Page 109 of Prince of the Sun

I want to close the few steps between us and hit him. To punish him for being such a goddamned reckless fool. But I can’t. Because a plan has begun to form in my head. A plan that will protect Daerios, and my friends, and possibly even save Elaërion. But that plan requires that Daerios stay as far away from me as possible.

“Right.” The king returns his attention to us, stroking the sword at his side. “Let’s save our realm, shall we? Now seems as good a time as—”

His speech is interrupted by thumping footfalls and the crash of tree branches. We whip around to see black leaves rustling along the tree line, and moments later, a swarm of Shadow Elves emerge into the clearing, the Shadow King at their head.

The Shadow Elves come to a halt ten feet away. The army slows and spreads out, forming a wall of pale, sinuous bodies before the entrance to the forest. For several beats, no one speaks. King Ariar surveys the troops standing before him; the Shadow King surveys the massive army behind Ariar.

The Shadow King speaks first. “Varith.”

“Duvainor,” Ariar replies.

“How kind of you to pay us a visit.”

“It’s long overdue.” Ariar gestures to the dark forest. “Lovewhat you’ve done with the place.”

“Mm.” Duvainor folds his hands behind his back and considers their surroundings. “It is rather homey, isn’t it?”

“You’ve lost, Duvainor.” A tight smile pulls at Ariar’s lips. “We have the Lightbearer. We have the means for executing her. Enjoy your final moments in the disgusting nightmare you call home, because, soon enough, it will be back to Shadowfell for you and your companions.” He pauses. “That is,ifI let you live.”

Duvainor lifts his hand and examines his fingernails. “I wouldn’t concern yourself with my death, Ariar. I would be more worried about keeping your ownarmy alive.”

“We outnumber you twenty-to-one. And more soldiers are filtering through the portal at the top of the mountain as we speak.”

“How cute.” Duvainor raises two fingers. “But did you bring demons?” He sticks his fingers into either corner of his mouth and whistles. On command, urrath leap out into the clearing and skriaburst from the treetops, along with dozens of other creatures that I have no name for—two-legged and four-legged and six-legged and no-legged, with tentacles and gaping jaws and spiked backs and foot-long claws. The type of monsters I’ve only ever seen in my nightmares. Apparently, far more was hiding in that forest than Daerios let on.

They come to a halt beside the Shadow King, all poised to strike.

With the added onslaught of nightmarish beasts surrounding us, the scales do seem to tip slightly in favor of the opposition.

Oh, fuck.

“That’s it, then,” King Ariar says. “You won’t give up peacefully. You realize what this means, don’t you, Duvainor?”

“I do.”

“You realize that lives will be lost on both sides. Innocent lives. Deaths that could easily be avoided if you just surrenderand return to Shadowfell.”

Lives will be lost. Innocent lives.All I can picture are Cara and Michael, Daerios and Berendir. I can’t lose them. Not after how far we’ve come. Not when the mere idea of their death steals my breath away and makes the world go hazy at the edges. Fear. Fear and pre-emptive mourning. I remember what it feels like to grieve. I remember the soul-splitting pain, the gaping hole within me, the years of hollow numbness. I won’t be able to do it again. I know I won’t.

I think of my mother, back home in Minnesota. If we all die here, she’ll never know how close she came to getting her son back.

Maybe it’s better that way.

And even if we win the battle, even if everyone I love comes out unscathed, Daerios will still die. He will be executedby his own father, all because he chose to help me save Michael.

All because he loves me.

It’s the first time I’ve allowed myself to think the words. Why not, when death is so close that nothing I do is of any consequence anymore? And it’s true. I know to my very core that it’s true. It doesn’t matter that he first took an interest in me because he believed me to be the Lightbearer. At some point, our relationship changed.Ichanged. Something blossomed between us, something whole and beautiful and unbreakable.

Daerios loves me.He loves me, and I love him back.

At once, I’m filled with a strange mixture of terror and euphoria. I glance over at Daerios, and warmth seeps into my stomach, swirling all throughout my body.I love you,I think.I love you, I love you, I love you.

I can’t let him die. I can’t. The thought of losing him sends searing pain through every inch of my body, as if I’ve already been torn to pieces by one of the beasts standing by Duvainor’s side.I need to save him.

And I think I know how to do it.

“I understand the cost, Varith.” The Shadow King draws his saber, signaling for the rest of his army to do the same. “My people have never known such freedom as they do now. We spent millennia confined to that small patch of Elaërion. We won’t be going back.”