Then Sylvin. His smirk vanishes as I say, “I don’t care what power thrums beneath your skin, or what armies bow when you speak.”
Finally, I look at Azyric. His scowl deepens before I even open my mouth. “You don’t own me. You don’tget to smother me with shadows, snarls, and pretty lies.”
I take one step back from them, the earth beneath me vibrating in recognition.
“I may not know what I am. I may not know why I’m here, but I know this.” My breath trembles, but my voice does not. “I. Am. Not. Yours.”
The last word leaves my lips like a spark and the world answers.
Not the quiet tremble only I can feel, but a reaction.
The stone beneath us shudders once, deep and low, like a growl torn from the bones of the world. It’s enough to still the air, to snap every gaze back to the ground in time to see the vines quiver. The carved floor fractures in a clean, jagged line through the center and ending just in front of my feet.
Vines stretch taut before splitting. The stone seems to groan as the entryway arch splits down the center, chunks of it falling in an uneven cascade.
The men all move at once, calling my name, as if preparing to pull me away from what they fear.
Yet I don’t move as the entire building splits down the center, cleaving it with careful, destructive symmetry.
The kings move to shield me, but in their effort, Azyric and Riven slam into each other from opposite directions.Sylvin’s foot catches in the broken ground, causing him to fall onto his hands and knees. Frost pools beneath him, as if he can freeze the earth itself to obey him.
A snarl sounds from the massive wolf I know is Torryn as everything crumbles into the jaws of the earth as it opens around me. His body is bunched up like he wants to leap across the wide crevice to the small part of untouched stone beneath me.
I lift a hand, subtly telling him not to. A low whine comes from him as the trembling subsides.
When the dust settles, I still stand.
Unshaken.
Untouched.
A jagged seam runs through the middle of the broken structure, a gash of raw stone and tangled roots.
The four kings stand at varying distances, caught between awe and alarm in their parted lips and wide eyes.
I close my eyes for a moment, just long enough to feel the pulse of the earth settle beneath my feet.
The hum softens and the tension in me eases.
It wasn’t punishing me for my thoughts…it was answering me.
I open my eyes to find them all staring at me with dust hanging suspended in the air.
Sylvin’s frost melts beneath his palms as he straightens himself, dusting off his loose shirt in theprocess. He mutters, “So much for a grand gesture in the shape of a building.”
Azyric’s shadows lash around him, seemingly unsure of what to protect as he glares at the vampire standing near him.
Riven’s chest rises and falls like he’s fighting his urge to jump across the broken earth and sweep me into his arms.
Torryn’s golden gaze is still locked on me as he sits back on his haunches, letting the chasm between us provide the distance I sought.
I glance down at where I stand, still centered in the one untouched circle of floor. The earth split around me. Chose to break for me, or maybebecauseof me.
“I didn’t need any of you to save me.”
The words feel strange on my tongue, too calm for how fast my pulse beats, but they ring loudly through the quiet aftermath.
A gust of wind clears some of the dust and dirt from us, carrying it back into the field around the ruined building.
