Page 25 of Fate of the Sun King

He hasn’t called me that since we left The Aurora. Not since that night. I used to hate that name, but something about him calling me just Lor sits like a cold stone in my stomach.

Like I’m not special to him anymore.

Like something has been lost between us, and I hate it.

And I hate that I hate it.

Fuck, I’m such a mess.

Nadir has stopped on the far side of the clearing and is now standing under a cliff where an overhang drenches him in shade. As he spins to face us, it suddenly occurs to me what he has planned.

“No!” I shout. “Are you insane?!”

Instantly, I start running, but even from this distance, I perceive his smug smile. He lifts a hand and shoots a blast of blue light into the protruding rock.

A loud crack brings me to a shuddering stop. He did it. He fucking did it. Frozen where I stand, I stare at the rock, watching pieces shear off, tumbling to where he waits below. He watches me. Testing me. Waiting for me to succeed.

I tell myself that he’ll move before it collapses. He’s only bluffing. He wouldn’t really let that fall on him, just for my sake.

But a tiny voice screams in the back of my head. What if he doesn’t? I’ve always known the Aurora Prince never does anything by halves. What if he’s crushed under the weight of an entire cliff? Not even a High Fae would survive that.

“Nadir!” I scream, my voice cracking with fear.

“Use your magic, Lor!” he screams back. “I know you can do it!”

I can do this. He believed in me when we were in Heart, and I saved him then. He’s the only one who’s been able to rouse my magic since I locked it away, and I have to trust him now.

A boom draws my attention to the cliff. The rock shifts, slowly crumbling as it succumbs to the pressure of gravity and its own weight. I don’t have much time.

I search inside myself, prodding at that door keeping me blocked. Gritting my teeth, I pull at it, tearing at it like a crazed beast with a set of useless, dulled claws.

Another loud crack bounces through the clearing, echoing off the stones.

Nadir doesn’t move. Doesn’t even look up. He’s staring at me. Willing me to do what I need to do.

It’s then I understand that he won’t move. He’s going to force me to do this. Just like when he helped me release my magic inside the Heart Castle, he’s never going to give up on me.

Another crack precedes the fall of a massive boulder. It plummets, landing just next to Nadir, barely missing him, tossing his hair around his shoulders. But still, he doesn’t move. Doesn’t even blink as he dares me to fail.

I can do this. I must do this.

And then everything happens at once.

Another loud pop bursts in my ears, and the cliff breaks away, rock tumbling as my hands fly out, and red lightning smashes into the stone, blasting it apart. I continue filtering lightning, pummeling the rock until the largest pieces crumble apart, becoming a harmless shower of gravel. Nadir covers his head as it drops, and my world stops moving until, a few seconds later, everything dims to silence.

Stumbling over my feet towards him, my head spins from the shortness of my breath, tears streaming down my cheeks. When I reach him, he wraps me into his arms, but I batter his chest with my fists, screaming, crying, raging.

“How could you do that?! You scared the shit out of me! You could have died!” I sob as he holds me, saying nothing as I cling to the fabric of his shirt, balling it in my fists like I can stop him from ever leaving me.

Once I’ve suitably scolded him, I inhale a deep breath, waiting for my pulse to slow to normal. I push away, wiping my cheeks with the backs of my hands.

“Sorry,” I say. “I didn’t mean to yell at you. I just… You scared me.”

He tips his head. “So you made clear.”

Another moment passes between us. I can keep trying to pretend I don’t care, but my cover has just been blown wide open.

“It worked, though,” he says with a cocky tilt of his mouth. “Told you I’m always right.”