My breathing hitched. “I propose a bargain. I will use my magic to ease the blight. A visionary has seen my fate—I can mend what is broken at Myrwood Grove.”
The onyx warmed again at my chest. Certainty settled.
“No.” Lioran trembled, his head shook. “I do not accept her claim. She doesn’t know what she’s speaks of.”
“A fae bargain can’t be broken. Magic of that kind may break you,” the queen warned, her pale blue eyes softened. A moment of silence hung in the air between us. “It is not too late to accept Thalen’s offer.”
One day I may regret this choice, knowing that I’d live on with part of me missing—without the one person who mattered more than anything. The life I desired would exist only in daydreams.
“My magic can heal the lands. It is meant to be my fate.” Asharp pain settled in the middle of my chest with my next inhale. If there was a glimmer of hope that the blight would be reversed, they would accept my bargain.
Lioran gripped me. “Aelira, don’t…say another word.”
“I will use my magic to restore Lythira—no matter the cost.” The queen winced as I spoke.
“I accept your pact,” King Thalorys said.
“Reverse it!” Lioran wailed.
“It will not be done.” King Thalorys didn’t look at Lioran when he spoke. His eyes only settled on me.
My magic stirred within me, heavier than before. It pulsed and thickened as it coursed in my veins. I waited for something to surface, but it only settled deeper.
Lioran couldn’t save me from what I promised.
I would offer my future king a solution he so desperately needed.
It was how I would love him, even when he was married to another.
Color drained from Lioran’s face when we left the throne room. “You should have told me. When I came to your chambers, you could have…” He gripped my shoulders.
“You said you didn’t want to know.” I knew he would, but it was better to lean into his words rather than risk him stopping me.
“We could have…” His words trailed off.
“Could have what, Lioran?” I leaned my back into the wall of the palace, sliding down to the ground. “They will never give you the power to choose. Not for me. Not for yourself.”
“Why did you leave letting me believe you were marrying someone else?”
“I needed to stand on my own. Without a protector to do it for me.” My words settled between us. “You would have stopped me.”
“Aelira.” He slid his arm around me, pulling me to stand.
“Where can we go to talk?”
“Go to your chambers. I will meet you there.” His voice was a low desperate hum.
I decided my fate, a fate I barely understood. The queen gave me a moment to alter it, but I didn’t take it. It was the only path forward—a life that I wouldn’t be at anyone’s mercy, but my own.
The gemstone pulsated against me. Neither hot, nor cold. It only pulsed with each beat of my magic inside of me.
I rounded the corner the winding halls curved in ways I didn’t remember—my mind was still in the throne room, still with him.
“Did you agree to go to the Grove?” Cora walked toward me.
“I can’t find the way back…” I couldn’t breathe—couldn’t think. “I need to meet Lioran in our chambers.”
She slid her arm under mine. With one step at a time, I brought my breath back. Cora steadied me as I trembled.
