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“Then trust,” she whispers, placing her hand on my chest. “Trust this. Trust this thing between us. Or don’t,” she whispers. “And I’ll trust enough for the both of us. Now let’s get some sleep,” she says. “This will all look different in the morning.”
I should listen to the little fairy.
I don’t want to. I want to scream and yell and throw things, but I know that she’s probably right. It probably is best to just wait and see and rethink things once I’m not completely exhausted. That’s what I am right now.
Exhausted.
Every part of my body hurts and is tired and maybe, if I close my eyes, I’ll be able to just get a little rest. I don’t argue with her anymore. Instead, I lie down on the bed and I cross my arms over my chest the way I always do when I’m angry. I’m almost asleep when I feel her curl up next to me and drape her arm over my waist.
It shouldn’t make me feel happy.
But it does.
“THE TOWN IS ON FIRE,” Luther stands in the doorway, telling us urgently.
Rose is already out of bed and pulling her clothes on. Luther blatantly ignores the fact that we spent the night in the same bed. I suppose he’s an old wizard. It’s not his first time being around young people. It’s not his first time being around people who, apparently, don’t have any self-control.
“What do you mean?” I ask groggily. I stand and reach for my pants. Yanking them on, I try to focus on what he’s saying because what happens next is going to change everything.
“Dark Town,” he says. “And word is that Dark Village is next.”
“But why?” Rose asks. “Why burn the town?”
“You think it was Wyatt?” I ask her. She looks at me like I’m stupid. Okay, so it was obviously him.
“His first assertion of dominance, perhaps,” Luther said. “Perhaps he thinks you’re hiding there. Surely he knows by now that you’ve escaped.”
“He wants to destroy his enemies,” Rose says carefully. “What better way than by creating chaos? No one there knows you aren’t the king anymore. He can easily blame you for failing to act or blame you for failing to stop the fire. Then the people will have no choice but to turn to him when he offers safety.”
“And he will,” Luther says. “He will do exactly that.”
“Where have you two been the past ten years?” I grumble. I’ve never had straightforward advising like this. I’ve never had anyone I felt was really and truly on my side. Perhaps that’s the problem. Wyatt has always looked out for himself. I’ve never gotten the impression that he cares about anyone except him. Even when he advised me in the past, he always held back. I never really knew what he was withholding from me. I suppose now it’s obvious. He wanted my position, my power, which is a shame, because if he’d only just come to me, I would have given Wyatt anything he wanted.
I would have given him the world.
“It’s time to act,” Rose says, looking at me.
Luther does, too. “She’s right,” he tells me. “There’s no point in waiting any longer. He’s made his move. Now it’s time to make yours. What’ll it be, King?”
I look from Rose to Luther. Suddenly, the fact that I’m king doesn’t seem to matter quite as much. The pain and anguish I felt from being betrayed really doesn’t matter because when Rose turns to me for guidance in this moment, I don’t think she’s looking at me because she wants something.
And that’s what I’ve been afraid of.
She wants to offer something to me. Instead of taking from me, instead of being selfish, she wants to give me something truly incredible. She wants to offer me the world: her world. She’s offering me her life.
Whatever happens next is going to change everything. No matter what move I make, it’s going to cause a chaotic ripple effect that’s going to impact my people for years to come.
Am I ready for that?
Well, I suppose I don’t really have a choice.
“Luther, how many wizards are in Dark Falls??
??
“Half a dozen, I suppose.”
“Witches?”
