with the Seal now loose. A torrent of heat blazed at my fingertips—the fire I’d never known how to wield as a youth.
The dark clouds parted just as suddenly as they’d come, the silver hue of moonlight draping me in a cloak. The whisper that had filled my ears fell away, and the wind stilled.
The entire assembly was motionless.
I inhaled slowly, the air that filled my lungs somehow sweeter. As though I was a newborn taking its first breath.
I lifted my head. Haldron’s face was pale, his lips parted in stunned silence. His knuckles had gone white where they gripped the parapet, his mouth slightly open—not in scorn or amusement.
In fear.
He knew.
“Who are you?” he whispered.
A slow, dangerous smile curved my lips. “Don’t you recognize me, Uncle?” I said, fire swirling in my hands.
“I’m Calix Warrick, King of Lirien.”
And I let the flames rise.
Chapter 42
Seren
Screams reached me as I broke through the surface of the water. Rykr’s connection to me had somehow broken and I lifted my head, horrified as I watched the stands burst into flame.
My alarm only deepened as I saw the source of the fire.
Rykr.
The fire roared toward the parapet like a living thing, tendrils of flame licking at the stone, curling hungrily toward the wooden beams. Screams echoed—high, sharp, and endless. The scent of burning flesh thickened the air, and through the haze of smoke, I saw people falling, their bodies still alight as they tumbled from the stands.
Haldron and his council scrambled back, their robes catching fire as they slapped at the flames, their shouts lost beneath the howl of Rykr’s fury.
I rasped a breath.
All these people—the Viori screaming and fleeing for their lives—were going to die if I didn’t stop Rykr. Some power inside him had been unleashed. But Esme was still in the water, along with Ciaran and Tara—my gods, were any of them even alive still? What if there were more serpents?
This time, I was going after Esme.
I dove back under.
My eyes stung in the water as I searched, though the fire burning in the Havamal made it easier to see in the murky water.
They’d been under for so long. Was it even possible for them to hold their breath this long?
Please. Don’t let them die.
My lungs were already burning.
Then I saw them: Tara, Ciaran, and Esme.
My gods.
