My father trembles beneath the blades, fury warring confusion, but I refuse to release my hold.
“Sapphire and I are one,” I continue, speaking to my father now instead of the court. “We’re not corrupted, and we’re not turned. We’re chosen by the gods themselves.And we will lead the Winter and Summer Courts to victory against the Night Court, if you swallow your pride and drink the potion.”
Ice erupts from his fingertips, shooting upward in jagged spikes.
I melt it with a blast of heated air, keeping my burning blades at his throat.
“If you drink it, I’ll let you live,” I tell him as I sheathe one sword, my other pressed hot against his throat as I reach into my cloak and withdraw the vial.
I hold it before him, careful to keep it out of his reach. In his madness, he might crush it simply to spite me, and everythingSapphire and I journeyed to the ends of the universe for will be lost.
“It’s the same potion she was trying to create before she died,” I say, uncorking the vial with my thumb, not needing to specify whosheis. “She thought it would help her see clearly through her emotions. But she couldn’t get the last ingredient, and she drank it before it was ready. And then, as we both know, it killed her. However, with the help of the Summer Court, I finished it—foryou.To give you the clarity she sought.”
Something in his expression breaks as he studies the potion.
And then, suddenly,hebreaks.
“Maybe I deserve to share her fate.” He releases a strangled laugh, his eyes glistening with madness and grief. “To have it burn through me and silence the noise. Maybe that’s the only way I’ll be free.”
My heart twists. Because for all his cruelty, he loved her. And losing her broke something inside him so deeply that not even the weight of his crown or the strength of his power could fix it.
“You don’t have to join her,” I say quietly, refusing to let him escape into his madness again. “You can honor her instead.”
“Honor her?” He barks a bitter laugh. “I dishonored her every time I told her to harden her heart. I killed her long before the potion did.”
I tighten my grip on my sword’s hilt, knowing far too well what it feels like to be pushed to turn my heart to ice.
“You didn’t kill her,” I say firmly, pressing the blade harder against his skin. “You lost her—and you punished yourself and me ever since.”
His body shakes as he stares up at me, like he’s begging me to understand.
“Let it burn me from the inside,” he says, his voice breaking, reminding me of myself when I thought I’d lost Sapphire forever. “Let it tear me apart the way I tore her apart. Maybethen, when I lie frozen beneath the ice, I’ll see her face again… and she won’t turn away.”
“Or maybe you could become the king she wanted you to be.” I swirl the potion in the vial, as if doing so can tempt him.
He squeezes his eyes shut, a tear freezing on his cheek.
A tear.
One that meanseverything.
“Live in a way that would have made her proud,” I continue, holding the vial steady. “Because I can assure you—the potion has been brewed correctly this time. I can’t think of a single reason why it wouldn’t give you the clarity I’m promising.”
His fingers twitch. A telltale sign of his madness.
A slow, painful breath shudders out of him.
And then, finally… he nods.
“Very well,” he says, the words barely audible. “I’ll drink your clarity. But I’m not doing it foryou.I’m doing it forher.”
