Page 74 of Tale of the Heart Queen

He didn’t actually intend to give her a choice, but this also seemed to make them feel better. Lily’s eyes darted around the cavern, meeting those of her brethren. Most of them looked away, and then she turned back to Rion and nodded.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Very good,” Rion said. “I will need you to hold still no matter what happens. Try not to move.”

Lily was already shaking too hard to answer.

Rion channeled magic into the piece of virulence clutched in his hand. Black smoke wrapped around Lily, enveloping her in darkness, and she slowly began to transform.

Her limbs stretched out, thinning into bony appendages, and her body elongated, her ribcage expanding, followed by her neck and her head. Everything ballooned up to unnatural proportions, her bright pink skin melting away, leaving behind mottled grey flesh. Her entire body convulsed, collapsing to the ground into a heap of dark limbs.

The sound was unbearable. Screams, discordant sounds, bones snapping, flesh stretching, tearing, and being put back together again. Lily screamed and screamed, and the sound was music to Rion’s ears. It was working. If the virulence could do this, then there would be no stopping him. He would be nearly a god.

He barely registered the others’ presence in the cavern. They watched on in horror, and he couldn’t imagine what they were thinking.

After several minutes, Lily had transformed into a demon of his own making. Nothing was left of her innocent gaze, just a dead emptiness and a vicious cruelty ending in sharp teeth dripping with saliva. Rion made a slow circle around the creature as it watched him, its breathing rattling in and out of its chest.

He didn’t fear it. As of this moment, he feared nothing.

“I think you need a new name,” he mused as it snarled and hissed, its too-large head loping from side to side. “Let’s call you the . . . ozziller. Perhaps you’ll find a new home in my forests until I can make use of you.”

He looked around the room at the terrified faces of everyone pressed against the cavern walls. He sighed, knowing he would have to deal with them. He gestured to the foreman, who took a moment to shuffle towards him.

“Your Majesty?” Surius said, his voice dry and thin with terror.

“You have all done well tonight,” Rion said.

Very well. This would give him the edge he needed in another war for the domination of Ouranos. Maybe he could finally claim the ruined territory of Heart in the process. It had resisted all of them, almost as if magic had prevented it, but could virulence make a difference? He could barely contain his smile, his heart lighter than it had been in years.

Then he turned on his heel and headed for the exit, hearing the same voice calling after him, “Your Majesty, what should we do with . . . it?”

Rion turned to look at him and gave him a feral smile.

“Whatever you like.”

Then he snapped his fingers and exited the cavern, sealing it behind him with a wall of magic.

A moment later, the sounds of horrified screams and ripping flesh followed him as he made his way back to the surface.

CHAPTER 29

LOR

WHO THE FUCK KNOWS?—PRESENT DAY

Ihuddle against a log hidden in the trees, tucking into myself as the chill in the air seeps into my bones. Night fell hours ago, and I’ve been pushing in the direction that I’m pretty sure is south, though I must admit my inner compass could be skewed. My feet and body and soul are so sore and tired, and I need a moment to rest. I need a moment to feel sorry for myself.

Nadir. Is he gone? Can I use the arks to bargain for his life? Or was the moment I lost control the moment I lost him for good? My chest is so tight, I can hardly breathe, and I suck in mouthfuls of humid air, wishing all of this would end. I want to die too. I want to give up. I just want it all to stop hurting so much. My head bounces before it snaps up again as I try to fight off a wave of bone-deep exhaustion.

Adrenaline has kept me moving for the past two days, but even my rage can’t keep me upright anymore. I found water and an apple tree yesterday, so I’m not entirely starving, but gods, what I wouldn’t give for a thick slice of buttered bread and a platter of roasted meat drowning in gravy.

I nod off again, my temple smacking the log before I rest it against the surface with a groan. Thunder rolls in the distance, reminding me I need to find shelter. What’s the worst that can find me out here? I’ve faced down the vilest monsters already. But I really don’t want to be eaten by some wild animal. What an undignified way to go. I snort at my stupid joke and stupid self and resist the urge to start crying again.

My hand tingles with the sparks of my magic. It saved me again, but I have to find a way to control it. I didn’t care if I hurt Zerra. I wanted to make her suffer, though I realize that plan might have been shortsighted. I can’t kill her if I want to avoid becoming her. Surely as long as she’s alive then I’m safe? Or do the Empyrium plan to do away with her first? Why did they leave me with so little information? I broke through whatever enchantment she attempted to use on me, which also means I’m at least as strong as her. A fact she won’t have missed.

I squeeze my eyes shut and whimper.

Why is everything so complicated?