Page 108 of Tale of the Heart Queen

“Are you the Primary of Aphelion?”

Gabriel’s gaze darts to Erevan and then back to me. “Lor—”

“Sorry. I don’t mean to pry, but if Tyr can’t use his magic anymore, then we might need your help.”

Erevan’s shoulders drop, and I sense he’s been carrying a lot of weight on them for a very long time.

“I . . .” He sighs. “Yes. I am the Primary.”

“You?” Nadir asks. “And Atlas knew?”

Gabriel nods. “The day the Mirror told Tyr, he ran straight to me and Atlas.” He pauses. “That was the beginning of the end.”

“How long have you known?” Nadir asks Erevan, leaning forward.

“Maybe all along,” Erevan admits. “But Tyr told me right before Atlas . . . Well, before he did everything.”

“What do you plan to do?” Nadir asks, and Gabriel and Erevan exchange a loaded look. I place my hand on Nadir’s arm, indicating that maybe this is none of our business, even if I am the one who started it.

“I don’t know,” Erevan says, his words clipped. “I don’t want to be a king.”

A shuffle at the door draws our attention to Tyr, who stands beside Hylene, her hand gripped around his elbow. We all pass looks around the circle, wondering how much he heard.

Gabriel stands up. “Tyr . . . I’m sorry. I . . .”

Tyr raises a hand, and Gabriel snaps his mouth shut as Hylene escorts the king into the room with slow steps. It’s nearly painful to watch him.

Hylene pulls out a chair and Tyr settles into it as we all watch in silence.

“Tyr,” Gabriel says, his voice pained. “You should stay in bed.”

“I’m fine,” he says, his voice a little more forceful than his appearance suggests.

He turns to look at me. “You need me to destroy the ark. Please tell me everything, Heart Queen.”

I nod and then fill him in on the rest of the details. I watch his hand open and close like he’s reaching for his magic.

“I can still feel it,” he says after I stop speaking, and my chest heaves with relief before he adds, “But it’s not the same as it was.”

“But it’s still Imperial magic,” Nadir says. “You’re still the ascended king.”

Tyr dips his chin. “All I can do is try.” Then, his gaze moves to Erevan. “Or ask for help from the Primary and the soon-to-be king of Aphelion.”

Erevan looks like he’s just been kicked. Gabriel sits up in his seat, alarm spreading over his expression. Erevan can only ascend if Tyr descends into the Evanescence, and then he will be gone forever.

“No,” Erevan says, a firm set to his jaw. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“Then we need your magic,” Nadir says.

Erevan shakes his head. “I swore an oath never to use it until the low fae have been granted use of theirs again.”

“But—” I open my mouth and then snap it shut at the dark look Erevan tosses me. It’s clear from his expression that he has no intentions of wavering.

Tyr tips his head slowly and gives Erevan a look up and down that suggests his cousin doesn’t really have a choice in the matter.

“Then I will try. After the warders return and are released,” he says, and then more firmly, “We will destroy it.”

Erevan gives no sign of acknowledging that statement.