Page 7 of Three Dark Kings and the Gilded Serpent

Maybe, if her heart were like ice, she would have stayed alive.

With this song, I can cut every spark of warmth from my heart. I can rid myself of sadness and anger and by doing so, I can escape the bitterness of joy and love and hope because those emotions only bring grief, and grief is poisonous.

I will live by logic, not emotion.

Note by note, I cut out every unwanted part of my heart and then I hum against the bloodied ribbon, sending into the tainted material every power of my heart that I’m discarding.

As I sing, frost dusts my skin, ice spreading across my face and arms, my torso and legs, until I’m hunched and covered in snow.

But with every note, my hands shake less.

My Voice calms.

My rage finally fades.

And slowly, very slowly, my furious heartbeats settle.

Beats that are now emotionless and free from pain and fury.

Rising to my feet, I shake off the ice, sending crimson snowflakes into the wind, casting off the blood.

I am clean again.

A snowstorm beats against me, but I don’t feel the cold. It cannot touch me.

My sister’s ribbon thrashes in the wind, gripped firmly in my fist, bringing with it the echo of her death cry.

Making another decision, I press the ribbon to the warm earth in front of the gravestone, holding it there before I push the stone over on top of it.

Thud.

The cry in the wind stops. The ribbon is buried and with it, my heart.

My heart must not be unearthed while I’m alive or my grief will resurface and with it, my rage.

Drawing on my Lethian power one last time, I call on the vines to reach up and cover my mother and sister and accept them into the ground, where their songs can rest.

Then I step away from the gravesite, tip my head back into the wind, and drag in the freezing air, welcoming the emptiness where my heart once felt.

Closing my eyes, I make my vows…

Chaos will not control me.

Fear will not control me.

Loss will not control me.

To Nara, I say, “No more.”

Chapter Two

Thyra

PRESENT DAY

Breathe.

A moment can be a lifetime, but my scream echoes in my ears and chaos pushes at my heart.