Page 32 of Queen of Shadows and Ruin

“Then that’s all we need.”

Dav took Suria’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “We want to be free of this. We want to marry properly someday.”

“You understand you can’t tell anyone,” Zarya said. “The collar is only one step on the road to freedom. I’ve spoken to the king, and he’s still considering the consequences of freeing the vanshaj.”

“The king?” Dav said. “The king would never agree to this.”

“He might,” Zarya insisted.

“He will not,” Suria said, her mouth flattening. “He would rather see us all dead than see us freed.”

Zarya blinked at the venom in her tone. “You really think so?”

“I do.” Suria straightened her shoulders, her chin lifting.

Zarya frowned at Suria’s apparent certainty. The king was rigid, but she was sure he could be convinced.

“Then, you understand who I am?” she asked.

“We’ve heard the rumors about the king’s daughter,” Dav said.

“And you still trust me?”

“We are not the people we are born of,” Suria said, her lips set in a firm line. No one would know that better than her.

“We won’t tell anyone but those we trust,” Dav said. “Will you help them, too?”

Zarya inhaled a deep breath. She reached for her mother’s pendant, tears pressing her eyes at the reminder that it was gone. Regardless, she’d never forget the words inside.

She will free them all.

“Of course I’ll help them,” she whispered.

“Thank you,” Suria whispered back, her eyes glassy with tears.

“You will have magic,” she said, and Suria nodded.

“I can help her with it,” Dav said proudly.

“Okay, then give us some space,” Zarya said to Rabin and Dav, who quickly shuffled aside.

Suria stood before her and waited, unblinking, while Zarya pulled out a thread of her nightfire. She twisted it around the other woman’s throat, carefully pulling apart the star collar. She’d done this so often it had become an extension of herself.

It took only a moment for the sparkling black ribbons to do their work as the tattoo dissolved off Suria’s skin in puffs of shadow. When Zarya was done, she dropped her hands as Suria grabbed her throat.

“Did it work?” She looked at her husband, who was already crying.

“Suria,” he gasped, stumbling towards her, cupping her face in his hands. “Suria. I never thought I’d live to see it.”

They fell against one another, sobbing while their bodies shook. As Zarya watched, she felt Rabin move beside her before he looped a finger through her pinky and squeezed. She looked up to witness the proud look in his eyes. She would never grow tired of this gift and this ability to change the course of someone’s destiny forever.

After a minute, Dav and Suria gathered themselves enough to pull apart.

“How can we ever thank you?” Dav asked. “You’ve given us our entire lives.”

“There’s no need,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m happy to do it.”

“I was hoping we could use the cabin tonight?” Rabin said, and Dav’s face lit up.