Then, I’m twenty-one. I’d just given an order that ended in far more bloodshed than expected, doubt gnawing at me until it nearly broke through.
My father turned on me, his eyes shards of ice. “Right and wrong are for the weak,” he said. “The worthless. The undeserving. Harden doubt, or drown in it.”
It keeps coming.
“Falter in front of me again, and I’ll freeze you where you stand and watch you shatter and melt.”
“Hesitate, and I’ll exile you to the Wandering Wilds, where the monsters will eat you alive until not even your bones remain.”
“You deserve nothing but silence, solitude, and ice biting at your throat.”
“Emotion makes cracks. You crack, and I’ll grind the pieces beneath my heel and throw them into the ravine.”
The memories echo in my mind, tightening around my chest like chains. They’re pulling me down, dragging me back to thatboy who swallowed every scream and buried every tear. Who told himself that if he could just be perfect—just be cold enough—maybe he’d be worthy.
Then I feel Sapphire through the soul bond.
She’s steady. Warm.Here.
She knows me. The broken pieces, the sharp edges, and the fragments that never thaw. She’s been inside the wrecked, shattered parts of my heart that were nearly destroyed by decades of my father’s threats and malice. And despite it all, she loves me, anyway.
Still, as I grit my teeth and ground myself against my father’s relentless cruelty, frost fills my chest and ice rushes my veins. Because even though Sapphire’s fought like hell to make sure I’m not empty, frozen, or alone, I’ll never be worthy tohim.
Which is why there are only two options—force him to accept what I’m offering, or kill him.
